B.A. (Hon) Film Making

Course Overview

The BA (Honours / Honours with Research) in Film Making is a four-year, studio-intensive undergraduate programme designed to develop visionary filmmakers with strong creative, technical, and industry-ready capabilities. As part of contemporary film making degree courses in India, the programme integrates visual storytelling, rigorous cinematic craft, and production-oriented learning to enable learners to script, shoot, edit, and launch compelling cinematic works from concept to distribution. It stands alongside leading film making courses and BA Film Making programmes that prioritise hands-on learning and professional readiness.

Grounded in NEP 2020 principles and aligned with Outcome-Based Education (OBE) and NSQF, the curriculum progresses systematically from foundational studies in screenwriting, cinematography, sound design, editing, and directing to advanced mastery in specialised domains such as Virtual Production, Documentary Filmmaking, Experimental Cinema, Post-Production and VFX, and Media Management. This structured progression reflects the academic depth expected of the top BA Film Making courses in India, including those recognised among the best BA Film Making colleges in India and the best BA Film Making courses in Bangalore.

Learners gain fluency in advanced digital camera systems, AI-enabled media production workflows, responsible filmmaking practices, distribution strategies, and entrepreneurial funding models, all of which are increasingly valued across professional filmmaking courses and industry-facing creative programmes. The programme culminates in substantial professional outcomes, including multiple short films, extensive industry collaborations, a professional showreel, a comprehensive film distribution plan, and a major thesis film or series pilot delivered as a capstone entrepreneurship project. An optional research dissertation pathway within the Honours with Research track further supports academic progression, positioning the programme among the top BA Film Making courses in Bangalore, offering both professional and research-oriented outcomes.

Duration of Study:

4 Years (8 Semesters)

No. of Credits

160 Credits

Eligibility

  • A student who has passed Level 4 / Class 12 schooling (either through formal schooling or through the open school system) or its equivalent shall be eligible for admission to BA programmes.
  • However, students who have not studied the requisite courses from the discipline related to the respective programmes will have to undertake the prescribed bridge course(s).

Course Highlights

  • Integrated Core Focus: The program is designed to blend visual storytelling, rigorous technical craft, and acute industry readiness.
  • End-to-End Production Goal: A core objective is to develop visionary filmmakers who can script, shoot, and launch compelling cinematic works end-to-end.
  • Foundational Alignment: The Filmmaking program is grounded in core educational principles and aligns with NEP-2020, OBE, and the NSQF.
  • Systematic Skill Progression: The curriculum progresses from core foundations in disciplines such as screenwriting, cinematography, sound design, editing, and directing.
  • Future-Oriented Specialisations: Advanced focus areas include disciplines designed to meet the future of media, such as Virtual Production, Documentary Filmmaking, Experimental Cinema, and Post-Production & VFX.
  • Technological Fluency: Learners build necessary industry skills, developing fluency across advanced digital camera systems, AI in media production, distribution strategies, and entrepreneurial funding models.
  • Practical Outcomes: The program is structured around professional deliverables, resulting in outputs such as multiple short films, extensive industry collaborations, and a full professional reel.
  • Capstone Entrepreneurship: The degree culminates in a major thesis film or series pilot delivered as a final capstone entrepreneurship project.

Curriculum Structure

Semester 1

  1. Film Aesthetics and Interpretation
  2. Narrative Design and Visual Storytelling
  3. Cinematic Production Technology
  4. Studio 1: Three-Minute Sequence
  5. Rhetoric and Composition 1
  6. Mind Management and Human Values 1

Semester 2

  1. Directing and Set Blocking Praxis
  2. Introduction to Cinematography
  3. Foundation of Cinematic Editing
  4. Studio 2: The Continuity Challenge
  5. Rhetoric and Composition 2
  6. Mind Management and Human Values 2

Semester 3

  1. Production Strategy, Budgeting and Management
  2. Directing Praxis: Script and Mise-en-Scène
  3. Introduction to Film Sound
  4. Studio 3: Mise-en-Scène Design Dossier
  5. Environmental Science

Semester 4

  1. Crafting Scripts for Media Platforms
  2. Cinematography: Lighting and Rigging
  3. Fiction Narratives and Production
  4. Studio 4: Dialogue Sequence Production
  5. Indian Constitution
  6. Open Elective 1

Semester 5

  1. Commercial Directing and Branded Content Strategy
  2. Advanced Cinematography: VFX Integration and Multi-Camera Techniques
  3. Advanced Sound Design and Psychoacoustics
  4. Studio 5: Commercial Production
  5. Open Elective 2

Semester 6

  1. Directing for Documentary and Digital Media (Television and OTT Platforms)
  2. Advanced Editing and VFX in Cinema
  3. Industry Internship / Live Project
  4. Studio 6: Non-Fiction Project or VFX-Intensive Film
  5. Open Elective 3

Semester 7

  1. Feature Film Production
  2. Advanced Cinematography: Virtual Production and Digital Emulation
  3. Music Supervision and Cinematic Scoring
  4. Studio 7: Virtual Production Design and Demo Reel
  5. Open Elective 4

Semester 8

  1. Advanced Story Structure and Future Aesthetics
  2. Post-Production Automation and Final Mastering
  3. Distribution, Marketing and Festival Strategy
  4. Studio 8: Graduation Film Project

Career Enhancement Programmes

  • End-to-End Cinematic Production Focus: The program utilises a production-focused, studio-intensive approach that blends visual storytelling, rigorous technical craft, and acute industry readiness. The core pedagogical goal is to develop filmmakers who can conceive, shoot, and launch cinematic works end-to-end.
  • Formal Academic and Skills Alignment: The degree is built on a structured academic foundation, grounded in NEP-2020 principles and formally aligned with OBE (Outcome-Based Education) and the NSQF (National Skills Qualifications Framework). This ensures systematic progression from foundational skills (e.g., screenwriting and directing) to advanced mastery.
  • Future-Ready Specialisation and AI Fluency: Learners progress beyond foundational craft to gain expertise in critical future-focused domains such as Virtual Production, Documentary Filmmaking, and Post-Production & VFX. Furthermore, the curriculum builds fluency in AI in media production and advanced digital camera systems.
  • Hands-on, Industry-Anchored Learning: The learning methodology is intensely practical, anchored in professional sound stages, cutting-edge editing suites, and dedicated field production labs. Learning is consolidated through required integrative and consolidative skills through industry internships, immersion programs, and live projects with industry mentors.
  • Professional Capstone Outcomes: The assessment culminates in significant, industry-ready outputs rather than purely theoretical work. Graduates complete a major thesis film or series pilot, deliver a full professional reel, and create a comprehensive film distribution plan. This parallels the requirement for a professional portfolio and 12+ collections in the Fashion Design program.
  • Cultivation of Media Founders and Technologists: The academic ecosystem is explicitly designed to help learners thrive not just as employees, but as creators, technologists, and founders in the media and entertainment landscape. This entrepreneurial focus is solidified by a mandatory final entrepreneurship project.

Programme Educational Objectives (PEOs)

  • Creative Practice: Deliver original, culturally aware communication design outcomes across media and platforms.
  • Technical Mastery: Demonstrate robust skills in contemporary tools, digital production, and responsible AI workflows.
  • Industry Readiness: Apply studio rigour, quality standards, professional practice and client-facing capability.
  • Entrepreneurship and Leadership: Build sustainable freelance/studio pathways and lead creative teams/projects.
  • Research and Lifelong Learning: Engage with evolving design methods, research, ethics, and emerging media.

Programme Outcomes (POs)

  • Critical Argumentation: Show the ability to devise, sustain and critique an argument, with some consideration of alternative views.
  • Problem Solving: Demonstrate an ability to solve problems, applying a range of methods and a degree of creativity and open-mindedness to do so.
  • Effective Communication: Communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions effectively verbally and/or non-verbally, electronically and in writing, showing sensitivity and openness to different ideas and approaches.
  • Collaboration and Leadership: Make useful contributions to group discussions and collaborative projects, demonstrating an ability to listen and, where necessary, to exercise leadership.
  • Self-Management and Deadlines: Manage their learning and work with minimal supervision, responding to specific briefs and deadlines.
  • Digital Literacy and Numeracy: Demonstrate competent numeracy and digital literacy skills.
  • Flexibility, Initiative, and Resilience: Demonstrate flexibility, initiative and/or personal responsibility/resilience.

Career Outcomes

Graduates of the BA (Honours / Honours with Research) in Film Making are well-prepared for diverse and evolving professional pathways, including:

  • Cinematic Storytelling, Direction and Authorship
    Graduates shape original cinematic works by conceiving, scripting, directing, and realising films across fiction, documentary, and hybrid formats. They translate narrative intent into visual language, guide performance and mise-en-scène, and exercise authorial responsibility in representing cultures, identities, and social realities. Within professional ecosystems, graduates may function as Film Directors, Screenwriters or Scriptwriters, and Documentary Filmmakers, sustaining ethical storytelling practices while contributing meaningfully to contemporary cinema and screen media.
  • Cinematography, Sound and Post-Production Craft
    Graduates drive the technical realisation of films through expertise in cinematography, sound, and post-production processes. They design and control image, light, sound, and rhythm to support narrative coherence and aesthetic integrity. This pathway supports practice as Cinematographers (Directors of Photography), Sound Designers or Mixers, and Editors or Post-Production Specialists, with graduates adapting to evolving workflows, quality standards, and responsible use of advanced production technologies.
  • Digital, Virtual Production and Emerging Media Practice
    Graduates engage with future-facing modes of filmmaking by working across virtual production environments, visual effects pipelines, and digitally mediated storytelling platforms. They integrate real-time technologies, AI-assisted production tools, and immersive workflows to expand cinematic form and reach. Through this domain, graduates may contribute as Virtual Production Specialists or interdisciplinary media practitioners operating across film, OTT, interactive, and experimental media contexts.
  • Media Strategy, Distribution and Industry Operations
    Graduates analyse media ecosystems to manage production workflows, distribution strategies, and market positioning of cinematic content. They navigate festival circuits, OTT platforms, broadcast systems, and global film markets with an understanding of audience engagement, rights management, and ethical distribution. This pathway enables graduates to function in roles related to Media Management and Film Distribution, supporting the sustainable circulation of creative work.
  • Entrepreneurial, Studio Leadership and Creative Enterprise
    Graduates build independent careers and ventures by founding production companies, studios, and media enterprises. They combine creative vision with entrepreneurial capability, managing teams, funding models, intellectual property, and strategic growth. Through this pathway, graduates emerge as Entrepreneurs or Founders within the media and entertainment landscape, shaping new production cultures and industry practices.
    Together, these career pathways reflect a programme that prepares graduates not only for identifiable professional roles but for long-term adaptability, ethical leadership, and innovation as visionary storytellers, technical directors, and industry innovators in a rapidly evolving global film and media ecosystem.

Site Designed and Maintained By: Office of Communications, JAIN (Deemed-to-be University)

UG
PG
Enquire
Brochure
Apply UG Apply PG Enquire Now Download Brochure