Courses in Film Production

50:965:281 Introduction to Video and Film
Exploration and survey of a variety of methods of video production and filmmaking using digital equipment and nonlinear editing to produce a range of films.

50:965:447 Video and Film Production
Continued exploration of a variety of methods of video and filmmaking using digital equipment and nonlinear editing software, focusing on lighting and sound techniques to produce larger team productions.

50:965:457 Advanced Video and Film Production
Students will explore concepts and techniques of screenwriting, digital editing, and film compositing and effects. Each student will develop an individual project from pre-production to post-production.

50:965:488 Post-Production
Explores post-production techniques for animation, video, film, and audio. Focuses on the production related aspects of rendering, converting, importing, exporting, compositing, effects, and sound.   

Courses in Film Studies

50:354:201 The Art of Film
This course covers the skills necessary for the critical study of film, including an overview of the different aspects of film form–story, mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, and sound–and how the principles allow us to analyze and study film, as an art form.

50:354:211/212 Special Topics in Film
Introductory courses which use films, along with selected readings, to highlight issues in culture such as race, ethnicity, and historical contexts. Examples: “From Jacobs to Django: American Slavery,” “The Middle Ages in the Movies,” and “Shakespeare on Film.”

50:354:300 History of Film I
Birth of cinema through WWII, covering early technological advancement, the Nickelodeon Era, the move to Hollywood and the early studios, French Impressionism, German Expressionism, Soviet Montage, Early Japanese cinema, Poetic Realism, the arrival of sound and color, and the Hollywood Studio System.

50:354:301 History of Film II
1945 through the rise of conglomeration in the 1980s, including Film Noir, Neorealism, Japan’s Golden Age, the New Wave, the arrival of TV, the end of the Hollywood Studio System, the rise of personal cinema and the blockbuster. Second part of required course in support of the English Department’s new track in Film and Media Studies.

50:354:302 History of Film III
Contemporary cinema, covering the globalization of film, the influence of Hong Kong and South Korea, the rise of Third World cinema, as well as the arrival of Visual Effects and the proliferation of animation, independent cinema, and the end of film and the transition to Digital Cinema.

50:354:310 Literature and Film
Adaptations from other narrative and dramatic forms; relations between literary and film conventions; special problems in adapting literary works to film.

50:354:311 Film Theory
An introduction to critical methods for discussing film and film history which will examine methods for discussing film biography, production, and other historical issues. Students will get an overview of influential critical approaches, including structuralism, psychoanalysis and narratology. This course is considered necessary in support of the new English Department track in Film and Media Studies.

50:354:312 Women in Film
This course examines women as subjects and objects in films, as well as highlighting influential female filmmakers. Feminist film theory will be used to examine both Hollywood and independent films. Emphasis will be placed on analyzing films for constructions of gender, but issues of sexual orientation, race, and class will also be discussed.

50:354:313 Hitchcock
An overview of the career of Alfred Hitchcock, which will showcase his most important films and also discuss his influence on contemporary filmmaking.

50:354:314ST: Animation
This course covers a range of topics in animation history, production, reception, style, aesthetics, and expression. Courses may include a broad survey of innovative animators from around the world; specialty courses such as children’s animation, female animators, puppets and claymation, or anime; or signature studios such as Disney or Ghibli.

50:354:315 American Film
The American film from the silent period to the present; concentrated study of several major directors such as Ford, Hawks, and Welles.

50:354:320 World Cinema
Major developments and achievements in French, Italian, British, Russian, and other national cinemas; cross-influences between foreign and American cinema.

50:354:350 Major Filmmakers
The viewing, analysis, and discussion of selected films by such directors as Griffith, Eisenstein, Ford, Huston, Welles, Bergman, Fellini, Buñuel, and Kurosawa.

50:354:390, 391, 392, 393, 394 Special Topics in Film
A course in a specially selected topic. Primarily, but not exclusively, for advanced students. Courses with different topics may be repeated for credit.

50:354:395 Screenwriting
Instruction and practice in preparing screenplays for production.

50:354:396, 397, 398, 399 Studies in Film Genres
Intensive study of a particular genre of film, including the musical, the western, the crime drama, the comedy, or science fiction film.

50:354:401 Advanced Screenwriting
An advanced course in screenwriting for students who have already mastered the basics of screenplay structure and writing. Prerequisite: 50:354:395 or permission of instructor.

50:354:410 Senior Seminar
Allows students to do intensive research and critical writing on a major figure, movement, or issue in film studies.