2025 - Spring

MEDIA STUDIES COURSES

RTF 380               RESEARCH METHODS • SUZANNE SCOTT

This course provides an introduction to key methodological approaches used by media studies scholars. First, we will address the considerations involved in developing and designing research projects, addressing potential ethical and logistical challenges related to conducting different types of research. Second, we will survey several qualitative research methods employed by media studies scholars including historiography, discourse analysis, textual and formal analysis, ethnography, interviewing, and more. Students will be asked to build on our semester-long survey of methodological challenges, concerns, and practices by developing their own research proposals. RTF faculty members will be brought in throughout the semester to discuss their own methodological approaches, and to participate in question-and-answer sessions with students about their experiences and challenges studying media texts, industries, and audiences.

RTF 385K    MEDIA, MEMORY, AND ARCHIVE • CAROLINE FRICK

This course introduces one of the most complicated and under-studied components of the media industries: Preservation. The course will employ both a theoretical and practical approach to archival media product, as well as will investigate the emerging connections with media and memory studies. Debates over the merits (and drawbacks) of defining media product as artifact will be complemented by larger discussions over the practical ramifications of ownership, physical deterioration, and the so-called “digital dark ages.”

RTF 386C           SCREEN THEORY • LALITHA GOPALAN

A preliminary description for the course describes it as an exploration of how the screen in its many incarnations has been a source of fascination for both viewers and makers.  We conjure it as a scrim that receives light from a projector, as a liquid-crystal display arranging pixels, as a DCP at our local theater, as large screens promising immersive experiences, small screens that we hold in our hands, and so much more. This remains the starting point for our seminar. Since meditations on the screen continue to be extensive and speculative, including formulations on its relationship to photography, television, new media, and pre-cinematic forms, the course will focus on how projections on the screen long provoked theoreticians to consider expressions of time, space, and movement. The readings in the course will explore the vast dimensions of the screen that continue to enthrall us. 

The course is open to graduate students who are scholars and filmmaker-artists.
 

RTF 386C           MEDIA INDUSTRIES • ALISA PERREN

Three main objectives will guide us throughout the semester:  First, we will survey the history of the media industries and of media industries-related scholarship. Using Hollywood’s film and television operations as our primary objects of analysis, but referring to other contexts throughout, we will consider key ways that regulatory and technological shifts, along with a heightened emphasis on globalization, have intersected with industrial changes.

Second, we will look at the range of qualitative methods that have been employed to research the media industries. In the process, we will read several case studies that provide applications of each of these approaches.

Third, we will explore the evolving field of media industry studies. This field, which incorporates work in film, media, communication, sociology, anthropology, science and technology studies, and cultural studies, argues for the importance of integrating analysis of media structures with consideration of cultural and textual matters. Although our readings will focus most heavily on filmed entertainment from Hollywood, students are welcome to research such areas as video games, music, comic books, publishing, and radio in their final projects. Further, students are encouraged to apply the theoretical and methodological frameworks surveyed in class to other local, regional, and national contexts.

RTF 386C        RACE, CLASS, & GENDER IN AMERICAN TV • MARY BELTRAN

Narrative television is one of the primary popular culture forums through which notions of race, citizenship, class, gender, and sexual orientation have been constructed, validated, and challenged in the United States; this graduate seminar surveys scholarship examining the poetics and politics of this evolution. With a focus on intersectional representation, TV storytellers, and how television has been linked to U.S. sociocultural history, we will survey the seminal scholarship on these topics and areas of theoretical and popular contention. Key areas of focus will include the evolution of popular genres such as sitcoms, debates over equitable representation and television as a public forum for all, self-representation, feminist and anti-racist content, and representation and authorship in the “post-“ and “peak TV” eras. A variety of media studies approaches are taken up in the readings, with emphasis on critical and cultural studies scholarship. Weekly screenings that students will stream on their own time will provide key texts that we will analyze in our discussions.

RTF 398M   MASTERS RESEARCH/WRITING

RTF 398R    MASTERS REPORT - HYBRID/BLENDED

MFA SCREENWRITING COURSES

RTF 380J          FIRST-YEAR SCREENWRITING • TOM WILLETT 

A continuation of the first-year screenwriting class taught in the Fall, this course will focus on the process of revision. As a part of developing an organized strategy for approaching their second drafts, students will also be introduced to the “sequences” method of screenplay structure. All students must have a completed feature-length screenplay ready on the first day of class.

RTF 380M         *ADVANCED SCREENWRITING II  • KATHERINE CRAFT

This course fulfills the second year/second semester writing requirement for all MFA screenwriters.  In this advanced screenwriting workshop, students write either a feature-length screenplay or an original television pilot (30 or 60 minute).  With instructor’s permission, students may also write TV specs. Students will continue their exploration of the craft of screenwriting, while finishing polished, professional work that can serve as a calling-card.

*This course fulfills the second year, first semester writing requirement for all MFA screenwriting majors. Other qualified students will be admitted as space permits, by instructor permission.

RTF 380N        TELEVISION PILOTS • MAYA PEREZ

Each student will create a new original television show (30- or 60-minute, network or cable) from the ground up: establishing the setting and world, inventing the characters and relationships, and designing the engine and conflicts necessary to propel a show through multiple seasons. Students will then distill all of this work into a single showpiece episode - a pilot - that demonstrates the artistic and commercial potential of the new show. We’ll also look at a range of produced pilots and discuss what makes them work.

RTF 380N        WRITERS ROOM WORKSHOP • CINDY MCCREERY

Students will work as a writers’ room run by Professor McCreery and television executive Jordan Levin where they will create an original pilot as well as the entire season of a television series. 

RTF 385K      HISTORY OF FILM (FOR 1st YEAR MFAs) • CHARLES RAMÍREZ BERG

This course is a survey of international film history for graduate students. It is required of all RTF MFA students in screenwriting. Covering the development of the medium from Thomas Edison to the present, the history of cinema will be approached from various perspectives (as a technology, an industry, an entertainment medium, and a mode of personal and national expression, as a language). Particular attention will be given to the evolution of film’s formal elements. Several assignments are designed to acquaint students with how film styles have evolved, how film style operates as a language, and how research in film history is conducted.

MFA PRODUCTION COURSES

RTF 385K      HISTORY OF FILM (FOR 1st YEAR MFAs) • CHARLES RAMÍREZ BERG

This course is a survey of international film history for graduate students. Covering the development of the medium from Thomas Edison to the present, the history of cinema will be approached from various perspectives (as a technology, an industry, an entertainment medium, and a mode of personal and national expression, as a language). Particular attention will be given to the evolution of film’s formal elements. Several assignments are designed to acquaint students with how film styles have evolved, how film style operates as a language, and how research in film history is conducted.

RTF 388F/340D   PRODUCTION DESIGN BASICS • ADRIANA SERRANO

Understand the role of production design and how the creation and selection of sets, locations and environments contribute to the visual language of film. Explore fundamental elements of story, production, critical analysis, and the collaborative process of film making from the design perspective.

RTF 388P / 343C  ACTING FOR FILMMAKERS • ANDREW SHEA

This workshop explores the key elements of basic acting technique through active engagement in a variety of exercises and assignments: improvisation, monologue and scene study, observation, and emotional preparation.  The goal is to develop a deep understanding of the job of the actor: to live life truthfully under imaginary circumstances.

RTF 388P / 368D   CINEMA LABORATORY • DEBORAH EVE LEWIS

Limited to 20 participants. In the Cinema Laboratory, you’ll make ten short films – some during class and some outside of class – with an emphasis on making, taking risks and exploring the cinematic form on an elemental level. There will be failures and triumphs—all work strengthening and stretching your ability to express ideas and feelings through moving pictures and sound. Cinema Laboratory’s practice of consistent moviemaking aims to create a space and time where filmmaking efforts are not expensive and precious, but intuitive, brief, engaging, and challenging in a fast-paced workshop setting. Motivated, hard-working, curious, playful and highly creative students are sought to participate.

Robert Bresson wrote, “It is with something clean and precise that you will force the attention of inattentive eyes and ears.” Precision arises through both practice and experimentation.

Cinema Laboratory seeks self-driven RTF graduate students, upper level RTF undergraduates (especially those in their last semesters at UT), Photojournalism students, SOA, and College of Fine Arts students. You must have at least some experience with digital photography and nonlinear editing in order to take the class. Reach out to the instructor if you have any questions about your readiness.

It’s recommended that Undergraduates registering for this class reach out to the instructor before registering to make sure this class is a good fit. Please contact Deb Lewis with any questions regarding the Laboratory: deb.lewis@utexas.edu.  

See website for more information: https://www.deborahevelewis.com/cinema-laboratory

RTF 388P/366S   EARS ONLY: AUDIO STORYTELLING • TODD THOMPSON

Audio production and post for storytelling using voice, actuality, music, ambiences and sound effects. Structuring stories for audio only, plus microphone and recorder techniques, mono, stereo, and binaural recording, field mixers, basic Pro Tools, signal processing, and noise reduction, applicable to sound for picture as well. Students will make a variety of small projects leading up to a longer, final project of their choice.

RTF 388T/389P         PRODUCING FILM AND TELEVISION • SARAH SEULKI OH

RTF 388T is cross listed as the undergraduate course 367K. It will detail how things work in the supposedly noncreative side of the entertainment industry. The course will focus on the function and duties of a producer as he or she shepherds an idea through a project "life cycle": development, financing, pre-production, post-production, marketing and distribution. Lecture topics will mirror the project life cycle while students concurrently develop their own business plans/prospectuses for original film or television projects of their choosing. At the end of the semester, each student should have a complete and realistic business plan for a film or video project, one which is ready for presentation to entertainment industry contacts and financiers. Lecture topics will mirror the project life cycle while students concurrently develop their own business plans/prospectuses for original film or television projects of their choosing.

Please note: This is a "Substantial Writing Component" course with three 5-6 page papers. RTF 388T is cross listed as the undergraduate course 367K.     

*This course fulfills a second year requirement for all MFA production majors. Other qualified students will be admitted as space permits, by instructor permission.

RTF 389P        PRODUCING SHORT FILMS • SARAH SEULKI OH

Short films are often seen as an excellent calling card for first time filmmakers. But it’s much more than just a way to practice your craft or make something that is shorter or cheaper than a feature film. Though the principles and steps involved to produce a short film is no different than producing a feature film, it is also a unique discipline of its own. How do you tell an interesting and compelling story in a short film? How do you translate a minimum budget into maximum quality on screen?

This course will examine all fundamental aspects of development, pre-production, production, and distribution of producing a short film. Students will practice the step-by-step processes of physical production such as script breakdown, scheduling, budgeting, location scouting, crew hiring, working with cast and crew, etc. Using weekly lectures, homework assignments, course readings and class workshops to reinforce each class topic, students will put together a final production binder for a short film.
 

RTF 390C        EDITING FOR DIRECTORS • ANNE LEWIS

Required for first-year MFA production students. This is an introductory course in which we will build the foundation for later postproduction practice within the MFA program. It will incorporate technical, aesthetic, and practical considerations into an overall view of editing as a process, and we will use class discussion, written assignments, and (provided) editing exercises toward that end. The final third of the class will workshop your documentary film at various stages of postproduction.

RTF 390E      AUDIO FOR PICTURE: PRODUCTION & POST-PRODUCTION • KOREY PEREIRA

Required for first year MFA production students. Open to a limited number of students from other disciplines.
An intensive introduction to audio for picture, from writing to production and post. The course integrates with the 881KB assignment and is designed to prepare first-year MFA students to make good decisions about audio with a base of knowledge and practice. By the end of the course you will have an entry-level working knowledge of various microphones and their usage; the Sound Devices 633 mixer/recorder; wireless lav systems, techniques of production recording, sound editing and basic mixing; the use of Pro Tools for editing and recording Foley and ADR; and a broader appreciation of audio in storytelling for screens.

RTF 488M      PRE-THESIS FILM: POST PRODUCTION  • MIGUEL ALVAREZ

RTF 488M      THESIS PRODUCTION 

This course is designed to aid students in the planning, production and completion of "short project" film/video projects required as partial fulfillment of the MFA degree; Students involved in pre-production must complete a story synopsis, treatment and/or shooting script (if the latter is already under way), plus a production budget and date for production start and completion; a student must have script, production plan, budget, and equipment list approved by his/her MFA committee before shooting can begin; and each project in post-production must have a budget and picture delivery date set by the student producer's MFA committee and course instructor.

RTF 681KA      NONFICTION PRODUCTION • NANCY SCHIESARI

The primary focus of this class is the production of an individual 10- to 12-minute short documentary. The art of documentary filmmaking is constantly evolving, utilizing a hybrid of practices found in narrative filmmaking, literature, photojournalism, experimental cinema, and animation. You will be encouraged to build story and point of view employing one or more stylistic approaches—cinema verité, talking head interviews, archive, subjective voice over, animation and dramatic reconstruction.   

If you are looking for subject matter a good place to start is the local press—Texas Tribune, Austin Chronicle, Texas Monthly, Austin-American Statesman, the Daily Texan. UT professors working in science, history, social studies, and the arts can also be a source of inspiration. When thinking about a subject for a short film it may be more compelling and manageable to base your short on a character. Their struggle might be social, historical or represent a personal conflict of another kind. Or you may prefer to explore a nonhuman co-species inhabitant, an aspect of the environment, or issues around adaptation and survival. A post structuralist deconstruction or mockumentary approach to documentary is also possible. You are encouraged to explore, research and experiment. Please feel free to ask for ideas if you feel stuck.

Class and Lab will center on assignments that will help develop production skills and critical thinking. Students will be expected to present work in progress as well as finished exercise pieces. Collaboration is encouraged with everyone expected to work with at least one other classmate on their individual project. Finally, group feedback and constructive criticism are essential components of a successful production dynamic—and central to the successful conduct of this class. An affirmative attitude shows respects for how difficult it is to make and complete a film. And whether you have personal transport, you will have easier access to your subjects if you think locally or pick a subject within driving distance.

“Every cut is a lie. It's never that way. Those two shots were never next to each other in time that way. But you're telling a lie to tell the truth.“ —Wolf Koenig, documentary filmmaker.
“All great fiction films tend towards documentary, just as all great documentaries tend toward fiction." —Jean-Luc Godard, filmmaker.
 

SPECIALTY COURSES

RTF 196           PORTFOLIO IN MEDIA PRODUCTION

RTF 384I          INTERNSHIP IN MEDIA INDUSTRIES

RTF 388C         RESEARCH PROBLEMS: DOCTORAL EXAM PREP   

RTF 388D         RESEARCH PROBLEM IN SPEC FIELD OF RTF   

RTF 388E          RESEARCH PROBLEM IN SPEC FIELD OF RTF 

RTF 388S         RESEARCH PROBLEM IN SPEC FIELD OF RTF: PRODUCTION

RTF 398R         MASTER'S REPORT

RTF 698A         THESIS

RTF 698B         THESIS

RTF 399W        DISSERTATION

RTF 699W        DISSERTATION

RTF 999W        DISSERTATION