Examines the major developments in independent film, video and multimedia production and written theories and critical analysis that have resulted. Particular attention is given to media arts since 1960 and its role in questioning and reshaping American cultural identity.
MCA/M.F.A. matriculated status.
3 hr./wk.
In order to formulate a strategic message for use in an integrated communications campaign, some basic questions need to be answered: Who are we trying to reach? What environment will we be communicating in? How can we better understand our client and the challenges at hand? This course teaches students the quantitative and qualitative research methods to best answer these questions with a special focus on online resources - including electronic databases, blogs and other ways of tracking grassroots market intelligence. Students will become familiar with library resources and develop the skills, practices, and mindset required for graduate studies in the communications field. Smaller papers throughout the semester will be the basis of a larger, final analysis & individual presentation of an actual brand or public relations case study.
MCA/BIC matriculated status.
$100
3 hr./wk.
The focus of this course is to teach students how to utilize market research, demographic and other data in the development of dynamic strategies for building and sustaining brand identity. Students will not only learn how to construct incisive strategies for advertising and integrated communications campaigns, but appreciate the value of long-term scenario planning as a necessity of brand management. Tools to evaluate the viability of strategies before implementation will be examined. Case studies will be analyzed to determine how well existing brands differentiate themselves in the marketplace.
MCA/BIC matriculated status.
3 hr./wk.
Students will learn how to transform a strategic message into a "big idea" that helps to create and nurture a brand's essence as it captures the consumer's imagination. This process- and critique-based course explores the distinction between strategic language and creative expression. Case studies as well as self-generated content will be used to teach students the basics of idea generation, how to recognize "big ideas," and how to critique them in order to keep the message on strategy and make the work better.
MCA/BIC matriculated status.
$100.
3 hr./wk.
By using the strategic message as the anchor, today's digital world enables communication to create a 360 degree experience. This survey class explores methods of visualization, production, and immersion in the coordinated application of mass, personal, and social media. Traditional as well as experimental forms of communication will be considered as synergy helps to achieve strategic ubiquity. Emphasis will be given to how effective benchmarks and outcomes can be measured. Topics include: elements of good design, basic principles of digital production for broadcast, meaningful use of social and Internet media, and creating rich sensory environments.
MCA/BIC matriculated status.
3 hr./wk.
While Marshall McLuhan may have stated that "the medium is the message" back in 1964, achieving communication goals in today's media landscape has never been more challenging. This course will examine the convergence of media and creative solutions to meet strategic ends as students study media outlets, planning, and buying.
$100.
3 hr./wk.
Students advancing careers in business, government and non-profits benefit from a thorough understanding of leadership, its theories, its techniques and its lurking ethical traps. This course examines the interplay between management and leadership, empowerment, mentoring, negotiation, change management and the special role of leadership in volunteer organizations. Rapidly changing dynamics growing from flattening organizations, instantly available information and round-the-clock communication are considered.
$50.
3 hr./wk.
Integrated communications in a multi-language, multicultural context is becoming the norm rather than the exception. This course examines the challenge of communications and advertising across linguistic, cultural, geographic, perceptual and national boundaries. This course also focuses on working with global actors beyond nation-states, including NGO's, private standard initiatives, value chain certification, transnational entities and activists groups.
$50.
3 hr./wk.
This elective immerses Creative Track students in real-world agency life by developing campaign concepts across different media under the guidance of select creative teams currently working at high-level agencies. Overseen by a BIC faculty member, students will have the opportunity to visit five different firms and expose themselves to their distinctive ways of approaching a brief. Based on strategic thinking, students will create a number of campaign concepts that unite “art & copy” with an eye towards further development and inclusion in a spec book – or pre-professional portfolio.
BIC matriculated status.
Permission from BIC program director.
3 hr./wk.
This elective, when taken in the final semester of the BIC program, supports students in the Creative Track in the development of their thesis portfolio which is a degree requirement. Portfolios must be of professional quality and are judged by a panel of discipline experts prior to graduation.
BIC matriculated status
Permission from BIC program director
3 hr./wk.
This elective, when taken in the final semester of the BIC program, supports students in the Management/Planning Track in the development of their thesis portfolio which is a degree requirement. Portfolios must be of professional quality and are judged by a panel of discipline experts prior to graduation.
BIC matriculated status
Permission from BIC program director
3 hr./wk.
This elective, when taken in the final semester of the BIC program, supports students in the Public Relations Track in the development of their thesis portfolio which is a degree requirement. Portfolios must be of professional quality and are judged by a panel of discipline experts prior to graduation.
BIC matriculated status
Permission from BIC program director
3 hr./wk.
This elective taken in the final semester of the BIC program supports students in the Media Track in the development of their thesis portfolio which is a degree requirement. Portfolios must be of professional quality and are judged by a panel of discipline experts prior to graduation.
BIC matriculated status
3 hr./wk.
The first of a two-semester sequence of workshops in image gathering for HD video and 16mm film. Through a series of lectures and production exercises, student will build a foundation in the art and craft of cinematography, and the technical camera and lighting skills needed to execute their fiction or documentary productions. Topics include visual composition and design principles, the 3-demensional field, and the perception of time and space through camera position and lenses.
MCA/M.F.A. matriculated status.
$100.
3 hr./wk.
The second course in a two-semester workshop sequence in image gathering for HD video and 16mm film. Students build on the foundation of camera and lighting skills mastered in Camera I, executing increasingly more complex production exercises. Topics include 16mm films and camera, exposure and lighting control, lighting styles and aesthetics, and a comparison between film and HD video.
$100.
3 hr./wk.
Workshop in the fundamentals of creating short documentary films in digital formats. Through a series of production exercises, students master skills in rendering locations visually, interviewing, working with archival elements and capturing unfolding action.
MCA/M.F.A. matriculated status.
3 hr./wk.
This course emphasizes technical aspects of production sound in documentary film making through hands-on practical training. Topics also include emerging formats and troubleshooting techniques in the digital age as well as the relevant theoretical aspects in production sound.
MCA/MFA Status
3 hr./wk.
This course emphasizes the technical aspects of production sound of narrative fiction film making through hands-on practical training. Topics also include emerging formats and troubleshooting techniques in the digital age as well as the relevant theoretical aspects in sound.
MCA/MFA Status
3 hr./wk.
The first of a two-course sequence in conceptualizing, researching, writing and presenting an idea for a documentary film or video. Workshops focus on representational models, documentary and mass culture, testing the viability of the initial impulse, research strategies, crafting the idea into visual story, legal and ethical issues in documentary, and the filmic techniques available to the documentarian. Classes are augmented by a rigorous screening schedule of seminal documentaries.
MCA/M.F.A. matriculated status.
3 hr./wk.
Introduction to visual storytelling for thefiction filmmaker. Students script and shoot a series of short fiction films employing new digital technologies for image gathering.
MCA/M.F.A. matriculated status.
3 hr./wk.
To understand an advertising client's business needs, one must understand how the client does business. Students will learn about advertising from within the context of marketing, business and commerce. An emphasis will also be placed on vendors/suppliers beyond the client, group dynamics, various selling and negotiation techniques as well as dynamic new ways to package client presentations.
3 hr./wk.
This course is one part psychology and one part communication theory. It aspires to answer the questions: What makes people tick? How does communication work? Readings may include such seminal thinkers as BF Skinner, Marshall McLuhan, Neil Postman, Malcolm Gladwell, Harold Innis, Everett Rogers as well as the most recent developments in the scientific field of demography.
3 hr./wk.
Despite the collaborative nature of creating advertising, this course focuses on ways to play a leadership role within the agency. As an "industry of idea development" and not the manufacture of goods, students learn the special challenges of evaluating creative work from strategy to concept development to execution. They will also learn about commercial production, overseeing media planning, the art of persuasion, and understanding the various roles and functions at play in developing successful communications programs.
3 hr./wk.
An advanced studio course for creative development of advertising concepts. Based on strategic thinking, students will have the opportunity to create a number of campaign concepts for print executions with an eye towards further development and inclusion in a spec book - or pre-professional portfolio.
3 hr./wk.
An advanced studio course that allows copywriting students to further refine rough campaign concepts in the creation of multi-media executions - from traditional print and broadcast to new media hybrids and more interactive advertising. Emphasis will be placed on developing a writer's "voice" as students exploring the convergence of brand and page personality in a series of individual projects.
3 hr./wk.
An advanced studio course in the BIC Creative Track where students work in teams as art director/copywriter to apply design skills, polish writing, and utilize design software basics in order to digitally produce their existing campaigns for inclusion in their spec book and to upload to an online portfolio. Final critiques will include a formal portfolio review with industry professionals.
$50.
3 hr./wk.
This course examines how to identify, cultivate and engage influencers who can help a company or business advance its brand in the marketplace. The class examines the role of influencers in media, the digital sphere (professional bloggers, citizen experts) and industry professionals/celebrities, and CEO’s. Students will become proficient in developing targeted media lists using media databases and understand social media listening using the latest software to monitor the digital influencer space in identifying trends, understanding the news value, context and flow of information, and utilizing feedback to adjust an organization’s digital media strategy to an equilibrium state.
3 hr./wk.
This course examines how an organization and its brand stay consistent with its mission, goals, and policies while engaging its employees through developing: communications that permeate throughout an entire organization, content that resonates across Intranet and digital media platforms and blogs; initiatives that inspire employees to embody the brand, mission and goals of the organization as they engage online and in their communities.
Students engage in such topics as brand building, change management, corporate communications, stakeholder engagement, digital media guidelines, and social listening so that they can take a leadership position at the management table.
3 hr./wk.
This course provides a comprehensive overview of the PR strategic planning process within an integrated marketing communications plan. Students conduct environmental scanning on assessing a company’s business goals and objectives in creating an effective communications plan that targets key audiences and stakeholders across traditional and digital media platforms. Throughout, students understand how strategic insights drive all aspects of the messaging (paid, earned, shared, owned), to deliver measureable results that tie the business goals and objectives to the public relations strategy.
3 hr./wk.
Digital Analysis & Optimization will provide a comprehensive understanding of how the digitization of consumers’ engagement with media platforms is providing rich data sets to plan, buy and optimize integrated media programs. This course will cover media accountability and the measurement of KPIs through both attribution and modeling techniques (i.e., Marketing Mix Analysis). Students will learn media planning/buying terminology and the associated math, leveraging tools and data available to create media plans and media buys. Learning outcomes include an understanding of audience segmentation and in-market testing of media and creative strategies and tactics.
3 hr./wk.
Integrated Media Planning will explore how the rapidly changing media landscape affects marketing communications and effectiveness. Students will gain an understanding of how media strategies and plans are created and their role within the overall advertising/marketing mix. The course will cover the elements of media strategy (and how they relate to other promotional and integrated communications strategies), media planning/buying terminology, the role of media − individually and in combination − in communicating brand messages, and trends affecting the impact of media and marketing results.
3 hr./wk.
Media Investment Strategies will examine today’s complex media buying marketplace to learn how brands leverage paid media to add value along the entire consumer journey. Students will gain an understanding about media buying strategies, how they are developed and approved. The course will explore how media buys are created, negotiated, activated and reconciled as well as identify how large media companies bundle their assets to create powerful programs to create real value for brands, customers/retail partners, and consumers. Students will discover how to generate creative ways to align brand value through media investments and generate a return on assets.
3 hr./wk.
Focuses on finding meaningful stories on which short-fiction screenplays will be based. Through a series of oral and written exercises, students explore how personal experience and memory can inform their fiction. Required for Fiction Production Students.
MCA/M.F.A. matriculated status.
3 hr./wk.
Students work on refining thesis screenplays by analyzing their story's tension devices, dialogue, action lines, and the visual components of the story. Each student will complete a screenplay of approximately twenty pages. Required for Fiction Production Students.
3 hr./wk.
Working in teams as competing, fully functioning "communications firms," students take this course in their penultimate semester to work on a semester-long project: an integrated marketing communications campaign for a non-profit organization (selected and coordinated by the instructor). Final projects will act as content for student portfolios required for completion of the program.
$50
3 hr./wk.
Working in teams as competing, fully functioning "communications firms," students take this course in their final semester to work on a semester-long project: an integrated marketing communications campaign for an actual client either directly or in partnership with a NYC agency (selected and coordinated by the instructor). Final projects will act as content for student portfolios required for completion of the program.
$50.
3 hr./wk.
Conceptualizing, researching, developing, and writing advanced projects in documentary and cross-genre work with documentary elements. Required for students whose thesis projects will be in documentary or cross-genre with significant documentary elements. Required for Documentary Production Students.
3 hr./wk.
This course promotes students' critical and practical understanding of the role of editing in the filmmaking process. Through lectures, screenings, and discussions students are exposed to the art and craft of film editing. Three main components will be addressed: Discussions in aesthetics and techniques, screenings and analysis of different editing styles, and follow-through with all students' program-related projects (Fiction and Documentary).
3 hr./wk.
Exploration of the aesthetics and practice of audio as a creative element in media production. Through a series of exercises, students learn to shape the aural environment of voice, music and sound effects to support the dramatic intent of a particular piece.
3 hr./wk.
Examines the production process from A to Z, from acquisition of literary rights to delivery of the finished product according to industry standards. Through a series of case studies, students analyze successful models for producing larger independent media projects as well as their thesis films. Please note: This course meets in the first summer session (June).
Summer Session I
3 hr./wk.
Emphasis is on script analysis and shaping actors' performance for the camera. Class time is turned into a workshop where students direct scenes from published screenplays. Students who are in the Directing Fiction track will additionally shoot an "Instant Film": they are given one week to prepare, 3 hours to shoot, and one week to edit their film. For each film specific guidelines relating to 'mise-en-scène' are given to its directors to challenge their artistic inclination and aesthetics. Required for Fiction Production Students.
$35
3 hr./wk.
An advanced workshop examining the unique combination of skills required for the Director/Producer of documentary and cross-genre work with documentary elements. Students carry out exercises that hone skills in logistics and aesthetics of creative documentary that test the assumptions of the documentary proposals they create in Researching and Writing Documentary II. Required for students whose thesis projects will be reality-based.
$60.
3 hr./wk.
Students and faculty evaluate the current state of media arts production, and potential roles for our graduates in that domain. Sessions are augmented by guest seminars conducted by working media artists from all areas of the independent community, site visits and internet conferences.
3 hr./wk.
A practical approach to distribution with a concentration on short fiction and documentary films. Students develop strategies for how to get work seen by distributors, festivals and the public. Exploration of different markets including Theatrical Educational, Specialty, Television, DVD, Electronic and new models such as VOD.
3 hr./wk.
The coordinating course for all logistics related to documentary and fiction thesis production. Thesis directors present production packages for critique, create schedules, review permitting, insurance and rights issues, as well as the auditioning process and location scouting. First cuts of thesis films are screened in the final month of the course.
9 hr./wk.
Culminating course required of all candidates in the major. Candidates complete their thesis production and present at the annual student media arts showcase. Productions are expected to be original and represent a contribution to the field of media arts.
6 hr./wk.
Designed to build bridges to the student's chosen field through work experience. A limited number of positions may be made available through the MCA department, but students are encouraged to research their own internships. Student are evaluated in writing by their field su-pervisors and produce a report summarizing and evaluating the intern-ship.
3 hr./wk.
Designed to build bridges to the student's chosen field through work experience. A limited number of positions may be made available through the MCA department, but students are encouraged to research their own internships. Students are evaluated in writing by their field supervisors and produce a report summarizing and evaluating the internship. This set of courses is repeatable 2 times (for a maximum of 12 credits total for this entire set of courses: B9351, B9352, B9353).
MCA/BIC matriculated status, and permission from program director.
1-3 hr./wk.
Building on the skills acquired in the first year of the MFA program, this course enables documentary students to practice and perfect their craft as they work toward the realization of their thesis projects. The course is run as a workshop in that students prepare initial scenes from their film in which they find weaknesses as well as strengths. These scenes are presented for critique of structure, narrative intent, and technical viability in preparation for possible additional shooting and for First Cut screenings for the entire MFA class in B9100 Thesis Project I.
3 hr./wk.
Building on the skills acquired in the first year of the MFA program, this course enables fiction students to practice and perfect their craft as they work toward the realization of their thesis projects. The three benchmarks of the course are, 1. Screenplay presentation and discussion, where each student is required to present the project orally in class to receive final feedback in class from faculty and peers, and 2. Workshop, based on a selected scene and 3. Screening and critique of selects from dailies.
3 hr./wk.
Series of graduate-level elective courses exploring advanced topics in the rapidly changing field of Media Arts Production that are outside of the required course sequence.
MCA/MFA Matriculated Status, and permission from M.F.A Director.
3 hr./wk.
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the principles and practices of teaching in a student's chosen field. Students are assigned a faculty mentor and work closely with them on all instructional aspects of a particular course. Students will learn how to structure a syllabus, super-vise student production teams, provide instructional support and teach a minimum of one course session, which will be evaluated by the faculty mentor.
3 hr./wk.
This course allows students to experience independent, student-driven scholarship or practice by exploring a selected topic either outside the scope of existing courses or based on material already introduced during required coursework. Topics must be proposed to and approved by a selected faculty advisor who works with the student to structure, monitor, and evaluate the outcomes of the independent study. This set of courses is repeatable 2 times (for a maximum of 12 credits total for this entire set of courses: B9851, B9852, B9853).
MCA/MFA or MCA/BIC matriculated status, and permission from program director.
1-3 hr./wk.