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School of Communications and Theater 316 Annenberg Hall, Graduate Degree Programs: Broadcasting,
Telecommunications and Mass Media Mass Media and
Communication Journalism,Public
Relations and Advertising Film and Media
Arts Theater
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Degree Requirements The student is required to take at least 54 credit hours, including what are normally six hours granted upon completion of a major creative project; plus one semester each of Cinematography, Videography, Media Writing, Film History and Theory, and at least two semesters of the M.F.A. Colloquium. In addition, Critical Methods Seminar is required in the fourth semester as preparation for comprehensive exams. Apart from such nominal requirements, the student is encouraged to develop a program that is specifically tailored to the individual’s needs. Not only should the wide range of courses within Film and Media Arts be considered, but also the rich diversity of the offerings of other departments. There is an overall time limit of five years for the completion of work for this degree, measured from the initial date of matriculation in the program. However, it is hoped that all requirements will be met within a three-year period (two years of full-time course work plus a year for comprehensive exams and the final MFA Project). All credits earned toward this degree must be taken at Temple University with the exception that, under unusual circumstances, the M.F.A. Committee may accept some credit hours of course work completed in other institutions or degree programs. With permission of the Dean of the Graduate school, no more than 12 credit hours of course work numbered 300-390 will be accepted for credit toward the degree.* All work will be evaluated each year in order to determine whether or not the student is making sufficient academic progress. A specially designed comprehensive examination covering a student’s field of studies must be passed. The student then will be required to complete a major creative project. This will take the form of a complete sound motion picture or a video production, although variations are possible with special permission (such as a feature length screenplay or a work in a newly emerging technology). A document detailing current regulations and practices pertaining to the M.F.A. program in Film and Media Arts is available from the Graduate Office in the School of Communications and Theater and constitutes an official supplement to this Bulletin. *The regulations that govern acceptance of 300-390-level courses for graduate credit are listed under the section "Graduate Credit for Undergraduate Courses" in this Bulletin. These courses can be used to fulfill graduate degree requirements only when taken in accordance with these regulations. Course Descriptions -Film and Media Arts Only a limited number of FMA courses numbered 300-390 may be applied to the M.F.A. in Film and Media Arts. See the Undergraduate Bulletin for full descriptions of 300-level courses. 410. 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.) 419. 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. 442. Scene Analysis for Writers and Directors. (4 s.h.) Prerequisite: MFA candidacy. 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. 457. Editing Theory and Practice. (4 s.h.) Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. Theories of cinematic form and structure are examined through lectures, demonstrations, assigned readings, and applied exercises in film and video editing and related computer and disc technologies. 458. Cinematography Workshop. (4 s.h.) Prerequisite: MFA candidacy or permission of instructor. 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. 459. Videography. (4 s.h.) Prerequisite: MFA candidacy or permission of the instructor. Lectures, demonstrations and practical exercises in the art, theory, and technology of video and electronic media production. 460. 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. 461. 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. 470. 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. 510. Communication Aesthetics. (4 s.h.) Investigation of the historic and aesthetic relationship between idea and form as applied to modern media, theater, films, broadcasting and writing; emphasis on the application of critical theory and problems of meaning. Examination of the nature of the image, especially its textual and its symbolic properties, visual representation, its relationship to verbal communication, and its reception. 541. 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. 636. Writing for Media I. (4 s.h.) Prerequisite: MFA candidacy or permission of instructor. A seminar and workshop exploring various approaches to media writing, 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. 637. Writing for Media II. (4 s.h.) Prerequisite: permission of instructor. The preparation of a scenario and complete television or motion picture script. 651. Documentary Workshop. (4 s.h.) Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Design, pre-production planning, production, and subsequent evaluation of individual documentary projects. 654. 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.
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