FILM STUDIES

This course introduces students to the aesthetic or formal properties of cinema, including narrative, performance, mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, and sound. Students then examine genre filmmaking and different modes of cinematic representation, including animated and avant-garde cinema, as well as works in documentary and nonfiction. This course is intended as a beginning course to introduce students to cinema.

A broad survey is made of the history, theory, techniques, and development of motion pictures. The history of film as a major art form and its major artists, works, and styles are emphasized. Film examples are screened in class.

This course examines cinema as a reflection of and influence on American society. Films are situated within the political, cultural, and economic contexts of their times, and are analyzed as records of the industrial practices, thematic trends, and social attitudes of the past that help to shape the present.

This course is designed to teach the student the basic tools of scriptwriting for film, television, or theater, focusing on the aesthetic and commercial demands of each medium.

This course is designed for students who are interested in transforming a creative concept into a practical production plan. By viewing, discussing, and analyzing scripts, television, and film, students will learn skills necessary to start production of a film or video.

This course introduces students to the concept of genre--or 'category' -- in cinema, exploring the economic, aesthetic, and cultural reasons for genre film making. Typically, it will focus on one genre and its development over time -- like Romantic Comedy, Horror, or the Western -- and why some genres endure while others fade away. The genre under examination may change each semester.

This course examines the artistic, cultural, and economic contributions of a screenwriter, director, producer, star, or studio. By exploring their various works, we can understand the development of their style, their ideological or social concerns, as well as their standing in the film industry and beyond. Specific film artists will vary from semester to semester.

This is an introductory course covering both the basic techniques of digital filmmaking and of critical appreciation, while emphasizing students' personal and creative expression. Topics will include the theory and practice of visualization, the grammar of cinematic storytelling, the aesthetics of various film movements, camera technique, lighting, sound recording, directing, and other fundamentals related to learning the craft of digital filmmaking. Students will engage in critical appreciation and individual and group analysis of movies, as well as in filming exercises under the direct and continuous supervision of their instructor.

Advanced study of the principles of Cinematography, which includes the technical and aesthetic discussion of film and digital cameras and their corresponding workflows. Film genres, lighting (light and shadows), composition, camera movement, and lens selection (Spherical & Anamorphic) are also discussed. The analysis of Cinematic Film format aspect ratios, their history and most common uses today, and a brief study of art history and painting. The interpretation of the meaning of color-related and applied to art direction, wardrobe, and production design, while carrying the process through color grading and color correction of the visual image (footage) to the ultimate presentation of the actual finished film.

This course introduces students to the ways scholars have explained cinema as an art form, entertainment, and social force since the late 1800s. It begins with theories connected to the early development of cinema and moves on through the mid-20th century. It then examines theories emerging today as cinema intersects with new forms of expression. Students will learn to use theory in analyzing cinema, composing essays and presentations for popular and academic contexts.

This course explores the process of transforming works from various sources -- including literature, television, radio, video games, comic books, and historical events -- into movies. Students will study various approaches to adapting source material into cinema, the expressive powers and limitations of the sources in question, and how to evaluate the adapted work in relation to its original format.

This course is designed to provide intermediate level training in skills required to create scripts for film, television, or theatre. Techniques of writing and marketing scripts are explored.

This course focuses on intermediate techniques of digital filmmaking and theoretical and critical rubrics, allowing the student to gain proficiency in producing, directing, cinematography, production design, sound recording, grip/electric, and editing. Students learn the roles and responsibilities of various facets of the filmmaking process during pre-production, production and post-production. Working with previously produced scenes written by industry professionals, students learn skills that include the visualization of the screenplay, script breakdown, preparation of shot lists, direction of actors, and the staging of action for the camera.

This course focuses on intermediate techniques of digital filmmaking and theoretical and critical rubrics, allowing the student to gain proficiency in producing, directing, cinematography, production design, sound recording, grip/electric, and editing. Students learn the roles and responsibilities of various facets of the filmmaking process during pre-production, production and post-production. Working with previously produced scenes written by industry professionals, students learn skills that include the visualization of the screenplay, script breakdown, preparation of shot lists, direction of actors, and the staging of action for the camera.

In this course, students go through the process of making a short narrative film together, emulating a professional working environment. Supervised by their instructor, students develop, pre-produce, rehearse, shoot, and edit scenes from an original screenplay that is filmed in its entirety in the lab component course (Film 33L) at the end of the semester.

In this course students will collectively develop and shoot one narrative short film throughout the semester. This course is the laboratory component for Film 33 and will parallel the lecture topics of that course.

This course focuses on advanced techniques of digital filmmaking and theoretical and critical rubrics, allowing the student to gain increased proficiency in producing, directing, cinematography, production design, sound recording, grip/electric, and editing, while at the same time producing original content. Students hone their skills in various facets of the filmmaking process during pre-production, production and post-production. Working with original content that has not yet been produced and/or material written by themselves, students advance their skills in the visualization of the screenplay, script breakdown, preparation of shot lists, working with actors, and the staging of action for the camera.

This is the laboratory component of Film 34. The laboratory projects will parallel the advanced filmmaking lecture topics taught in Film 34. The lab projects will foster advanced skills in producing, directing, cinematography, production design, sound recording, grip/electric, and editing. Students will produce elaborate and well-crafted original content based on narrative film scenes written by themselves or derived from scripts that have not yet been produced. These advanced projects will be filmed in their entirety in class, working in collaboration with all the students enrolled in the course.

In this hands-on course, students will delve into the art and craft of cinematography: the methods and techniques by which motion picture photography and lighting help give a film meaning and aesthetic purpose. Through lectures, demonstrations and exercises in a supervised classroom environment, students will learn to operate state-of-the-art digital and electronic equipment while applying the fundamental principles of lighting, composition, exposure, focus, lens selection, and camera dynamics into purposeful visual storytelling.

This course provides a practical in-depth study of the fundamental aspects of recording and mixing production sound for film and television. Subjects include: introduction to production sound equipment, location sound recording and mixing techniques, on-set sound assessment and troubleshooting, digital audio workstation basics, along with dialogue and ADR (automated dialogue replacement) recording and editing.