Course Requirements
MCS 273
STORYTELLING & STYLE IN CINEMA (FORMERLY FILM/VIDEO ANALYSIS)
Course covers basic concepts and terminology of film and video as forms of art and mass culture. This course covers the aesthetic elements that constitute film and video texts: plot structures, sets, costumes and makeup, acting, lighting, cinematography, editing, and sound. By performing extensive textual analyses, students learn how the interaction of these elements produces meaning. Students also gain basics of how these concepts are practiced in film production. After mastering the aesthetic concepts, students also examine their use in three different modes of film: fiction, documentary, and the avant-garde. There is a required lab for film viewing. (Formerly Film/Video Analysis)
MCS 207
HISTORY OF CINEMA I, 1890-1945
This course examines the history of cinema as one of the most influential cultural forms of the 20th Century. We will study the aesthetic and technological developments of cinema during its first 50 years, as well as examine the social and economic factors shaping its history. Initially influenced by other art forms (theater, literature, painting) filmmaking quickly acquired its own formal system, language, and traditions. We will trace the changing styles, techniques, content, and methods of filmmaking as an art form, as popular culture, and as an industry. We will consider how cinema is bound to its social context via audience relations, economics, technology, and ideology. The limited scope of this course will cover primarily feature-length, narratives films as the dominant mode of filmmaking, although we will also look at the development of documentary and experimental filmmaking. The class will consist of lectures, screenings, and discussions.
HAA 278
HISTORY OF CINEMA II, 1945 - 1975 (CROSS-LISTED WITH/MCS 208 & DC 208)
This course covers the continued rise and development of cinema from 1945 to 1975. The course will have a dual focus, looking simultaneously at both the American studio system and international cinemas. The lectures, screenings, and discussions place equal emphasis on charting the development of cinematic techniques as well as examining the growth of specific national cinemas. In addition, the course surveys international stylistic trends in narrative, documentary, and avant-garde film. Students will acquire a broad understanding of the institutional, social, technological, and aesthetic forces that have shaped the development of cinema during the mid-twentieth century. Lab for film viewing required. Cross-listed with MCS 208 and DC 208.
HAA 279
HISTORY OF CINEMA III, 1975 - PRESENT (CROSS-LISTED W/MCS 209 & DC 209)
This final course in the film history sequence is designed to introduce students to a sense of modern film history and the multiple permutations of cinema around the modern film history and the multiple permutations of cinema around the globe. It presents film history from a global perspective, concentrating primarily on the development of new national and transnational cinemas. The course continues to chart the development of the American studios since the mid-1970s while examining the effects of media consolidation and convergence. Moreover, the course seeks to examine how global cinemas have reacted to and dealt with the formal influence and economic domination of Hollywood filmmaking on international audiences. Class lectures, screenings, and discussions will consider how cinema has changed from a primarily national phenomenon to a transnational form of communication in the 21st century. Cross-listed with MCS 209 & DC 209.
MCS 231
INTRODUCTION TO DOCUMENTARY STUDIES
This course examines the rise and growth of documentary forms, including audio, film, television, photography, literary journalism and ethnography. Students will study representative works from each documentary approach and learn to analyze the techniques of observation and representation at use in these pieces. Students will become familiar with major theoretical constructions of documentary and be able to use these analytical tools to critique documentary forms. Lab for film viewing required.
MCS 331
TOPICS IN DOCUMENTARY STUDIES
A rotating topics course that could focus on specific historical era or specific group of texts or documentarians from across film, television, audio, writing, and photography.
MCS 343
MEDIA ETHICS
Entertainment and social media dominate popular culture today in a way that begins to completely define American culture. In what ways do entertainment media impact society? As creators of media, what special responsibilities do we have? And as creators of entertainment media how can we use these ethical theories in our daily practice? This course will examine the underlying ethical theories used when we try to arrive at ethical judgments about right and wrong. This course will concentrate on analyzing the impact of digital entertainment on an individual and society. The issue of balancing individual creativity vs. cultural impact, particularly on children, will be addressed. The course will culminate with the formulation of elements of an ethical code of conduct for every electronic (social) media, television professional and movie creator.
MCS 348
TOPICS IN FILM GENRE
This course offers an historical examination of film genres, with a varying focus on one particular genre: film noir, musicals, melodrama, detective/gangster film, science fiction film, comedy, Western, animation, youth films. The course explores the relationship of genres to general social histories. Lab for film viewing required.
MCS 349
TOPICS IN FILM STUDIES
Examination of a particular era of film history or national cinema, film movements, or moments in social history and their relationship to film production. Topics currently in rotation include Film Sound Studies, American Films of the 1970s, War and Film, feminist film, Psychoanalysis and Cinema, etc. Lab for film viewing required.
MCS 350
TOPICS IN GLOBAL CINEMA
This course is designed as a critical study of global filmmakers and the issues surrounding cinema and its transnational circulation. The class will examine specific aspects of the growth and evolution of cinema and look at points of contact between different cultural discourses, national cinematic styles, genres, and reception. Artistic, social, political, and industrial issues will be examined to provide different models of cinematic creation and consumption. Recent topics have included Latin American Cinemas, Asian Cinemas, Transnational Cinema, New German Cinema, History of French Film, Contemporary Global Directors, etc. Lab for film viewing required.
MCS 383
TALKNG ABOUT FILM: THEORY & CRITICISM
This course is to familiarize students with a wide range of disciplines (film, art history, philosophy, psychology, etc.) and how these ideas both inflected the development of classical film theories as well as the evolution of cinema. Moreover, the scope of the course seeks to examine the overall process whereby theoretical discourse develops historically. Lab for film viewing required.
MCS 356
TOPICS IN DOCUMENTARY PRODUCTION
The course will focus on developing skills in conceptualizing, directing, and editing various styles of documentary films. Students will explore the documentary filmmaking process by viewing a range of documentary films and deconstructing/ discussing their attributes, learning basic interview techniques and constructing narratives and stories. Emphasis will be placed on developing technical proficiencies in hand-held cinematography, location sound recording, and editing. Students will produce documentary projects in team groups throughout the term. Ultimately, the goal is for students to learn to define and interpret their own personal directorial approach to documentary filmmaking.
DC 200
MEDIA LITERACIES
This course is designed to help students develop an informed, critical and practical understanding of new communication media, including ways to read, write and produce in a digital environment. We will explore implications of these technologies and their uses in schools, communities, and workplaces. The course also focuses on practices involving current and future technologies that hold promise for the creation and distribution of all media. This course has an additional fee. Prerequisities: None
DC 201
INTRODUCTION TO SCREENWRITING
This course is an introduction to and overview of the elements of theme, plot, character, and dialogue in dramatic writing for cinema. Emphasis is placed on telling a story in terms of action and the reality of characters. The difference between the literary and visual medium is explored through individual writing projects and group analysis. Development of synopsis and treatment for a short theatrical screen play: theme, plot, character, mise-en-scene and utilization of cinematic elements. PREREQUISITE(S): None.
DC 210
DIGITAL CINEMA PRODUCTION I
This course is a beginning workshop in narrative film production. The course provides an introduction to the fundamentals of cinema, including camera and lens technology, composition, lighting, directing and sound recording. Utilizing digital technology, students will produce several films with an emphasis on visual storytelling and personal expression. This course has an additional fee. PREREQUISITE(S): DC 220
DC 215
INTRODUCTION TO SOUND DESIGN
This course is an introduction to sound editing and sound design. The course examines the place of sound in cinema, both artistic and technological. The course will cover the basics of sound, microphones, and analogue-to-digital conversion. Lectures, readings, and film clips will be used to illustrate the language of film sound, as practiced by film directors, sound designers, and editors. Students will learn to edit sound assignments with Pro Tools and current technologies. This course has an additional fee. PREREQUISITE(S): None
DC 220
EDITING I
Students analyze and assemble dramatic scenes under a variety of conditions and narrative strategies. Editing theories, techniques and procedures, issues of continuity, effects, movement and sound are examined as they relate to the fundamentals of cinematic montage and visual storytelling. This course has an additional fee. PREREQUISITE(S): NONE.
DC 275
CINEMATOGRAPHY
This course is an intensive exploration of the craft, technologies and aesthetic principles of cinematography and lighting techniques. Lectures and in-class demonstrations will cover film and video formats, film stocks, film and digital cameras, exposure, lenses and optics, lighting units, lighting placement, lighting control, camera support, and camera movement. Class sessions will consist of lectures, demonstrations, hands on with cameras and lighting units, exercises, and screenings of selected film clips which demonstrate specific cinematography and lighting techniques. This course has an additional fee. PREREQUISITES: DC 210, DC 220
DC 310
DIGITAL CINEMA PRODUCTION II
This course expands on topics covered in DC 210 Production I. Students will refine their skills in the areas of line-producing, pre-production, cinematography, lighting, sound recording, post production work flow. This course has an additional fee. PREREQUISITES: DC 210, DC 220, DC 275
DC 301
ADVANCED SCREENWRITING I
In this course, students study, analyze and produced motion picture scripts. This course emphasizes the use of traditional storytelling, classic mythology and how these devices apply to contemporary screenplays. Students will move from concept/treatment to a completed first act of a feature length screenplay of their own. This script will be completed, revised, and polished in DC 302 and DC 303. PREREQUISITE(S):NONE
DC 371
DOCUMENTARY PRODUCTION
This course covers all phases of documentary filmmaking including interview techniques, storytelling with interviews and B roll, and documentary cinematography. For the final project each student will produce a completed documentary film. This course has an additional fee. PREREQUISITE(S): DC 210, DC 220
CMN 394
ADVANCED COMMUNICATION INTERNSHIP
This course is for communication majors and minors who meet eligibility requirements. Students will learn career planning skills, explore the organizations in which they work, gain an understanding of how they contributed to their organizations, and discuss societal and world issues, as they affect their workplaces. Students are required to work 10 hours per week while enrolled in the course. Students must cmplete the Communication Internship orientation workshop. Students registering for a hybrid section must also attend five 2-hour class meetings.
CMN 395
COMMUNICATION INTERNSHIP SPECIAL TOPICS
This course is for students who wish to receive academic credit for a second or third internship. Must be a Communication major or minor who has completed CMN 394 or ISP250 and meets eligibility requirements. Must be taken concurrently with an internship. Topics include building and managing a communication career, effective networking, and leadership development.