Admissions for Non-EU International Applicants – Faculty of Film, Ma

• The application is open to graduates from faculties in the field or the following domains: Film and Media, Theater and Performing Arts, Design, Fine Arts, Animation, Music, Architecture, Computer Science, Engineering;
• Candidates must have completed a degree with 180 credits or 240 credits;
• To apply, candidates will submit online:
  • a CV EUROPASS with photo, in PDF format according to the EU guideline: https://europa.eu/europass;
  • a portfolio of works / projects related to Game Design (primary: games / secondary: graphic design, visual art, interactive experiences, installations, narrative experiences, character designs, prototypes, software or any other work with relevant content). Accepted techniques include digital, traditional or mixed media.
  • Short written description of one work/project and the creative processes involved (primary: project pitch, secondary: storyboard, director's notebook etc)
  • An essay of 1,500-2,000 words containing:
    • Personal motivation and evidence of interest in game design
    • Prior experience relevant to the field of games or interactive experiences
    • Personal experience with games / favorite games
    • The candidate's abilities relevant to the field of game design.

Complete submissions are handed in after registration, exclusively in an online electronic format. The candidate must ensure that all required elements are present in the submission and can be accessed, otherwise they will not be admitted to the examination.

The institution will provide, only after registration on the Edubits platform, a folder on a secured online platform where the candidate can upload the required documents. Access to this folder is restricted to the institution and the candidate. The access details will be communicated via the email address used for registration.

Optionally, the candidate may provide supplementary portfolio materials in a physical format on the day of the examination. These will be handed to the secretary of the commission before the start of the examination.

Test 1 – oral 20 minutes

1. Presentation of the portfolio and explanation of the technical and aesthetic means used / defending the argumentation essay. (10 minutes)
2. Interview (10 minutes)
   1. based on the portfolio, CV, essay submitted by the candidate
   2. general knowledge and ludography/bibliography.
   3. commentary on the text and the game from the mandatory bibliography, respectively the mandatory ludography.

Test 2 – oral / practical – 30 minutes preparation and 20 minutes examination (10 minutes presentation, 10 minutes questions)

Prototyping of a game element on the basis of which also develops the concept of the game, starting from a given theme – evaluation of practical skills in specific software environments *, at the choice of the candidate.

* an OSX or Windows system will be available with Unity, Unreal, Godot, PICO-8, Max/MSP, Ableton Live, Pd, Adobe Creative Cloud, 3ds Max, SketchUp, Maya (or other software, on request). The candidate can also bring his/her own configuration.

In case of equal averages, the candidates will be separated by taking into account the grade obtained in Test 1. If equality persists, the candidates will be separated through a tie-breaker test involving the completion of a gaming exercise proposed by the committee.

• Super Mario Bros., 1985

• Bioshock
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Gorogoa
• Inside
• It Takes Two
• Journey
• Layers of Fear
• Minecraft
• Monument Valley
• Pac-Man
• Pong
• Pokemon Go
• Stanley Parable

Board games

• Blue
• Carcassonne
• Dixit
• P
• The Saboteur
• Story cubes

• Brathwaite, Brenda, Schreiber, Ian - Challenges for Game Designers, Course Technology, 2009 (Part I, chapter 1 The Basics)

• Adams, Ernst – Game Design Fundamentals, Third Edition, New Riders, 2014
• Fullerton, Tracy - Game Design Workshop, Second Edition, Elsevier, 2008
• Schell, Jesse – The Art of Game Design, 2015
• Sicart, Miguel – Play Matters, The MIT Press, 2014
• Zimmerman, Eric, Salen, Katie – Rules of Play, Cambridge, Ed. MIT Press, 2004

A) All candidates must have graduated from a program summing up 240 or 180 credits.

B) When applying, candidates will submit a portfolio containing:

1. A motivation letter
2. The candidate's CV
3. A text no longer than 10 pages which will describe the candidate's perspective towards an audiovisual archive they have worked with or to which they have been exposed though a fictional or documentary work, an exhibition etc.
4. Optionally: any other relevant material connected to the field of study (films, video essays, scripts, film reviews, academic writings, etc.)

The complete portfolios must also be submitted electronically after the application. The candidate must make sure all the required elements from the portfolio can be accessed, otherwise they will not be allowed to enter the exam.

After applying on the Edubits platform, the institution will provide the candidate access to a secured folder where they will be able to upload the necessary documents and which will only be available to the candidate and the institution. The access data will be communicated through an email sent to the address the candidate has used when applying.    

The exam will consist of a single interview with the candidate, which will be graded on a scale from 1 to 10 [10 – maximum]. The discussion will be based on the CV and the portfolio submitted by the candidate.

Candidates who are citizens of non-EU countries have the possibility to opt for an online interview, based on a request submitted at the time of the portfolio submission. The request must be sent by e-mail to study@unatc.ro before June 27th.*

Things to know:

1. The results of the oral/practical examinations cannot be contested.
2. The candidates will be graded on a scale from 1 to 10.
3. For the tuition-free places, the final admission exam grade cannot be lower than 6 (six).

*Candidates from the Republic of Moldova are not eligible for the online interview.

• Admission is open to graduates of Theater and Film, as well as holders of art, music, design, or science and engineering degrees;
• Candidates must have completed a specialization with 180 ECTS credits or 240 ECTS credits;
• On registration, candidates will submit online:
• CV EUROPASS with photo, in PDF format according to the EU guideline: https://europa.eu/europass
• a portfolio of works / projects relevant to the fields of Digital Media & Performing Arts (these can be live performances, installations, films, software or any other relevant content);
• a short description, in writing (English), of a work/project in the portfolio and the creative process involved;
• in the absence of a portfolio (points 2 and 3), candidates can submit an essay of 1500-2000 words (English) demonstrating their interests and intentions in pursuing interactive technologies;

Complete submissions are handed in after registration, exclusively in an online electronic format. The candidate must ensure that all required elements are present in the submission and can be accessed, otherwise they will not be admitted to the examination.

The institution will provide, only after registration on the Edubits platform, a folder on a secured online platform where the candidate can upload the required documents. Access to this folder is restricted to the institution and the candidate. The access details will be communicated over the email address used for registration.Optionally, the candidate may provide supplemental portfolio materials in a physical format on the day of the examination. These will be handed to the secretary of the commission before the start of the examination

Test 1 – oral 20 minutes

1. Presentation of the portfolio, explaining the technical and aesthetic means used / defense of the argumentation essay.
2. Interview, based on the mandatory text, the submitted CV and the bibliography.

Test 2 – oral / practical – 30 min. preparation, 20 min. examination

Demonstration of working skills in specific software environments* chosen by the candidate, on a given theme.

*a Windows or Mac system will be provided, with Processing, Max/MSP, Pd, TouchDesigner, Unity, Blender, Ableton Live, Reaper (or other software, on request), or the candidate may bring their own configuration.

In case of equal averages, the candidates will be separated by taking into account the grade obtained in test 1.

• Penny, SG "Towards a performative aesthetics of interactivity."
  Fibreculture 19. December 2011. Ubiquity. Ed Ulrik Ekman.

• Dixon, Steve, Digital Performance: A History of New Media in Theater, Dance, Performance Art, and Installation, The MIT Press, Cambridge, 2007.
• Holmes, Thom, Electronic and Experimental Music: Technology, Music, and Culture, Routledge, New York, 2002 (revised 2020).
• Levin, Golan & Brain, Tega, Code as Creative Medium: A Handbook for Computational Art and Design, The MIT Press, Cambridge, 2021.
• Manovich, Lev, The Language of New Media, The MIT Press, Cambridge, 2002.
• Noble, Joshua, Programming Interactivity: A Designer's Guide to Processing, Arduino, and Open Frameworks, O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2009 (revised 2012).
• Phillips, Andrea, A Creator's Guide to Transmedia Storytelling, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2012.