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Small Screen, Big Opportunities
Shows like The Sopranos, House, Sex and the City and The Office have proven that some of today’s most exciting and creative film work can be found right in your living room, on your television screen. Television is where A-list filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, Rob Reiner, and Sidney Lumet all got their start, in part because there are more jobs in television than in feature films, and in part because television has a rich tradition of taking a chance on hot young talent.
For those interested in the broadcast journalism, the opportunities are also plentiful. Year after year, aspiring broadcast journalists step right out of Dodge College into jobs as television reporters at stations across the country.
Undergraduate Program
The B.F.A. in Television and Broadcast Journalism offers students an education in all storytelling forms of the medium of television: drama, comedy, news, sports, talk shows and documentaries. Students take a set of core courses then decide whether to focus on narrative television (scripted shows like Grey’s Anatomy, CSI or My Name Is Earl), broadcast journalism, or documentaries.
Core Courses
All students are thoroughly trained in the basics of television production including working in a studio environment as well as on location, and fundamental skills such as electronic cinematography, editing, and sound recording. Additionally, students gain crucial understanding of the financial and social/cultural aspects of the medium through courses in the Business of Television and the History of Television.
Narrative Television
If your dream is a career in prime-time drama or comedy, then the narrative television focus is for you. In Seminar in Television Writing you’ll write a sample episode or “spec script” of your favorite prime-time comedy or drama. Narrative Television Workshop teaches you how to bring a script to life through an intensive collaboration with a company of actors. In Byte-Sized Television, you will write, produce and direct episodes an original 5 minute series to be aired on the Internet. Finally, the year-long sequence Prime Time Production: Writing the Dramatic Series, Shooting the Dramatic Series, and Editing the Dramatic Series gives you the chance to collaborate on a student-created one-hour prime time television show.
Broadcast Journalism
If your dream is a career in TV news, sports or entertainment reporting, then the broadcast journalism focus is for you. Courses like Broadcast News, Advanced Broadcast News writing, and Producing the Newscast give you hands-on experience investigating and broadcasting stories including breaking news, government affairs, arts and entertainment, and celebrity profiles. Students also have the opportunity to work on Nightcap, the student written, produced, directed and performed talk-variety show now in its tenth year and cablecast throughout Orange County. Nightcap has also gone international, with students traveling in the summer to London or other locations to produce international versions of the show.
Documentary Production
New worlds await you if you’re interested in making documentaries. In 2008, Chapman students travelled to Cambodia to shoot the documentary Giant Steps which will air in Southern California on PBS. Other international destinations include France, Brazil and Africa. To prepare for these exciting journeys, documentary production students will receive extensive, hands-on training in all aspects of planning, shooting and editing a quality documentary. Many of the international opportunities are available on a scholarship basis.
Core Requirements
FTV 114 - Introduction to Television Production
FTV 115 - Editing I
FTV 116 - Introduction to Television Production: Location
FTV 130 - Introduction to Visual Storytelling
FTV 133 - Audio Techniques
FTV 232 - Electronic Cinematography I
FTV 240 - Business of Television
FTV 246 - History of Television
FTV 262 - Prime Time: The Game of Television
Total units: 57
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