Film & Media Studies

• The ability to critically analyze works from a wide variety of moving image media (e.g., cinema, television, video art, streaming video, mobile apps, video games, GIFs) and artistic modes (e.g., narrative, documentary, experimental)
• A keen awareness of moving images’ contexts (political, historical, cultural, technological, industrial and social) and how these evolve over the life of their circulation
• Research skills that cover a range of types and levels—basic Internet research, in-depth scholarly research, archival research—and an understanding of how to use different kinds of research appropriately
• An ability to make creative media, at least an introductory production level, with a critical eye and reflective mindset
• Proficiency at sharing ideas effectively through three types of communication:
  • Written: majors will be able to write clearly and persuasively in a range of formats and for a range of audiences (e.g., blog posts, short response papers, conference abstracts, in-depth research papers)
  • Spoken: majors will be able to present ideas orally in a range of settings (e.g., one-on-one with the instructor, in small discussion groups, in large classroom discussions, through in-class presentations)
  • Media: beyond the form of creative media-making majors learns in their production classes, they will also learn to communicate scholarly ideas about media through media (e.g., by making websites, video essays, podcasts, GIS mapping projects)

Our goal is to understand how moving images are made and why, and to become very powerful analysts and critics of moving images and their contexts.

The initial task is to become aware of the moving image, something we know so well that we typically forget to ask questions of and about it. Coming to this greater critical awareness involves knowing what's in the frame, literally, and also what surrounds the frame—what are the formal, historical, cultural, technological, industrial, ideological, political and social contexts that make any moving image—and the whole idea of the moving image—meaningful to us.

Seeing is a culturally learned set of processes, and Film and Media Studies helps us come to understand more fully how meaning is made by moving images and by their makers, and how meaning is made by us, the spectators. The world is only getting more mediatized, and students need to understand how to navigate that world, as consumers, critics and makers of media.

Requirements

The Film and Media Studies major at Smith College comprises 10 courses:

• FMS 150 Introduction to Film and Media Studies (offered every fall)

• Media History (a survey course covering approximately 50 years of one moving image medium's global history); FMS 250 Global Cinema after WWII satisfies this requirement.  Other courses in the Five Colleges may as well; confer with your advisor.

• FMS 290 Theories and Methods of Film and Media Studies (offered every spring)

• One film, video, digital production and/or screenwriting course (FMS 280 Introduction to Video Production is typically offered every semester)

• Three courses in a focus designed by the student in consultation with the adviser (see below; at least one must be taken at the advanced level)

• Three additional electives

No more than four courses in the major can be production courses.

Four courses must be taken at the advanced level. One must be a 300-level seminar.

Introduction to Film and Media Studies is the prerequisite for any production course, and for Methods and Theories of Film and Media Studies.

One course must centrally address alternatives to commercial media (e.g., documentary or experimental/avant-garde work.)

Only one component course may count for the major. (A core course is one in which the moving image is the primary object of study; a component course is one in which the moving image figures significantly but is not the central focus of the course).

The Focus

The three-course focus allows Film and Media Studies majors to concentrate in a particular area, as designed by the major in consultation with the adviser. Normally the focus should be chosen by the second semester of junior year. At least one course in the focus must be at the advanced level. Focus areas include, but are not limited to:

• Theories of film and/or other media
• Production
• National/transnational cinemas and/or other media industries
• Intersectionality (emphasizing some meaningful conceptual combination of gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity, class, ability, age, and more)
• Moving image audiences and cultures
• Comparative genres
• Avant-garde/experimental
• Documentary/nonfiction
• Media histories
• Media industry studies
• Video game studies
• Television studies

The Film and Media Studies Program provides the opportunity for in-depth study of the history, theory and criticism of film and other forms of the moving image. Our goal is to expose students to a range of cinematic works, styles and movements and to help them understand the medium's significance as an art form, as a technology, as a means of cultural and political expression, and as symptomatic of social ideologies.

Requirements

Six semester courses to be taken at Smith or, by permission of the director, elsewhere among the Five College institutions. A maximum of two can be production courses.

Required Courses

• FMS 150 Introduction to Film and Media Studies (offered every fall)
• FMS 290 Methods and Theories of Film and Media Studies (offered every spring) or a 300-level seminar

FMS 280: Introduction to Video Production

This course will provide a foundation in the principles, techniques, and equipment involved in making short videos. Application and permission of instructor required.

APPLY FOR FMS 280

FMS 281: Screenwriting Workshop

This course provides an overview of the fundamentals of screenwriting. Application and permission of instructor required.

APPLY FOR FMS 281

FMS 282: Advanced Production Workshop

Students in this course will take skills and insights gained in introductory production courses and develop them through the creation of one 10-minute project. Application and permission of instructor required.

APPLY FOR FMS 282

Application not required for the Fall 2023 Directing Actors course.