Film & Television, BFA
Learning Outcomes
The program faculty developed the following student learning outcomes so faculty and students have a shared understanding of the learning goals directing the curriculum. Students are expected to be proficient or above in each of these areas by the time they graduate from the program.
1. Production Skills
2. Distribution Practices
3. Television and Cinema Traditions
4. Industry Trends
Pre-production, Production, and Post-Production for Film and Television Projects
Students will be able to explain and perform tasks with respect to the various phases of film and television products.
Specifically, students will be able to:
A. Develop film and television projects, including script writing and rewriting, personnel organization, legal issues, project pitches, budget development, casting sessions, location acquisition, and equipment usage and needs.
B. Perform tasks related to directing, cinematography, lighting, sound recording techniques, and on-set personnel procedures.
C. Exhibit skills in video editing, color correction, audio sweetening, visual effects and storytelling.
Film and Television Distribution Practices in Business and Industry
Students will be able to explain and perform all industry practices in the business of film and television production relating to distribution and final documentation of production management and legal practices
Specifically, students will be able to:
A. Identify global perspectives and promote cross-cultural understanding of distribution models for both domestic and international television broadcast and theatrical film and television outlets.
B. Develop an understanding of the aesthetics and theoretical basis of distribution funding models to create successful commission and/or acquisition deals in television network, studio, or online media distribution in order to establish a variation of proper revenue streams and license fees.
C. Prepare a complete post-production technical work-flow, and include budgeting based on industry standard practices.
D. Construct the incorporation of final mastering with graphics, sound/audio mixing, color correction, and all media deliverables to pass technical evaluation and quality control upon successful completion of the final picture lock edit approval per the relevant executive committee.
E. Create all production-related legal documentation and media package deliverables upon successful completion of the final production process.
Traditions of Television and Cinema
Students will know the broad outlines of the history of film and television, which include technology, style, thematic interests, and the major historical changes affecting the making of all the arts.
Specifically, students will be able to:
A. Identify the style and the thematic concerns of the essential movements in cinema, including Soviet Constructivism, German Expressionism, the various post-WWII “new waves” and the post-1960 “film school” movements.
B. Describe the distinguishing elements of the major developments in American cinema including the effects of the Hollywood Production Code of 1930, the development of the Hollywood studios and the major Hollywood genres, the decline of the studios after WWII, and the rise of “independent” filmmaking and television.
C. Explain the effects of the major technological developments in film and television, including sound, color, the conversion from film to digital, and changes in distribution platforms.
D. Analyze the various genres of television production, including the sitcom, long-form drama, news shows, the talk show, and such recent genres as “unscripted” television and web series.
E. Discuss the profound aesthetic and thematic developments in television, such as the long-running episodic productions marked by Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Girls, and House of Cards.
Trends within the Film and Television Industry
Students will be cognizant of trends for the overall film and television industries with regards to production methods and distribution models.
Specifically, students will be able to:
A. Describe the rapidly changing nature of opportunities within the diverse realms of broadcast offerings that include network, premium cable, basic cable, and the internet television platforms.
B. Explain the terminology, distribution models, narrative structures, and web series’ practices within the expansive emergence of the television industry.
C. Interpolate the distinct aspects of structuring and creating film and television projects for a cross-section of screening options within the digital age.