College of Arts and Humanities
Crawford 210
2550 Campus Road
Honolulu, HI 96822
Tel: (808) 956-7736
Fax: (808) 956-6662
Email: acm@hawaii.edu
Web: acm.hawaii.edu

Faculty

C. Acham, PhD—critical studies
B. Biggs, MFA—animation
L. Flanary, MFA—screenwriting, indigenous filmmaking
V. Hereniko, PhD—critical studies, cinematic and digital productions, screenwriting
L. Margulies, MFA—animation
A. Misawa, MFA—cinematic and digital production
J. Moffett, MFA—screenwriting, cinematic & digital production
G. Wang, MFA—post production

Degree Offered: BA in creative media

The Academic Program

The Academy for Creative Media (ACM) emphasizes storytelling theories, skills, and application across multiple platforms of digital media and within a context of cultural and aesthetic values. ACM empowers students to tell their own original and authentic stories of Hawai‘i, the Pacific, and Asia. At the academy students develop 21st century literacy skills grounded in the latest film/video and animation techniques and tools.

The Creative Media track provides a solid foundation in the study and aesthetics of film and several options, including indigenous film and storytelling, film producing, and various aspects of digital cinema or animation production. The Digital Cinema track offers a well-rounded curriculum of all aspects of digital video production and post production, writing, directing, cinematography, editing, sound, and producing. The Animation Track provides unique opportunities in animation production, including paperless animation, traditional handdrawn techniques, digital paperless animation, 3D computer graphics and video game design.

ACM facilities include a state of the art animation and post production computer lab with Cintiq tablet-monitors, 3D printing and virtual reality workstations. ACM digital cinema equipment offers an array of production possibilities including access to the high-end Arri Alexa camera system.

More information including academic planning guidelines and program information can be found at the ACM website at: acm.hawaii.edu.

Undergraduate Study

Bachelor’s Degree

Students have the flexibility to design an academic program around a core of ACM courses and electives including a variety of UH Manoa departments offering courses in film and media studies. Students work in close consultation with faculty to develop a program that reflects the development of academic, writing, creative, and critical thinking skills.

Requirements

  • Admission to the major is open to all students who have been admitted to UH Manoa;
  • To complete the creative media major, students must complete 42 credit hours towards the ACM major.

All students who select ACM as a major are accepted into the general track of Creative Media. Students may remain in the general track or apply to specialize in either digital cinema or animation. To be considered for the specialized tracks, students must submit a portfolio including an artist’s statement and creative work samples. Portfolios are accepted throughout the year, but are reviewed twice a year in October and March. Students can only apply twice for acceptance into either the digital cinema or animation tracks. Students who are not accepted into a specialized track will remain in the general track and graduate with a BA in Creative Media. More information on each track and detailed instructions on submitting the portfolio are available at acm.hawaii.edu.

For information on a Bachelor Degree Program Sheet, go to programsheets/.

Core Required Courses

  • ACM 255 with a C or higher
  • ACM 310 or 215
  • ACM 350 or 355
  • ACM 360, 385, 460
  • 21-24 units from one of the ACM degree tracks
  • 3 units of Supplemental Elective, if required by ACM degree tracks

Computer Hardware and Software Requirements

The curriculum of the Academy for Creative Media requires students to have access to a laptop computer. Hardware and software specifications can be found at acm.hawaii.edu/computer-requirements/.

Advising

Introductory information on the academy, including guidelines for academic planning, can be found at acm.hawaii.edu. All students accepted for the major are assigned a faculty advisor. Advising is mandatory to design the student’s academic plan, and for any subsequent changes.