Explore Our Academic Programs
The Department of Theatre, Film and Creative Writing fosters the learning, practice and interaction of the dramatic, cinematic and literary arts. We celebrate creativity, collaboration and experiential learning.
Through hands-on learning, professional training and rigorous intellectual investigation, our programs prepare students for successful careers. Our graduates go on to work as actors, filmmakers, screenwriters, stage managers, event specialists, teachers, technical artists, playwrights, novelists, editors, directors and more.
In our programs, you will find robust creative communities, professional mentorship and dedicated professors who want to help you get where you want to go. Want to learn more? Contact us to set up an informational appointment!
Program Highlights
Film Students Crafting the Future of Cinema
The following video contains closed captions and a text transcript is provided following the media player.
Text Transcript: Film Students Crafting the Future of Cinema
[Jessica Davis]: The next generation of Oscar nominees has to come from somewhere, and Boise State University is just a small part of a growing entertainment industry. I’m your neighborhood reporter, Jessica Davis, getting a behind-the-scenes look at the movie-making magic here at BSU’s film department.
[Tucker Hogan]: Ready, and action! I think the coolest thing about being a director is just really being able to think about an idea that you have and try and communicate that to other people.
[Jessica]: Lights, camera, action! Students at Boise State University are learning the needed skills to be the next Steven Spielberg.
[Darius Dawson]: Feel free to give notes, right? This is a teachable moment, a learning moment. Just, uh, using tactics and as-ifs, uh, just kind of how do you actually direct the actor, how do you occupy space with the actor?
[Jessica]: Darius Dawson is an assistant professor specializing in Film Production. His students are practicing spacing, directing, and production for their final projects.
[Tucker]: So what I am doing today is, uh, directing a scene from a short film that I wrote called ‘Haru Specs.’ Uh, it’s about witches. It’s about finding acceptance and who you are as a person. We are kind of blocking the scene, directing it, so that when we do eventually shoot here in a couple weeks, we’ve got a really clear idea as to what we want and what we’re looking for. This whole scene, you’re trying to snatch the power away from her.
[Jessica]: Tucker Hogan is a junior at BSU with an emphasis in screenwriting. He says his film ‘Haru Specs’ is the first script he’s written from start to finish that he’s also directing. BSU’s film department grows each semester, with students finding their voice through the camera, audio, directing, and overall production, creating the next generation of world-class filmmaking.
[Student]: The thing about music performance is that you just do the performance and that’s like it. You don’t get a do-over. So, I like that you could just keep doing film over. You can keep like getting the performance that you want from actors and stuff. Um, and I think that’s just super fun to me.
[Jessica]: There are many ways for you to see some short films that were shot by BSU students, whether it’s Treefort or the Boise Film Festival, just to name a few. I’m your neighborhood reporter, Jessica Davis, reporting for Idaho News 6.
Creating the Voice of Tituba: Voice and Dialect Coaching in Action
The following video contains closed captions and a text transcript is provided following the media player.
Text Transcript: Creating the Voice of Tituba
[Group]: If I should prove false, I will burn in the fires of eternal damnation forever and ever.
[Ann Price: Dialect Coach, Afflicted: Daughters of Salem]: In Afflicted: Daughters of Salem, we are in an historical time frame, so we have real life characters. So it’s really important to do some of that historical research and make sure that we are being true to what we know about the character.
(cheering, drums beating) (light, upbeat music)
[Ann]: The character that I worked with is Tituba. She was a slave in the Parris household. We have lots of evidence from the trials of how she became a member of the household, where she was from. So we definitely think the accent is a very big part of the authenticity of this story and who she was as a person.
[Tituba]: Come near us good spirit, Obatala. Come near these children. Come near Tituba.
[Rachel]: One thing that I found that makes this character of Tituba a bit challenging in comparison to my other roles is that she was a real person. I found myself walking to my car and just thinking to myself, I was like, this woman was real. This woman was alive and I have to honor her life through this show and give her as much decency and respect as I possibly can. And I deeply respect her. But I’ve never had that experience before performance wise. And I don’t want to say I have a relationship with her, but I’d like to think I do.
(laughs)
[Rachel]: And that’s something that I found to be challenging and also very rewarding about playing this role and being able to be in this show.
[Rachel]: To learn from Ann Price is a blessing and a gift. It truly is. I’ve worked with Ann so many times on so many different dialects and accents and even taking her dialects course and her voice courses. And it really gives you a lot of foundational tools and this skill set in order to be an actor that can show longevity as well as your own growth. Being able to have the skills that I learned in just my Voice One class all the way up to my Voice Three or Dialects Course are tools that I will carry as an actor and build upon for hopefully a long time.
(laughs) (music)
[Ann]: One of the things that I love most about being a voice coach, whether it’s accents or a cartoon voices, is I get to sit in a room and listen to amazing actors tell stories night after night. That is the best.
(music)