Film & Television

• COM FT 573: BU TV 1
  BUTV1 is a credit-earning opportunity for members of BUTV10 & BUTV10.com, BU's student campus channel and website. Students work with at least one of the organization's productions or administrative departments. For undergraduates, one previous, not for credit, a semester in the organization is required, except with Faculty Advisor consent. This requirement does not apply to graduate students. All students must coordinate participation and be approved by the faculty advisor. 2 credits pass/fail, either semester.
• COM FT 576: Global New Wave
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT250) - Explores the interconnected production and reception of selected European, African, and Asian New Wave cinemas of the mid-1940s through the early 1970s. These films experimented with form and style to challenge classical Hollywood norms.
• COM FT 589: Advanced Directing
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT526) - The focus of this class will be on story creation, performance, and filming strategies using small crews and lightweight equipment, culminating in the production of six short films. Working from approved scenarios with a core group of actors, directors will explore character and story development through an in-class workshop process of improvisation. Once committed to script form, these short films will be shot with a small crew made up of fellow class members in pods of three; Director, Cinematographer, and Editor. The class will be limited to 6 Directors and 4 to 6 Cinematographer/Editors.
• COM FT 590: 2D Animation Basics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT201) - Prereq:(COMFT201) From Hollywood movies to TV shows, the web, and more, 2D animation is more popular than ever, but how is it created? This fun yet intensive hands-on beginner course teaches all the fundamental skills needed to create great 2D character animation - the way it is done in the industry. Through progressive lessons you'll learn basic drawing, character design, visual storytelling, how to use Adobe Animate, and make characters walk, talk, and come to life. We also cover acting, timing, facial expressions, color, keying, tweening, and discuss animation history and industry trends. Many valuable skills learned in this class can also be applied to 3D and experimental animation, filmmaking, art, and broadcast design. Your final project is a show reel quality animated short film that will be shown in the FTV End of Term Screening. 4 cr. Either sem.
• COM FT 591: Media Business Entrepreneurship
  We are living in the golden age of entrepreneurship. With the never-ending march of new technology and a global media marketplace constantly at our fingertips, there has never been a better time for media business entrepreneurship. Media Business Entrepreneurship (FT591) provides students with an inside look at how the world's leading media innovators are changing the way the world connects, shares information, and conducts business. Students will learn the skills and strategies needed to heed the call of entrepreneurship and take an idea from seed to fruition. Please join us if you are interested in learning about emerging distribution platforms, want to create new ways to inform and entertain, and maybe even have an idea you are interested in validating and bringing to market. Come create media's - and your own - future!
• COM FT 592: Production Design
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT353) - The Production Designer, along with the Director and the Director of Photography, is one of the top three creative decision makers on any film. Of the three, Production Designers are the least heralded; their work is so intrinsic to the storytelling as to be virtually invisible to the lay audience. In this course, we explore this quiet yet powerful source of creative power through collaborative projects, studio tours, presentations and individual design concepts.
• COM FT 593: Introduction to Cinematography
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT353) - Graduate Prerequisites: (COMFT707) - FT593 is an introduction course to the key fundamentals of Cinematography: Composition, Optics and Lighting. This course also emphasizes on applying those fundamentals in a storytelling context and as tools of on-set communications. This is the gateway course to Intermediate Cinematography.
• COM FT 595: Intermediate Cinematography
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (COMFT593) - Intermediate Cinematography is focused on the required technical skillsets needed to work on a motion picture film set. Here, the concentration will be on training students to be proficient in working with the Steadicam, Gimbal,Dolly, Jib, Wireless Follow Focus, Wireless HD Transmitters and the various Lighting Fixtures. There will also be a class trip to local equipment rental houses to familiarize them with the industry equipment rental protocol as well as an introduction to the professional crew who work there. While it might come across as overly technical, the aim of the course is, in fact, to help students overcome all the technical handling and use them to heighten their visual storytelling capabilities. The course is designed to address the practical challenges when trying to achieve the best possible cinematic images through the design of advanced camera movement, camera techniques and lighting techniques.
• 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 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 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.