Courses
Film and Media Arts
5241. Cinematography Workshop (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: MFA candidacy or permission of instructor.
(Required for the fall semester of the first year of the MFA program)
The art, theory, and technology of film production with special attention paid to location lighting, location sound, cinematic composition, and film structure. This is a dual level course, intended for both the experienced filmmaker and the media-aware but inexperienced graduate student ready for intensive, accelerated study in the design and solution of cinematographic problems.
5242. Videography (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: MFA candidacy or permission of the instructor.
(Recommended for the spering semester of the first year of the MFA program.)
Lectures, demonstrations and practical exercises in the art, theory, and technology of video and electronic media production.
5243. Audio Production and Aesthetics (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: MFA candidacy or permission of instructor.
A production workshop on audio as a form of aesthetic expression. Students will explore theoretical concepts as they use digital audio recording and editing systems to complete projects. Lectures, demonstrations, hands-on instruction, exercises, critiques and discussions.
5341.Scene Analysis for Writers and Directors (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: MFA candidacy or permission of instructor.
Analysis and exercises dealing with the conventional language of mainstream narrative film, including how this language, traditionally presented as the only way to organize narrative films, actually serves to circumscribe the kinds of stories that may be told.
5361. Writing for Media I. (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: MFA candidacy or permission of instructor.
(Required for the fall semester of the first year of the MFA program.)
A seminar and workshop exploring various approaches to screenwriting, including documentary treatment, experimental appropriation, performative conceptions, and narrative screenplays. Through weekly exercises and a final project, each student will begin to develop a personal integration of these approaches leading to a “voice” of his/her own.
5451. Animation Workshop (4
s.h.)
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.
A creative workshop exploring the concepts, aesthetics, and
techniques of independent animation in a number of media from
cards and cels to digital design and manipulation. (Offered
summer only.)
5670. M.F.A. Colloquium (1 s.h.)
(Required for the fall semester of the first year of the MFA program.)
Wide variety of discussions, screenings, and lectures from guest image makers, exploring and integrating a range of theoretical, conceptual, and pedagogical aspects of film and video production. This course must be taken a second time for fulfillment of the MFA degree in FMA.
5671. Film History and Theory (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: MFA candidate or permission of the instructor.
This course surveys major filmmakers who have theorized their practice in journals, workbooks, lectures, interviews, essays, etc., including theorist-practitioners like Sergei Eisenstein, Jean-Luc Godard, Atom Egoyan and Jane Campion. Historical and cultural contexts of theorist-practitioners and related critics are considered in relation to the conditions of experimentation and innovation in significant genres and aesthetic movements.
5672. History of Documentary Film (4 s.h.)
An international, historical survey of the factual film, including creative documentary, anthropological film, television news film, direct cinema, and cinema verite.
5673. Time-Image Arts/Cinema Praxis (4 s.h.)
(Cross listed with Philosophy and Art History.)
This screenings-oriented seminar examines how writers such as Deleuze, Taussig, and Robbe-Grillet and media makers such as Antonioni, Frampton, and Viola expand our ideas about time-based images and the production of space in a globalizing technological era. Students respond to readings and screenings through short biweekly papers that launch seminar discussions. Students conclude the course with a paper (M.A./Ph.D. students) or project (M.F.A. students) and a cross-disciplinary critique of each other’s works.
5771. Producing (4 s.h.)
An overview of the processes of financing, managing, promoting, and distributing a documentary, fiction, or experimental production. Emphasis is on projects produced independently, outside the commercial mainstream, and without institutional sponsorship or governance. Students will produce a comprehensive proposal for a viable film or videotape project.
8240. Special Problems in Film and Media Arts (2-4 s.h.)
Special seminars typically taught by distinguished visiting faculty. Inquire at departmental offices for details, since these seminars often are scheduled on short notice.
8241. Advanced Cinematography (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: FMA 5241 (0458) or permission of the instructor.
Advanced theory and practice in the making of films with personal vision and crewing each other`s productions in Super 16mm, 35mm or High Definition 24P digital video, along with technical and aesthetic exercises deconstructing cinematographic/videographic moviemaking.
8242. Experimental Television (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.
An advanced workshop to develop projects in experimental, documentary, or narrative forms using portable video, TV studio, and computerized image and editing facilities.
Prerequisite: MFA candidacy or permission of the instructor.
A production workshop on audio recording, editing and mixing of dialogue, foley, effects and music for film and electronic media. Lectures, demonstrations, hands-on instruction, exercises, critiques and discussions.
8244. Experimental Methods (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.
An introduction to formal concepts and experimental methods of film production with a workshop emphasis on optical printing, hand painting on film, manipulating the film image and exploring the material nature of the film medium. The course includes readings in the theories and history of experimental film and media arts production.
8245. Documentary Workshop (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
Design, pre-production planning, production, and subsequent evaluation of individual documentary projects.
8246. Advanced Documentary/Fiction Workshop (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: FMA 5241 or permission of the instructor.
Designing and executing individual documentaries, dramatic projects, or works that intermix the strategies of documentary and fiction while dealing with socially significant material. Each project will involve one month of planning and scripting, one month of field production in film or video, and a final month of editing and postproduction. Lectures, demonstrations, critiques, and crew assignments on each other's projects will accompany the intensive fieldwork.
8341. Screen Directing
Theory and Practice (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
Theories of directing, dramatic form, and acting are examined
through lectures, demonstrations, readings, and applied exercises
to establish a theoretical and practical foundation in film
and television directing.
8361. Writing for Media
II. (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
The preparation of a scenario and complete television or motion
picture script.
8452. New Technology
Laboratory (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.
Exploration, study, design, production, and implementation
of hypermedia projects including interactive and computer controlled
video, computer graphics, digital sound, videodisc, virtual
reality, and other emerging technologies. Interdisciplinary
collaborations will be encouraged between FMA, Computer Sciences,
Engineering, Architecture, Art, and Music.
8461. Interactive Narrative (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.
A creative course within a critical frame in which students make and study interactive narratives; textual, audio and graphics/video based stories that incorporate explicit user choice. Weekly exercises and readings, followed by a substantial final project.
8551. Digital Post-Production (4
s.h.)
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.
Advanced tools and concepts of digital non-linear editing of
film and video with emphasis on fine-cut preparation, file
management, ProTools, foley, looping, multi-track mixing, compositing,
titling, EDL generation, and film matchback.
8673. Historical Film Research (4 s.h.)
Major trends in theatrical film history and the methods and issues in the writing of film history.
8674. Critical Methods Seminar (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: FMA 461.
Required of 4th semester MFA candidates.
Methods and approaches to issues of media history, theory, and critical analysis are covered through lectures, discussions, screenings, and directed research as practical preparation for comprehensive examinations. Required of 4th semester MFA candidates.
8675. Seminar: International Film (4 s.h.)
A critical and historical examination of the films of a particular country or world region. Topics vary per semester. May be repeated (as long as the specific topic is not duplicated).
8870. UPenn Critical Studies (4 s.h.)
Prerequisite: approval of the instructor.
Recipient of the Temple (FMA)-UPenn Exchange Award that is given to one student per year to engage in studies in the University of Pennsylvania Program in Cinema Studies. The exchange has been officially approved by the Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania.
9085. Professional Field Experience (1-4 s.h.)
Special authorization of the department chair is required.
Field work on an outside professional production or media presentation with a position of creative, curatorial or managerial responsibility. May be repeated. Up to four credits may count toward the MFA degree.
9245. Advanced Problems
in Film and Video Production I. (4
s.h.)
Prerequisite: FMA 8246 and permission of instructor.
Enrollment limited. Planning and production of significant individual production project. For third year MFA candidates this may involve the initiation of a MFA thesis project. May be repeated.
9246. Advanced Problems
in Film and Video Production II. (4
s.h.)
Prerequisite: Prerequisites: FMA 8246 and permission
of instructor.
Enrollment limited. Planning, production and/or continued work on a significant individual production project. May be repeated.
9282. Directed Projects (1-4 s.h.)
Permssion of the department chair required.
Individual production projects proposed by advanced students under the tutorial supervision of a faculty member.
9683. Directed Readings (1-4
s.h.)
Permssion of the department chair required.
Individual research/theory projects proposed by advanced students under the tutorial supervision of a faculty member.
9995. M.F.A. Project (1-6
s.h.)
Prerequisite: Permission of the department.
Open only to M.F.A. candidates in Film and Media Arts for their
final project. May be repeated for credit during all semesters
the final project is in progress, although only a maximum of
six hours will be counted toward the degree.