Overview

The story in the form of a screenplay is the beating heart of every moving image experience. This advanced program provides an immersive learning experience in professional screenwriting art and craft.

The Master of Fine Arts program in Screenwriting allows students to concentrate in narrative film, documentary, animation, or experimental visual storytelling, while equipping them with critical and analytical skills as well as professional development skills and techniques. Students in the program will have the opportunity to conceive and complete a major creative writing project such as a feature-length screenplay.

Professionally based courses offer hands on experience writing for feature films, writing the short film, writing for series television and the internet. Attention is also given to analysis and exercises in character and dialogue, directing the film, legal aspects of motion pictures, and documentary production. Coursework also includes aspects of American movie genres, film and society, nonfiction film, the structure of dramatic art, film culture, and analysis of the screenplay.

Special facilities for the Motion Picture program include the campus movie theater, the Bill Cosford Cinema, film and video sound stages, state of the art editing and digital post-production suites and one of the nation's largest privately held collections of 35mm and 70mm films, The Raymond J. Regis Moving Image Archives.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

Students enrolled in the M.F.A. Screenwriting program must complete a minimum of 42 credit hours at the graduate level, with a minimum of 24 credit hours at or above the 600 level.


Critical and Analytical Studies {9 Credits}
CMP 503 Film Directors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 506 American Movie Genres. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 507 Film, Society, and Culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 529 Nonfiction Film . . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 565 The Structure of Dramatic Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 645 Analysis of the Screenplay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 666 Film Culture I . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 667 Film Culture II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
COM 598 Special Topics in Communication:
Creative Problem Solving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Profesional Development { 9 Credits}
CMP 509 Legal Aspects of Motion Pictures. . . . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 552 Motion Picture Marketing and Distribution . . . . 3
CMP 553 Advanced Motion Picture Marketing . . . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 555 Producing the Motion Picture. . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 566 Character and Dialogue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 594 Special Topics in Motion Picture:
Producing the Independent Feature. . . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 627 Scriptwriting* . . 3
CMP 628 Rewriting the Screenplay . . 3
CMP 638 Writing the Short Film. . 3
CMP 639 Writing for Series Television* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 661 Directing the Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
*Prerequisite: CMP 126 and CMP 326 or permission of instructor

Production Courses { 9 Credits}
CMP 551 Graphic and Animated Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 558 Documentary Production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 605 Production Management. . . . . . . 3
CMP 637 Motion Picture Workshop I
Production for Screenwriters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 651 Cinematography** . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CMP 652 Advanced Cinematography**. . . . . 3
CMP 656 Motion Picture Post-Production Procedures. . . . . 3
**Prerequisite: Permission of instructor

Electives { 9 Credits}

Screnwriting Courses { 6 Credits}
CMP 736 M.F.A. Project - Screenwriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6