Film Studies

This course serves as an introduction to the study of film and related visual media, examining fundamental issues of aesthetics (mise-en-scene, editing, sound), history (interaction of industrial, economic, and technological factors), theory (spectatorship, realism, and indexicality), and criticism (auteurist, feminist, and genre-based approaches). The course also investigates how digital media change has been productive of new frameworks for moving image culture in the present.  Discussion section FILM UN1001 is a required corequisite.

Co-requisite discussion section for FILM UN 1000 INTRO TO FILM & MEDIA STUDIES.

Co-requisite discussion section for FILM UN 1000 INTRO TO FILM & MEDIA STUDIES.

This course examines major developments and debates in the history of cinema between 1930 and 1960, from the consolidation of the classic Hollywood studio system in the early sound era to the articulation of emergent ;new waves; and new critical discourses in the late 1950s. Our approach will be interdisciplinary in scope, albeit with an emphasis on social and cultural history - concerned not only with how movies have developed as a form of art and medium of entertainment, but also with cinemas changing function as a social institution. Discussion section FILM UN 2021 is a required co-requisite.

Co-requisite for FILM UN 2020 Cinema History II.

Co-requisite for FILM UN 2020 Cinema History II.

By closely watching representative classics from countries including Italy, Poland, Russia and Argentina, we will study the distinctive trends and masters of this vibrant era. Special attention will be paid to the French New Wave (60s); the New German Cinema (70s); the reformulation of Hollywood studio filmmaking in the 70s (Altman, Cassavetes, Coppola), and the rise of the independent American cinema (80s). Discussion section FILM UN 2031 is a required co-requisite.

Co-requisite discussion section for FILM UN 2030 Cinema History III: 1960-90.

Co-requisite discussion section for FILM UN 2030 Cinema History III: 1960-90.

Co-requisite discussion section for FILM UN 2030 Cinema History III: 1960-90.

This course surveys the first century of the American Western film genre, and its relation to American imaginings and ideologies of the “frontier,” with in-depth readings of key precursor texts, including memoirs, histories, novels, and essays. We will consider the evolution of the genre and its changing place within the film industry, and study exemplary films that established and challenged the genre’s narrative, aesthetic, and ideological conventions. We will explore how films engage with the history and myth of the American West. We will also be analyzing the politics of the Western, in particular how films articulate configurations of race, class, nation, sexuality and gender. And we will study the way Western films and filmmakers themselves interrogate the analytic categories we use to study them -- categories such as “genre” and “auteur” – with specific attention to the work and career of John Ford. Please note: the course requires sustained engagement with and analysis of written texts as well as films, so please be prepared for a bit more reading than what you might expect from a typical film survey course.

Discussion section for FILM2134UN.

Discussion section for FILM2134UN.

Lab in Writing Film Criticism 

This course will focus on writing fresh, original criticism, on developing an individual voice, and on creating strong arguments supporting your ideas (qualities that translate to many areas, from reviewing to pitching a film project). Screenings in and outside class will be followed by discussion and in-class writing exercises, as well as regular writing assignments. How do you choose an effective critical approach? How do you make your opinions vivid and convincing on the page? We will also analyze recent criticism and consider the changing landscape of film criticism today.

Prerequisite:
Instructor’s permission. Submit a short, film-related sample to cj2374@columbia.edu
Note: Because permission is required, on-line registration may say the course is full when it is not. Priority given to film majors.

Prerequisites: FILM BC3201 or equivalent. Enrollment limited to 12 students. Priority is given to Film Studies majors/concentrations in order of class seniority. Corequisites: (Since this is a Film course, it does not count as a writing course for English majors with a Writing Concentration.)

This course is ideal for writers of their FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD screenplays. The first several weeks will focus on STORY: What it is, what it isn’t, how to recognize the difference. How to find your own individual stories that nobody else in the universe can tell.

From there we will make the transition to the highly individualized techniques, the strengths and limitations, the dynamics of telling a SCREEN STORY; what to leave in, what to leave out. As Michelangelo puts it—starting with a block of marble and chipping away everything that isn’t David.  Through studies of existing screenplays and films in coordination with and hands-on writing exercises which we will share in class, we will develop our skills in all aspects of screenwriting; building fascinating characters, dialogue, story construction (The BIG PICTURE) and scene construction (The Small Picture)

Perfection is not the goal; but rather it is to be able to say truly at the end of each day’s writing, “I did the best I could with what I had at the time. (Phillip Roth quoting heavyweight champion Joe Louis)

Prerequisites: FILM BC3201 or equivalent. Sophomore standing. Priority is given to Film Studies majors/concentrations in order of class seniority. If you are accepted into this course, attending the first day of class is mandatory. If you do not show up, you may be dropped.

This workshop introduces the student to all the cinematic tools necessary to produce their own short narrative work.  Using what the student has learned in film studies, we'll break down shot syntax, mise-en-scene and editing strategies. We'll include scheduling, budgeting, casting, working with actors and expressive camera work in our process as we build toward a final video project. 

Prerequisites: FILM BC3201 or equivalent. Sophomore standing. Priority is given to Film Studies majors/concentrations in order of class seniority. If you are accepted into this course, attending the first day of class is mandatory. If you do not show up, you may be dropped.

This workshop introduces the student to all the cinematic tools necessary to produce their own short narrative work.  Using what the student has learned in film studies, we'll break down shot syntax, mise-en-scene and editing strategies. We'll include scheduling, budgeting, casting, working with actors and expressive camera work in our process as we build toward a final video project. 

Prerequisites: Open to first-year students.

We derive much of our information about the world from visual media. Social networks, television, cinema: all shape our aesthetic sensibilities and our political visions. Yet we often lack a basic understanding of what could be called “visual literacy.” This introductory course gives students the critical tools to analyze how film and other visual media really work – in order to appreciate their artistic and social achievements, as well as to guard against their insidious manipulative devices.

In the first part of the semester, we focus on film analysis through a detailed study of the different production phases of filmmaking – from screenwriting and mise-en-scène to editing and film scoring. We pay special attention to the way in which certain stylistic and narrative choices have particular ideological effects. The second part of the course looks at film history through a comprehensive, chronological overview of its main movements and periods, including the coming of sound in Hollywood cinema, post-war Italian Neorealism, the emergence of world auteurs, New Waves of the 1960s and 1970s, etc. Students will use the hermeneutical tools learnt in film analysis to intellectually engage with some masterworks of film history. In the third and final part of the semester, we study the major debates of film theory from perspectives such as auteurism, formalism, psychoanalysis, Marxism, feminism, postcolonial and queer studies, etc.   

Required screenings include Nanook of the North (Flaherty, 1922), Sunrise (Murnau, 1927), Man with a Movie Camera (Vertov, 1929), Casablanca (Curtiz, 1942), Bicycle Thieves (De Sica, 1948), Rashomon (Kurosawa, 1950), Breathless (Godard, 1960), Belle de Jour (Buñuel, 1967), The Hour of the Furnaces (Solanas, 1968), Seven Beauties (Wertmüller, 1974), Blue Velvet (Lynch, 1986), Paris Is Burning (Livingstone, 1990), and Children of Men (Cuarón, 2006).

Between prestige and streaming, the medium of television has never covered a wider breadth of narratives, voices, and concerns. This course will take a closer look at the format of the American Drama and how it has served as a cultural tool since its inception, reflecting the concerns of the time in one form or another. Through theoretical readings and sociological texts, the course will survey and sharpen our understanding of the power of the medium when placed in conversation with the greater American discourse.

Nonfiction Digital Video Production: Enrollment limited to 12 students. Registering for the course only through myBarnard or SSOL will NOT ensure your enrollment. Attend first class for instructor permission. Lab section required. This workshop course is designed to familiarize students with digital video technologies while they investigate various aesthetic and theoretical concepts related to nonfiction cinema and its engagement with the real. Through weekly readings, discussions, screenings, critiques, and practical exercises, students will develop a solid understanding of how to use digital video as an expressive tool. The course will culminate in the completion of a short video work by each student. Students should be both self-directed and interested in developing a support system for each others work.

Prerequisites: both FILM BC3201 (or equivalent) and FILM BC3200 (or equivalent). Digital Production offers visual storytellers an incredible medium to connect and build an audience. It is an inexpensive, accessible platform to launch micro-budget concepts. Developing the storytellers voice  inexpensively is critical to the evolution of any student, no matter their starting point. The Digital Series course is intended to take students from story ideation through creation of an independent digital series. Emanating from a writers room setting, all steps of the process will be explored and supported by in-class discussion, examples and workshops. This hands-on class revolves around the TV series production model: breaking story, writing pages, preproduction planning, filming and post-production review. We will emphasize the writers voice, construction of series storytelling, and establishing realistic scopes of production.

In spring 2024, this course dives deeply into the world of Arab cinema, offering a comprehensive exploration of its history, cultural significance, and its massive role in shaping the Arab world. Through a selection of films, readings, discussions, and essays, students will gain an understanding of the diverse nature of Arab cinema and how it mirrors, influences, and responds to both political and cultural landscapes in the Arab world and beyond.

A seminar for senior film majors planning to write a research paper in film history/theory/culture. Course content changes yearly.

Advanced Film Production Practice is an advanced production and lecture course for students who wish to obtain a deeper understanding of the skills involved in screenwriting, directing and producing.  Building on the fundamentals established in the Labs for Fiction and Non-Fiction Filmmaking, this seminar further develops each student’s grasp of the concepts involved in filmmaking through advanced analytical and practical work to prepare Thesis film materials.

A seminar for senior film majors. Students will complete a step outline and minimum of 30 pages of their project, including revisions. Through reading/viewing and analyzing selected scripts/films, as well as lectures, exercises and weekly critiques, students will expand their understanding of dramatic writing and narrative-making for film and TV, including adaptations. They will learn appropriate structure for each specific screen-writing form, and endeavor to apply their understanding of drama, character, theme, and structure to their chosen narrative project.

This course offers a historical and critical overview of film and media theory from its origins up to the present.   

Co-requisite undergraduate discussion section for FILM GU 4000 Film & Media Theory.

Co-requisite undergraduate discussion section for FILM GU 4000 Film & Media Theory.

Co-requisite undergraduate discussion section for FILM GU 4000 Film & Media Theory.

This course examines the historical and theoretical issues concerning the representation of African Americans in film and media. The course will provide a historical overview while focusing on key themes, concepts, and texts.

This course examines the historical and theoretical issues concerning the representation of African Americans in film and media. The course will provide a historical overview while focusing on key themes, concepts, and texts.

An advanced film theory "workshop" in which we shall avoid reading film theory in favor of a selection of other texts, taken mainly from the domains of art history, philosophy, and literature. Our central question will be: What can we, who have grown up in the age of cinema and digital media, learn from discourses about vision and its relation to narrative that pre-date the cinema, or that consider the cinema only marginally? In this course, we shall begin to approach some of the major topics of contemporary film theory -- narrativity, subject-construction, the relation of words to images -- through the lens of texts that have remained largely outside the network of citations and references we normally associate with the work of professional media theory. We might begin the groundwork for an "opening up" or critique of some of the blind spots of current theory; at the very least, we shall be reading works that challenge our usual ways of theorizing.

This course examines themes and changes in the (self-)representation of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender people in cinema from the early sound period to the present. It pays attention to both the formal qualities of film and filmmakers’ use of cinematic strategies (mise-en-scene, editing, etc.) designed to elicit certain responses in viewers and to the distinctive possibilities and constraints of the classical Hollywood studio system, independent film, avant-garde cinema, and world cinema; the impact of various regimes of formal and informal censorship; the role of queer men and women as screenwriters, directors, actors, and designers; and the competing visions of gay, progay, and antigay filmmakers. Along with considering the formal properties of film and the historical forces that shaped it, the course explores what cultural analysts can learn from film. How can we treat film as evidence in historical analysis? We will consider the films we see as evidence that may shed new light on historical problems and periodization, and will also use the films to engage with recent queer theoretical work on queer subjectivity, affect, and culture.

The rapid democratization of technology has led to a new wave of immersive storytelling that spills off screens into the real world and back again. These works defy traditional constraints as they shift away from a one-to-many to a many-to-many paradigm, transforming those formerly known as the audience from passive viewers into storytellers in their own right. New opportunities and limitations offered by emergent technologies are augmenting the grammar of storytelling, as creators wrestle with an ever-shifting digital landscape. New Media Art pulls back the curtain on transmedial works of fiction, non-fiction, and emergent forms that defy definition. Throughout the semester well explore projects that utilize Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and the Internet of Things, alongside a heavy-hitting selection of new media thinkers, theorists, and critics. The course will be co-taught as a dialogue between artistic practice and new media theory. Lance Weiler, a new media artist and founder of Columbia’s Digital Storytelling Lab, selected the media artworks; Rob King, a film and media historian, selected the scholarly readings. It is in the interaction between these two perspectives that the course will explore the parameters of emerging frontiers in media art and the challenges these pose for existing critical vocabularies.

A lecture and discussion course on the basics of feature-length screenwriting. Using written texts and films screened for class, the course explores the nature of storytelling in the feature-length film and the ways in which it is an extension and an evolution of other dramatic and narrative forms. A basic part of Film’s first year program, the course guides students in developing the plot, characters, conflict and theme of a feature-length story that they will write, as a treatment, by the end of the semester.

This course surveys the first century of the American Western film genre, and its relation to American imaginings and ideologies of the “frontier,” with in-depth readings of key precursor texts, including memoirs, histories, novels, and essays. We will consider the evolution of the genre and its changing place within the film industry, and study exemplary films that established and challenged the genre’s narrative, aesthetic, and ideological conventions. We will explore how films engage with the history and myth of the American West. We will also be analyzing the politics of the Western, in particular how films articulate configurations of race, class, nation, sexuality and gender. And we will study the way Western films and filmmakers themselves interrogate the analytic categories we use to study them -- categories such as “genre” and “auteur” – with specific attention to the work and career of John Ford. Please note: the course requires sustained engagement with and analysis of written texts as well as films, so please be prepared for a bit more reading than what you might expect from a typical film survey course.

Weekly lectures will introduce film grammar, textual analysis, staging, the camera as narrator, pre-visualization, shot progression, directorial style, working with actors and editing. Lectures by all members of the full time directing faculty anchor the class, highlighting a range of directorial approaches with additional lectures on the techniques and aesthetics of editing. Each lecture will be supported by visual material from master film directors as well as the examples of the short films students will be required to produce in their first two semesters. For the final 7 weeks of the term, a student fellow will be available to mentor students through the planning of their 3-5 films.

An introduction to issues and cases in the study of cinema century technologies. This class takes up the definition of the historiographic problem and the differences between theoretical empirical solutions. Specific units on the history of film style, genre as opposed to authorship, silent and sound cinemas, the American avant-garde, national cinemas (Russia and China), the political economy of world cinema, and archival poetics. The question of artificial intelligence approached as a question of the “intelligence of the machine.” A unit on research methods is taught in conjunction with Butler and C.V. Starr East Asian Libraries. Writing exercises on a weekly basis culminate in a digital historiography research map which becomes the basis of final written “paper” posted in Courseworks in video essay format. Students present this work at a final conference. Topics in the past include:

Cultural Transactions: Across Media and Continents, Genre: Repetition and Difference, and Bang, Bang, Crash, Crash: Canon-Busting and Paradigm-Smashing

This is a fast-paced writing, survey and workshop course that will empower writers to define the formal ideals of screenwriting by investigating film adaptations of novels and short stories. The course will culminate in the writing of a short pitch document. This course is at once a survey of the twentieth century American Film, a survey of the Twentieth Century American novel, and a course for writers. We will distill the craft of screenwriting by looking through the prism of adaption in order to understand which elements of the novel translate into film, and why. We will consider novels with the mercenary detachment of a screenwriter, scouring for scraps with value for a screenplay. As we compare the original text with the finished film, we will distill the essence of the screenplay form. What is plot, action, dialog, metaphor? How do we converge these goals? We will decipher, with the clinical eye of a detective, what the screenwriter took from the novel and what they left behind. And in doing this, we will reach an understanding of the formal tenets of an American film.

A two-semester intensive screenwriting workshop with one instructor.  The Screenwriting 3 and Screenwriting 4 class sequence allows for the careful and more sustained development of a feature-length script.  In the fall semester, students further develop an idea for a screenplay and write the first act (approximately 30 pages).  In the spring semester, students finish writing the script and, time permitting, begin a first revision.

A two-semester intensive screenwriting workshop with one instructor.  The Screenwriting 3 and Screenwriting 4 class sequence allows for the careful and more sustained development of a feature-length script.  In the fall semester, students further develop an idea for a screenplay and write the first act (approximately 30 pages).  In the spring semester, students finish writing the script and, time permitting, begin a first revision.

A two-semester intensive screenwriting workshop with one instructor.  The Screenwriting 3 and Screenwriting 4 class sequence allows for the careful and more sustained development of a feature-length script.  In the fall semester, students further develop an idea for a screenplay and write the first act (approximately 30 pages).  In the spring semester, students finish writing the script and, time permitting, begin a first revision.

A two-semester intensive screenwriting workshop with one instructor.  The Screenwriting 3 and Screenwriting 4 class sequence allows for the careful and more sustained development of a feature-length script.  In the fall semester, students further develop an idea for a screenplay and write the first act (approximately 30 pages).  In the spring semester, students finish writing the script and, time permitting, begin a first revision.

Students explore more deeply the range of skills and techniques necessary to direct both short and feature films including script breakdown of sequences, scenes, turning points and beats as well as advanced study of actor and camera staging. Students will hone their directing skills by preparing, shooting, and editing, in video, a minimum of three significant scenes from published or original work, depending on priority of the instructor. When taken concurrently, at least one of these scenes will be presented in Directing the Actor workshops. Students should also be working on a first draft of a short screenplay for their second-year project if they intend to take Directing 4.

Students explore more deeply the range of skills and techniques necessary to direct both short and feature films including script breakdown of sequences, scenes, turning points and beats as well as advanced study of actor and camera staging. Students will hone their directing skills by preparing, shooting, and editing, in video, a minimum of three significant scenes from published or original work, depending on priority of the instructor. When taken concurrently, at least one of these scenes will be presented in Directing the Actor workshops. Students should also be working on a first draft of a short screenplay for their second-year project if they intend to take Directing 4.

Students explore more deeply the range of skills and techniques necessary to direct both short and feature films including script breakdown of sequences, scenes, turning points and beats as well as advanced study of actor and camera staging. Students will hone their directing skills by preparing, shooting, and editing, in video, a minimum of three significant scenes from published or original work, depending on priority of the instructor. When taken concurrently, at least one of these scenes will be presented in Directing the Actor workshops. Students should also be working on a first draft of a short screenplay for their second-year project if they intend to take Directing 4.

Students explore more deeply the range of skills and techniques necessary to direct both short and feature films including script breakdown of sequences, scenes, turning points and beats as well as advanced study of actor and camera staging. Students will hone their directing skills by preparing, shooting, and editing, in video, a minimum of three significant scenes from published or original work, depending on priority of the instructor. When taken concurrently, at least one of these scenes will be presented in Directing the Actor workshops. Students should also be working on a first draft of a short screenplay for their second-year project if they intend to take Directing 4.

More sophisticated principles are applied and more challenging scenes are presented. Collaboration with a writer is a requirement.  Required for Screenwriting and Directing concentrates.

More sophisticated principles are applied and more challenging scenes are presented. Collaboration with a writer is a requirement.  Required for Screenwriting and Directing concentrates.

More sophisticated principles are applied and more challenging scenes are presented. Collaboration with a writer is a requirement.  Required for Screenwriting and Directing concentrates.

More sophisticated principles are applied and more challenging scenes are presented. Collaboration with a writer is a requirement.  Required for Screenwriting and Directing concentrates.

An overview of the business side of theatrical motion pictures, from the Hollywood major studios to small independents and self-distribution. Covers all the ancillary markets (cable, home video) and their relationship both to the theatrical success of the film and to its bottom line.  Required for all second-year Creative Producing students. Available as an elective for Directing/Screenwriting students.

An exploration of the process and the various options for developing feature film scripts and ideas. The course covers option deals, copyrights, dealing with agents, lawyers and managers, working with writers, guild requirements and the selling process. There is a particular emphasis on learning pitching skills in order to effectively communicate the essence of a project to potential collaborators, financiers and end users. Required for all second-year Creative Producing students and only open to students in that concentration.

An exploration of the process and the various options for developing feature film scripts and ideas. The course covers option deals, copyrights, dealing with agents, lawyers and managers, working with writers, guild requirements and the selling process. There is a particular emphasis on learning pitching skills in order to effectively communicate the essence of a project to potential collaborators, financiers and end users. Required for all second-year Creative Producing students and only open to students in that concentration.

This is a specialized course designed to provide prospective producers with a nuanced framework for understanding the screenwriting process.  The course will explore all the ways a producer might interact with screenwriters and screenplays, including coverage, script analysis, notes, treatments, and rewrites.  Each student will complete a series of writing and rewriting assignments over the course of the semester. Required for all second-year Creative Producing students and only open to students in that concentration.

Pre-Production of the Motion Picture teaches Creative Producing students how to breakdown, schedule and prep all aspects of a low budget independent feature film.  Using one shooting script as a case study, the class will learn to think critically and master each step of the pre-production process. Students will prepare script breakdowns, production strip boards, call sheets and a full production binder.  Topics will include state tax incentives, payroll services, union contracts, deal memos/hiring paperwork, casting, labor laws, hiring BTL crew, legal, insurance and deliverables. Additionally, students will become proficient in Movie Magic Scheduling. Required for all second-year Creative Producing students and only open to students in that concentration.

This class will look at the history of conspiracy theories in American culture from the 50s and 60s (UFOs, the red scare, JFK’s assassination) to the 21st century (from 9/11 truthers to Covid conspiracies and QAnon) with particular attention to cinematic representation. What is the lure of conspiracy theories? Are there particular reasons that conspiracy theories thrive in American culture?  Do different media forms and platforms encourage the spread, and even transform the content, of conspiracies?  What is the difference between theory in the social sciences and humanities and conspiracy theory?  We will read a range of theoretical material including writings by Richard Hofstadter, Fredric Jameson, Jean Baudrillard, Eve Sedgwick, Sianne Ngai, and many others.  Films will include: Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Parallax View, Videodrome, The Matrix, Get Out, and others.

With the pilot as a focal point, this course explores the opportunities and challenges of telling and sustaining a serialized story over a protracted period of time with an emphasis on the creation, borne out of character, of the quintessential premise and the ongoing conflict, be it thematic or literal, behind a successful series.

Early in the semester, students may be required to present/pitch their series idea. During the subsequent weeks, students will learn the process of pitching, outlining, and writing a television pilot, that may include story breaking, beat-sheets or story outline, full outlines, and the execution of either a thirty-minute or hour-long teleplay. This seminar may include reading pages and giving notes based on the instructor but may also solely focus on the individual process of the writer.  

Students may only enroll in one TV Writing workshop per semester.

With the pilot as a focal point, this course explores the opportunities and challenges of telling and sustaining a serialized story over a protracted period of time with an emphasis on the creation, borne out of character, of the quintessential premise and the ongoing conflict, be it thematic or literal, behind a successful series.

Early in the semester, students may be required to present/pitch their series idea. During the subsequent weeks, students will learn the process of pitching, outlining, and writing a television pilot, that may include story breaking, beat-sheets or story outline, full outlines, and the execution of either a thirty-minute or hour-long teleplay. This seminar may include reading pages and giving notes based on the instructor but may also solely focus on the individual process of the writer.  

Students may only enroll in one TV Writing workshop per semester.

With the pilot as a focal point, this course explores the opportunities and challenges of telling and sustaining a serialized story over a protracted period of time with an emphasis on the creation, borne out of character, of the quintessential premise and the ongoing conflict, be it thematic or literal, behind a successful series.

Early in the semester, students may be required to present/pitch their series idea. During the subsequent weeks, students will learn the process of pitching, outlining, and writing a television pilot, that may include story breaking, beat-sheets or story outline, full outlines, and the execution of either a thirty-minute or hour-long teleplay. This seminar may include reading pages and giving notes based on the instructor but may also solely focus on the individual process of the writer.  

Students may only enroll in one TV Writing workshop per semester.

FILM AF 8131 Intro to Pilot: Comedy

With the comedy pilot as a focal point, (and by comedy, that could also include dramedies like Transparent and Insecure) this course explores the opportunities and challenges of telling and sustaining a serialized half-hour story over a protracted period of time with an emphasis on the creation, borne out of character, of the quintessential premise and the ongoing conflict, be it thematic or literal, behind a successful series.

Early in the semester, students may be required to present/pitch their series idea. During the subsequent weeks, students will learn the process of pitching, outlining, and writing a television pilot, that may include story breaking, beat-sheets or story outline, full outlines, and the execution of a thirty-minute teleplay. This seminar may include reading pages and giving notes based on the instructor but may also solely focus on the individual process of the writer.  

Students may only enroll in one TV Writing workshop per semester.

This course explores the portrayal of the Vietnam War in American and Vietnamese cinema. Students will analyze and compare films from both countries, examining themes such as patriotism, disillusionment, national identity, resistance and the human cost of war. The course also investigates how each country portrayed the other through its cinema, and the impact of cinema on public opinion and historical understanding of the conflict in both countries. We will also examine differences in cinematic and storytelling techniques used in each country, unpacking cinema as art, commercialism and propaganda. This course combines film screenings (in and out of class), discussions and critical analysis to provide a deeper understanding of how cinema in America and Vietnam were used to portray the same war. 

What does interaction have to do to storytelling? How do we tell stories within media that are non-linear, including games, virtual reality, and immersive theater? How can we craft narratives that emerge from the dynamics of interaction, narratives experienced through exploration and choice? What design strategies exist regarding an understanding of character, plot, drama, time, space, and event within interactive fictions? This course will take a close look at the mechanics of storytelling within dynamic media, exploring connections between interactivity and narrative experience. The course will examine examples ranging from the design of Live Action Role Playing games to massively multi-player experiences, from hypertext to tarot cards, from Oculus to Punchdrunk. Content will be delivered through lectures, reading, discussion, case studies, and small studio-based exercises. Elective open to all SOA students.

Through the process of developing, pitching, researching, and writing a treatment for a documentary short, students will develop an overview of the documentary process from development through distribution. The course will touch on research, story, production and post production logistics, legal, financing, budgeting, distribution, and ethical issues in the creation of documentary films.

Tech Arts: Advanced Post Production covers advanced techniques for picture and sound editing and the post production workflow process. The goal of the course is to give you the capabilities to excel in the field of post production. We will focus extra attention to concepts and workflows related to long-form projects that can contain a team of technical artists across the post production pipeline. We will cover preparing for a long-form edit, digital script integration, color management and continuity, advanced trimming, and advanced finishing. The hands-on lessons and exercises will be conducted using the industry-standard Non-Linear Editing Systems, Avid Media Composer, and Davinci Resolve.

Each week’s class will consist of hands-on demonstrations and self-paced practice using content created by the students and provided by the program.

MFA Film students in their 3rd, 4th and 5th years register for this class to maintain full-time enrollment status.

MA Film & Media Studies students register for this class in their thesis semester to maintain full-time enrollment.

Screenwriting concentrates who are focusing on Screenwriting MUST take Screenwriting Thesis Workshop with their advisor at least once during Research Arts matriculation in order to graduate. Students may take this class with their advisor whenever it is offered.  They should consult with their advisor if they are considering taking Thesis Workshop at the same time as Script Revision or TV Revision.

Screenwriting concentrates who are focusing on Screenwriting MUST take Screenwriting Thesis Workshop with their advisor at least once during Research Arts matriculation in order to graduate. Students may take this class with their advisor whenever it is offered.  They should consult with their advisor if they are considering taking Thesis Workshop at the same time as Script Revision or TV Revision.

Screenwriting concentrates who are focusing on Screenwriting MUST take Screenwriting Thesis Workshop with their advisor at least once during Research Arts matriculation in order to graduate. Students may take this class with their advisor whenever it is offered.  They should consult with their advisor if they are considering taking Thesis Workshop at the same time as Script Revision or TV Revision.

This course will serve to provide an opportunity for Students who are Directing Concentrates to develop their thesis projects within a structured environment.  The course may be taught in every week or alternating week formats. Students will be encouraged to submit ideas, treatments, scripts, rough cuts and fine cuts of their thesis films.  The class is collaborative and serves as a base from which Directors can try out concepts and ideas, and receive input from fellow students as well as their thesis advisor.

This course will serve to provide an opportunity for Students who are Directing Concentrates to develop their thesis projects within a structured environment.  The course may be taught in every week or alternating week formats. Students will be encouraged to submit ideas, treatments, scripts, rough cuts and fine cuts of their thesis films.  The class is collaborative and serves as a base from which Directors can try out concepts and ideas, and receive input from fellow students as well as their thesis advisor.

This course will serve to provide an opportunity for Students who are Directing Concentrates to develop their thesis projects within a structured environment.  The course may be taught in every week or alternating week formats. Students will be encouraged to submit ideas, treatments, scripts, rough cuts and fine cuts of their thesis films.  The class is collaborative and serves as a base from which Directors can try out concepts and ideas, and receive input from fellow students as well as their thesis advisor.

This course will serve to provide an opportunity for Students who are Directing Concentrates to develop their thesis projects within a structured environment.  The course may be taught in every week or alternating week formats. Students will be encouraged to submit ideas, treatments, scripts, rough cuts and fine cuts of their thesis films.  The class is collaborative and serves as a base from which Directors can try out concepts and ideas, and receive input from fellow students as well as their thesis advisor.

This course will serve to provide an opportunity for Students who are Directing Concentrates to develop their thesis projects within a structured environment.  The course may be taught in every week or alternating week formats. Students will be encouraged to submit ideas, treatments, scripts, rough cuts and fine cuts of their thesis films.  The class is collaborative and serves as a base from which Directors can try out concepts and ideas, and receive input from fellow students as well as their thesis advisor.

This course will serve to provide an opportunity for Students who are Directing Concentrates to develop their thesis projects within a structured environment.  The course may be taught in every week or alternating week formats. Students will be encouraged to submit ideas, treatments, scripts, rough cuts and fine cuts of their thesis films.  The class is collaborative and serves as a base from which Directors can try out concepts and ideas, and receive input from fellow students as well as their thesis advisor.

This course will serve to provide an opportunity for Students who are Directing Concentrates to develop their thesis projects within a structured environment.  The course may be taught in every week or alternating week formats. Students will be encouraged to submit ideas, treatments, scripts, rough cuts and fine cuts of their thesis films.  The class is collaborative and serves as a base from which Directors can try out concepts and ideas, and receive input from fellow students as well as their thesis advisor.

Meets one Tuesday every month from June 2021 through May 2022, from 6-9pm. Dates are listed below, but there may be times when class dates will have to change.

All classes will be taught via Zoom.

Overview:

The class will meet once monthly and will focus on the following:
1)   Students’ thesis work - class will analyze, advise, give notes on, support, and discuss each person’s work over the year during the development, prep, production, post-production, and marketing periods of work for each thesis project.

2)   Exploration of skills necessary to transition to working in the film industry after graduation.  Topics include resume workshops, web site creation, film festival strategy, financing strategies, rights clearance, and press kit creation.

3)   CU alums and other guest speakers will discuss their transitions from film school to working in the film industry, and will discuss their areas of expertise:  TV producing, feature film producing, development, representation, networks and studios, teaching as a career, etc.  

Meets one Tuesday every month from June 2021 through May 2022, from 6-9pm. Dates are listed below, but there may be times when class dates will have to change.

All classes will be taught via Zoom.

Overview:

The class will meet once monthly and will focus on the following:
1)   Students’ thesis work - class will analyze, advise, give notes on, support, and discuss each person’s work over the year during the development, prep, production, post-production, and marketing periods of work for each thesis project.

2)   Exploration of skills necessary to transition to working in the film industry after graduation.  Topics include resume workshops, web site creation, film festival strategy, financing strategies, rights clearance, and press kit creation.

3)   CU alums and other guest speakers will discuss their transitions from film school to working in the film industry, and will discuss their areas of expertise:  TV producing, feature film producing, development, representation, networks and studios, teaching as a career, etc.  

Meets one Tuesday every month from June 2021 through May 2022, from 6-9pm. Dates are listed below, but there may be times when class dates will have to change.

All classes will be taught via Zoom.

Overview:

The class will meet once monthly and will focus on the following:
1)   Students’ thesis work - class will analyze, advise, give notes on, support, and discuss each person’s work over the year during the development, prep, production, post-production, and marketing periods of work for each thesis project.

2)   Exploration of skills necessary to transition to working in the film industry after graduation.  Topics include resume workshops, web site creation, film festival strategy, financing strategies, rights clearance, and press kit creation.

3)   CU alums and other guest speakers will discuss their transitions from film school to working in the film industry, and will discuss their areas of expertise:  TV producing, feature film producing, development, representation, networks and studios, teaching as a career, etc.  

Students work in teams to design, build and deploy a digital storytelling experience which is staged for the public at the end of the semester. The course
combines project work, mentors, and collaborative methods to create a dynamic hands-on learning environment that mixes story and code.

Interested students should contact the instructor for details on applying to the course.

A great TV series starts with a great pilot episode. You have one chance to intrigue an audience and stand out from hundreds of other series—599 were released in 2022, and that only includes the English language releases! This course will share the building blocks needed to write the next compelling series, starting with the pilot. Not all buyers want to read a finished pilot, but as the creator, you’ll need to know your pilot inside out and become an expert in your series’ genre if you want to sell it. This course will be a combination of pilot outlining and scene writing with an exploration of character and theme. All this through the lens of the marketplace and your authentic, lived experience—the magic combination for a winning series. We will workshop your outlines and scenes in class. Any assigned readings, screenings, and exercises will be focused as much as possible on inspiring material that relates to your pilot/series idea. This course will support you if you want to write a full pilot script. However, the main objective is to finish the course having written a pilot outline and key scenes, as well as other material that's vital to a successful pilot and series such as character and season one breakdowns. You should come to the first class with at least two original logline/elevator pitches for series ideas to which you have a strong personal connection. Existing ideas that you feel would benefit from this coursework are also welcome.

MA Film & Media Studies students register for this class to receive academic credit for their thesis work.

Internship for Film Research Arts Students Only

Internship for Film Research Arts Students Only

Internship for Film Research Arts Students Only

Internship for Film Research Arts Students Only