Television, Radio and Film, MA

Contact:

Michael Schoonmaker, Chair
318 Newhouse 3, 315-443-2150

Faculty

Frank Biocca, Richard L. Breyer, Fiona Chew, Richard Dubin, Larry Elin, Imraan Farukhi, Keith Giglio, Tula Goenka, Sharon R. Hollenback, Barbara E. Jones, Patricia H. Longstaff, Douglas Quin, Michael Schoonmaker, Evan Smith, Olivia Stomski, Robert J. Thompson, Donald C. Torrance

Established in 1950, the Television, Radio and Film Master’s program was the first of its kind in the nation and continues to be seen as the leader in graduate education for the field. This one-year, intensive, graduate program is designed for those who want to tell stories for screens of all sizes, examining various forms of entertainment media through the lenses of storytelling, industry, technology and art form.

Every day we experience these entertainment media as commercials on television, our favorite films at the multiplex, games on our iPhones and videos on the Internet. Students in the Television-Radio-Film Department have the opportunity to explore the ways stories are currently told, but also how they might be told decades from now as new technologies develop and the world shrinks.

Major themes in coursework include: production, screenwriting, criticism, business management and trends, the creative process and entrepreneurial strategies in dynamic media environments. The department’s approach to story is framed within film, television, Internet, interactivity and audio. You will create, analyze and explore. You may choose to learn screenwriting, to produce a documentary, to create a web-based public service campaign–and then research your audience and market your creation. Your one year as a student in this program will be multidimensional in terms of its practical, theoretical, forward-thinking, creative, industry-centered and intellectual layers.

This multidimensional approach is most visible in the Proseminar Industry Series (spanning across the year of study) designed to bring together TRF studies and professional practices. The object of the Proseminar experience is to prepare students to engage in current TRF issues and practices, help them understand changes in media environments and enable them to respond to future challenges as skilled creators and decision-makers.

The TRF Master’s prepares future leaders in enterprises where stories for screens entertain and persuade audiences: as writers, directors, editors, producers, media executives, multimedia designers, managers, entertainment lawyers, and agents. Some graduates run their own businesses, while others work for organizations like PBS, Comcast-NBC Universal, Google, MTV, Discovery Networks, Time Warner, Disney, Nickelodeon, CAA and hundreds of others.

This 36-credit program leads to a Master’s of Art (M.A.) in Television, Radio and Film.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Identify the principles and laws associated with free speech and press for the US, as well as compare the American system of freedom of expression with others around the world, including the right to dissent, to monitor and criticize power, and to assemble and petition for redress of grievances

2. Describe how professionalization has historically shaped the institutions in communications. Use knowledge of the history of the media industry to adapt to current communications work environment

3. Explain mass communications in relation to social identities such as gender, race ethnicity, sexual orientation and, as appropriate, other forms of diversity in American society

4. Recognize how the diversity of peoples and cultures has shaped mass communications in a global society

5. Apply theories and concepts of design and visual communication to the use and presentation of images and information

6. Recognize professional ethical principles and apply them in pursuit of truth, accuracy, fairness and diversity

7. Critically, creatively, and/or independently consider problems and issues relevant to the communications professions

8. Conduct research and/or evaluate information by methods appropriate to the communications professions

9. Write correctly and clearly in forms and styles appropriate for the communications professions, audiences and purposes they serve

10. Evaluate their own work and that of others for accuracy and fairness, clarity, appropriate style and grammatical correctness

11. Apply basic numerical and statistical concepts

12. Apply tools and technologies appropriate for the communications professions in which they work

13. Produce entertainment media at the level that would be expected of entry-level job performance in film, television or radio industries

14. Contribute to knowledge appropriate to the communications professions in which they work

Requirements (19-21 Credits)

TRF 610 - Proseminar in Television, Radio, and Film 1 credit(s) (Phase I, II, and III–1 credit each)
Note: Proseminar includes an optional industry-immersion trip to New York City or Los Angeles during winter break.
TRF 635 - Industry Forces 3 credit(s)
TRF 636 - Critical and Historical Perspectives on Television, Radio, and Film 3 credit(s)
TRF 637 - Telecommunications Law&Policy 3 credit(s)
TRF 655 - Screenwriting and Production Workshop 3 credit(s)
TRF 675 - Entertainment Industry Practicum 1-3 credit(s)
TRF 696 - Research for Entertainment Media 3 credit(s)

TRF Electives (15-17 Credits)

TRF Master’s students tailor their individual programs to fit their unique learning goals with specialized coursework from a list of more than 65 courses. Among those are the following:

TRF 510 - Specialized Practice 1 credit(s) -Acting Workshop -Post Production Workflow -Avid Editing I -Avid Editing II -Color Correction -Advanced Final-Cut Editing -Producing the Fashion Video -The Art and Science of Managing Creative Teams -Reality Check/Unscripted TV -Art of the Sizzle Reel
TRF 530 - Popular Culture Studies 3 credit(s) The Wire: Study in Serialization -Sports on TV -The Godfather: Script Analysis
TRF 592 - Film Business 3 credit(s)
TRF 594 - Television Business 3 credit(s)
TRF 595 - Programming and Audience Analysis 3 credit(s)
TRF 600 - Selected Topics 1-6 credit(s) - Visual Effects Workshop: Creating VFX Assets
TRF 600 - Selected Topics 1-6 credit(s) - Visual Effects Workshop: Compositing
TRF 600 - Selected Topics 1-6 credit(s) - Human-Computer Interaction
TRF 600 - Selected Topics 1-6 credit(s) - Directing
TRF 600 - Selected Topics 1-6 credit(s) - Producing Workshop
TRF 600 - Selected Topics 1-6 credit(s) - Sports Production
TRF 600 - Selected Topics 1-6 credit(s) - Working with Actors
TRF 600 - Selected Topics 1-6 credit(s) - Production Management
TRF 600 - Selected Topics 1-6 credit(s) - Cinematography
TRF 600 - Selected Topics 1-6 credit(s) - Writing for Television: One-Hour Drama
TRF 611 - Dramatic Writing for Television and Film 3 credit(s)
TRF 621 - Feature Film Writing 3 credit(s)
TRF 622 - Comedy Writing 3 credit(s)
TRF 624 - Script Development 3 credit(s)
TRF 640 - Topics in Critical and Historical Perspectives 3 credit(s)
TRF 642 - Television Production Workshop 3 credit(s)
TRF 648 - Producing Radio: On Air to Online 3 credit(s)
TRF 653 - Short-form Production 3 credit(s)
TRF 654 - Music Recording 3 credit(s)
TRF 656 - Sound for Picture 3 credit(s)
TRF 657 - Music Underscoring 3 credit(s)
TRF 659 - Documentary Production 3 credit(s)
TRF 661 - Advanced Management Seminar 3 credit(s)
TRF 662 - Advanced TV Production 3 credit(s)
TRF 667 - Screenwriting Master Class 3 credit(s)
TRF 668 - Advanced Audio 3 credit(s)
TRF 669 - Advanced Filmmaking 3 credit(s)
TRF 683 - Communications Industry Frontiers 3 credit(s)
Students may also petition courses from other Newhouse or University programs to count as electives in their program of study.

Additional Requirements

At least 18 credits of the program’s total 36 credits of coursework must be 600-level or above. Students must pass a comprehensive examination which they are eligible to take upon completion of 30 credits.