A new MSc&T “Extended Cinematography” in partnership with ENS Louis-Lumière

École polytechnique is expanding its Master of Science & Technology pathway offering, which was launched in 2016 and now welcomes 400 students in 12 programs, including several in partnership with other higher education and research institutions.

“Extended Cinematography (XCin), a new Master of Science & Technology program, a Master degree  delivered jointly by École Polytechnique and ENS Louis-Lumière, will train image specialists to design tomorrow's tools for virtual production in the video and film industries, in order to mix real and virtual scenes in real time on film sets.

Spearheaded by research engineer Pascal Guehl for École Polytechnique, and Vincent Lowy, film historian and director of the ENS Louis-Lumière, this new training program is the fruit of France 2030's “La Grande Fabrique de l'image” call for projects, operated by the French top public financial institution Caisse des Dépôts and the the French National Centre of Cinema (CNC), a project initiated by the government with the aim of making France a leader in filming, image production and training in the film and audiovisual professions.

Grouped in a single class of 15 people, students will be taught exclusively in English. Students will alternate between three months of training and three months on the job. Students will also be required to work on a creative project of their choice, to put into practice the skills and techniques acquired during the program.

At the start of the 2024-2025 academic year, the twelve MSc&T programs offered by École Polytechnique attracted 926 applicants for 324 admissions and 198 enrollments, with 200 students making the transition from M1 to M2. The proportion of women in MSc&T programs is 32%, in line with comparable international programs. MSc&T programs are highly internationalized, with nearly two out of three students coming from abroad.

The three MSc&Ts that attracted the most applicants were the “Data Science & AI for Business X-HEC” program, the MSc&T “Energy Environment: Science Technology and Management” and the “Economics, Data Analytics and Corporate finance” program.