Academic Catalog 2023-2024

Film/Video (FVID)

FVID-101  Digital Cinema I  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-105  Film Fundamentals  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-106  Production Studio  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-110  Fiction I  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-111  Post Production Studio  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-201  Nonfiction Video I  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-205  Experimental Studio I  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-206  Cinematography & Lighting Design  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-211  Ways of Seeing Cinema  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-220  Sound for Film/Video  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-251  Fx, Tricks + Pix  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-253  The Material of Film  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-261  Screenwriting  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-270  Strange Loop:Video Gesture & Feedback  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-272  Digital Interventions  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-290  Guerilla Tactics  - (1 Credit)  

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.

FVID-301  Nonfiction II: Hybrid Forms  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-302  Fiction II  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-305  Cinematography + Lighting Design  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-308  Nonfiction II  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-312  Professional Practices  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-313  Ways of Hearing Cinema  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-314  Experimental Studio II  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-315  Sound Design for Film/Video  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-321  Editing and Post  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-322  Color Grading  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-323  Production Design for Film  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-324  Virtual Reality Production & Storytelling  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-340  Directing Actors for Film/Video  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-350  Dreams, Memories & Hallucinations  - (3 Credits)  

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).

FVID-360  Crime & The Uncanny  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-361  Serial Writing for the Web  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-370  Multimedia Installation  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-371  Film + Fashion  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-373  Cuba through the Lens Storytelling  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-374  Special Projects in Film/Video  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-380  Visual Culture in the Age of YouTube  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-381  Filmmaker Focus  - (1 Credit)  

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.

FVID-382  Freedom Dreaming: Anticolonial Film Practices  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-390  Producing for Film  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-401  Senior Studio I  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-402  Senior Studio II  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-425  Thesis Pre-Production Sound  - (1 Credit)  

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.

FVID-426  Thesis Post-production Sound  - (1 Credit)  

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.

FVID-427  Thesis Final Sounds Mix  - (1 Credit)  

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.

FVID-480  Contemporary Issue Film/Video (3 Credits  - (3 Credits)  

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.

FVID-9400  Film Internship  - (0 Credits)  

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.

FVID-9401  Film Internship (1 Cr)  - (1 Credit)  

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.

FVID-9402  Film Internship: (2 Cr)  - (2 Credits)  

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.

FVID-9403  Film Internship: (3 Cr)  - (3 Credits)  

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.