Practice Exercises & APE Projects

Practice Exercises

Practice Exercises are student-initiated, short, technical skill-building opportunities, which do not conflict with or undermine other program objectives and where the priority is focused on equipment familiarization (e.g. cinematography, lighting, sound, etc.) and are not story or project driven (meaning the equipment is not used to complete a project). Equipment access is based on student preparation and equipment availability. Faculty involvement is not required.

Application procedures:

• Student fills out the Media Arts Practice Exercise Application form.
• Student contacts the MAL Access Manager via the online form at bit.ly/MALaccessmeeting and schedules a time to attend MAL Access Meeting. Please schedule a week in advance.  The Access Manager will provide you with an appointment to present your application in the next MAL Access Meeting (Wednesdays at 3pm on Zoom, the link will be sent to you when you fill out the online form above).
• MAL Access reviews the request and if there are no equipment availability concerns, MAL will work with the student to provide training and to access the specific equipment for the exercise.

Advanced Practice Exercises (APE)

Advanced Practice Exercises (APE) are student-initiated and are more robust than the practice exercise. They are designed to give students an opportunity to experiment with more complex production process but do not attempt to compete with fiction and non-fiction Advanced Production sequences and expectations. Faculty oversight and/or involvement is required. Equipment access is based on faculty involvement/approval, student’s skill level, and equipment availability – regular courses have priority. Advanced Exercises require MA Faculty Program approval.

Advanced Practice Criteria:

1. Project applicant(s) should be in good standing and on track with required coursework and have demonstrated the expertise required to accomplish the experiences objectives. Project should not be a diversion from the student’s progress towards graduation.
2. Experience is conceptually developed with clear learning objectives
3. Encourages student mentoring of beginning MA students
4. The experience cannot compete in size and scope of an Advanced Production project
5. The project must be vetted and mentored by a Full-Time Media Arts Faculty member who will be responsible for the project

Application procedures:

1. Students contacts a faculty member with a completed Practice Exercise Form as well as any scripts/treatments/proposals relating to the project.
2. The faculty member reviews the experience’s objectives against the Practice Exercise criteria and if in agreement signs the application to allow the exercise to be presented to the full faculty, noting any concerns or questions.
3. Once signed, the student sends the application materials to the Program Coordinator to have the request reviewed by the MA Faculty at the next faculty meeting.
4. The Faculty will review the experience’s objectives, scope, and demand on resources. A faculty advisor may be assigned, and their role with the project clearly defined (i.e. meet weekly, create a class, etc.). A class designation might be required. The faculty may also request the project alter their proposal according to the available resources. The faculty may also deny the request.

Please note:

• If a proposal is accepted as an advanced practice exercise, all funds for the experience must run through the TMA business office using the standard TMA financial procedures. Student fundraising for the project will be prohibited except for grants received by TMA or BYU.

Student should also review the Student Ownership of Intellectual Property policy at tma.byu.edu/tma-policies/

Please apply at least 4-6 weeks in advance of production.