School of the Art Institute of Chicago

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) operates as an interdisciplinary college of art and design, physically and institutionally integrated with the Art Institute of Chicago museum. For students exploring VFX, animation, game design, and digital art, education is facilitated through the Department of Film, Video, New Media, and Animation (FVNMA) and the Department of Art and Technology / Sound Practices (AT/SP). The institution utilizes a non-traditional curricular framework where students do not declare a rigid major, instead constructing customized, cross-disciplinary pathways for the Bachelor of Fine Arts or Master of Fine Arts in Studio.

Educational Approach

The FVNMA department focuses on formal experimentation, encompassing nonfiction and narrative cinema, moving-image installation, and interactive projects. Instruction balances digital workflows with traditional hand-drawn animation techniques and legacy analog processes. The AT/SP department provides foundational and advanced instruction in game design as an artistic practice, emphasizing interactive narratives, simulation, virtual and augmented reality, and code-based generative systems.

Facilities and Technical Resources

Technical production is centralized in the MacLean Center, which houses specialized laboratory spaces and an extensive hardware inventory. Digital facilities include high-performance computing suites equipped with M1 Ultra Mac Studios and Wacom displays, a dedicated render farm, and audio suites featuring a vocal booth and Pro Tools 5.1 surround sound mixing.

Production equipment available to students includes:

• Cinematography: RED camera packages, Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro G2 and Pocket Cinema 6k Pro units, and Sony Alpha A7 IV cameras.
• Tracking: Movella Motion Capture Systems and HTC Mars Camera Tracking Kits.
• Analog Workflow: Arriflex and Bolex 16mm/Super 16mm cameras, Steenbeck editing machines, JK and Oxberry optical printers, and the Sandin Image Processor.
• Studios: Two shooting studios with green screen cycloramas and dedicated puppet animation studios with Dragon Stop Motion carts.

Professional practice is central to the student experience, with project exhibition hosted at the Gene Siskel Film Center and direct engagement with contemporary practitioners through the Conversations at the Edge series.