BFA in Acting (79.5–80.5 hours*)
This is a limited-enrollment program requiring departmental admissions approval. Please see the college advisement center for information regarding requirements for admission to this program.
The acting degree program was developed for students who are committed to acting as a career. It is focused to better prepare them to compete professionally and/or for admission to advanced acting conservatory programs or graduate work.
Program Requirements |
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- Successfully pass a preliminary audition and a final acceptance audition. These auditions are held at the end of each fall and winter semester.
- Complete the following theatre courses with a B grade or better:
TMA 101 : Introduction to the Theatre.
(3:3:1)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| DESCRIPTION: | Reading, viewing, analyzing, writing about, and interacting with contemporary plays and performances to explore both theatre fundamentals and ways theatre addresses questions and concerns of our time. Lab required. |
| NOTE: | Independent Study also. |
TMA 102 : Introduction to Film.
(3:4:2)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| DESCRIPTION: | Analytical studies for understanding and appreciating media forms and messages, as well as basic history, theory, and aesthetics. Lab required. |
- Complete the following foundation courses:
TMA 114 : Reading and Constructing Narratives.
(3:3:3)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | Animation majors--admittance to the animation program; media arts studies majors/minors--TMA 102, 113, and admittance to media arts program; MDT--admittance to the MDT program; theatre arts studies majors/minors and BFA Acting--TMA 101; theatre education majors--Sc Ed 276R. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Analyzing basic narrative principles; conceptualizing and writing narratives for theatre and media. |
TMA 128 : Acting Fundamentals: BFA Track.
(3:6:1)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | pre-BFA acting major status or instructor's consent. |
| RECOMMENDED: | Concurrent enrollment in TMA 122, 125. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Fundamental acting skills: exercises in perception, objective/action, thought processes, scoring of scripts. Lab. |
TMA 236 : Directing Fundamentals.
(2:4:1)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | TMA 114 or instructor's consent (except theatre education majors). |
| DESCRIPTION: | Fundamental elements of stage and media directing, including observation, collaboration, imagination, casting, working with actors, camera, spaces, words, images, rehearsals, and final product. |
- Complete the following core courses:
TMA 201 : Dramatic Performance: Antiquity to Renaissance.
(3:3:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| DESCRIPTION: | Civilization from Greek antiquity through Renaissance, primarily from perspective of dramatic literature and performance. Ways in which performance functions within particular socioeconomic, political, religious, and aesthetic perspectives. |
| NOTE: | This course is part of a GE Mosaic. See ge.byu.edu/mosaic-list for more information. |
TMA 202 : Dramatic Performance: Renaissance to the Present.
(3:3:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| DESCRIPTION: | Civilization from Renaissance through present, primarily from perspective of dramatic literature and performance. Ways in which performance functions within particular socioeconomic, political, religious, and aesthetic perspectives. |
| NOTE: | This course is part of a GE Mosaic. See ge.byu.edu/mosaic-list for more information. |
TMA 260R : Theatre Production 2.
(1:0:4)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | TMA 160 or instructor's consent. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Practical experience in specialized shops or backstage experience on realized productions. |
TMA 360R : Theatre Production 3.
(1:0:4)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | TMA 160 or instructor's consent. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Advanced practical experience in specialized shops or backstage experience on realized productions. |
- Complete the following major courses:
Acting:
TMA 124 : Acting.
(3:6:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | Pre-BFA acting or MDT major status; TMA 114, 123. By audition and instructor's consent only. |
| RECOMMENDED: | Acting BFA majors: concurrent enrollment in TMA 127, 222. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Integrating acting skills; building a character through exercises and scene work. |
TMA 223 : Acting Improvisation.
(2:4:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | Pre-BFA acting, BFA acting, or MDT major status; TMA 124. By audition and instructor's consent only. |
| RECOMMENDED: | BFA acting majors: concurrent enrollment in TMA 222, 224, Dance 140R. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Discovery of emotion, thought process, and impulse through improvisation. |
TMA 224 : Acting for Film and TV.
(3:6:ARR)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | Pre-BFA acting, BFA acting, or MDT major status; TMA 124. By audition and instructor's consent only. |
| RECOMMENDED: | Acting majors: concurrent enrollment in TMA 222, 223, Dance 140R. |
| DESCRIPTION: | On-camera techniques for features, sitcoms, industrials, and commercials. Lab required. |
TMA 229 : Musical Scene Study.
(3:6:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | BFA acting or MDT major status; TMA 124, Music 161, Dance 140. By audition and instructor's consent only. |
| DESCRIPTION: | In-depth study of two genres of musical theatre; text analysis, research, written assignments. |
TMA 324 : Acting Classics.
(3:6:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | BFA acting or MDT major status. BFA acting majors: TMA 122, 124, 222. BFA MDT majors: TMA 121, 124. By audition and instructor's consent only. |
| RECOMMENDED: | For acting majors: concurrent enrollment in TMA 322, 325. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Acting skills helpful in classical literature, emphasizing Shakespearean scansion and text analysis. |
TMA 424 : Advanced Acting.
(3:6:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | BFA acting or MDT major status. BFA acting majors: TMA 124, 222. BFA MDT majors: TMA 121, 124. By audition and instructor's consent only. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Scene studies in extended realism. Absurdism, American classics, Shaw, Chekhov, etc. |
TMA 427 : Auditions.
(3:6:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | BFA acting or MDT major status. BFA acting majors: TMA 225, 229, 324, 424. BFA MDT majors: TMA 229, 324 (or 424), Dance 240. By audition and instructor's consent only. |
| RECOMMENDED: | BFA acting majors: concurrent enrollment in TMA 425. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Auditions, cold reading, resumes, and the business end of acting, music, and dance for the professional performer. |
Voice:
TMA 122 : Voice Production.
(2:3:1)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | Pre-BFA acting major or instructor's consent. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Exercises to aid in freeing tensions, habits/patterns, and finding natural state of the voice. Lab required. |
TMA 222 : Phonetics.
(2:3:1)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | Pre-BFA acting major status or instructor's consent; TMA 114, 122. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Correct use of Standard American Stage Dialect with International Phonetic Alphabet. Identification of speech/articulation problems. |
TMA 322 : Classical Voice.
(2:4:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | BFA acting or MDT major status. BFA acting majors: TMA 122, 124, 222. BFA MDT majors: TMA 121, 124. By audition and instructor's consent only |
| DESCRIPTION: | Speech techniques (word stress, inflection, pitch, pace, etc.) applied in the classical play. |
TMA 422 : Dialects.
(2:4:1)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | BFA acting or MDT major status. BFA acting majors: TMA 124, 222. BFA MDT majors or other majors: TMA 121, 124. By audition and instructor's consent only. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Major stage dialects. |
Movement:
TMA 125 : Yoga and Alexander Technique.
(1:2:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | Pre-BFA acting major status or instructor's consent. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Techniques of relaxation, breath, focus, and posture to enhance actor's body and voice as a whole integrated tool in performance. |
TMA 127 : Beginning Stage Combat.
(1:2:1)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | BFA acting major status, or Sc Ed 276R, or instructor's consent. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Basic hand-to-hand stage combat instruction. Introduction to tumbling and falls. |
TMA 225 : Neutral Mask.
(2:2:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | BFA acting, MDT, theatre education, or theatre arts studies major status; TMA 114, 123, 125. By audition and instructor's consent only. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Use of masks in teaching specificity of movement, communication, and emotion. |
TMA 325 : Stage Combat.
(2:4:2)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | BFA acting major status or instructor's consent; TMA 127, 225. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Skills of safe hand-to-hand combat, including use of rapier, dagger, and broadsword, for stage and screen. |
Support skills:
Performance:
- Complete the following:
TMA 421 : The Business: Marketing Yourself as a Performer.
(1:1.5:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | BFA acting or MDT major status; TMA 114; instructor's consent. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Business aspects of the entertainment industry, including telephone interviews with entertainment industry personnel. Required research project. |
TMA 491 : Ethics, Aesthetics, and Theology.
(1:2:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | BFA acting major status. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Analyzing and considering interrelationships of ethical, aesthetic, and theological dimensions of creating and performing media arts and theatre texts. |
- Complete 12 hours from the following or other approved courses:
MUSIC 259 : Psychology of Performance.
(2:2:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| OFFERED: | F, W |
| DESCRIPTION: | Psychological skills for performers. Topics include audition preparation, conquering stage fright, preventing overuse injury, attention control, creativity. Skills applicable to any performance situation. |
TMA 241 : Screenwriting 1.
(3:4:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | TMA 291 or 292 or concurrent enrollment; Animation majors: TMA 294. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Basic narrative and nonfiction (documentary, educational, industrial, multimedia) screenwriting principles through reading, viewing, testing, and completing writing assignments. |
TMA 251 : Playwriting 1.
(3:4:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | major status or instructor's consent; TMA 114. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Basic playwriting principles through reading, completing writing assignments, testing, and writing the first draft of a one-act play. |
| NOTE: | Independent Study also. |
TMA 329 : Theatre and Film Acting Conservatory.
(3:6:ARR)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | BFA acting major status. TMA 122, 224. By audition and instructor's consent only. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Extensive work on a theatre or film project through semester, culminating in performance of play or preview of film/video. |
TMA 336 : Directing Principles and Practices.
(3:4:1)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | Theatre arts studies majors: TMA 114, 236, and instructor's consent. Media arts studies majors: TMA 105, 114, 185, and instructor's consent. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Theories and processes of taking a scene from script to production. |
TMA 341 : Screenwriting 2.
(3:3:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | major status; TMA 114, 241. By application only |
| DESCRIPTION: | Intermediate conceptualization, screenwriting, and development for narrative or nonnarrative projects. |
TMA 351 : Playwriting 2.
(3:4:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | TMA 114, 251. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Workshop course designed to assist more advanced students in furthering their playwriting skills by writing the first draft of a full-length play. |
TMA 367 : Makeup 2.
(2:4:1)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | TMA 267. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Advanced techniques in makeup and introduction to prosthetics. Supervision on departmental productions required. Assistant designers will be selected from this course. |
TMA 395 : Dramatic Literature 1.
(3:3:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | TMA 114, 201, 202. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Survey of dramatic texts, from ancient Greek to today, through Western literary theories, emphasizing performance. |
TMA 396 : Dramatic Literature 2.
(3:3:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | TMA 114, 201, 202. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Survey of dramatic texts, from ancient Greek to today, through global literary theories, emphasizing performance. |
TMA 425 : Character Mask.
(2:4:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | BFA acting or MDT major status; TMA 223, 225. By audition and instructor's consent only. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Use of the body as a primary tool for character and script interpretation. |
TMA 429 : Performance: Recital.
(3:2:4)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | BFA acting or MDT major status. BFA acting majors: TMA 222, 229, 324, 424. BFA MDT majors: TMA 229, 324 (or 424). By audition and instructor's consent only. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Thirty- to forty-five minute performance of cuttings from varied genres. |
TMA 443R : Writer/Director/Actor Workshop.
(3:6:1)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | TMA 114. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Collaborative workshop developing new stage and screenplays through exercises, discussion, and writing. Scripts selected competitively; public readings at end of course. |
TMA 469 : Theatre Management.
(3:4:0)(Credit Hours:Lecture Hours:Lab Hours)| PREREQUISITE: | Theatre arts studies foundation courses or instructor's consent. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Basic philosophies of box office, front-of-house, and theatre marketing. |
*Hours include courses that may fulfill university core requirements.