The first semester course elements span a total of four weeks, with the mornings reserved for lectures. Each afternoon, students team up in groups of three and shoot exercise shots with 16-mm cameras on b/w material. A two-day sound exercise is also included.

Rounding out their first semester, the students create a short fiction film, around five minutes in length. The script Jack and Bill has remained the same for almost thirty years, so that an interesting series has evolved, from course to course. When the students gather for the screening of Jack and Bill in the HFF cinema at the end of the first semester, they have their first experience of being part of the HFF film tradition.

The following topics are covered during the first semester:
-    light and seeing
-    introduction to film technology
-    workflows in film production, analog and digital
-    photographic optics, perspective and framing
-    lighting technology and placement
-    photographic process
-    sound recording technology, sound mixing and dubbing
-    film editing and montage.

The first semester concludes with a practical and an oral exam – passing them is a prerequisite for using the film cameras, sound recording devices and editing systems. 

The third semester comprises an introduction to television craft. The advanced seminar spans a total of three and a half weeks. It starts off with a block of lectures, followed by three praxis elements of three days each, in which students learn, hands-on, how to operate a mobile television camera and perform non-linear editing. As a special highlight, they split into three groups and carry out a three-camera TV studio production.

The following topics are covered during the third semester:
-    introduction to color theory
-    color television technology
-    television camera technology
-    television recording technology
-    workflows in television production
-    visual design with the television camera
-    sound design
-    non-linear digital editing
-    live television studio production

The third semester concludes with several practical exams and an oral exam for the preliminary diploma – passing them is a prerequisite for using the professional video cameras, the video editing suites and the broadcast controls.
At this point, each student has the skills to create his or her own (television) films, either independently or in a team of students or industry professionals. In this endeavor, they receive the support of the Technology department faculty.

This seminar spans two weeks, with a block of lectures and four practical elements specialized for the students of the different studies courses.

At the end there is the oral diploma examn in the technology department.

After the specialization seminar the students have to make their choice for their focus seminar in Dept. I Media Science or Dept. II Technology. Students with a focus on media science are finished with technology after the specialization seminar.

This four-week element is our special highlight- only for the students who choose focus technology. Four days of lectures and presentations on various topics of current interest is followed by three weeks of small-group workshops and hands-on seminars – a broad spectrum of offerings from which the  students can and must put together their own individual program. At the end, everyone assembles in the screening room, to view and discuss the work results of all the praxis groups.

Once the students have finished the focus seminar, they make their practical exam for their Department II diploma: write an academic paper, their so-called final technology paper, selecting their topic from a wide range of choices. We tailor the exam form to the particular topic: a lecture of forty-five minutes plus a written paper, a test film or an educational film or a Website or some other media production. Depending on the topic, students can also team up with one or two others and complete their final technology project in a group effort. The Technology department also proposes topics of its own, to be carried out in collaboration with the industry, broadcasters or film professionals. The final technology projects can be viewed in the HFF library.