Electronic Arts

Majors are introduced to the four option areas of the program through the pre-admission core classes so that they gain an awareness of the language and capabilities of each disciplinary area.  When the core is complete, students submit a portfolio application in one of the four program tracks: computer animation, audio, video, or interactive new media studies. As a culminating experience, seniors collaborate in an interdisciplinary team over two semesters to create a single, original, professional-quality project.

These interdisciplinary projects take many creative forms, including: animations, music recordings, interactive websites, computer games and apps, music videos, dramatic and documentary films, or interactive installations.  The senior project is designed to challenge, engage and move audiences while enhancing the skills of EA students and providing them with a high-quality portfolio piece to launch their professional careers.

The collaborative story-telling nature of the program, the quality of the students and faculty, access to state-of-the-art facilities, and the chance to work on a year-long senior project are all reasons why Electronic Arts students consistently earn national and international accolades for their creative work.

Track options

Potential careers

The Electronic Arts program is designed to prepare students for a variety of professional careers, including: computer animation, interactive multimedia and web design, video game creation and design, filmmaking, special effects and digital post-production, music recording and producing, and sound design for film.

The EA curriculum enables majors to build a professional portfolio which demonstrates an expertise within their area of specialization; illustrates a mastery of the communication skills required to work successfully in a creative team; and demonstrates their technical, aesthetic, and problem-solving abilities.

With their professional portfolio, Electronic Arts graduates will be in a unique position to take advantage of the many career opportunities opening up via the internet and the increasing reliance on electronic communication in business, education, the arts, and entertainment industries.

10 Good reasons to pursue an Electronic Arts major

1. We have one of the best interdisciplinary production programs in the Midwest. Strong words backed up by more than 150 awards won by EA majors over the past ten years.
   
   During this time, EA students have helped produce two student Emmy Award winning series, screened work at SIGGRAPH and Cannes (and 40 other) national and international film festivals, and twice won the “Best of Fest” Video Award at the Broadcast Education Association’s Festival of Media Arts in Las Vegas.
   
   Check out the list of EA Student Awards
2. EA graduates go on to amazing careers all across today’s media landscape, including working in game and mobile app design, animation, music recording and composition, interactive web design, music video and commercial production, and narrative and documentary filmmaking
   
   Check out the list of EA Alumni accomplishments
3. You can begin working on creative productions during your first year of college – in our EA preadmission core classes and as crew members on advanced productions.
4. You’ll work with industry-standard equipment in state-of-the art labs. You’ll hone your skills in a high-definition instructional TV studio, two audio recording studios, and five advanced post-production labs designed specifically for animation, sound recording, video and audio editing, and interactive new media production.
5. We stress effective communication, creative problem-solving, and technical proficiency in addition to collaborative teamwork because we know that these are the skills employers want. Businesses want students who can communicate effectively, think critically, collaborate successfully, and produce high-quality work.
6. We value interdisciplinary collaboration and have a strong working relationship with many departments on campus, including Theatre and Dance and the Computer Science Department. We not only stress collaboration, we actively practice this principle.
7. Our focus is squarely on storytelling – in all its many different forms. This means that you’ll learn to consider your audience, understand what connects them to your creative project, and discover how to maximize the impact of your message on that audience.
8. EA faculty are professionals – they’ve worked and continue to work as filmmakers, screenwriters, animators, audio engineers, new media design artists, and music composers. They are also excellent teachers committed to mentoring you throughout your studies.
9. The typical size of our intermediate and advanced level classes averages about 15 students.
10. It’s hard to beat MSU and the Electronic Arts program for both quality and cost effectiveness. Compared with the cost of an undergrad education in similar electronic arts fields at most private and four year public universities, you’ll find Missouri State’s in-state tuition of  just over $7,000/year to be a real bargain.