English 299 (“Special Topics”)

ADVANCED MOVIE PRODUCTION

4 credits Spring 2008

Tuesdays and Wednesdays 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Merrifield Hall: room 300 on Tuesdays and room 116 on Wednesdays

Recommended prerequisites:

A completed screenplay (5 pages through 120 pages).

Any introductory class in film, creative writing, theatre arts, popular culture, fiction, drama, media, or video production

REQUIRED TEXTS:
Alexander Mackendrick, On Film-Making ISBN # 0-571-21125-9
Laurent Tirard, Moviemakers' Master Class ISBN # 0-571-21102-X
Dale Newton and John Gaspard, Digital Filmmaking 101 ISBN# 0-941-18833-7

STRONGLY RECOMMENDED TEXTS:
David Howard and Edward Mabley, The Tools of Screenwriting: A Writer’s Guide to the Craft and Elements of a Screenplay ISBN # 0-312-22908-9
Denny Martin Flinn, How NOT to Write a Screenplay ISBN # 1-58065-015-5
Syd Field, The Screenwriter’s Problem Solver ISBN # 0-440-50491-0
John Gardner, The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers ISBN # 0-679-73403-1

A FEW OTHER GOOD BOOKS:
Rick Schmidt, Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car Prices ISBN# 0-14-029184-9
Bret Stern, How to Shoot a Feature Film for Under $10,000 and not go to jail ISBN# 0-06-008467-7
Michael C. Donaldson, Clearance & Copyright ISBN# 1-879505-72-X

OVERVIEW

“Film as literature” has long been recognized as a valid subject for serious study in an English Department, but has generally centered on analysis of existing works, whereas creative writing classes foster mastering the forms of short stories, poems, essays, and novels.

This is intended as a concise but comprehensive course on using recent digital technology for personal self-expression in the dominant literary form of the past century—moving pictures. It was conceived as a follow-up course to “Creative Movie Production” (also English 299), or “Script Writing,” but might also be considered as a natural progression from “Intro to Film,” or various production-oriented classes in the departments of Theatre Arts, Visual Arts, or Communications. It will spend more time on lighting effects and camera and editing techniques than the more general “Creative Movie Production” version of English 299 (which devotes its first month to screenwriting).

Students should already have completed movie scripts they plan to produce during the semester unless they prefer to work only as crew members on other students’ projects. The class will work together to critique scripts and follow one or more through the various stages of preproduction, production, and postproduction, and finally viewing of the completed movie(s). Class members will take turns performing the various crew functions to gain a broad range of experience. Some time will also be devoted to discussing options for distribution and exhibition for the independent moviemaker. NOTE: English Department camera and editing equipment is limited (4 cameras and 2 computers), so students will need to budget time to use them efficiently and complete their projects. Students who already have their own cameras and/or computer editing equipment will have much more flexible schedules to get everything done by the April 30 deadline.

SYLLABUS

In early weeks the class will view one or more episodes of “Project Greenlight,” previous film class and other short movies, and filmmaking tutorials. Selected feature films (Hollywood and independent) will also be viewed in whole or in part and discussed as examples of motion picture production realities and/or what can be done with limited means. Occasional short critical papers may be assigned. The first several weeks of class will involve some heavy reading assignments, and the last two-thirds of the semester will be primarily devoted to shooting and editing the class movie(s). NOTE: The final grade will depend heavily upon class participation, as the main project(s) for the class will be a group effort. There will be no exams.

WEEK	*TENTATIVE CLASS VIEWING/DISCUSSION/PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES*
Jan 8-9	*Project Greenlight 5-6* *Soldier Boy,* L.A.M. tutorials & shorts, previous film class & moviecamp movies
Jan 15-16	*Day for Night* or State and Main or Lost in LaMancha
Jan 22-23	*Visions of Light;* L.A.M. camera tutorials
Jan 29-30	*Editing concepts & camera exercises or other production exercises (“Classy Kids”?)*
Feb 5-6	clips from I am Cuba, Ole & Lena, Dick’s Beer, Awry, Pros & Cons, Newton’s Disease, Dark Highways, Miss Mystic, Music to My Ears, Dangers from Within
Feb 12-13	- PRODUCTION -
Feb 19-20	- PRODUCTION -
Feb 26-27	- PRODUCTION -
Mar 1-9	- SPRING BREAK - Fargo Film Festival March 5-8
Mar 11-12	- PRODUCTION -
Mar 18-19	- PRODUCTION -
Mar 25-26	- EDITING – intro/logging & capturing, foley, ADR, scoring, color grading, “fixing it in post,” etc.
Apr 1-2	- EDITING -
Apr 8-9	- EDITING -
Apr 15-16	- EDITING -
Apr 22-23	- EDITING -
Apr 29-30	- EDITING FINECUT– distribution options – DVD authoring
FINALS WEEK	View final movie projects

Possible movies to be viewed in class (in whole or in part):

Day for Night

State and Main

Lost in LaMancha

Nickelodeon

Hollywood Shuffle

The Big Picture
Road To Park City (R2PC)

The Last Shot

Bowfinger

Visions of Light

American Movie

Day for Night

28 Days Later

Dick's Beer

Ole and Lena

Awry

Pros and Cons

Hometown Assassins

Attrition

Prodigal Daughters

Miss Mystic

Dark Highways

Music to My Ears

Newton’s Disease

One in Nine

Dangers from Within

The bulk of the semester, however, will be devoted to making a movie, using digital video equipment.

Weekly discussions, movie viewings, and production activities will focus on

basic elements of screenwriting for a low budget (Jan. 8-9),
the producer’s responsibilities for organizing the project so it can be completed (Jan 8-9, 15-16),
effective and efficient methods of shooting scenes and working with actors (Jan 15-16, 22-23),
basic principles of camera composition and lighting for a “film look” (Jan 22-23, 29-30)
actual production of the class scripts (Feb. 12-March 19)
evaluating raw footage and possible post-production “fixes” for faults (March 25-26)
editing the footage for maximum impact (March 25-April 30)
adding sound effects, ADR, and music scoring (March 25-April 30)
possible distribution and exhibition options, DVD authoring (April 29-30)

Depending upon student interest, previous experience, and equipment availability, the class may make either several short small-group productions or one longer full-class production. The final, completed project(s) will be viewed and evaluated by the class during the period scheduled for the final exam.

CONSIDERATIONS TO THINK ABOUT

Before starting a new script:

Develop story ideas from recent news stories, personal experiences, favorite movie genres
Be sure to take into account how you might actually produce the concepts you have in mind
Make an outline of your basic plot development (setup, confrontation, payoff),

then fill it in with descriptions of the action, and finally the dialogue

Before starting production:

Ask yourself seriously whether you or people you know would want to watch a movie like this
—have friends or even strangers read your script, and then listen to their reactions for possible changes
—you don’t necessarily need to follow the advice of others, but you need to consider your target audience
Contact friends and acquaintances about using locations and/or props
Set aside a realistic amount of time for shooting and editing (typically an hour or two per minute on screen for each phase) – the producing part is often the hardest!
What sort of transitions between scenes will make things easier for the audience to follow?
How might music and/or extra sound effects help intensify your scenes?

UNDERSTANDING VIDEO IMAGES (vs. FILM)

Video is not film: the technology for each medium is completely different, although many areas are starting to overlap and most films today are edited digitally on computers, as is most video – each medium has its limitations and its advantages
The basic movie story-telling concepts and many production techniques are identical, whether using film or video as a medium
Film production equipment and film itself remain very expensive. “Film quality” video is gradually becoming a reality, but the high costs of acquiring one’s own production and post-production equipment are still well outside the range of amateur and most independent moviemakers.
Broadcast quality “standard-definition” video, once only possible to achieve through commercial video production facilities, is now affordable by nearly anyone, using widely available consumer equipment and videotape. Higher definition video (still a fraction the quality of film) has dropped to a moderate price range suitable for the serious moviemaker.
As of 2008, a very basic movie production setup including both a camcorder and computer editing system may range from as low as $1000 to $20,000 for standard definition or consumer-level high-definition video, roughly $20,000-$50,000 for semi-pro “hi-def,” and probably $100,000-$500,000 and up for “film quality” video suitable for mixing with footage actually shot on 35mm movie film. (Note that recording media also jumps substantially in price with each higher level of quality.) A good ballpark price for an entry-level setup is about $5000 -- about $1000 for a camcorder, $2000-3000 for computer and software, and another $1000-2000 for sound and lighting equipment.
CLICK HERE for more information and a chart explaining the image quality of various video formats

ADDITIONAL READINGS

Screenplay Basics

Moviemaking Hints

FREE SCREENPLAY FORMATTING

TEMPLATE for MICROSOFT WORD

(To download, right-click and select “save as”

-- then choose the folder on your hard drive where you want it)

Screenplay Template

SAMPLE SCREENPLAY and SHOTLIST

You can use this short screenplay as the opening section of a longer short or full-length feature of your own.

You can also shoot this simple screenplay and edit the footage as a practice exercise before producing your own movie

“CLASSY KIDS” screenplay

“CLASSY KIDS” shot list

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Notes for the “Intro to Film” class

Low-budget and no-budget independent movies made in this region

Searchable movie title and moviemaker database for the Fargo-Grand Forks area

(Including movies made for UND film classes!)