A course that tracks the filmmaking process from its inception, at the idea phase and follows the creative process through development, pre-production, principal photography and post-production. The class will focus on the business and legal issues that arise during every phase of filmmaking. Key topics covered will include: copyright law; option agreements for underlying rights such as books, plays, magazine and newspaper articles; sources of financing; distribution agreements; licensing of music; agreements for actors, directors, producers and writers. This course allocates as a Craft for Film & TV majors. Students must have Junior or Senior standing. COURSE SUBJECT TO DEPARTMENTAL FEES.
Category Archives: Spring 2027
Internet Design (FMTV-UT 1123)
This course introduces the essentials of web design and production, emphasizing the integration of AI tools like ChatGPT to enhance learning and creativity. Students will build a solid foundation in HTML and CSS, learn to optimize graphics, design layouts, and develop the technical skills needed to launch their own websites. The class explores using social media platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, and Instagram as promotional tools while incorporating AI to brainstorm design concepts, troubleshoot code, and refine messaging. We focus on the Internet as a promotion and distribution medium for the independent artist and filmmaker. A consistent and integrated communication strategy across digital channels is emphasized to prepare students for the demands of modern media. To deepen their learning experience, students will actively use ChatGPT to support various aspects of the curriculum. This includes generating creative ideas, drafting content, and exploring coding solutions. AI will also assist in tasks like creating compelling website copy, optimizing branding strategies, and scripting social media posts. By weaving AI into their workflow, students not only master essential web design skills but also gain hands-on experience with tools shaping the future of digital media.
Strategies for Independent Producing (FMTV-UT 1092)
Today’s content creators must be entrepreneurs, navigating dynamically changing industry. How does emerging talent gain traction in a ’tsunami wave’ of independent films, episodics, webisodes and podcasts? This class explores development, funding, and legal strategies to make, market and distribute DIY low and ultra-low budget projects. Ones you can make now. Students will develop core competencies, culminating in a pitch deck for a viable indie feature film.
Designing Motion (OART-UT 149)
In this course, we will explore the versatile usage of animation in the world of graphic design as a unique form of expression. We will examine how motion design combines movement, rhythm, space, and timing to orchestrate abstract shapes, words, and symbols. Through a series of weekly exercises, students will gain an understanding of key concepts in motion design while using and learning Adobe After Effects. We will follow the footsteps of motion design history, reconstructing classic pieces in order to gain a fundamental understanding of this art form. We will learn how graphic design, music, choreography, and acting can all be applied to the motion of design elements and furthermore, how the combination of animation and design can convey compelling stories, emotions, and ideas. Students will survey the technologies and methods that enabled the fields’ developments – from drawing on 18 mm film, the analog Scanimate in the 80s, to UX motion, interactive design, and contemporary live performances. Inspired by those traditions, students will be encouraged to take on an experimental approach, discuss thought processes, and develop their own visual language while combining interdisciplinary practices. *Adobe After Effects will be used as a main tool in the course, therefore a sufficient computer (over 16GB of RAM and a graphic card) is required.
Analog Photography (OART-UT 11)
Analog Photography is a course designed for students eager to learn the traditional methods of making photographs with black & white film and crafting prints in a darkroom. Using a 35mm SLR camera, students will learn how to properly and creatively expose film, process their own black & white negatives and use gelatin silver paper to make prints in a darkroom with an enlarger to produce museum quality archival photographs. Emphasis is placed on the application of technique in terms of personal expression through the selection and composition of subject matter. The course consists of technical lectures and demonstrations, working sessions in the darkroom, photography and written assignments, lectures on historical and contemporary photography, discussions about readings and assignments and several group critiques. Smaller photography assignments begin the semester; each student will work on a single larger project after mid-term. Each student must have access to a camera with manually adjustable focus, aperture and shutter speeds by the first week of class. In addition to the lab fee for this course, students will need to pay for a minimum of 7 rolls of film and 100 sheets of photographic paper.
The Directors Process (FMTV-UT 125)
This class is an introduction to the craft of directing. We will take a step-by-step look at the director’s process and responsibilities in this most collaborative of arts. Our focus will include script, character and scene analysis; performance, casting and rehearsal; design and visual style; assembling the final form. We’ll talk about what an actor wants from a director, how to talk to the cinematographer and production/costume designers and why we look at editing as the final rewrite. Through lectures, screenings, assignments and discussions with working professionals, the class will offer a comprehensive foundation for the director on which to build a rich creative experience at Tisch and a long and satisfying professional career thereafter.
Life Drawing: The Figure (FMTV-UT 1112)
Reccomended for students studying both animation and live action. This course is designed to train animation students to think visually, and to strengthen their overall drafting and design skills. The focus of the course is drawing humans and animals from live subjects, thereby learning to translate the three-dimensional world into two-dimensional terms. Drafting skills are important to all animators, regardless of their chosen media or focus. In particular, strong drafting skills are essential for character animators. This course allocates as a Craft for Film & TV majors. COURSE SUBJECT TO DEPARTMENTAL FEES.
Storytelling Strategies (FMTV-UT 20)
The ability to understand “what makes a good story well told” is a skill that is crucial to your growth as a filmmaker whether you become a writer, director, producer, actor, editor, cinematographer, etc. Storytelling Strategies looks at how narrative stories work through an examination of the structural and mythic elements first established by the ancient Greek playwrights and recognized by Aristotle in his “Poetics” thousands of years ago. The course continues this examination up to and including such contemporary story models as Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” as well as the current Hollywood paradigm, “the three-act structure.” We will seek to find those principles that form the backbone of successful narrative screenplays and contribute to a film’s ability to resonate with an audience. The lecture is for analysis. The recitations are for applying what you have learned, through writing exercises and a completed short screenplay. This course allocates as Scriptwriting for Film & TV majors. Course may not be repeated.
Class #
Section #
Meets
Class #: 16547
Section #: 001
Meets: T 6:20-8:20p
Class #: 16548
Section #: 002
Meets: T 3:30-5:20p
Class #: 16549
Section #: 003
Meets: R 9:30-11:20a
Class #: 16550
Section #: 004
Meets: R 12:30-2:20p
Class #: 16551
Section #: 005
Meets: W 6:20-8:20p
Class #: 16552
Section #: 006
Meets: M 4-5:50p
Class #: 16553
Section #: 007
Meets: T 4-5:50p
Class #: 16554
Section #: 008
Meets: T 7-8:50p
Class #: 16555
Section #: 009
Meets: W 6:20-8:20p
Class #: 16556
Section #: 010
Meets: W 3:30-5:20p
Class #: 16557
Section #: 011
Meets: F 9:30-11:20a
Class #: 16558
Section #: 012
Meets: F 12:30-2:20p
Class #: 16559
Section #: 013
Meets: T 6:20-8:20p
Class #: 16560
Section #: 014
Meets: W 9:30-11:20a
Class #: 16561
Section #: 015
Meets: W 12:30-2:20p
Class #: 16562
Section #: 016
Meets: W 3:30-5:20p
Class #: 16563
Section #: 017
Meets: M 6:20-8:20p
Class #: 16564
Section #: 018
Meets: W 12:30-2:20p
Class #: 16565
Section #: 019
Meets: R 9:30-11:20a
Class #: 16566
Section #: 020
Meets: R 12:30-2:20p
Class #: 16567
Section #: 021
Meets: M 9-11a
Class #: 16568
Section #: 022
Meets: M 12:30-2:20p
Class #: 16569
Section #: 023
Meets: W 9:30-11:20a
Class #: 16570
Section #: 024
Meets: W 12:30-2:20p
Creative Music Entrepreneurs in Historical Context (REMU-UT 1201)
This 14-week class introduces students to the history of innovative entrepreneurs and institutions in American recorded music. We recount the stories and make arguments about famous executives, managers, producers, performers, DJs, and journalists/publishers from the dawn of the music business until the present day. We study how and why the fields, fiefdoms, and empires built by these impressive and sometimes controversial icons have transformed the course of popular music. Along the way, students become well versed in the history of 20th and 21st century recorded music, and in various music genres and styles; and we place the art and business of creating and selling recorded music in historical, political, cultural and social context. Throughout, we look at approaches to crafting successful oral and written arguments about popular music with clear, compelling writing about sound.
Singing With Everybody (OART-UT 25)
Your voice is the most exquisite musical instrument known to humankind. Its infinite potential is multiplied and magnified through shared vibration with other voices. In Singing With Everybody, we will sing together and compose new vocal works that expand the range of our voices as spiritual-artistic-analytical tools.Students will study music composition in a two-pronged approach: through embodied singing practice, as both choral ensemble members and choral conductors, and through the study of musical forms including songwriting, folk, pop, classical, and experimental traditions. Throughout the semester, students will develop fundamental skills in music theory, digital audio processing, and creative organization in weekly composition etudes. This work will culminate in choral compositions to be performed by the class in a final concert open to the public. This final composition must take the form of a “score,” through which students develop a personal method for communicating their musical ideas to a performing ensemble of diverse skill levels. Class participation will often involve making loud, ridiculous sounds together as we dive into sonic discovery and musical mess-making. Students of all or no musical backgrounds are encouraged to join. Singing will become an everyday part of our lives as we explore the power and versatility of vibrating together.
Politics of Portraiture (OART-UT 826)
This course explores the pictorial articulation of individual human likeness and its fiction in the public forum. The art of portraiture has survived its own origins in myth making and archetype building. The human image, or icon, forever landmarks the voices, textures, physicality, spirituality, symbols, politics, aesthetic concerns and military contexts, religious rituals, government, calendar ceremonies, daily functions, heroic acts and social disorders of diverse cultures throughout recorded history. It is the history of creation, the story of romance, the mark of progress, the record of royalty and the profile of democracy. It is the revolution of fine art and a catalyst of discipline. Imaging the individual in the public eye is the story of humankind. This course bridges the worlds of the oral and written mythologies which inhabit and empower us and the creative manifestation (conscious and unconscious) of these ancient archetypes into contemporary art, media and design. Students will critically rethink the implied and material presence of portraiture in everyday life. Students will gain practical knowledge and insight into the origins and potential power of the archetypes which permeate our collective unconscious.
Media Moguls in the 20th Century (OART-UT 562)
This course attempts to track the American entertainment industry from its plebian origins through its rise to becoming the predominant mass entertainment culture in the world. Students discover the origins of the production practices that are employed in the entertainment industry today by following the legendary characters, movie moguls, and media titans of the early 20th century and the companies they built. The emphasis is on the way the visionaries of the time impacted seemingly risk-averse systems to invigorate and sometimes completely revolutionize them. These innovative men and women include, but are not limited, to Louis B. Mayer, George Lucas, Maya Deren, Shirley Clark, Nam Jun Paik, Lucille Ball, Russell Simmons, Clive Davis, Julie Taymor, and Steve Jobs.
Electronics for Artists (OART-UT 22)
This hands-on entry level electronics course is for students who want to invent, test, break, imagine, burn, surprise and build unusual interactive objects and devices that have never existed before. You don’t have to be an electrical engineer to be able to hack power and twist it for your own wild experiments. No matter what art/performance mediums you use in your creative practice, there are so many playful and cutting-edge ways to augment your craft with connected devices and computer-assisted fabrication. Some example projects include: interactive installations, moving sculptures, wearable devices for fashion, dynamic lighting, and DIY music devices. The course goes over the basics of electronic circuits and coding for Arduino — programmable micro-computers that process inputs from buttons, biofeedback sensors, and microphones and translate them into outputs expressed through LED lights, sounds, motors, and relays. We use laser cutters, 3D printers, woodworking tools, and sewing machines to assist us, and learn the best practices of creating robust circuits through soldering, component selection, and power supply. Each week we look to contemporary hardware artists for inspiration and use our classmates to test and analyze our prototypes, getting feedback on not just the practical design of the circuits and mechanisms, but the feelings, ideas, and creative effects our connected art elicits. No prior coding, hardware, or fabrication experience necessary, but time and dedication is — most projects will require out-of-class time spent in the shop. Students will need a laptop, but basic hardware and materials will be provided.
The Language of Film (FMTV-UT 4)
Language of Film is an introduction to the craft, history and theory of filmmaking and film-watching. The main challenge facing all filmmakers is to show the story: in other words, to visualize the drama. Over the past century, narrative, experimental and documentary filmmakers have developed a variety of creative strategies and techniques designed to give their audiences compelling, multi-sensorial experiences. The goal of this class is to explore how filmmakers in different historical and cultural settings have contributed to the evolution of film as a powerful, complex and captivating art form.. This course allocates as History & Criticism for Film & TV majors.
Class #
Section #
Meets
Class #: 16539
Section #: 001
Meets: W 6:20-9:50p
Class #: 16540
Section #: 002
Meets: W 2-3:15p
Class #: 16541
Section #: 003
Meets: R 9:30-10:45a
Class #: 16542
Section #: 004
Meets: R 11a-12:15p
Class #: 16543
Section #: 005
Meets: R 12:30-1:45p
Class #: 16544
Section #: 006
Meets: F 11a-12:15p
Class #: 16545
Section #: 007
Meets: F 12:30-1:45p
Class #: 16546
Section #: 008
Meets: F 2-3:15p
Introduction to Digital Fabrication (IMNY-UT 252)
Do you want to MAKE THINGS with your computer? Are you an artist, engineer, designer, sculptor or architect? Are you a few of those things? How are 3D scanning and 3D modeling different? What materials should I be using? Should I be 3D printing or CNC-ing this CAD file? What is a Boolean operation and why is it my new best friend? This class will answer all of your questions. Don’t know what any of these things are? This class will answer those questions also. By the end of this course, you will be familiar with all that digital fabrication has to offer. We will cover everything from laser to 3D to CNC. You will learn how to identify which digital fabrication technique works best for your projects. But more than that, you will learn what kinds of questions you should be asking in order to complete a project from start to finish. As technology advances at rapid speeds, digital making machines and software are changing just as fast. So instead of just being taught about the machines of today, you will also be given the tools to teach yourself the machines of tomorrow. Emphasis will be put on learning how to ask the right kind of questions to successfully finish a project. What do you want to make? Let’s make it.
Experimental Photography (IMNY-UT 232)
What are all the ways that you saw or made a photograph this week? How are those ways similar and different? How do those pictures function in your life and in society? What is a photograph? This course repeatedly asks these questions by using emerging computational tools to design alternative forms of making and interacting with photographs. The forms and applications of these tools, such as those for creative coding, physical computing, and machine learning, are explored weekly in technical tutorials and hands-on workshops. These are informed by discussions of critical debates in photography and various practitioners working with photographs, past and present. The homework includes readings, short writing responses, and photography assignments. Prerequisites: Comm Lab: HyperCinema (or similar coursework exploring communication and storytelling with digital tools) and New York’s IMA Creative Computing (or similar coursework with creative coding using the p5.js JavaScript library and programming for physical computing using Arduino microcontrollers). Note that prior experience with physical computing using the Arduino platform is required for this course. Please feel free to contact the instructor if you have any questions about the course.
Critical Experiences (IMNY-UT 206)
“Critical Experience is an experiential journey through a research driven art practice rooted in care, community, and somatic inquiry. This class is based on the premise that there are many ways to know things and we can draw upon these ways of knowing and our desire to know in order to nurture a creative practice grounded in research, clear intention, and a critical lens. Critical here means: discerning, eager to participate differently, cast new light on, re-examine, course-correct. You will be guided through traditional research methods (library and interview techniques, citations, informal ethnographies) and experience design while also being asked to cultivate intentional awareness of your own positionalities, communities, personal strengths, emotions, and desires through experimentation, hunch following, rituals, and contemplative practices.This class was created for or artists/designers who are interested in participation/interaction and its relationship to social practice, critical design, and change-making as well as individuals curious about knowing what moves them. Why experience? The work in this class will be looked at through the lens of its ability to transform (a user, participant, audience, viewer). Interactivity is one way of doing that, but through the lens of experience design, all art is temporal and embodied.”
Chatbots for Art’s Sake (IMNY-UT 233)
This class aims to repurpose existing chatbot technologies and use them for the sake of art. The class is twofold, students will engage in labs and workshops to learn and practice different techniques— such as p5.js, p5.speech, RiveScript, RiTa, and Alexa Skills—to create functional chatbots. They will also participate in lectures and discussions that look at the different roles Artificial Intelligence plays in human society, including but not limited to authority, companions, or simply reflections of the humans it interacts with.
Collective Narrative (IMNY-UT 286)
This two-point workshop is centered on the examination and creation of collective storytelling environments. We will examine a wide-range of storytelling spaces including participatory and user-generated environments, site-specific works, community based arts practices, and transmedia storytelling. Coursework consists of weekly multimedia assignments to reflect on storytelling in our own lives and the lives of others, field trips, and student presentations. By the end of this course, students will have experienced and experimented with alternative, collaborative, and site-specific storytelling methods.
Digital Audio Workstations: Logic (REMU-UT 1021)
During this course, students will acquire an in-depth, theoretical and practical knowledge of Digital Audio Workstations using the industry standard Logic Pro software through a weekly, lab-based workshop. Each class will be a combination of lecture and immediate application. An emphasis will be placed on getting to know Logic Pro, getting inside Logic Pro, creating sessions, working with media in sessions, audio recording, audio editing, file management techniques, MIDI recording, editing techniques, mixing techniques, backups and stereo mix-down.
Class #
Section #
Meets
Class #: 14411
Section #: 001
Meets: M 9-10:50a
Class #: 14412
Section #: 002
Meets: M 11:10a-1p
Class #: 14413
Section #: 003
Meets: F 9-10:50a
Class #: 14414
Section #: 004
Meets: F 11:10a-1p
Class #: 14415
Section #: 005
Meets: F 9-10:50a
Class #: 14416
Section #: 006
Meets: F 11:10a-1p