Film, Television and Media Arts
The Film, Television and Media Arts major and minor provide a coherent awareness of the aesthetic, artistic, and communicative power of these varied media by offering courses in theory, history, genres, styles, and structures with hands-on production courses.
The program curriculum reflects the convergence of traditional media of film, television, and radio into new media of creative possibilities. Students learn the theory and collaborative practice of all aspects of visual and audio storytelling:
- Writing
- Design
- Producing
- Directing
- Cinematography
- Sound Design
- Digital Imaging
- Editing
Students understand the expressive power of these media and experiment with their own creative voices, engaging their imagination and intellect with the tools of these crafts. Many of the program's faculty members come from the ranks of working professionals, ensuring that information transmitted in the classroom is at the cutting edge of the field.
The home of the program is in the University's award-winning Media Center, a 15,000-square-foot facility on the ground floor of Xavier Hall.
Mentoring
Students in the Film, Television and Media Arts program benefit from close personal attention and mentoring from full time faculty, and they are encouraged to set specific academic, personal and Film, Television and Media Arts program goals for each semester. A special weekly freshmen seminar is designed to help students begin a collaborative association with their classmates from which they will benefit for their entire Fairfield tenure. They are also encouraged to participate in a special fall production (overseen by members of the sophomore and junior classes), specifically created to 'socialize' the newest members into the creative New Media community.
Hands-on Learning
On the theory that classroom learning requires regular application, all Film, Television and Media Arts students are required to participate on an extracurricular production project at least once every year (they are encouraged to do so every semester), for which they receive one credit (each semester). To fulfill this requirement, students might assist seniors on their capstone projects as producers, cinematographers, directors, editors or crew; work on HAM Channel or Film Club projects; participate in the professional video or audio projects of the Media Center; or work on extracurricular projects of their classmates.
Majors are encouraged to explore the interconnections between this program and its focus with other disciplines of studio art, music, theatre, and art history as offered within the Department of Visual and Performing Arts.
