Courses

• COM FT 524: Golden Age of Television
  Course examines the extraordinary explosion of talent and creativity in live television's early days. It covers writers such as Paddy Chayefsky and Rod Serling, personalities like Edward R. Murrow, entertainers Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Groucho Marx, Gertrude Berg, and Lucille Ball, live political broadcasts and blacklisting, and most significantly the great anthology series like Philco Television Playhouse, Studio One, Playhouse 90 which presented great and original American teleplays "Marty", "Requiem for a Heavyweight", "Patterns", "The Comedian", "The Defenders", and many more. Also covered are the great early TV directors John Frankenheimer, Alfred Hitchcock, Delbert Mann and actors who began their careers in television like Paul Newman, Ed Begley, and James Dean. We also look at the quiz show scandals and unique series like "The Twilight Zone." These live television shows (seen by kinescope) are of major importance in understanding the history of television.
• COM FT 525: Creative Producing II
  Course takes the student through the process of creating a fictional program or film. The course covers comedy and drame series and movies-of -the week from development through production and post-production. The student learns the complexities of the industry, the layers of decision makers to be dealt with, the place of agents, the nature of negotiation, and the fundamentals of hiring crews, scheduling and budgeting. 4cr, 2nd sem.
• COM FT 526: Directing
  Students learn all aspects of directing, with particular emphasis given to script analysis and working with actors. The director's involvement in blocking action, composing shots, managing the production process and editing are also covered. Acting experience is helpful but not required.
• COM FT 527: Lighting
  An intensive combination of lecture, demonstration, and hands-on work in lighting. Film and video systems, from the camera to the transfer, are explained, explored, and used. Guest lecturers and field trips to production facilities and shooting locations are included. 4 cr, either sem.
• COM FT 529: Michael Haneke
  
• COM FT 533: American Independent Film
  A survey of cinema from the past three decades originating outside of the studio system. Though the screening list changes from semester to semester, filmmakers to be dealt with include Elaine May, Barbara Loder, John Cassavetes, Robert Kramer, Mark Rappaport, and Charles Burnett, among others.
• COM FT 535: Film Analysis
  Focuses on a particular director (Godard, Hitchcock, Altman, Losey, Bergman, etc.), period, or style (film noir, suspense), and studies how meaning is structured and perceived in the screen image. Includes viewing and analysis of narrative strategies in selected films.
• COM FT 536: Film Theory and Criticism
  An introduction to classical and contemporary film and media theory. Topics include montage theory, realism, structuralism, post-structuralism, semiotics, psychoanalysis, phenomenology, and cultural studies. The course includes screenings of films that have contributed to critical debate and those that challenge theoretical presuppositions.
• COM FT 544: Documentary Production
  This course is designed to develop skills necessary for producing long-form documentaries. There is an emphasis on exploring new, more engaging forms of storytelling and a broad range of stylistic approaches. It covers the entire process: finding a topic, developing a story structure, conceiving a style, shooting, editing, and post-production. Students develop their own ideas and form small groups to produce them.
• COM FT 546: New German Cine
  
• COM FT 547: HISTAVANTGARDE1
  
• COM FT 548: Antonioni and Bergman
  This course will view and discuss the work of two of the most important and influential filmmakers of the second half of the twentieth century, Michelangelo Antonioni and Ingmar Bergman. We will take up such crucial films as Antonioni's L'Avventura, Red Desert, and Blow-Up and Bergman's The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Persona, and Scenes from a Marriage. In their very different ways these two filmmakers developed new and powerful narrative and visual approaches for film and opened new terrain in human sexuality and personal interaction, ecological and political concerns, and philosophical issues. These films--even now--push boundaries.
• COM FT 549: The Profane
  Explores a wide variety of topics concerning censorship, feminist theory, feminism, psychoanalytical theories, pornography, voyeurism, repression, homosexuality, rape, body image, and national identities as exemplified through a large selection of films considered "Profane"/scandalous/ "X-rated", touching upon uncanny regions in which one is "never at home". Further discussion will include an examination of the cultural and historical factors that serve as background for the themes explored and presented in the selected films.
• COM FT 550: Scandinavian Cinema
  This course traces the major discourses that have developed around the Dogme'95 movement. The major focus of this class is to study the work, vision, influences and contribution of Lars Von Trier to the New Scandinavian Cinema and its assorted practitioners. We will attempt to perceive and critique Von Trier's vision as a site for understanding cultural dynamics of European and American Societies. The course is organized chronologically to structure and present the development of both Trier's work and evolvement of the Dogme 95' movement. Some of the readings are assigned around those concerns.
• COM FT 551: Designing the Short Film
  This course explores the aesthetic and technical parameters of the short film format, with the goal of celebrating Short Film, as a genre in and of itself. 4cr. either sem.
• COM FT 552: Special Topics
  Special Topics for Fall 2018 include: A1: Writing the Short B1, C1: Intermediate Cinematography D1: Storyboarding and Animatics
• COM FT 553: Special Topics
  Topics and instructors vary each semester. For Fall 2018: FT553 A1 BUTV10 Editorial; FT553 B1BUTV10 Production. BUTV10 Editorial: This BUTV10 course focuses on approaches to making informed editorial decisions, as well as techniques for shaping coherent news content. The course operates on two tracks: One class section each week examines significant developments in the evolution of television news in America; in the other, students explore the practical aspects of creating editorial content in a modern media environment that ranges from broadcast and cable television to digital video streams to social media platforms. Those practical applications will be applied to a collaborative project with students from the BUTV10 Production course. BUTV10 Production: This BUTV10 course presents the processes and techniques to create dynamic video and audio content on location, especially when time is of the essence. The course also presents how to efficiently and effectively utilize this material in the post-production workflow. Course outcomes include proficiency in strategies of approach, technical craft, professional standards, and the practical application in a collaborative project with students from the BUTV10 Editorial course.
• COM FT 554: Special Topics
  Special Topics for Fall 2018 include: A1: TV Genres and Fandom (This course fulfills the additional TV Studies course requirement.) B1: Broadcasting Horror (This course fulfills the additional TV Studies course requirement. Pre-req: FT303.) C1: American Independent Film--An Experimental Approach D1: Queer Cinema E1: Bollywood/Nollywood (This course fulfills the international cinema requirement.) F1: Japanese Cinema (This course fulfills the international cinema requirement.)
• COM FT 555: The Narrative Documentary Practicum
  This practicum, designed for advanced film and television production students, focuses on the highly specialized filmmaking techniques used for the narrative documentary; that is, character-driven films about real people. The course also explores this tradition's rich legacy: from the Russians of the 1920s, through the CV movement of the 1960s, and on to the present day host of new films spawned by digital filmmaking technology.Course Prerequisites: FT 402 B+ or Better. Or by permission of Instructor.
• COM FT 560: The Documentary
  Surveys the history of the documentary and the changes brought about by the advent of television. Examines the outlook for the documentary idea in national and international markets. Periodic highlighting of special areas such as the portrayal of war, historical events, drama-documentary, and propaganda. Students develop critical and professional skills. Lectures, screenings, discussions.

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