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Tufts has tons of options for students interested in film, video, media, and everything in between. In this blog, we’ll cover some of the offerings in the Film and Media Studies department, which lives in Tufts' School of Arts and Sciences, and the Film and Video area, which lives in the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts.

Film and Media Studies (FMS) aims for a holistic understanding of film and media through a liberal arts approach to the study of history, theory, production, industry, criticism and storytelling. We emphasize a global perspective, the combination of practical and scholarly skills, and the study of narrative and documentary forms. An FMS major gives you critical thinking skills, knowledge of film and media, an understanding of the contemporary industry, and the extensive writing experience you need to pursue graduate studies or careers in film, television, advertising, public relations, journalism, digital media, and a range of related media fields. FMS is offered as either a major or a minor, and the department organizes the popular Winternship program, connecting students with winter internships at prestigious media organizations.

Film and Video students engage in moving image practice through a variety of conceptual and technical traditions, in courses that investigate both cinema and gallery-based work. The film and video facilities support moving image production in video, film, and time-based digital media. Courses expose students to the history of Avant-Gardes and traditions in experimental cinema around the world as they relate to theatrical, gallery-based, and emergent platforms of distribution. The Film and Video labs are built to foster a wide variety of skill sets such as production skills, camera operation and composition, lighting, film and digital editing techniques, projection and digital display in theater and gallery contexts, post-production, expanded cinema, and multi-channel video installations. Film and Video easily overlap with students’ investigations in disciplines as diverse as performance, installation, sculpture, sound, and animation. BFA and Combined Degree students have access to resources and opportunities like the thesis program, internships with museum partners, a media stockroom that makes equipment accessible to all, and arts career advising.

 

You can see that there are some similarities between Film and Media Studies and Film and Video. There are even classes you can take that will earn you credit in either department. Both programs combine practice with theory and offer amazing courses and extracurricular opportunities. Ultimately, the difference between the two programs boils down to this:

Film and Media Studies is Bachelor of Arts degree earned a liberal arts classroom environment where you’ll incorporate the production of film and media into the study of history and theory. The major is comprised of about ten classes (just under 1/3 of your total classes), including two core courses in history and theory plus eight electives across theory, social science, film and media practice, and international film and media. FMS also offers an optional production thread, where classes focus in on aspects of the production of film and media like screenwriting, directing, and producing. Most of your classes would be on the Medford/Somerville campus.

Film and Video is a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree earned in an interdisciplinary art studio environment where you’ll incorporate history and theory into the production of your artwork. About 2/3 of your classes will be in studio art throughout your degree program. Film and Video is one of many areas of study at SMFA at Tufts, where students can move seamlessly between coursework and studio practice in all areas without needing to declare a major. The BFA program centers you as a maker, balancing technical and conceptual development within your artistic practice. Most of your studio art classes
would be on the SMFA Fenway campus.

Remember that both of these programs are offered by Tufts University, so you’ll have access to the same exciting opportunities, like study abroad, student organizations, campus life, and academic exploration, regardless of which program you’re enrolled in. But before you apply, you’ll want to consider which of these programs might best support your interests and artistic and professional goals. You’ll apply directly into one of our programs: the School of Arts & Sciences (where you can earn a BA in Film and Media Studies, among many other majors), the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Studio Art, or the Combined Degree (BFA+BA/BS) program.

 

Mix and match film, video, and media offerings as you please by applying to earn:

• A BFA in Studio Art (including Film and Video) and taking classes or minoring in Film and Media Studies
• A BA in Film and Media Studies and taking classes or minoring in Studio Art
• A BFA in Studio Art and a BA in Film and Media Studies in our five-year Combined Degree program
• A degree in something else entirely in the School of Arts & Sciences or School of Engineering and taking classes or minoring in Studio Art and/or Film and Media Studies

If you’re looking to dig a little deeper and figure out which program is right for you, we recommend signing up for a virtual information session or on-campus tour of both the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and of Tufts generally.

Sample Courses in Film and Media Studies:

• Art of the Moving Image. We will watch a variety of films from the US and abroad that exemplify cinema's myriad forms and styles: mainstream and avant-garde, fiction and non-fiction, narrative and non-narrative, black-and-white and color, silent and sound. We will then consider the extent to which cinema's aesthetic features are shared by television, as well as
what is artistically distinctive about TV.

• 20th Century U.S. Television History. We trace the development of television (in the US but within a global context) from its conception through its industrial, technical, aesthetic and textual development to understand how American broadcast television emerged as a dominant cultural force around the world.

• Media and Society. This course seeks to examine the relationship between media (i.e., radio, television, and internet) and society, through an exploration of the factors that shape how media is produced, how media is consumed, and its effect on culture. In addition, the course places an emphasis on the role of the consumer in media production, and the political use of media as a means of social change.

• Ethnographic Film, Video, and Beyond. Since its inception, ethnographic documentary has been a rich and richly contested field of debates about representation, colonialism, cross-cultural collaboration, and public anthropology. In this course, we learn about the history of ethnographic documentary by watching key works that have shaped the genre, as well as by examining contemporary works and practices in ethnographic documentary and multi-media projects.

• Screenwriting 1. Introduction to cinematic storytelling and dramatic construction, which guides student short film ideas from concept to screenplay. The course operates as an immersive workshop in the craft of writing, short, engaging scripts. Screenings and analysis of innovative narrative shorts from around the world supplement weekly script development and insightful roundtable discussion of student work.

• Storytelling and Editing. This course explores the practice and art of film editing as the indispensable work that awaits all moving image storytellers once production has ended. Students will gain experience editing both scripted and documentary films to advance their conceptual and technical understanding of the challenges editors face and the solutions they discover along the way to reaching final cut.

Sample Courses in Film and Video:

• Intro to Film & Video: This beginner level studio class will introduce students to the conceptual and practical aspects of the medium of moving image. We will explore the medium through screenings, readings, discussions, practice and critique of student’s works. The course will cover basic production skills such as camera operation and composition, editing in Adobe Premiere Pro and special effects (green screen, compositing etc.) in Adobe After Effects.

• Intro to Video Art: Possibilities for video art production including single-channel, installation, performance, and Internet projects. Use of digital film/video cameras, microphones, lighting kits, nonlinear editing systems, computers for multi-channel installation, video projectors and screens for image display, and audio speakers for multi-channel and surround sound installation.

• Video Open Studio: Organizing and producing more complicated video and sync sound shoots, image and sound post-production, staging, and presentation of video work for gallery or site-specific settings. Assist peers on projects, participate in group critiques, and receive individual feedback from faculty, and present their work at least once.

• Video Installation: Produce video content based on individual interests, concerns, passions. Design ways to display artworks that communicate ideas and aesthetics with power and strength. Instruction in camera composition, video editing and compositing using Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects, lighting design, video mapping software, and sound scores, recording, editing and mixing. Incorporate diverse media in installations, i.e., painting, sculpture, found objects, texts, performance, digital technologies, the internet, music and sound. Visiting artists present projects and critique students’ work.