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 412: Screenwriting 2
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT411) - Further study of narrative screenwriting, dramatic structure, and character development. Each student will develop and write a full feature-length screenplay. First draft materials will be discussed in class and will be revised for the final project.
• COM FT 417: TV Management
  This course will examine current management and leadership issues facing television executives. Research, content development, revenue models, consolidation, regulatory restrictions, distribution and ethical considerations are explored using lectures, readings/screenings, case studies, and discussion.
• COM FT 425: Creative Producing 2
  Course takes the student through the process of creating a fictional program or film. The course covers comedy and drama series and movies-of -the week from development through production and post-production. The student learns the complexities of the industry, the layers of decision makers to be dealt with, the place of agents, the nature of negotiation, and the fundamentals of hiring crews, scheduling and budgeting.
• COM FT 430: Producing the Short Script
  Developing a producible student film begins with a solid short screenplay that takes all parameters into account. Students will watch, analyze, and discuss successful short films while examining screenplay structure, plot, genre, theme, and character. Based upon short film analysis, feedback received during workshops, and one-on- one consults with the professor, students will write and revise two short screenplays (under10 pages & 10-15 pages). Students will be expected to have a firm grasp on narrative structure, character development, and cinematic storytelling. Final body of work will be two polished scripts that could potentially be produced either independently or within one of The Department of Film & Television's advanced production courses (i.e. Prod. II - FT 402 or Prod. III - FT 468). Pre-req FT310
• COM FT 454: Pitch to Pilot
  First class in a series which will culminate in a collaborative project with CFA to produce a live action sitcom pilot, to be filmed at the Booth theater in Spring 2023. This is a writing class. more information in the FTV newsletter or email filmtv@bu.edu. Pre-req FT 512 or FT 522
• COM FT 468: Production 3
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT402) application required - This is an honors thesis class for undergraduates who have taken Production II as well as other high-level production classes, such as Directing, Cinematography, Sound Design, Motion Picture Editing, etc. Students apply to the class as either as producers, directors, cinematographers, editors, sound designers and production designers. Directors submit scripts for consideration. The production faculty then selects eight directors, based on the scripts and each candidate's previous work. Faculty then selects the producers, cinematographers, editors, sound designers, and production designers based on their previous production work and their ability to work as members of a team. The class forms production teams to make eight thesis- quality films that can compete with the best student films in America. Maximum running time for each film is fifteen minutes. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• COM FT 491: Directed Studies
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of supervising faculty and department chair - Individual projects; opportunity for advanced students who have completed a major portion of their degree requirements to engage in-depth tutorial study with specific faculty in an area not normally covered by regular curriculum offerings.
• COM FT 492: Directed Studies
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: consent of supervising faculty and department chair - Individual projects; opportunity for advanced students who have completed a major portion of their degree requirements to engage in-depth tutorial study with specific faculty in an area not normally covered by regular curriculum offerings.
• COM FT 493: Internship
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: junior standing, a 3.0 GPA for COM courses, completion of COM FT 201 & COM FT 310. This includes Film/TV internships through abroad programs - Opportunity%20for%20students%20to%20gain%20professional%20experience%20at%20television%20and%20radio%20stations%2C%20film%20and%20video%20production%20houses%2C%20and%20other%20media%20institutions.%20Responsibilities%20vary.%20Availability%20depends%20on%20market%20needs.%20
• COM FT 494: Internship 2
  Opportunity for students to gain professional experience at television and radio stations, film and video production houses, and other media institutions. Responsibilities vary. Availability depends on market needs.
• COM FT 500: Writing Film Criticism
  This course examines the art of film and television criticism and gives students extensive practice in writing about film and TV in a way that balances informed, insightful analysis and lively writing. Students write several film and TV reviews, each covering a different type of film or TV show, as well as a longer think piece. Students will review films currently playing in local theaters and TV shows currently available on broadcast, cable or other internet platforms, such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and the like. Key critics discussed include James Agee, Andrew Sarris, Pauline Kael, Roger Ebert, Emily Nussbaum, Matt Zoller Seitz, Anthony Lane, Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Critical Thinking.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Critical Thinking
• COM FT 502: Sound Design for Film and Television
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT353) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT707) - A comprehensive technical examination of the role of sound as an emotional motivator and major storytelling component in both fiction and nonfiction films. Covers location sound recording, acoustic theory, track building, foley and dialog replacement, and mix preparation, as well as music editing and composition. Introduces a variety of postproduction pathways and technologies, including current digital innovations in the field and in audio postproduction, and provides an ongoing workshop for solving editing and track building problems.
• COM FT 504: Post production FX Editing
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT353) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT707) - This course teaches all aspects of video post production including window dubbing, rough cuts, A/B editing, non-linear editing, digital graphics, digital sound, and the integration of all of these processes and technologies that apply to the postproduction completion of video projects. Familiarity with Macintosh computers is desirable. Experience with video timecode editing is a necessity.
• COM FT 505: Real World Productions
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT353) a 3.0 COM GPA - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT707) a 3.2 COM GPA - Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM FT 353; a 3.0 COM GPA Graduate Prerequisites: COM FT 707; a 3.2 COM GPA This is a class that operates as a student-run, client- driven production company. Projects include PSA's and web videos for local, national, and international non- profits. GPA of 3.0 or higher. 4 credits only. Application only. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU HUB area: Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• COM FT 507: Television Studio Production
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT201) COM FT 201 or Instructor Consent - Course presents the requisite strategies, processes, technology, and skills training to successfully create live multi-camera productions. Emphasizes the roles and responsibilities of the director and producer. Intended outcome is for students to demonstrate proficiency in the academic, practical, and professional components established for the course. 4 cr, either sem.
• COM FT 508: Line Producing
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: FT353 - Any film- even a very short one- requires the making of thousands of decisions. How long do we shoot? How many mouths do we feed? How much will the props cost? This course offers systems for arriving at intelligent answers to these myriad questions. In covering logistics of getting a media production made, the course addressed how to catalog all the practical considerations that go into a production, how to schedule a shoot, how to budget a production and how to plan for distribution of the final product.
• COM FT 509: Broadcasting Horror
  This seminar analyzes horror across radio, podcasting, broadcast, cable, and streaming outlets. In addition to studying horror as a genre with recurring anxieties and themes, this class engages with style as a strategy for creating horror in subtle and overdetermined ways.
• COM FT 512: Writing Episodic Drama for Television
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT310) - Deals with the process and techniques of writing a dramatic series for commercial network and cable television. Students will select a current prime-time drama, develop A, B, and (possibly) C stories for an episode, and complete a Writer's Draft and polished First Draft, suitable for a Writer Portfolio. Lectures will include the life of a working television writer, one-hour story, structure, genres, and character development. We will view and analyze TV series from the past and present, and focus on proper drama script format, character development and voice.
• COM FT 513: Global Queer Cinema
  The course is an overview of contemporary global queer cinema. We survey a cross-section of films engaging with various aspects of contemporary queer lives around the globe. The course is organized in a sequence of sections relating to diverse facets of queer worldmaking and to the trope of mobility, which is explored in its various bodily, material, philosophical, and metaphorical dimensions.
• COM FT 514: Writing the Television Pilot
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT512 OR COMFT522) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT512 OR COMFT522) - Prereq FT 512 or FT 522. "Writing the TV Drama (or dramedy) Pilot," explores the creation and development of your very own "one-hour" Television Series Pilot. Each student will pitch a concept, write a treatment, outline and pilot script. Also, you'll create a "leave behind" document, which will consist of an overview of your series, complete with character descriptions, future episode ideas and much more. We will closely examine the ingredients of a pilot script through lectures, script analyses of successful pilots, written assignments and group workshops.