Courses

View courses in

  • COM FT 314: Writing for Television
    Required of all students in the Television Program. The theories and techniques underlying writing for the principal radio and television forms. Emphasis is on the relationship between writing and production, establishing sound aesthetic bases for all broadcast writing, and the writer's social and ethical responsibilities. Weekly writing assignments, lectures, and critiques. May be taken sophomore year.
  • COM FT 325: Producing I
    Required of all students in the Television Program. An introductory course that takes the student through the various stages of production, beginning with concept and ending with full-fledged, camera-ready proposals. Students are introduced to issues of finance, scheduling and organization; they learn to keep budget and concept on track. May be taken sophomore year.
  • COM FT 351: Film Production I
    A practical, hands-on introduction to film production techniques. Using 16mm cameras, each student is each given an opportunity to write, produce, direct, shoot, and edit a series of short (three-to-seven-minute) nonsynchronous films. This course provides a rigorous introduction to the essence of film language and narrative structure across genres. Students are expected to pay for all film stock and production costs; the department provides the equipment.
  • COM FT 353: Production I
    Required of all Film & Television majors. An intensive course in all the fundamental aspects of motion picture production. Students learn to use cameras, sound recording equipment and editing software and then apply these skills to several short productions. The course emphasizes the language of visual storytelling and the creative interplay of sound and image.
  • COM FT 360: Understanding Film
    Required of all students in the Film Program. An introduction to the art of film. How do films make meaning? How do audiences understand them? Explores some of the ways in which movies teach us new ways of knowing. May be taken second semester of freshman year.
  • COM FT 401: Romantic Comedies and Melodramas
    This class will view and discuss romantic comedies and domestic melodramas made in Hollywood in the 1930's and 1940's. these films were some of the most popular and culturally significant of their time, involving many of the era's best screenwriters and directors and most prominent stars. The films set standards for dialogue writing, rich characterization, film performance and story structure.
  • COM FT 402: Production II-Digital
    Continuation of the study of digital field production and postproduction editing. Students develop, produce, direct, shoot, record, and edit longer-form, single-camera, location productions. Emphasis on the development of storytelling in narrative and nonfiction production.
  • COM FT 405: Asian Cinema
    This class will view and discuss major, influential films from India, Japan, People's Republic of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong from the late 1940's to present.
  • COM FT 410: Seminar: Television, Culture, and Society
    Using a seminar format and selected screenings, the course constructively explores topics that have given rise to public debate about television. Issues may change from semester to semester but include violence, sexuality, commercialism, stereotyping, children's programs, and specific controversial genres, such as cartoons, action/adventure, and news. Students contribute their own discussion papers and audiovisual materials.
  • COM FT 411: Screenwriting II
    Writing the feature-length narrative film; creation of characters, narrative outline; writing the first draft of an original screenplay.
  • COM FT 412: Screenwriting III
    Writing an original (second) feature-length screenplay (a first draft and set of revisions required). Further study of dramatic structure: tone and rhythm.
  • COM FT 456: Acting for Directors and Writers
    Develops the director's knowledge and understanding of actors --the "human equipment" of filmmaking--through direct acting experience. Students learn the language and tools of the craft through sensory exercises, improvisation, text analysis, and scene study.
  • COM FT 457: American Masterworks
    Subjects vary with the instructor. Directors discussed include D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, King Vidor, Frank Borzage, Victor Fleming, Howard Hawks, Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, John Huston, Elia Kazan, George Cukor, Orson Welles, Robert Altman, John Cassavetes, and Woody Allen.
  • COM FT 458: International Masterworks
    Subjects vary with the instructor. Directors discussed include Carl Dreyer, Satyajit Ray, Sergei Eisenstein, V. I. Pudovkin, Jean Renoir, Rene Clair, Andrzej Wajda, Jean-Luc Godard, Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Luis Buñuel.
  • COM FT 465: Hi-Def Production
    This course allows students to write, shoot, edit and complete a short "film" entirely in the High Definition digital video format. Students use state-of-the-art High Definition cameras and complete the post-production process in the new Ezratti HD Lab created for High Definition editing and screening. The "films" are produced using professional actors and are targeted for film festival entry. A previous project from this class won the First Place prize at the 2009 Redstone Film Festival. 2nd Sem
  • COM FT 468: Production III - Film
    Students apply to the class as director, producer, cinematographer, editor or sound designer. Directors submit scripts for consideration. The film production faculty then selects eight directors, based on the scripts and the student?s previous work. Faculty then selects the producers, cinematographers, editors and sound designers based on their work in FT 403, their ability to work as a team, and their performance in other related classes. The eight directors form production teams to make eight thesis-quality films. Maximum running time for each film is fifteen minutes.
  • COM FT 491: Directed Studies
    Individual projects; opportunity for advanced students who have completed a major portion of their degree requirements to engage in-depth tutorial study with specific faculty in an area not normally covered by regular curriculum offerings.
  • COM FT 492: Directed Studies
    Individual projects; opportunity for advanced students who have completed a major portion of their degree requirements to engage in-depth tutorial study with specific faculty in an area not normally covered by regular curriculum offerings.
  • COM FT 493: Internship
    Opportunity for students to gain professional experience at television and radio stations, film and video production houses, and other media institutions. Responsibilities vary. Availability depends on market needs.
  • COM FT 494: Internship
    Opportunity for students to gain professional experience at television and radio stations, film and video production houses, and other media institutions. Responsibilities vary. Availability depends on market needs.

Back to full list of College of Communication