curriculum      student work      requirements      film courses      alumni      resources film - curriculum (college at florham - madison campus)      view video    view brochure To make it in today’s film industry, students must learn more than the technical. At the College at Florham we go beyond what is taught at any training academy. We teach the why – the art of filmmaking – along with the how. Our intimate Visual & Performing Arts Department, featuring a low student to faculty ratio, fosters mentorship and allows students to begin shooting films in their freshman year. FILM In the Film track, students learn modern digital film production, which has begun to take over the independent film circuit by storm, as well as industry standard video and film production techniques. Students shoot class assignments on a variety of formats, from state of the art 24p Digital cameras, to professional Betacam and Arriflex 16mm cameras. Students learn non-linear postproduction working in our Final Cut and Avid editing rooms. Courses in screenwriting, directing, lighting and cinematography complement our production and post-production courses. The program culminates in a reviewed senior thesis project in the area of the student's specialization. Students have the opportunity to get real world experience by working in our Corporate Video Production class which has used student crews to produce professional videos for a variety of clients such as Allied Office Products, Arts Horizon, The Seeing Eye, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and others. In our new Feature Filmmaking class, students work with professionals on an independent feature film with professional actors. INTERNSHIPS Our students gain real world experience by completing industry internships for a variety of clients such as MSNBC, Merrill Lynch Video, CBS Television, and many others where we maintain strong relationships. Students have also worked in both unpaid and paid positions on professional music videos and corporate videos through faculty networking. Often these experiences lead to jobs in the industry after graduation. OUR BACKLOT One of the best things about studying film at the College at Florham is our beautiful campus. The focal point of the campus is the elegant Florham Mansion , where the feature film “A Beautiful Mind” was shot. Other parts of our campus have been locations for commercials and feature films such as “The Family Stone”. Our campus is a wonderful backlot for student productions, from the mansion and it’s gardens to the campus coffee shop, pub, woods and back roads. The near by town of Madison has always cooperated with student productions and New York City is less than a hour away by car or train. OUR FACULTY Our faculty have worked and continues to work professionally in the industry as writers, producers, directors, editors and cameramen, bringing a wealth of real world experience and knowledge to share with our students. Find out more about our faculty by clicking on the "Faculty" link on the left. OUR GUEST LECTURERS Having been and continuing to work within the industry, our faculty have been able to bring some distinguished and diverse industry professionals for lectures and seminars which have included Andrew Breckman – screenwriter “Rat Race”, TV show “Monk”. John McCormick – sound mixer, “Law & Order”. Tony Pettine – script supervisor "Tadpole", "Imaginary Heroes" Don Riemer – Corporate Video writer/director/producer, Roche Labs Peter Stein – Director of Photography "Friday the 13th 2", "Pet Cemetary" "Necessary Roughness" Alik Sakharov – Director of Photography, "The Sopranos" OUR ALUMNI Our alumni move on to get real jobs in the real world of film and video. For some examples of what some recent alumni of Film and Animation at FDU College at Florham in Madison are doing go click on the "Alumni" link. At the national University Film & Video Association conference, five famous film directors all insisted that students needed a classical college education to provide them with a wider palette from which to be inspired by and draw their creativity from. At The Visual & Performing Arts Department we merge all the arts into one department, encompassing film, animation, theater, computer graphics and the studio arts. Why? Because we believe that they all strive to convey feeling, emotion, atmosphere and a human connection with their audience. We believe that students in all these visual and performing arts can learn from and support one another. Here students are encouraged to take advantage of classes in theater, art, music and photography as well as the liberal arts. Here we strive to give students the foundation they need to succeed in arts and crafts of film and animation. revise this page