FILM AND MEDIA ARTS
Jeff Rush, Chair
(215) 204-4372
The Department of Film and Media Arts offers a Bachelor of Arts program
in media production and theory. The program focuses on the development of
creative and technical skills in film, video, audio, multi-media, computers
and new technologies, and the theoretical understanding of media and culture.
The program recognizes and explores the creative tension between
individual expression and the social, political, and economic forces that
shape culture at large.
Students will be trained in developing content as well as craft,
theory
as well as practice. In learning independent and commercial approaches to
production and theory, graduates will be prepared to develop their own independent
productions and/or to assume a creative role in the motion picture and television
industries.
The department brings in guest media makers and visiting professors from
diverse backgrounds for special lectures and workshops. Students may also
select elective courses from other departments in the School of Communications
and Theater in such areas as telecommunications, journalism, and theater.
A highly recognized graduate program offers undergraduate students
numerous opportunities to work on advanced productions and participate
in advanced research in the field.
After taking the FMA basic courses in their freshman and sophomore years,
students choose to enter one of three sequences:
Production Thesis, Media Culture Thesis, or Non-Thesis.
Faculty Mentoring
The Film and Media Arts faculty strongly believe in the importance of
close mentoring. This is particularly important in a department that focuses
on individual and collaborative expression. Upon entering the department,
each student will be assigned a faculty mentor who will guide the student
through his/her four years at Temple. The entire Film and Media Arts faculty
will participate in the review of each student's work in the Basic Core
production/studies courses.
Special Programs and Internships
The Film and Media Arts Department offers special programs for study and
research in London and Tokyo. Additionally, many organizations in the
Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas cooperate
in providing opportunities for student professional internships. The department
also offers a summer internship in Los Angeles.
Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Film and Media Arts
The Bachelor of Arts degree may be conferred upon a student majoring in
Film and Media Arts by recommendation of the faculty and upon satisfactory
completion of a minimum of 126 semester hours of credit. Students must complete:
1. University Core requirements
2. School of Communications and Theater requirements
3. At least 42 credits earned in one of the Film and Media Arts sequences
as described below.
Students may complete up to 12 additional credits in Film and Media Arts.
The number of courses taken in the School of Communications and Theater
is limited to 63 credits. A student must earn a C or better in all Film
and Media Arts courses which count towards the degree.
Due to the highly competitive nature of this field, students with Film and
Media Arts averages under 2.0 for more than two semesters will be encouraged
to change their major. Students with averages under 2.0 may not begin the
program. Students may take up to four of the 42 FMA credits as an internship.
Department Requirements
The Basic Courses
Film and Media Arts students will complete the following FMA courses by
the end of their sophomore year:
- FMA 0100 Media Arts I
- FMA 0101 Media Arts II
- FMA 0102 The Production of Media Culture
- FMA X155 Introduction to Film and Video Analysis
At the completion of these courses, students will choose to enter the Production
Thesis, the Media Culture Thesis, or the Non-Thesis sequence.
Production Thesis Sequence
Alan Powell, Sequence Director
(215) 204-1926
This sequence educates prospective film/video/media makers, media writers,
and new technology practitioners to take creative control of their media.
It emphasizes students' initiative in creating individual or collaborative
projects that serve as an expression of their personal vision and voice.
The Production Thesis sequence builds to a two-semester senior capstone
course in which each student, working with close faculty guidance, will
finish a film, video, new technologies production and/or script, a production
book, and a critical paper on the theoretical issues that informed his/her
work. Media work must be presented publicly at an end of the year screening.
Students may enter this sequence if they earn a B average in the Basic Core
sequence and a B average in Media Arts I and II, and if they continue to
maintain a B average in the Film and Media Arts Major. Completion of this
sequence requires completion of Senior Projects I and II and is based on
the grade requirements listed above, along with faculty acceptance of a
Senior Project portfolio (which includes a proposal or script, and a work
sample) submitted in March of the student’s junior year.
Junior Year
- FMA 0200 Videography OR FMA 0210 Film Making OR FMA 0241 Experimental
Video and Multi-Media
- FMA 0201 Writing for Media
- Production Elective
- Studies or Second Production Elective
Senior Year
- FMA 0382 Senior Project I
- FMA 0383 Senior Project II
- Advanced Writing-Intensive Studies Elective or Writing for Media II
Media Culture Thesis Sequence
Jeanne Allen, Sequence Director
(215) 204-8429
This sequence explores and explains how media works in American culture.
The critical exploration of technology, economic and legal factors, social
history and institutions highlights the processes through which media
culture affects identity construction and social change. Students who
choose this sequence develop critical, analytical and organizational skills
in linking media culture to such arenas as community-based organizations
and museums, schools, media resource centers, and the multi-cultural community
of independent film and video producers.
The Media Culture Thesis sequence builds to a two-semester capstone course
in which each student will complete a written research-based thesis on
media culture criticism and/or history or a producible script for reality-based
and researched media programming. Students may enter this sequence if
they earn a B average in the Basic Core sequence and a B average in Introduction
to Film and Video Analysis and The Production of Media Culture.
Students (including transfer students) who do not meet the above requirement
may petition to enter this sequence based on a review of their written
work. The petition must be received by the Media Culture Thesis Sequence
Director no later than the third week of the semester prior to the semester
when the student would be taking the senior thesis course.
Junior Year
- FMA 0203 Theory and Practice of Media Culture
- 0200-0300 Level Studies Elective
- 0200-0300 Level Production or Second Studies Elective
Senior Year
- FMA 0300 Race and Racism in Film and Media Arts
- FMA 0380 Senior Media Culture Thesis I (Serves as required advanced
Writing-Intensive course)
- FMA 0381 Senior Thesis II
- 0300 Level Production or Studies Elective
Non-Thesis Sequence
Alan Powell, Sequence Director
(215) 204-1926
This sequence is designed for students who wish a more general approach
to production and theory. Working closely with their advisers, students
will choose from a number of production and studies elective courses to
complete a balanced, liberal arts approach to media study in lieu of a senior
production thesis or media culture thesis. Students may progress through
the
Non-Thesis Sequence if they have a 2.0 cumulative average and grades of
C or better in all the Basic Core courses.
Students will work closely with their advisers to construct an individual
course sequence that contains the following Film and Media Arts course requirements.
Junior Year
- FMA 0200 Videography OR FMA 0210 Film Making OR FMA 0241 Experimental
Video and Multimedia
- 200 or 300-Level Studies Course (a Writing-Intensive studies course will
also fill the requirement for an Advanced Writing-Intensive Studies course
listed below)
- 200-Level Production or Studies Elective (with adviser's approval)
- 200-Level Production or Studies Elective (with adviser's approval)
Senior Year
- Advanced Writing-Intensive Course (Studies or Screenwriting)
- Elective or Writing for Media II
- 300-Level Production or Studies Elective (with adviser's approval)
- 300-Level Production or Studies Elective (with adviser's approval)
A student who takes one course to meet the requirement for a 200 or 300-level
Studies Course and the Advanced Writing-Intensive Course must take an additional
200 or 300-level Production
or Studies elective to reach the 42 FMA credits required for this degree.
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