Skip to main content

California Institute of the Arts

Winter Session

School of Film/Video

At CalArts, the spring semester opens with Winter Session, a unique two week period that in the School of Film/Video is set aside for cross-disciplinary exploration, hands-on learning, and time to focus on making work. 

Experimental Animation Program / Film Directing Program / Film and Video Program

During Winter Session, students are provided with an opportunity to try something new and outside their usual course of work. BFA1, BFA2 and BFA3 students take a class, workshop or lab to explore outside of their program or metier. All MFA and BFA4 students have the option of working independently during Winter Session but are also invited to sign up for a class.

Winter Session also provides graduate students with a chance to teach a two-week course with the support of a faculty mentor. 

For Winter Session 2025, many of the offerings from across the Institute engage with the theme of NOISE, broadly speaking. Some of the courses offered are:

  • Afro-Modernism: Visual Linguistics for Graphic Scoring
  • Alter Egos
  • Background Noise – Creating Textures for Animation Using Direct on Film Techniques
  • Bela Tarr and U/Dys-topian Vision
  • Burnt Spinach: Visual Humor
  • Creative Noise: AI, Static, and the Moving Image
  • Coffee and Silver: Super 8 & Caffenol Hand Processing
  • Embracing Digital Noise
  • Exquisite Corpse in the Phonocene
  • Fake Game Design
  • Foley 101
  • Sand Animation
  • The Big Bang!
  • Videographics Mixtape
  • 3D Animation with Houdini

Character Animation Program

Character Animation students are required to take one 1-unit course during Winter Session: 

Students can opt to take a second course outside of the program, choosing from a variety of offerings across the Institute. 

Additionally, Character Animation students are expected to devote a minimum of 20 hours per week to their films during Winter Session, making significant progress before Spring Semester courses begin. 

Several guest speaker events and/or workshops are also typically offered during Winter Session. Previous events have included: 

  • Character Design Workshop
  • Color Script Workshop
  • Story Sketching Workshop
  • Art Direction for Animation
  • Cinematography for Animation
  • Planning Your Career