»B.F.A. in Television and Broadcast Journalism

Are you ready for prime time?

Want to make TV shows like The Walking Dead and Modern Family? Or anchor the news on CNN, or report on the latest developments in sports or entertainment? Maybe you’d like to travel the world making documentaries about Africa, Asia, or important community issues right in your own backyard?

You can do any and all of these things as a Television and Broadcast Journalism major. Using our 4-camera, state-of-the-art high definition television studio, industry-standard technology like iNews and Avid, state-of-the-art digital cinema cameras such as the Red One and Sony F65, and camera and sound packages dedicated to documentary field production, our students create and produce:

A live weekly newscast
Half-hour comedy and drama pilots
Web series
Travel, wildlife, and social issue documentaries
Reality pilots and sizzle reel

We also maintain and program our own cable-access channel, Channel 6 in Orange, Calif. (also broadcast on Channel 99 in U-verse), which reaches the entire Los Angeles and Southern California market. This enables us to produce shows such as weekly newscast live over our own channel.

+-You'll Study

Along with a broad liberal arts education, you’ll learn:

The basics of production, including single and multi-camera shooting and directing, cinematography, editing and sound
How to write for television for episodic programs or news or documentaries
The financial and social/cultural aspects of television
How to work in a studio environment as well as on location
Hands-on skills specific to your area of specialization:
- In Narrative Television: Creating interesting characters and multi-part stories, producing and directing
- In Broadcast Journalism: Investigating and creating broadcast packages on breaking news, sports, and arts and entertainment
- In Documentary Production: All aspects of developing, shooting and editing a quality documentary

+-Learning Outcomes

LEARNING OBJECTIVE #1 – WRITING AND STORYTELLING SKILLS

Students will demonstrate strong writing and storytelling skills that are appropriate to professional expectations in their area of emphasis – narrative television, broadcast journalism or documentary.

NARRATIVE TELEVISION

Students will demonstrate the ability to properly develop and structure a story for a prime-time comedy or drama and to write dialogue that accurately captures the tone of the series and characters they are writing.

BROADCAST JOURNALISM

Students will demonstrate the ability to write a news story in a clear, concise and conversational style.

DOCUMENTARY

Students will demonstrate understanding of clear and compelling story-building principles in the documentary format.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE #2 – TELEVISION MARKET AND BUSINESS ANALYSIS

SLO #2 Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze current TV market conditions and business models and then evaluate the marketability and viability of their skills and creative work within that market.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE #3 – MASTERY OF CRAFT AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE SERVICE OF STORY

Students will demonstrate the ability to use technology and other craft areas – cinematography, videography, sound, editing – to enhance story as it grows from the written word (script) to a finished, visual story.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE #4 – ABILITY TO WORK UNDER PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS AND CONDITIONS

Students will demonstrate the ability to work in a professional, collaborative environment appropriate to broadcast news, documentary or narrative television.

+-Degree Requirements

B.F.A. in Television & Broadcast Journalism Degree Requirements

Core requirements (27 credits)

FTV 114	Introduction to Television Production: Studio
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
FTV 240	The Business of Television
FTV 246	History of Television
FTV 262	Prime Time: The Game of Television

Area of study requirements (30 credits)

Students must complete all the requirements within one of the following areas of study.

Broadcast Journalism area of study requirements (30 credits)

FTV 103	Broadcast News
FTV 203	Broadcast News II
FTV 307	Mass Media Law and Ethics
FTV 309	Advanced Broadcast News Writing
FTV 314	Producing the News Magazine Television Series
FTV 318	Multi-Camera Field Production
FTV 432	Producing the Newscast (capstone course)
FTV 490	Independent Internship
	choose two upper-division TBJ courses as electives

Narrative Television area of study requirements (21 credits)

FTV 201	Actor-Director Workshop
FTV 227	Screenwriting Fundamentals
FTV 313	Byte-Sized Television I
FTV 320/320L	Narrative Television Workshop/Lab Narrative Television Workshop
FTV 328	Seminar in Television Writing
FTV 334	Production and Set Management
FTV 413	Byte-Sized Television II

one of the following (capstone course) (3 credits)

FTV 362	Prime Time Production: Writing the Dramatic Series
FTV 363 /363L	Prime Time Production: Shooting the Dramatic Series/Lab Prime Time Production: Shooting the Dramatic Series
FTV 364	Prime Time Production: Editing the Dramatic Series

two of the following (6 credits)

FTV 315	Editing II
FTV 333	Audio Design
FTV 336	Production Design I
FTV 337	Cinematography II
FTV 362	Prime Time Production: Writing the Dramatic Series
FTV 363 /363L	Prime Time Production: Shooting the Dramatic Series/Lab Prime Time Production: Shooting the Dramatic Series
FTV 364	Prime Time Production: Editing the Dramatic Series
FTV 490	Independent Internship

Documentary Filmmaking area of study requirements (30 credits)

FTV 103	Broadcast News
FTV 307	Mass Media Law and Ethics
FTV 308	Documentary Pre-Production (capstone course)
FTV 321	The Documentary Tradition
FTV 335	Documentary Production
FTV 412	Documentary Post Production (capstone course)
FTV 490	Independent Internship
	choose three upper-division TBJ courses as electives