Film
You can’t escape the moving image. Whether in theaters and art galleries or on television, smartphones, YouTube, building façades, and cabs, movies are everywhere. The magic of cinema, which shocked audiences at its inception, is now fully integrated into our daily lives. With near universal access, the medium is constantly evolving and reinventing itself. How can you, as a young artist, make the most of this moment? How can you explore all the exciting new possibilities of film and video, while still becoming skilled in the relevant traditions?
Pratt’s BFA in Film is designed to grow the next generation of innovators in time-based media. Housed within the School of Art, the program offers a unique approach to the fundamentals of filmmaking, with extensive technical and conceptual training in both traditional and nontraditional forms. At Pratt, there are no limits. Fiction or nonfiction? Commercial or art world? These may be boundaries you choose to move beyond. Your classes will take you through all modes of film and video (narrative, documentary, and experimental), encouraging intellectual cross-fertilization and allowing you to shape your own artistic vision. While our program provides students with professional training in all current technologies, our priority is creative expression.
In our curriculum, award-winning film/video artists and industry professionals teach an exciting range of courses, from first-semester Film Fundamentals and Technical Practices to the culminating Senior Project, in which each student makes a short film, video, or installation as their senior thesis.
Throughout the program, students create, write, direct, and edit as “total filmmakers,” rather than focusing on one area. We provide a core curriculum of rigorous required courses, while simultaneously encouraging students to follow their own interests as they choose electives, which include dynamic film/video topics as well as interdisciplinary collaborations with students in other majors.
For example, consider an elective in Dreams, Memories, and Hallucinations, a nontraditional animation and After Effects class, or collaborate with fashion design students in Film + Fashion, and explore the rich interaction of costume and the moving image. Challenge yourself to learn from your peers and your environment, as well as from your professors.
Access is key. In the Film program, starting freshman year, students shoot with digital cinema cameras, quality microphones, and digital audio recorders. Students edit in our digital editing facilities, manipulating images and audio with the latest postproduction software. The members of the Film/Video Department (administrators, faculty, and technical support staff) are all active, accomplished filmmakers, enthusiastic to share their experiences with you, which is critical to your development.
As a Film major, you will have access that extends beyond Pratt into New York City itself. Your options for identifying new directions in the field are not limited to your Ways of Seeing Cinema class. You can visit cutting-edge galleries and micro-cinemas, world-class museums and film festivals—it’s happening all over the city. Opportunities for preprofessional experiences abound. You can join a film crew shooting on the streets of Brooklyn—or intern at places like the Museum of Modern Art, Saturday Night Live, or one of the countless independent companies that shape New York City’s thriving creative scene.
The future of the moving image is unpredictable and wide open. At Pratt, we’re excited by the possibilities. Our mission is to provide you with tools and techniques, an understanding of history, and a complex yet flexible interdisciplinary arts education, allowing you to guide us into that future.
Our recent graduates are already leading the way with their infectious pioneering spirit. They are directing films that have premiered at Cannes, the Toronto International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Miami’s Art Basel, and numerous other festivals. Some alumni work as video editors and producers at prestigious media outlets including MTV, USA Networks, Entertainment Weekly, The New Yorker, People, and Time, while others are directors for established commercial production companies or have formed their own successful media businesses. We celebrate their accomplishments and look forward to yours.
Chair
Kara Hearn
Assistant Chair
Eric Trenkamp
Assistant to the Chair
Wendy Margulies
Technical Director
Matthew Hysell
Assistant Technical Director
Trace Tsui
Technicians
Joanna Claessens
Chris DiVincenzo
Lorenzo Gattorna
Academic Adviser
Erich Kuersten
Office
Tel: 718.636.3633
Fax: 718.636.3478
filmvideo@pratt.edu
https://www.pratt.edu/art/film-video/
Faculty Bios
https://www.pratt.edu/people/?live_global_search_people[refinementList][departments][0]=Film%2FVideo
A course designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of digital cinema production. The course focuses on the production of short video works, with an equal emphasis on concept, content, and equipment use. Experimentation is encouraged in all areas. Students work collaboratively and individually on video assignments that will advance their abilities as makers, viewers, and readers.
This course is designed to introduce students to the aesthetic and formal elements of the cinema and the terminology of film production. In-class screenings and lectures will give an overview of different modes of filmmaking, including narrative, documentary, and experimental. Students will hone their powers of observation, communicate visual ideas with clarity and simplicity, explore personal storytelling, and develop the ability to read films as trained and informed viewers.
This course is a practicum on the basic techniques, equipment and software necessary to create film/video projects. This includes the use of camera, lenses, tripods, lighting and sound equipment as well as editing software. Students will also learn how to function safely and effectively as a crew. This class provides the technical knowledge necessary for the Film Fundamentals class and is taken concurrently.
This class is designed to guide students through the narrative and visual devices used to direct a dramatic narrative film. Through deconstructing scenes and practical shooting exercises, students will explore film grammar, dramatic structure, staging, the relationship between actor and director, and the preparatory tools needed to bring text to screen. Each student will direct a five-minute film, using a screenplay originally written by another student in the class.
This class is the second practicum course on the basic techniques, equipment and software necessary to create film/video projects. This course will focus on the foundational techniques of organizing and analyzing footage, picture cutting, sound editing and postproduction workflows. This course will serve as a hands-on introduction and overview into the art of film editing. It will delve into the overarching cinematic theories behind film editing, as well as the creative role of the editor in realizing the vision of a film.
This course guides students through the fundamentals of making short nonfiction projects for video with a focus on classic documentary strategies but inclusive of experimental forms. The class activities will guide students through the techniques of observational shooting, interviewing, structural and editing strategies, as well as related aesthetic and conceptual issues.
Through lectures, readings, video and writing assignments, students will focus on alternative modes of production and presentation and the related skills and procedures of film and video making. Students will engage in projects with different takes on traditional forms as well as personal, site-specific and interactive forms of time-based media. The aim is to offer a diverse group of moving image artists regarding race, gender and class to expand the canon that was traditionally addressed in film/art history courses. Conceptual, critical and technical skills will be developed through weekly readings, assignments, screenings and critiques of individual and group work.
This studio course focuses on the practice of cinematography and lighting as an essential part of the overall process of moving from script to screen. With intensive hands-on techniques and in-class shoots, students will analyze and practice classical and contemporary camera techniques and lighting design to create a series of meaningfully shot and lit scenes to support the narrative, mood and objectives of the film. Students will also learn proper use and safety of all gaff and grip equipment within the F/V soundstages.
This is an analysis course for film/video makers focusing on the study of the production methods of classic, influential films. The class will look at work from the international, Hollywood, and independent film worlds-particularly those works that are innovative and unconventional in their approach to exploring the medium. This cinema course is designed for students who want to strengthen their critical writing skills and for filmmakers who want to expand their aesthetic, theoretical, and technical insights into the medium.
This course continues to build on the basics of sound for film and video. It covers how to best capture sound in production and how to edit and mix sound using a digital audio workstation. Students will learn how to make a plan for creating a soundtrack and how to execute that plan, while learning the aesthetics of the use of sound in media and the relationship between sound and image.
This course focuses on motion design, audio, effects, masks, and typography, primarily using Adobe After Effects and similar post-production processing software as tools bridging the creative gap between live-action and animation. Weekly short video assignments practicing creative techniques and learning the program will culminate in a final short video (1 min.) due at semester's end.
Based on the specific properties of motion picture film emulsion, this course investigates the structures and strategies of material based filmmaking. Using film rather than video cameras, students will create movies that dismantle, embrace, and antagonize traditional film practices, taking advantage of the special tactile, tangible nature of analog film. The surface of the film, use of sound, analog and digital editing, natural and studio lighting, and various modes of projection and presentation will all be explored.
This course provides an introduction to the technique and form of the short dramatic screenplay, with an emphasis on character development, visual storytelling and dramatic structure. Students complete a 7-10 page narrative screenplay.
Dispense narrative. Resist mise-en-scene. Break with the tyranny of the movie screen. This class will emphasize making short-form, non narrative video works that give priority to the power of form-camera mechanics, direct gesture and live experimental application. We will explore structural film, appropriation and contemporary video art to develop expressive techniques for moving image making.
This course investigates communication and media as a mode of intervention within the public sphere. In this exploration of social practice art in the context of video and media production, students will examine contemporary forms of storytelling and engagement as vehicles for addressing socially relevant issues. In one project, students will work with a local community organization to produce video focusing on current social justice initiatives.
This course explores the realities of filmmaking outside of the classroom environment. Students learn the proper way to acquire and use releases, permits and contracts and find appropriate legal, ethical and impromptu solutions when such permissions are not readily available.
Through a series of short videomaking assignments, readings, and discussion, this course explores subjective forms and concepts in non-fiction work, including the essay film, personal documentary, and other non-traditional free-form approaches. All modes of cinematic language are possible here, blurring the lines between documentary, fiction, and experimental work.
This class facilitates a deeper look at the construction and creation of a narrative film. Through a series of exercises, student will further explore and experiment with point of view, text analysis, visual design, advance techniques in staging, shooting and performance. Students will create a short (7-10 min) film based on their own scripts. Emphasis will be on authorial vision; relationship of content/form; seeing a project through all phases of production; casting and working with actors and non-actors; crew collaboration; and navigating structure.
This studio course focuses on the practice of cinematography and lighting as an essential part of the overall process of moving from script to screen. With intensive hands-on techniques and in-class shoots, students will analyze and practice classical and contemporary camera techniques and lighting design to create a series of meaningfully shot and lit scenes to support the narrative, mood and objectives of the film. Students will also learn proper use and safety of all gaff and grip equipment within the F/V soundstages.
This course explores subjective and non-traditional forms and concepts in nonfiction work, including the essay film, personal documentary, and hybrid work. Beginning with a series of short video sketches, this class culminates in the creation of one longer film that involves research, fieldwork with an emphasis on experimentation, innovation, and personal voice.
Students receive a comprehensive orientation to the practical considerations inherent in being a professional filmmaker. Lectures, workshops, research assignments and directed practice with project development prepare students for immersion in the field. Career goals are identified and strategies devised for meeting those goals. Direct interface with industry related organizations and practitioners broaden student understanding of the contemporary moving image community.
This is an analysis course for film/video makers focusing on the use, influence and creative power of sound in modern and contemporary films. The class will look and listen at work that expand the canon of international, Hollywood, and independent film worlds - particularly those works that are innovative and unconventional in their approach to sound. This cinema course is designed for students and filmmakers who want to gain sonic awareness, strengthen their critical writing skills and expand their aesthetic, theoretical and technical insights into the medium.
Students will develop a moving image project throughout the semester that builds on the tradition of video art and experimental cinema or that crosses genre boundaries in unexpected ways. Through a series of writing exercises, video sketches, readings, discussion and a final project, this course explores non-traditional forms and concepts in the moving image.
Presents basic techniques of sound recording and audio design for film, video and multimedia. Students have the opportunity to work with a state-of-the-art audio workstation and digital recording devices. The class makes trips to recording studios. Guest artists are also invited to class.
Designed for students with prior basic editing experience, this class delves into advanced options offered by non-linear editing systems. The creative, technical, and theoretical concerns of editing will be further explored, as well as post-production workflows, basic concepts in color grading, and distribution formats.
The course will cover essential color correction theory and skills for the film and video image. Students will practice the entire color grading process; setting up a project, creating a base grade, working with primary and secondary tools, shot matching, creating a look, doing the final render and working with RAW files. Once knowledgeable of the tools, the student will devise a plan to color correct a project of their own.
The course covers an overview of production design for film, familiarizing students with basic aspects of production design and art direction for film and how the field contributes to storytelling. Students will practice communication design ideas and develop a design strategy for a short project.
The course covers an overview of virtual reality history, exhibition systems, 360 productions, storytelling concepts, and future prospects in the industry. Students will produce a short 360/VR (virtual reality) production as part of the course.
In this hands-on workshop style class, students learn varying approaches to directing actors and non-actors for film and video. Topics include: script analysis, casting, rehearsing with actors, directing techniques, improvisation, blocking, and shot design.
This studio course explores the realm of moving image art (film, video and animation) that depicts our interior lives. Through readings, screenings, and short video exercises, students will expand their awareness of concepts, styles and techniques used to express dreams, memories, and hallucinations. Students will produce several short moving image works that incorporate video, audio, photography, digital animation, and stop motion animation (with real materials).
Genre filmmaking has been fertile territory for artists, low-budget studios and mainstream filmmakers alike. In this advanced production course, students will work first in groups mimicking a low-budget studio unit to produce their own genre films fast and cheap-rotating responsibilities on productions so a writer/director on one project becomes a sound engineer or art director on another project. The final project will use genre in a personal, innovative or experimental way.
An introduction to the technique and form of serial storytelling with an emphasis on creating for the web. Students will write, revise, and polish a 5-15-page pilot episode for a serial project as well as other reference documents further articulating the characters, the world, and the story to be told.
This introductory course encourages students to experiment with the nature of media on both a visual and a conceptual level. Through a series of progressive assignments and basic skill development, students learn to integrate video still images sound and performance into spatial works.
This course explores fashion design, costume, and texture as a means of articulating cinema, by exposing students to fashion films, fashion theory readings, and costume design along with basic elements of video production. Specific cross influences between film and fashion will be noted as well as the historical and current visions, presentation of ideas, and modes of display in each creative universe.
Through the study of Cuban film and photography, from the 1960's through the present, the course will examine the impact of the Cuban Revolution on the country's social and cultural development, providing the student with basic knowledge of contemporary Cuba. The course will include a week in Cuba, where students will tour Havana, visit major cultural institutions, meet with photographers and filmmakers, and work on a visual project to be exhibited at our Brooklyn campus and in Havana.
This content variable studio course provides the opportunity for Pratt students to collaborate on an artistic project with an outside entity. This entity could be another institution of higher learning, someone from the industry or a community group. The project varies from semester to semester. It will always include a film/video component and may involve the collaboration between various disciplines in the arts.
YouTube was launched in 2005. Today 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. This theory into practice course examines the devices and technologies that control our lives- asking what aesthetic shifts and changes in behavior are occurring and what new forms are emerging.
This content-variable film analysis course focuses on the work of a single influential filmmaker or video artist. Through weekly screenings, readings, written responses, and discussions, students undertake a comprehensive study of the creative process of the filmmaker-in-focus. At the end of the course, students will enter into conversation with the studied filmmaker or video artist in a public event to take place at Pratt Institute.
This course integrates post-colonial theory with film production and post-production practices to rework the techniques of the industry. Examining the history and development of cinema language and tools, students will investigate the power dynamics and biases driving traditional cinematic representation and production practices while building upon their understanding of camera, sound, lighting, and editing techniques. Students will survey and discuss films outside of the Western canon, filmmakers from marginalized backgrounds, anti-colonial filmmaking strategies, and production practices rooted in consent and care, while imagining and practicing alternative production and cinematic storytelling techniques to create a short films.
This course prepares students for the challenges of producing the senior thesis project, as well as for the realities of filmmaking outside of the classroom environment. Each student assumes the role of a producer and throughout the semester develops a short film project, working with a director to take idea from initial pitch to a completed 3 to 5 minute narrative film. Students learn how to break down their creative into a logistical reality and gain an understanding of copyright, releases, permits, insurance and working with talent unions.
This course is the first in a two-part sequence devoted to the production and public presentation of the senior thesis project. This semester will be devoted to the research, development, scripting and preproduction of the senior thesis film/video project, which may be a narrative, nonfiction, experimental, hybrid, installation, or video series. Meetings are structured to highlight the benefits of feedback from within a group environment. The group will respond to project proposals and work in progress with a focus on strengthening individual artistic practices, work methods, and personal vision.
This course is the second in a two-part sequence devoted to the production and public presentation of the senior thesis project. Students will shoot, edit, and mix their thesis projects, which will culminate in a public screening and/ or exhibition of the final work. The emphasis is on the individual student as the creative producer, stressing style and technique as well as personal vision.
This class develops individual production strategies and timelines for the senior thesis films. It addresses the individual sound challenges of each thesis project. Through scene analysis, students will look at a variety of approaches to the use of sound and discuss the impact of those choices of the finished work.
This class helps students develop individual strategies to edit their thesis soundtrack. Students will gather all the components of the soundtrack for their senior thesis film; Dialog, Music, Sound Effects, Foley, and more, balancing these elements and creating an immersive experience. This course applies an aesthetic and conceptual understanding of sound for the thesis project.
Students will finely edit and finish the soundtrack of their thesis projects. This may include editing multiple soundtracks for stereo and surround-sound versions of the film. This course applies an aesthetic and conceptual understanding of sound for the thesis film/video.
Students examine contemporary trends and issues in film and video through screenings, readings and visits to NYC-area exhibitions. The aesthetic and cultural influences on media are explored in order to create an understanding of the underlying structures that media producers use. Written papers required.
The internship is a learning experience at a discipline-related professional site. It provides students with an opportunity to apply academic knowledge and skills in a practical setting, while obtaining new knowledge and skills in preparation for professional work or graduate school. Students experience the application of coursework lessons into a real-life context, thus enriching their education. They deepen their knowledge about important applied aspects of their discipline, enhance their professional skills in a real-world context, build their professional network, and inform their career choices. Additional faculty-supervised activities provide the opportunity for an in-depth reflection on the internship experience.
The internship is a learning experience at a discipline-related professional site. It provides students with an opportunity to apply academic knowledge and skills in a practical setting, while obtaining new knowledge and skills in preparation for professional work or graduate school. Students experience the application of coursework lessons into a real-life context, thus enriching their education. They deepen their knowledge about important applied aspects of their discipline, enhance their professional skills in a real-world context, build their professional network, and inform their career choices. Additional faculty-supervised activities provide the opportunity for an in-depth reflection on the internship experience.
The internship is a learning experience at a discipline-related professional site. It provides students with an opportunity to apply academic knowledge and skills in a practical setting, while obtaining new knowledge and skills in preparation for professional work or graduate school. Students experience the application of coursework lessons into a real-life context, thus enriching their education. They deepen their knowledge about important applied aspects of their discipline, enhance their professional skills in a real-world context, build their professional network, and inform their career choices. Additional faculty-supervised activities provide the opportunity for an in-depth reflection on the internship experience.
The internship is a learning experience at a discipline-related professional site. It provides students with an opportunity to apply academic knowledge and skills in a practical setting, while obtaining new knowledge and skills in preparation for professional work or graduate school. Students experience the application of coursework lessons into a real-life context, thus enriching their education. They deepen their knowledge about important applied aspects of their discipline, enhance their professional skills in a real-world context, build their professional network, and inform their career choices. Additional faculty-supervised activities provide the opportunity for an in-depth reflection on the internship experience.