Master of Arts in Digital Media
English
Courses
Common Core
FLM640Film and the other Arts
3 credits
Students will discuss in class issues related to films and other arts, plus weekly film screening. Studies in interrelationships between on the one hand film and on the other painting, dance and theater, through examination of such issues as the different modalities of presence in film and theater, the various functions of the frame in film and painting, the correspondence of the freezing that is part of the cinema apertures (frozen frames), and the diegetic freezing of the dancer. May be repeated twice for credit.
FLM650Film Authors
3 credits
Students will participate in discussions in class, screenings to be arranged. Studies of several critical discourses that have influenced the analysis of film: Walter Benjamin’s work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction; Althusser’s interpellation; Lacan’s mirror’s stage; Virilio’s dromology and logistics of perception; Debord’s society of spectacle; Edward Said’s orientalism, etc.
AVS500Methodology
3 credits
This course aims to enable students to present visual and performing arts criticism in correct scholarly form, to introduce them to different methods of carrying out research and to acquaint them with the methodology used in classifying bibliographies and reference works relevant to the subject area.
FLM537Screenwriting for Film and Television
3 credits
Through advanced problems in the field of screenwriting, students will acquire professional know-how in documentary and feature film writing, using discussions and exercises with an emphasis on research and preproduction.
FLM630Seminar in Film Theory
3 credits
Study of film theory through the works of Vertov, Eisenstein, Bazin, Metz, Deleuze, Virilio, Chion, Bonitzer, feminism (Mulvey, Silverman, et.), psychoanalysis (Zizek, etc.), and postcolonialist thinkers.
FLM620Theory of Sound in Films
3 credits
Story of film theory, mainly through the theoretical work of Michel Chion (in particular his concept of acousmetre) and through the films of Starub-Huillet, Tati, Duras, Lynch, Syberberg, etc.
Specialization
AUV6203D Film Production
3 credits
This course will introduce students to the principles of 3D environment design: theatrical sets, architectural simulations, and level design will be considered.
AUV531Advanced 2D Animation
3 credits
This is a traditional animation course within the context of a small production pipeline. Students will be responsible for interpreting the initial animatic, storyboards, and workbooks, breaking down sound and music onto exposure sheets, and completing rough and cleaned up animations for a final rough composite. This will require each cohort to learn choreography, continuity, and basic scene analysis, all while working within the confines of a team. New dynamics will come into play, particularly in terms of accountability to small and large groups, as well as increase responsibilities with man-hour projections and general scene management.
AUV533Advanced 3D Animation
3 credits
This course will focus on the design and production of highly detailed models for use in feature and broadcast animation. Students will use a best-of-breed approach to define their tool set, with particular emphasis placed on organization and structure. Additional emphasis will be placed on generating layered digital intermediate files for use in a model-composite workflow in a desktop production environment. Students will also explore advanced material creation using a global illumination-capable rendering engine, incorporating advanced texture creation techniques.
AUV510Theory and Techniques of Animation
3 credits
This course provides an introduction to the creation of animation through classical animation techniques. Students will explore the art of creating convincing movement through effective timing, spacing, and drawing.
Works of master animators will be screened and analyzed frame-by frame to illustrate the principles covered in class, and students will put their knowledge to work through a series of exercises. The ultimate goal of both this course and its sequel is to introduce methods by which animators “act” and bring characters to life through sequential images.
Electives
FLM634Advanced Screenwriting
3 credits
Through advanced problems in writing for original film, students will write a feature film. Students will be coached and supervised by a mentor.
FLM618Cinematography and Directing
3 credits
Supervised filming of short dramatic projects on the sound stage and at exterior locations that explore the complexity of the process, emphasizing the balance and collaboration essential to both directing and photography in its varied technical, production, and creative aspects.
TLV560Digital Editing and Animation
3 credits
Instruction in creation, preparation and production of a complete original computer animation film, with emphasis on organization and operation of the postproduction process.
FLM551Film Design and Special Effects
3 credits
Advanced study and practice of computer techniques, effects and methods of design for motion picture and television, coloring, green screen techniques, layering, etc.
Capstone
AVS680ADirected Individual Studies I
6 credits
Students will use this course to complete an independent or team project. This project will help round out a student’s portfolio and will demonstrate an appropriate level of professional challenge. These projects may be a narrative film, documentary, animation, website, or mobile application, or they may be a thesis relevant to the field of specialization. Students will form a contract with the faculty concerning the content of their project. Completed projects will assist students in the professional or in the academic field.
Mission
The mission of the MA in Digital Media is to prepare students that contribute to the advancement of the fields of film and animation and that strive for originality, creativity and innovation by providing them with advanced knowledge and competencies allowing them to produce innovative research projects in this ever evolving field.
Program Educational Objectives
1. Graduates will acquire critical knowledge in the field of film and animation, and will have the capacity to develop ideas based on an awareness of the needs of their respective community.
2. Graduates will acquire a proficient approach to collaborate on projects through group ideation.
3. Demonstrate the ability to integrate and realize an idea in different types of media by using highly developed technical and esthetically relevant processes.
Program Outcomes
a. Acquire the capacity to use a series of manuals and tools, on both intellectual and technical levels, to make a creative, relevant, animated film.
b. Develop story lines and structure images professionally through an adequate visual expression used in professional and social media online and in broadcast television.
c. Learn to analytically critique films in general and animation in particular.
d. Acquire an artistic capacity to write, create, and execute ideas whether it is destined for commercials or education, or entertainment or information or artistic.