Production Focus Area

Film Studies Program

Focus Areas in Production

Many of our majors in the Film Studies Program choose to pursue a focus area in some aspect of motion picture production. While students should be aware that the film studies major is in no way equivalent to a film school, we believe that, for some students, hands-on experience is a valuable way to deepen their understanding of the theoretical, technical, and aesthetic aspects of motion pictures.

Perhaps the most difficult part of constructing a production focus area is filling out the focus area form and drafting the rationale for the focus area. When drafting the rationale, students focusing in production should address these questions: How does learning the terms and techniques of production help me to understand the films I see? How does learning how to be a better practitioner make me a better film critic/analyst/scholar? Though your focus may be production, you must still articulate that focus as a significant intellectual contribution to your entire film studies major.

Click here to see a good example of a production focus area form.

The production-oriented courses offered through the Departments of Art and Theatre, as well as the Film Studies Program can be combined to create a number of different focus area concentrations. Below are some samples. Please remember these are just possibilities, rather than a complete list of options.

Motion Picture Production (A): for those interested in directing and cinematography

• Theatre 633: Editorial Process
• Theatre 634: Video Production I
• Theatre 635: Video Production II

Motion Picture Production (B): for those interested in writing-directing 

• Theatre 633: Editorial Process
• Theatre 634: Video Production I
• Theatre 636: Beginning Screenwriting

Motion Picture Editing:: for those interested in post-production techniques 

• Theatre 633: Editorial Process
• Art 553: Video Art I
• Art 554: Video Art II

Screenwriting:: for those interested primarily in writing 

• Theatre 636: Beginning Screenwriting
• Film Studies 680/694: Screenwriting and the Business of Cinema
• Film Studies 690: Senior Seminar in Screenwriting*

NOTE: Production courses can only be counted toward an approved focus area in a film studies major. These courses cannot be used to fulfill other major requirements within film studies.

* Course currently in development.