Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• COM FT 597: Advanced Cinematography
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT595) - Advanced Cinematography is an intensive hands-on and creative course that challenges students to draw from the knowledge they have gained in Basic and Intermediate Cinematography and their previous production experiences, and apply them in a structural yet artistic approach in creating a true cinematic image. The main objective of this course is to inspire students to create quality cinematographic images, not merely by just the creation of frame and light, but rather, by digging deeply into the subtext of the narrative and the subliminal elements of the music. FT597 will be conducted in four phases in accordance with the standard film industry practice:Training, Pre-production, Production and Post-Production.
• COM FT 700: Fundamentals of Interactive Media
  This course examines the history, evolution, and present scope of interactive media and related technologies from the perspective of design, theory, business, technology, and impact. Global trends, patterns, and themes are identified and discussed within the context in which they are created, experienced, and transformed.
• COM FT 701: Media in Evolution
  This course examines how media businesses adapt or perish in the face of disruptive technologies. Students trace the history of the television industry and the emergence of new platforms to explore how technology has influenced consolidation, emerging revenue models, distribution options and audience consumption.
• COM FT 702: Script To Film
  Exclusive to Graduate Screenwriting students (required in 1st year). An introduction to the relationship between the written script and the image on screen. Through in-depth analysis, we will study screenplays, films and the mind of the screenwriter in order to decipher the process of developing story from character, plot and theme. Students will be required to write expository papers and present their own analysis of a chosen film.
• COM FT 704: Genre for Screenwriters
  This course starts with the basics of genre theory, then identifies American genre conventions using the course's "study" films. Study films will be discussed in terms of the genre's conventions: theme, structure, characters, setting, subject matter, visual motifs or recurring icons, and tone/mood. Each student is then required to write a treatment and 10-15 pages of a feature script in a genre unfamiliar to him/her. Students' creative work will be workshopped.
• COM FT 705: Comedies and Melodramas for Graduate Students
  This class will view and discuss romantic comedies and domestic melodramas made in Hollywood in the 1930's and 1940's.
• COM FT 707: Introduction to Video Production
  An introduction to the techniques of producing and directing video projects, including videography, lighting, editing, sound, and special effects. Emphasis is on execution and design of both "live" on tape and postproduced works using both field and studio equipment.
• COM FT 711: Screenwriting I
  Exclusively for screenwriting graduate students, an introduction to principles of drama, screenplay structure, characterization, screenplay description and dialogue through lecture and discussion of produced screenplays. Students begin with exercises and then write outlines/treatments in preparation for completing a first act (approximately 30 pages) and full treatment of an original feature screenplay. Student work will be discussed in workshop format.
• COM FT 715: Market Analysis & Research for Creative Ventures
  This course will provide Media Ventures students with the research tools, techniques, and methodologies required to explore, evaluate viability, test, and validate potential business ideas using design thinking and product strategy based principles. Students will learn the importance qualitative and quantitative approaches to understanding their industry, market, and audience in order to ensure their idea has considerable value and a competitive advantage in today's data-driven marketplace.
• COM FT 717: TV Management
  This course will examine leadership issues facing today's television executives and the varied management styles of high-profile decision makers. The current TV landscape, content development, revenue models, consolidation, negotiation, distribution and ethical considerations are explored using lectures, in-class discussions, readings, and special projects.
• COM FT 718: Writing the Television Drama Spec Script
  Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT716) Production of video projects using A/B editing suites and computer gra phics. - Exclusively for Screenwriting MFA students, this is an advanced, reading- and writing-intensive course in which students develop and write a spec script for a current hour-long television drama or dramedy. Students begin by mapping out the various storylines for their episode, then move on to writing detailed beat sheets and outlines. After mastering those steps, students write a 50-55 page spec script, followed by a fully-revised second draft. All student work will be discussed in workshop format.
• COM FT 719: Writing the Half-Hour Scripted Comedy
  This class explores the creation of a solid situation comedy script. This is done through readings, screenings, writing exercises and writing your own sitcom spec. There is also a good deal of group work and even a "staff" writing gig for all to participate in. Your story begins with an idea to pitch for a current sitcom series. Embedded in the idea is a comedic premise that will drive the episode. From there we move into writing beat sheets, network outlines, and then scripted pages. The goal is a structurally sound thirty-minute episode. A lot of the humor doesn't show up initially and rewriting beyond the class is greatly encouraged for those who wish to pursue a career on a writing staff, and potentially use their spec as a calling card for the industry.
• COM FT 720: Writing the Social Purpose Short
  Writing the Social Purpose Short is an intensive writing workshop class that focuses on mastering the short form narrative screenplay. This class gives particular attention to crafting narratives that are socially engaged, meaningful, and speak to the pressing issues of the day. Students will explore screenplay structure, watch a cross-section of global shorts, and write and revise FIVE (5) short screenplays, ranging from 10-20 pages. Students will write at a pace of roughly one script per two weeks. Each student will choose two shorts to hone and polish. Final projects will be eligible for production next semester.
• COM FT 724: Screenwriting III
  Advanced screenwriting for 2nd year Graduate Screenwriting Students. Based upon lectured material, the feedback received during workshops, and one-on- one consults with the professor, students will write and revise a full feature-length screenplay. Students will be expected to have a firm grasp on narrative structure, character development, and cinematic storytelling. The material covered in the first year of the graduate screenwriting program will be applied to this intense workshop atmosphere.
• COM FT 725: Creative Producing II
  CREATIVE PROD 2
• COM FT 727: Creative Producing I
  This course takes students through the process of creating non-fiction TV programming. Think talk shows, reality programs, and documentaries. How to create a concept, write a proposal, cast a program, and develop a marketing reason to do the program. It's all part and parcel of being a creative producer.
• COM FT 728: Creating New Ideas
  This course provides students with the practical entrepreneurial tools and strategies needed to test and refine a new venture concept or existing product innovation that will eventually serve as their Thesis Project for the Media Ventures program. Students will take this idea from concept to working model/wireframe and will present to investors and industry executives at the end of the Media Ventures Program.
• COM FT 729: Script Analysis
  A detailed and exhaustive analysis of selected screenplays through which we will focus on the cultivation of critical skills leading to a sharpened perception, and a heightened awareness of how a screenplay can be vastly improved. Utilizing these analytical skills, students will provide in-depth analysis for participating production companies who are in need of pre- production revisions. Each student will examine the chosen scripts, write coverage, write a more in-depth report for some of the production companies and meet with representatives from each project. Using the model of our workshops, the class will conduct story meetings with writers, directors and producers involved in each project. Students will be expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner through both their written reports and their verbal consultations. In addition, students will look at how source material, such as short films, stage plays and/or books can be adapted for the screen. Each student will then design a pitch based upon chosen source material and do pitch presentations.
• COM FT 730: Screen Adaptation I
  Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT713) - More than half of Oscar nominated films are literary adaptations. This course analyses the current commercial and artistic reasons behind the surge in adaptations, touches upon adaptation theory, and studies novels and short stories that have been adapted for film. Students present papers on film adaptations and begin the adaptation of a short story.
• COM FT 731: Screenwriting IV
  Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT730) - Restricted to Graduate Screenwriting students. Through a rigorous writing schedule, the students complete a feature-length screenplay. A solid first draft of a new feature-length screenplay and two sets of revision.