MFA in Media Art: Sample Courses

Foundations of Image and Sound Production

(4 credits)
An introduction to the aesthetics and practice of image and sound production. Topics include visual composition, preproduction skills, lighting, basic directing, camera operation, lens theory, and editing. Students will be creating projects using digital still photography and video.

Studies in Documentary History and Theory

(4 Credits)
A historical investigation of the theories and practice of documentary representation in film, television, video, and new media. Studies in Digital Media and Culture.

Experimental Media Production

(4 credits)
This is a project-based course for students who are interested in experimental analog and digital media.  Along with project assignments open to a wide range of processes in various media, the course examines ways that audio-visual media can be used to question mainstream genres, either through the invention of new forms or by subverting and hybridizing those forms.  The course also looks at how alternative venues and audiences shift the meaning and orientation of production. Technical topics include innovative uses of film, video, audio and software, for example in direct animation, or contact recording. Other topics include: the medium as metaphor; alternative representations of politicized subject matters; ordering systems other than the narrative; non-camera-based visual production; installation art and media as object; media’s use of performance and anti-performance; image appropriation; the macro and the miniature within the frame; the long take; repetition and feedback loops and other generative strategies for media makers.

Business Concepts for Modern Media

(4 credits)
The course focuses on strategic thinking, planning, organization, and implementation of media projects from conception (pre-production) through release/distribution/exhibition (theatrical, non-theatrical, digital, web). Course content includes acquiring fundamental skills and a working knowledge of: business math, business plans, intellectual property and copyright basics, grant(s) writing and resources, and current trends in advertising, marketing, and press package materials. Students are encouraged to conduct database web research on the industry and festivals, in addition to following current trends in global markets, financing, advertising, and marketing. Prerequisites: VM 230 or VM 240 or VM 241 or VM 250 or VM 260.

Advanced Graduate Documentary Production

(4 credits)
This course affords student documentarians the opportunity to examine in depth a broad array of “voices” or approaches to the documentary while developing her/his own voice.  In a series of modules, the instructor examines a different documentary method—e.g. cinema verite, social action, historical documentary, experimental and self-reflexive—with supporting screenings and case histories.  The final module of the semester is an examination of the growing significance of digital technologies in the creation and distribution of documentary work. In addition to the training on documentary production, students have the opportunity to develop substantive research and fundraising skills and deepen their understanding of the historical, social and aesthetic framework within which documentary work is created.