Upcoming Courses

Highlighted courses for Spring 2024

ENGFLM 1475 Guillermo Del Toro

NEW CLASS!

This course aims to discover the extent to which Guillermo del Toro's films and other media texts are unified in style and theme in order to explore auteurism, transnational critical approaches, genre theory, transformations across media forms and exhibition spaces (from SVOD to theatrical distribution to museum installations), adaptation studies, and horror studies, in particular. Guillermo del Toro is commonly identified with two other contemporary Mexican directors achieving international success (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Alfonso Cuaron), but his production of genre films and revisionist genre films, and the intertextuality of his works present an excellent case study of the uses and limitations of an auteurist approach. Thus, the course will examine films, television shows, video games and their intertexts and in relation to del Toro's body of work and Latin American, transnational and global contexts.  This is a Critical Studies course and counts for Category I towards the Film and Media Studies major and minor. Part of Children’s Lit Certificate.

Arts Gen Ed

Th 1-4:50


FMST 0855 Topics in Production: Performance and Punk

Performance and Punk: This course provides a critical overview of Do-It-Yourself filmmaking practices that have consciously resisted established film culture from the 1960s to the present-day. Considering the underlying economics that allow and deny access to filmmaking technologies and industries, we will trace the genealogies of a DIY filmmaking ethos through the poetic cinemas, video performances, and punk films borne out of American and European countercultural movements and connect these with the parallel liberatory practices of global filmmaking collectives and artist-run labs. Together, we will explore possible methods, approaches, interventions, histories and potential futures of DIY filmmaking, and examine filmmaking as a means of community and defiance. This is an interdisciplinary course, combining theory with production that will culminate in an off-campus screening of student work, organized by the students themselves.

Tu 1-4


ENGFLM/ FMST 1549 Industries and Festivals

This course explores how film industries have shaped contemporary production, exhibition, and distribution practices with focus on the role of film festivals in the film industry. We will examine festival history, theory, and methods to  learn how festivals have impacted industry history and how festivals are produced and executed. This is a Critical Studies course and counts for Category II for the Film and Media Studies major and minor.

Th 9-12:50


ENGFLM 1760 Cinema and Video Games

This course introduces a comparative study of cinema and video games, exploring their historical, cultural, aesthetic, technological and industrial intersections. Combining film screenings with game plays, we will try to understand how cinema and video games inform, influence and converge with each other. We will focus on race, gender, and ethical issues of visual representations in both cinema and video games.  This is a Critical Studies course and counts for Category II towards the Film and Media Studies major and minor.


FMST 1740/ ENGFLM 1671 Making the Documentary: August Wilson and the World

This is a special version of the Making the Documentary where the class works together on a feature documentary.

W 6-9:50p


ENGFLM 1915 Professional Development in Film and Media Studies

This one-credit seminar invites Film and Media Studies majors to deepen and expand their understanding of professional life and options. Professional Development will allow students to explore the ways their academic work has prepared them for life after graduation, allow them to identify next steps in their career planning, and help them learn about practical aspects of professional life. They will have the opportunity to work on crucial career documents and an online portfolio.

Mon 2:30-3:30


Fuller list of courses with available seats:

ENGFLM 0400/ FMST 0120 Introduction to Film

This is a basic course on the visual arts that offers the student abroad introduction to the medium of film. As part of this overview, the class will consider such issues as: the process of contemporary film production and distribution; the nature of basic film forms; selected approaches to film criticism; comparisons between film and the other media.

12 sections, Arts Gen Ed


ENGFLM 0540. FMST 0170 World Film History

This course both introduces students to techniques of film analysis and acquaints them with major works and movements in international cinema.  The course pays particular attention to the evolution of film narrative and visual style through landmarks in film development--European avant-garde films,  British documentary, Italian neo-realism, etc.  This is a Critical Studies course and is a required course for the Film and Media Studies major and minor.

Tu 6-9:50, required course for all majors and minors

Recitations on Fridays


FMST 0335/ SLOVAK 0890 Slovak, Czech, and Central European Film

The course presents central European filmmaking in its cultural context, and central European (Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, etc.) Culture through film. The students learn to discuss them in their cultural context against the panorama of life in central Europe, as well as from the American perspective. The focus is both on film aesthetics, and on the social implications of the content of the films, which was considered crucial by central European directors, screenwriters, and audiences.

Geographic Region, Global Studies, Russian and East European Studies

Tu 2:30-5:25


FMST 0780/ ENGWRT 0710 Introduction to Audio Storytelling

Created for cross-listing with ENGWRT 710. Podcasts are growing as an industry and an art form. There has never been a better time to tell stories in sound. In this introductory production course, we'll explore the craft of narrative audio across genres, including live storytelling, profiles, and flash fiction. Through a series of short creative projects, you'll learn the foundations of interviewing, field recording, scripting, structure, and sound design, while gaining basic technical competency in professional audio editing software. Class sessions will include a blend of discussions, workshops, and hands-on production, preparing you for more advanced work in the medium.     This is a writing- and production-intensive course. You should expect to invest significant time and energy planning, scripting, recording, and editing your projects outside of class-and significant time in class discussing your peers' work through both written and oral critiques. This course welcomes writers from all backgrounds and genres. No previous experience with audio production is expected or required.

Tu 1-3 pm


FMST 0800 Filmmaking 1

Filmmaking is a creative process that combines art, science, craft, and collaboration. This course is a hands-on introduction to the process, starting with the building blocks of motion pictures: light and cameras, composition, editing, and visual storytelling. You will complete several short video projects over the course of the semester, shooting video with DSLR cameras and editing using Adobe Premiere Pro. In-class exercises will provide a deeper understanding of making moving images. No previous filmmaking experience is required. This is a required course for the Film and Media Studies Major Production Track.

Required course, 9 sections


FMST 0827 Advanced Editing

"Advanced Editing" offers students engaged in film and media production the unique opportunity to focus and expand their editing skills through the process of appropriating and repurposing pre-existing audiovisual materials. Students will work with materials from a range of sources, including popular Hollywood movies, digitally archived "orphan" films, television commercials, and propaganda films. The act of transforming already existing creative works into newly created short film projects will allow three key learning objectives to be met: (i) students will further hone their awareness of the ideological and formal functions of their source media as they decontextualize and recontextualize it for alternative purposes; (ii) students will develop a better awareness of their own critical and creative orientations as they are required to position their own projects in relation to others; (iii) students will develop their competence with multiple professional NLEs like Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere and DaVinci Resolve. By focusing on nonfiction and experimental editing practices, where the meaning and purpose of available footage is open for interpretation, students enrolled in the course will experience the transformative power of editing to shape and understand media.

Th 1-4


FMST 0845 Filmmaking 2

In this hands-on course, you will continue to acquire the skills required to design, shoot and edit video. Demonstrations and in-class exercises introduce more professional camera operation, lighting, sound, and editing workflows. You will apply this new knowledge and facility to several out-of-class assignments of increasing sophistication over the course of the semester. This is a required course for the Film and Media Studies Major Production Track.

3 sections, required course for production track FMS


FMST 1225/ ENGFLM 1420 Transnational East Asian Cinema


This survey course comparatively studies the forms and histories of East Asian cinemas in the context of transnationalism, post-colonialism, regionalism, and globalization. This course, therefore, will explore the transnational connections among different film cultures in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea. This is a Critical Studies course and counts for Category I towards the Film and Media Studies major and minor.

Cross cultural Awareness, Diversity, Global Studies

Th 6-9:50


ENGFLM 1920/ FMST 1699 Advanced Smeinar in Film Studies (critical studies)

W Class/ Advanced Seminar (required for critical studies majors, offered only in Spring so think ahead)

Tu 1-4:50


FMST 1715/ ENGFLM 1684  Mockumentary: Production and Criticism

The mockumentary - a fictional film made to "look like" a documentary - became popularized as a term to describe a distinct genre in coverage of Rob Reiner's 1984 film This is Spinal Tap. Since then, the genre has evolved to treat a variety of subjects through a range of styles - including straightforward hoaxes, social parodies, and sharp criticisms of nonfictional form. In addition to readings, lectures and discussions, students in this class will produce short mockumentary projects. Previous production experience is not required. This is a Production course with Critical Studies elements and counts for Category III towards the Film and Media Studies major and minor.

Tu 9-12pm


FMST 1852 Directing Actors

This course explores the communication between directors and actors and how a director's vision translates into playable action on the screen.  Class sessions will provide examples and practical experience in successful director/actor collaboration.  Students will learn how to judge a good performance and will practice directing techniques that lead to better performances by actors.  It is a laboratory class and students will direct each other.  The format combines hands-on exercises, taping, screening and lecture.  Grading is based on exercises, homework, taped scenes and participation.

Mon 6-9


FMST 1860 Elements of Screenwriting
This course will explore developing character-based stories in the screenplay form. Students will be exposed to a variety of readings, including original screenplays, related prose, and texts which reinforce basic tenets of good story telling.

2 sections, required for the major


FMST 1865/ ENGWRT 1865 Writing the Original Series
In this course students will study and practice writing for a serialized or episodic motion picture series. Formats discussed include one-hour and half-hour streaming and broadcast series as well as short-episode web series. This course does NOT cover writing spec scripts for existing series or the specifics of the sitcom format. Each student will pitch a series, describing the format, franchise, characters, and basic story arc. The classroom will function as a writers' room for each of the series, as each student develops a show bible, then writes a beat sheet and first draft of the series pilot. Students will also be asked to study and write about the structure of existing series and episodes in the format they've chosen. This course counts as a Technical Elective and a Category III elective in the Film and Media Studies Minor or Production Track.

Th 1-4 pm


FMST 1880 Digital Cinematography
This course will cover advanced video technology and professional techniques of videography. Emphasis will be placed on high image quality and meeting broadcast specifications for video and audio. Professional-quality video cameras will be covered extensively.

Th 6-9


FMST 1883 Experimental Camera
This will be a workshop course dealing with a variety of techniques utilizing the camera as a tool for visual information outside of its normal use and function.  The course will look at the history of cameras and the many image making devices that were invented to date.

Tu 6-9


FMST 1886 Broadcasting 2
The unique and dynamic Broadcasting 2 course will utilize every aspect of the state-of-the-art Pitt Studios, offering students a challenging and stimulating curriculum. Students will produce a Live Event Show Open (incorporating all pre-production elements), a Newscast, and a Podcast, incorporating video and animation marketing support. Students' projects will be crewed by classmates.

Tu 6-9


FMST 1898 TV News Practicum: Pitt to the Point

Television News Practicum: Pitt to the Point is a hands-on course practicum that produces one live hour-long, television news/magazine program per week, incorporating every facet of broadcast television. The course incorporates news writing, feature writing, research, formatting, pre-production, live production, as well as public speaking and direct interaction with broadcast industry professionals. The course covers news, sports, entertainment and politics across the University of Pittsburgh campuses, as well as the city of Pittsburgh. This is a production course and counts for a Category III for the Film and Media Studies major and minor. It is part of the Television and Broadcast Arts Certificate and the Media and Creative Industries certificate.

Mon 9-11 and Fri 6:30-9:30