Category: M1

Overview

Equipment availability policies outline how equipment access is prioritized, scheduled, and managed across productions, classes, and program activities.

Because the program operates with shared production resources and overlapping production schedules, equipment availability is determined by curricular needs. Clear policies help productions plan more realistically while supporting fair access, operational consistency, and responsible allocation of school resources.

Policies

Students are given access to industry-standard, professional film equipment and students are treated as professional filmmakers regarding to the care, maintenance, and responsible use of the equipment. Equipment policies are in place not only to teach the student how the professional film industry operates, but also to maintain the long-term viability of the College’s equipment.

One of the unique aspects of the College is that students do not have to stand in line to reserve equipment under a first come/first served policy. As part of the level playing field philosophy, every student production will have exactly the same base equipment package as every other production during that specific production cycle. This equipment package will be prepared for student check-out, and the check-out period scheduled as a part of the normal schedule. This insures equal access to the required equipment and equal time to inspect the state of the equipment being checked in or out.

It is a common misconception that just because the College owns a piece of equipment it is automatically available to any student who wants it whenever they want it. The lockstep nature of the curriculum, the different levels of productions, and the different requirements of the degree programs necessitate an availability policy.

Complexity of Equipment

Some equipment requires advance training outside of the normal class and/or workshop schedule. This equipment is also typically reserved for the more advanced projects, and only to those students who have taken the extra time to become trained on that equipment set-up and operation.

Degree Program Requirements

The curricular requirements of BFA and MFA programs are not the same. In some circumstances the use of certain equipment may be restricted to only one degree program. The level playing field ideology applies only within a degree plan.

Other Uses

The equipment and facilities are exclusively for use by College of Motion Picture Arts students and faculty on official FSU films and workshops. Use of the equipment for any other use must be approved by the Associate Dean and can never interfere with the established curriculum.

Overview

The equipment room is responsible for issuing, tracking, maintaining, testing, and managing the production equipment used throughout the program. This includes preparing equipment packages, monitoring inventory, coordinating repairs and maintenance, and supporting productions through the check-out and return process.

The ER strives to provide well-maintained, industry-standard equipment and expendables for faculty and students to use in their educational endeavors. Because all productions rely on shared equipment resources, the equipment room plays a critical role in keeping productions operational and maintaining consistency across production cycles. Organized equipment room procedures help ensure that equipment remains functional, available, and properly maintained while supporting a fair and efficient workflow for students across the program.

Damage and replacement of equipment

The ER will be responsible for assisting and/or replacing equipment, which is deemed vital to the essential completion of the project.

The ER will provide an emergency phone number for the purpose of contacting ER personnel in the case of an equipment emergency. An equipment emergency is defined as any equipment malfunction that renders the completion of the production impossible or severely hindered. Not knowing how to operate equipment does not constitute an emergency. An equipment emergency is also defined as any vehicle accident involving College vehicles. Accidents involving student vehicles are not Equipment Room emergencies.

The ER shall be responsible for the replacement, repair, or supply of any equipment or expendables that are not available/functioning due to ER personnel error.

The ER is not responsible for in the field replacement of depleted expendables. The ER is also not responsible for instruction in usage of equipment in the field, and is not responsible for user error. 

For each production cycle the ER will issue a Loss/Damage Report to each producer. The ER will also issue an invoice both to the producer and to the responsible individual(s) for the cost of replacing or repairing any gear damaged or missing.

Check-in and check-out

The ER personnel will guide students in the checking in and out of all equipment.

The ER will provide the original equipment Check-out/Check-in manifest forms to check against the state of the equipment. Any deviation of the state of the equipment, either in damage or loss, from the Check-out forms will be noted on the Check-in forms and signed by the ER personnel who witnessed the irregularity.

The ER will replace an item if that item is damaged or missing at the time of check-out. If there is no in-kind item available then the damaged or missing item will be noted on the Check-out Manifest.

The ER personnel will be responsible for obtaining the signature of the Check-in student at the end of Check-in.

The ER will place all approved Special Request equipment in the designated Special Request spaces.