The school has two programs of study: general cinema studies and screen-writing. The general cinema studies course lasts four years. It has a common core curriculum based on the study of the language of cinema, narrative and mise-en-scene, and documentary making. Students acquire skills in directing, producing, sound production, editing, and script writing. In addition to the core curriculum, students choose a specialism from either directing or cinematography. The screen-writing course last for two years. The course focusses on screenplay development using basic industry-standard tools and employing narrative and script structure analysis.
Facilities
The CCC is fully equipped with specialised camera, sound, and lighting equipment, as well as props. It can cater for three groups filming in 16mm, one group in S16mm, one in 35mm, and four in video, simultaneously. The CCC also offers full sound and image post-production facilities, in various professional film and video formats, and has full laboratory, transfer, mixing, and re-recording facilities for students to complete their films. It also has three classrooms equipped with audiovisual equipment for theory classes, three 16 and 35 mm cinemas, two video screening rooms, a stage for film and television production, a fully equipped still photo lab, a production office for student projects, a library, a video library, a film library, an audio library, and a cafeteria. Additionally, the school is equipped with a computer network featuring specialised CGI and production software.
The CCC, supported by the Mexican Institute of Cinematography, has in recent years been particularly instrumental in developing a project known as Opera Prima, giving young film-makers, producers, writers, and cinematographers - selected via internal competition - the opportunity to produce their first features and make their débuts. The close involvement of the school's students in the various aspects of the production process, and the opportunity for them to shoot their first film, with institutional support provided by the school, are just some of the features of this project, which bridges the gap between the professional film industry and strictly academic film production. Some of the films that have emerged from the CCC's Opera Prima Project have achieved international recognition, including El secreto de Romelia by Busi Cortés, La mujer de Benjamín by Carlos Carrera, Lolo by Francisco Athié, and La orilla de la tierra by Ignacio Ortiz.
