Summer Quarter 2022

This introduction to screen acting begins by analyzing the similarities and differences between stage and screen acting. Course work continues into exercises that instruct students on basic screen techniques and will evolve into introductory scene work in front of the camera. 

Students taking this course will prepare intensively for missionary work abroad.  Along with describing processes, aims, and challenges of evangelization, emphasis will be placed on evangelizing via shared cultural interests and personal relationship. 

This course is designed to introduce students to fundamental theories and principles of statistics and how those concepts relate to the real world. In particular, students will learn how to apply statistics to a business setting and gain understanding of how data can bring clarity to decision making.

A continued senior-level graphic design capstone experience. This course builds on the previous and provides opportunities for more hands-on and practical design projects, interactions with local businesses and/or non-profit clients, and a focus on building out students’ creative portfolio and resume.

This course is part of the Feature Film Program. Students apply the knowledge and experience gained in Fundamentals of Story Development to craft entertaining and unique story concepts that are producible on an independent scale. The best projects will be selected as candidates for  production within the Feature Film Program.

This course provides students with information on how to obtain work and succeed as a television, film, voice over, or stage actor. This course prepares students for the actor's journey, with emphasis on career tools (resumés, headshots, reels, self-tapes), strategies, audition techniques, industry terminology, and extensive information about casting, representation, and union membership.

The 20th century confronted Western civilization with a huge array of cultural movements, political crises, and technological breakthroughs. This course provides students with the historical grounding necessary for a serious reconnaissance into the recent past via its major cultural products. Some of these works have emerged over time as radiant masterworks, and others have proved to be but nightmarish visions. All, however, merit study and critical treatment, as they mark our previous century in all its alarm, acceleration and terrible beauty.

This course is a detailed study in the various understandings of nature, beginning from the mythology of the Enuma Elish as a primitive attempt at grasping the world, to the classical understanding found in Aristotle’s Physics and Parts of Animals and their Medieval development in Thomas Aquinas’s The Principles of Nature, to foundational texts in modern natural sciences such as those of Descartes, Galileo and Newton, to discussions of evolution found in Darwin, and finally to near-contemporary physicists such as Heisenberg. The contrast between the classical stress on substantial form and formal causality and the modern method of material causality and mathematical law will be brought to the forefront, as will the emphasis on technology as a mastery of nature in modern science and the question of teleology, whether nature acts for a purpose.

A thorough breakdown of the process of creating from initial concepts to final design taught by professionals in the design industry.

A senior-level illustration capstone experience. In this course, students create portfolio content and further develop a professional visual art portfolio. Topics covered include various techniques determined by the unique challenges of each project. Significant class time will be spent discussing and working on the needs of the projects.

This course is a detailed study in the various understandings of nature, beginning from the mythology of the Enuma Elish as a primitive attempt at grasping the world, to the classical understanding found in Aristotle’s Physics and Parts of Animals and their Medieval development in Thomas Aquinas’s The Principles of Nature, to foundational texts in modern natural sciences such as those of Descartes, Galileo and Newton, to discussions of evolution found in Darwin, and finally to near-contemporary physicists such as Heisenberg. The contrast between the classical stress on substantial form and formal causality and the modern method of material causality and mathematical law will be brought to the forefront, as will the emphasis on technology as a mastery of nature in modern science and the question of teleology, whether nature acts for a purpose.

This course will teach the craft and business of voice acting. Students will learn the fundamentals of voice acting including basic vocal acting techniques, using and caring for the voice, developing vocal styles, and effective use of microphone and recording techniques. The course also explores recording environments, voice acting and voice over genres, and steps to consider in pursuing a career in voice acting.

This course is part of the Feature Film Program. Students fulfill the role of editor to create a rough cut, fine cut, and achieve picture lock on a feature length narrative film project under the guidance of a professional editor and in collaboration with the film's director. Each student is responsible for editing a specific portion of the movie and must collaborate to craft a cohesive style that fulfills the director's vision. 

From first reading through to performance, students rehearse and perform a musical from a classic or contemporary writer. Students must audition to register for this class. This course may be taken multiple times for credit.

Students will learn how to effectively communicate visually through a brand to create several compelling and cohesive identities.

This course builds upon the skills and techniques learned in Sound in Film: Production, with an emphasis on post-production. The class will review the fundamentals of sound and how they are applied in a media environment to help communicate a message. Students will learn the element of a film or video soundtrack and how to take the elements from production and combine with created sounds and effects to create a complete soundtrack. Students will mix, process and enhance the soundtrack in post-production using a digital audio workstation.

Students conduct research on a primary text and write a lengthy paper, practicing revision and editing skills as they develop their original theses.  This class encourages a “close reading” of a primary text, requires students to build an annotated bibliography to evaluate secondary and tertiary source material, and introduces rhetorical concepts in the effort to help students become stronger readers and writers.

Students conduct research on a primary text and write a lengthy paper, practicing revision and editing skills as they develop their original theses.  This class encourages a “close reading” of a primary text, requires students to build an annotated bibliography to evaluate secondary and tertiary source material, and introduces rhetorical concepts in the effort to help students become stronger readers and writers.

Current topics of special interest in business as announced in the Schedule of Classes.

In this course, students will develop a deeper understanding of the overall process of game production from conception to marketing through the creation of several game design documents and prototypes. Post-mortem will be presented after each prototype.

Students will continue their study of screenwriting begun in Writing for the Screen I. They will complete the first draft of a feature length screenplay and plan and complete a second draft of that screenplay, and they will register their finished work with the WGA. Class time will be dedicated to covering intermediate and advanced topics including rewriting, working with producers, directors and agents, types of professional meetings and how to make the most of them, how to seek buyers for scripted material, and the articulation of a well-developed personal code of ethics in entertainment. Students will critique one another's work in small groups, with instructor supervision and guidance. Considerable time will be required for students to write. Students will read and respond to the required texts as well as to feature screenplays and episodic television scripts.

In this production intensive class which builds on the directing fundamentals learned in Directing I, students will work together weekly to create short film subjects, dealing with spiritual and Christian subject matter, in an attempt to connect noble themes to photographed light. Students will be assigned weekly subjects and be expected to present them in class for feedback and analysis.

This course will cover the fundamentals of sound and how they are applied in a media environment to help communicate a message. The class will address the importance of sound in the pre-production process and how to properly prepare a project with a sound state of mind. In the production environment, students will learn the proper sound tools and techniques and how to use them to record clean, consistent and intelligible recordings.

In this class, students will explore various techniques for modeling and sculpting organic assets using Maya and ZBrush. Students will produce low and high-poly animals and humans for animation and games. In addition, complementary techniques such as box modeling, edge loop modeling, UV layout, and texturing will be explored.

This course builds on student understanding of screen storytelling established in Story, Genre and Structure and Writing and Pitching a Script. Students will develop an original feature-length screen story from multiple ideas through idea evaluation and selection, character creation and development, story structure, treatment, pitch and beat sheet. At the end of the course, students will register their work with the WGA (a $20 fee). Students will consider more advanced screenwriting concepts presented in the text and will apply those principles to their developing stories.

This course focuses on how persuasion is effectively used in the world of media to influence viewers. Focusing primarily on its use in the world of advertising, students will identify the commercial advertising requirements of potential clients, and effectively produce television commercials to achieve identified goals. Students will also evaluate client needs, identify a target audience, craft a message promoting unique benefits and importance to customers, pitch a concept, and present the finished product to a simulated client for approval and feedback.

This course is an exploration of building and performing characters that fall outside the student’s physical/ vocal type. The emphasis will be on creating characters based on the recognition of the student’s internal emotional life, demonstrating characters based on the establishment of external vocal/physical adjustments, and interpreting characters based on script analysis.

Picking up where Writing Short Fiction I leaves off, this course affords advanced students additional instruction in the demanding art of short story writing.  The workshop model continues to serve discussions of original student work, and during other class discussions particular stress is laid on finer aspects of craft and sincere engagement with more recent masters of the form. 

In this course text and dialogue are considered from the actor’s perspective. Scene work is explored, and students are instructed in text analysis (the study of the language within the script) and scene study (the study of the structure of the script) for performance.

This class will provide students with the opportunity to develop fully interactive game environment inside a game engine. Students will use basic first-person game controller to navigate inside an interactive game environment in order to validate their designs.

This class is designed to provide students with the opportunity to study principles of traditional animation and incorporate those principles into computer animation. Students will produce several cyclical and performance-based animations.

From first reading through to performance, students rehearse and perform a musical from a classic or contemporary writer. Students must audition to register for this class. This course may be taken multiple times for credit.

Building upon previous philosophy courses, this class examines the causes of human knowledge. Specifically, students will be introduced to philosophical solutions to questions relating to the nature of knowledge, the object of knowledge, the role of the internal and external senses, and the concepts of truth and certainty. After thoroughly examining the sophisticated understandings of the nature of truth and certainty found in Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, we will closely examine the skepticism of the modern period through the writings of Hume, and the systematization of the structure of the mind in Kantian idealism, concluding in the 20th Century attempt to fuse idealism and realism in Martin Heidegger.

This course is an introductory-level course for students. Its intent is to give an in-depth understanding of the differences between—and similarities of—leadership and management. The course focuses on the major traits of leaders and managers, and augments these with examples of great historic leaders, including George Custer and Jesus Christ. The course also studies the many leadership traits of Abraham Lincoln and looks at how these can be applied in modern business to improve management techniques. As part of the learning process, students give summaries of Lincoln’s leadership lessons, using short, Power Point presentations.

This course is an exploration of building and performing characters that fall outside the student’s physical/ vocal type. The emphasis will be on creating characters based on the recognition of the student’s internal emotional life, demonstrating characters based on the establishment of external vocal/physical adjustments, and interpreting characters based on script analysis.

This course follows Advanced Writing Seminar I and provides additional advanced writing experience for students who have completed multiple scripts for the screen. Assignments will be individualized based on student experience, interest, and skill, and may include development and writing of feature film scripts, television episodes or pilots, short film scripts, and scripts for web-based distribution. Students may also rewrite existing works for which they've written earlier drafts. Students will read and lead discussions of numerous screenplays. Students will pitch their stories, and may be asked to pitch to students in other courses. Students will critique one another’s work in large and small groups, with instructor supervision and guidance. They may also be asked to supervise the script development work of underclassmen. The knowledge, skills, and experience gained in this course will serve aspiring writers, writer-directors, and writer-producers for film, television, and new media. Considerable time will be required for students to write and develop scripts outside of class.

Just because you have finished a film doesn't mean your work is done!  In this concluding class to the Senior Project experience, students will develop and implement a marketing strategy for their senior project films.  They will research film festivals appropriate for their film, develop a strategy and schedule for submitting to those film festivals, develop marketing materials for their films (including posters and taglines), craft documents that will enable strong consideration (including Director's Statements and personalized letters), and budget their senior project financial resources to implement their strategy.

This course will familiarize students with the history, styles, function and practical application of the sacred music of the Roman Catholic church. This information will include sources of information, parochial interface, and applied performance (standard of performance is not measured, only familiarity of principles).

This class is designed to help students develop drawing skills by translating what students observe about three-dimensional objects into lines and shapes on a two dimensional medium, while incorporating surface textures and varying line qualities into object and environment design concepts.

This course is a deep-dive into Adobe After effects. Students will learn various advanced animation techniques used in the motion graphics industry, including character rigging and animation. Students will ultimately learn foundational techniques that will give them the technical ability to work on any professional motion graphics project.

In this course text and dialogue are considered from the actor’s perspective. Scene work is explored, and students are instructed in text analysis (the study of the language within the script) and scene study (the study of the structure of the script) for performance.

Actors collaborate with a select group of directors and cinematographers to craft compelling scenes in a narrative film environment. Scenes are performed and captured on set with active mentorship from faculty to foster fruitful collaborations between actors and directors. Students study their work in post production to develop a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities that exist within narrative filmmaking to craft a dynamic performance.

The course examines the legal relationships in the motion picture and television industries, as well as the legal relationships between artists and their personal managers. It covers the key legal principles that are involved in most media productions. This includes with trade unions, licensing, intellectual property and contract issues. In addition, this course explores ethical challenges students are likely to encounter working in entertainment and guides them through the development of a personal code of ethics that is informed by the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

This course will provide students access to a firsthand, in depth look at the entertainment industry through the experience of entertainment industry professionals. Each session may include site visits, presentations, panel discussions, and practical training with people who play a role in the creation of content for film, television, and new media.

This class is designed to help students develop drawing skills by translating what students observe about three-dimensional objects into lines and shapes on a two dimensional medium, while incorporating surface textures and varying line qualities into object and environment design concepts.

Students taking this course will write creatively in a variety of literary genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mystery, horror, romance, western, and/or historical fiction.  Assignments will aim to improve students' ability to better understand these genres and to write publishable fiction in various modes, and further to better grasp universal components and principles of fiction writing that apply regardless of whether a story's horse has a saddle, fangs, mounted lasers, or wings.

This course will provide an analysis of music and sound as they relate to the construction of feature films, television, and video games.

This class is designed to help students develop 3D modeling skills to produce low and high-poly hard surface models for animation and games. Students will learn to model using proper topology and be introduced to methods of speeding up workflow while creating props, buildings, and other hard surface objects.

From first reading through to performance, students rehearse and perform a musical from a classic or contemporary writer. Students must audition to register for this class. This course may be taken multiple times for credit.

This course will offer an overview of some of the main themes, questions, and figures of existentialist thought. Topics studied may include freedom, authenticity, subjectivity, individualism, purpose, angst, being, and God.  Figures studied may include Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, Camus, Gabriel Marcel, Jacques Maritain, and others.

Students study in detail the significant legal considerations involved with forming and operating a sustainable small business, becoming acquainted with real-world examples of incorporation issues and trade-offs, taxes and tax liabilities, human resource commitments and limitations, advertising issues and implications; contract law; patent, copyright and trademark law; and digital rights management.

This course is an exploration of building and performing characters that fall outside the student’s physical/ vocal type. The emphasis will be on creating characters based on the recognition of the student’s internal emotional life, demonstrating characters based on the establishment of external vocal/physical adjustments, and interpreting characters based on script analysis.

Students conduct research on a primary text and write a lengthy paper, practicing revision and editing skills as they develop their original theses.  This class encourages a “close reading” of a primary text, requires students to build an annotated bibliography to evaluate secondary and tertiary source material, and introduces rhetorical concepts in the effort to help students become stronger readers and writers.

This course is an introduction to Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Students will learn techniques for photo enhancement, image compositing, and logo creation through several projects.

Students conduct research on a primary text and write a lengthy paper, practicing revision and editing skills as they develop their original theses.  This class encourages a “close reading” of a primary text, requires students to build an annotated bibliography to evaluate secondary and tertiary source material, and introduces rhetorical concepts in the effort to help students become stronger readers and writers.

This course focuses on introducing the idea of “entrepreneurial marketing” and is aimed at students who plan to start a new venture or take a job as a marketing professional pursuing an innovative marketing approach. Students will study a full spectrum of marketing strategy and tactics that are especially suitable for entrepreneurial firms aiming for high growth and innovation yet faced by limited resources and uncertain industry dynamics. Students will work in teams on marketing plans for their own venture or for other high-profile entrepreneurs or executives. The focus of this course is on hands-on experiences and practical relevance of innovative marketing concepts.

The third in a sequence of three 3-unit classes offered to upperclassmen, generally seniors. In this course, the team will continue to refine their financial forecast model and develop their marketing and funding plans, as well as putting their legal structure in place. The goal is a product or service ready for market with a team in place to deliver and support it, with a complete business plan, which includes a refined financial forecast model.

This comprehensive studio class will allow students to produce and polish their portfolio content. Several in-class progress milestones, qualitative portfolio reviews by the industry professional guest speakers, and peer critiques will enhance students' experience, and provide maximum guidance to improving the overall quality of students' artwork.

This class expands on many of the skills learned in the Fundamentals of Production class. Students will learn intermediate camera and lighting techniques and how to use these specific tools to communicate a story visually. Specific emphasis will be on image composition, lens characteristics, codecs and formats, camera settings, specific lighting styles and instruments, and how the camera and lights complement and support the storytelling experience.

The 20th century confronted Western civilization with a huge array of cultural movements, political crises, and technological breakthroughs. This course provides students with the historical grounding necessary for a serious reconnaissance into the recent past via its major cultural products. Some of these works have emerged over time as radiant masterworks, and others have proved to be but nightmarish visions. All, however, merit study and critical treatment, as they mark our previous century in all its alarm, acceleration and terrible beauty.

This course focuses on introducing the idea of “entrepreneurial marketing” and is aimed at students who plan to start a new venture or take a job as a marketing professional pursuing an innovative marketing approach. Students will study a full spectrum of marketing strategy and tactics that are especially suitable for entrepreneurial firms aiming for high growth and innovation yet faced by limited resources and uncertain industry dynamics. Students will work in teams on marketing plans for their own venture or for other high-profile entrepreneurs or executives. The focus of this course is on hands-on experiences and practical relevance of innovative marketing concepts.

Building on game design concepts learned in Fundamentals of Game Design, this course focuses on creating digital prototypes in order to test and evaluate gameplay mechanics, aesthetics, and control schemes. Prototyping for specific audiences such as investors, publishers, and churches will also be explored.

This course will give students the opportunity to screen and discuss various content projects with media professionals who played a significant role in the creation or distribution of that content. Each session may include screenings, presentations, or panel discussions with key creative, marketing, or distribution professionals associated with the content screened.

This class is an exploration in modern electronic music, synthesizers, computer assisted rhythm, and production. Primarily demonstrated with third party software (ProTools and Ableton live), the student will produce electronic compositions and develop unique sonic environments. NOTE: Knowledge of musical fundamentals is helpful.

This course is part of the Feature Film Program. Students fulfill the role of editor to create a rough cut, fine cut, and achieve picture lock on a feature length narrative film project under the guidance of a professional editor and in collaboration with the film's director. Each student is responsible for editing a specific portion of the movie and must collaborate to craft a cohesive style that fulfills the director's vision. 

From first reading through to performance, students rehearse and perform a musical from a classic or contemporary writer. Students must audition to register for this class. This course may be taken multiple times for credit.

It is all too easy to see one’s own desires as what really matters, and to live accordingly. With his Theology of the Body, however, Pope St. John Paul the Great offers a fresh perspective, one that dares to lift us above the confusion and malaise wrought by this era’s remarkable selfishness. This course affords students an opportunity to explore this theological treasure given to the Church by our university’s patron, and to better see how an individual human life can be lived not selfishly, but as a gift received from God and intended for others.

This course introduces students to attitudes, prayer practices, liturgical variations, and cultural and historical riches of the various branches of Eastern Catholicism.  Special attention is also paid to the struggles of some churches to achieve and maintain communion with Rome, and to the theological contributions made by these rites to the common life of the Catholic Church. 

In this class, students will reflect on their future career goals. Specifically, they will: determine their ideal career goal and put a concrete career plan in place now to accomplish it; learn to network in the professional community that you want to join; create a professional resumé and an equivalent LinkedIn profile, where the student will connect with 100 professionals in their immediate field of interest; form a team of 4-6 students to arrange group meetings with professionals in a field relevant to the student group; get an internship that could transition into a part-time job prior to graduation and into a full-time job after graduation; reflect on their personal strengths and weaknesses; create a personal Plan for Success; and create a 30 second Elevator Pitch.

This course will teach students how to write and speak effectively in business and other communication.

Comprehensive introduction to basic tools and principles of Game Design including game systems, their components and interaction. Exploration into game analysis and game definitions. Opportunities to conceive an original idea and create a pitch to sell a game concept.

This course will give students the opportunity to screen and discuss various content projects with media professionals who played a significant role in the creation or distribution of that content. Each session may include screenings, presentations, or panel discussions with key creative, marketing, or distribution professionals associated with the content screened.

It is all too easy to see one’s own desires as what really matters, and to live accordingly. With his Theology of the Body, however, Pope St. John Paul the Great offers a fresh perspective, one that dares to lift us above the confusion and malaise wrought by this era’s remarkable selfishness. This course affords students an opportunity to explore this theological treasure given to the Church by our university’s patron, and to better see how an individual human life can be lived not selfishly, but as a gift received from God and intended for others.

This course builds on courses on sales theory, negotiations & business planning, and to apply these concepts in real world “selling” experiences.

This course will teach students how to write and speak effectively in business and other communication.

From first reading through to performance, students rehearse and perform a musical from a classic or contemporary writer. Students must audition to register for this class. This course may be taken multiple times for credit.

This course is part of the Feature Film Program. Students apply for specific on-set positions that align with their unique skills and career goals and fulfill that role throughout principle photography on a narrative feature film project. This class may be taken as a 3 unit or 6 unit class based on the student's role and class status.