2014-2015 Graduate Course Catalog 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2014-2015 Graduate Course Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Television, Radio and Film, MA


Contact:

Michael Schoonmaker, Chair
318 Newhouse 3, 315-443-4004

Faculty

Frank Biocca, Richard L. Breyer, Fiona Chew, Jenny Doctor, Richard Dubin, Larry Elin, Keith Giglio, Tula Goenka, Sharon R. Hollenback, Barbara E. Jones, Patricia H. Longstaff, Douglas Quin, Michael Schoonmaker, Evan Smith, Robert J. Thompson, Donald C. Torrance

Established in 1950, the Television, Radio and Film Master’s program was the first of its kind in the nation and continues to be seen as the leader in graduate education for the field. This one-year, intensive, graduate program is designed for those who want to tell stories for screens of all sizes, examining various forms of entertainment media through the lenses of storytelling, industry, technology and art form.

Every day we experience these entertainment media as commercials on television, our favorite films at the multiplex, games on our iPhones and videos on the Internet. Students in the Television-Radio-Film Department have the opportunity to explore the ways stories are currently told, but also how they might be told decades from now as new technologies develop and the world shrinks.

Major themes in coursework include: production, screenwriting, criticism, business management and trends, the creative process and entrepreneurial strategies in dynamic media environments. The department’s approach to story is framed within film, television, Internet, interactivity and audio. You will create, analyze and explore. You may choose to learn screenwriting, to produce a documentary, to create a web-based public service campaign–and then research your audience and market your creation. Your one year as a student in this program will be multidimensional in terms of its practical, theoretical, forward-thinking, creative, industry-centered and intellectual layers.

This multidimensional approach is most visible in the Proseminar Industry Series (spanning across the year of study) designed to bring together TRF studies and professional practices. The object of the Proseminar experience is to prepare students to engage in current TRF issues and practices, help them understand changes in media environments and enable them to respond to future challenges as skilled creators and decision-makers.

The TRF Master’s prepares future leaders in enterprises where stories for screens entertain and persuade audiences: as writers, directors, editors, producers, media executives, multimedia designers, managers, entertainment lawyers, and agents. Some graduates run their own businesses, while others work for organizations like PBS, Comcast-NBC Universal, Google, MTV, Discovery Networks, Time Warner, Disney, Nickelodeon, CAA and hundreds of others.

This 36-credit program leads to a Master’s of Art (M.A.) in Television, Radio and Film.

Requirements (19-21 Credits)


TRF Electives (15-17 Credits)


TRF Master’s students tailor their individual programs to fit their unique learning goals with specialized coursework from a list of more than 65 courses in such topics as directing; producing; radio; music underscoring and recording; sound for film; visual effects; animation; a range of popular culture topics in authorship, genre studies and critical issues; stereoscopic production; cinematography; editing; casting and working with actors; sports production; reality production; motion graphics; TV show production (various genres); production management; specialized forms of screenwriting; audio; filmmaking; TV and online process and technique; global perspectives; TV and film business; development; and internships.

Students may also petition courses from other Newhouse or University programs to count as electives in their program of study.

Additional Requirements


At least 18 credits of the program’s total 36 credits of coursework must be 600-level or above. Students must pass a comprehensive examination which they are eligible to take upon completion of 30 credits.

Total: 36 credits