Prior to the new fall semester, the department purchased updated equipment for the Production Center and renovated a classroom into a screening room. An anonymous donor funded the updates with a million-dollar grant. The department spent $720,000 of the donation on new equipment alone, according to Mark Spicer, production center manager. CMA students seem confident that these additions will prove a valuable contribution to their education.

Students responded positively to the recent equipment updates in the cinema and media arts department and are confident that the new tools will help them to gain valuable experience to prepare them for work in the industry.

ENRICHING THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE

The new upgrades replaced the production center’s SLR cameras with professional C100 cameras, and the film cameras with industry-level models. In addition, the CMA department used $85,000 of the grant to remodel Rood 55 into a mini theater seating 38 people, equipped with a surround sound system and a professional grade projector, Spicer said.

Students can now film at the same level of quality used in the industry with the help of this mondonation, Spicer states.

“Very generous Godly men and women have kept us afloat in these departments and have given us so much. It’s incredible to see their generosity and to be able to take that and do something with it,” Spice said. “Now we have the same camera model that they used to shoot The Hobbit. That gives you an idea of the level that we’re dealing with. It definitely allows our students to go beyond.”

Students expressed excitement over the upgraded equipment and believe it is a necessary step for the department.

“I think it was a really important time to have an upgrade, because we’ve been using the same equipment for a while. It’s definitely going to improve the quality of Biola films from a technical standpoint, and I think that’s really motivating. When you give Biola a decent amount of money, we make big changes, and I’m excited to see what happens,” said Ryan Dayhoff, junior CMA major.

Experience with this equipment opens the door for more career opportunities, according to Elijah Chandler, a sophomore production major.

“It broadens our horizon for equipment that we use. If we intern somewhere, we can show them that we’re familiar with these cameras,” Chandler said.

Furthermore, the new theater-style screening room includes software that allows professors to show movies by accessing the extensive film database, according to CMA department chair Michael Gonzales.

“The quality is great. To have a classroom that we can experience that in is a blessing. We get to show our Visual Aesthetics projects up on the screen too, showcasing our work in the best quality possible,” said Shelby Jacobsen, sophomore CMA major.  

Other students express their desire for all of their classrooms to exhibit that same film quality.

“It’s going to enhance our learning in a really comfortable setting. That’s what I think every CMA classroom should look like — displaying our work in a really nice way,” Dayhoff said.

INITIAL STEPS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE PROGRAM

According to Gonzales, Jack Hafer, the director of the CMA department, envisions how the program will grow from here.

“We have big plans down the road. We’d like to add new graduate courses,” Gonzales states.

“We’re preparing students to go into this competitive industry,” Dayhoff said. “When you have this amazing faith going out into the industry, it’s really hard, and I think Biola can definitely strengthen the faith and the filmmaking ability in their students in order to create things that will impact people for the good of God.”