English
235 (“The Art of Movie Making”)
Film-style Video Production
(Page
last updated August 9, 2011 - Check back for updates)
3 credits Fall 2011
Tuesdays Merrifield Hall: Room 114
3:30 pm - 6:00 pm Instructor: Christopher P. Jacobs
Recommended prerequisites:
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
David Howard and Edward Mabley, The Tools
of Screenwriting: A Writers 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
Dale Newton and John Gaspard, Digital Filmmaking 101 - ISBN#
0-941-18833-7
STRONGLY
RECOMMENDED TEXTS:
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
Lorene M. Wales, The Complete Guide to
Film and Digital Production: The People and the Process - ISBN#
978-0-205-07862-2
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 -- starting with the written word (the screenplay).
While learning cinematic storytelling
concepts, the class will work together to develop a script and follow it into a
finished movie through the various stages of preproduction, production, and
postproduction. 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.
SYLLABUS
Each week the
class will view one or more episodes of “Project Greenlight.” Several feature
films (Hollywood
and independent) will also be viewed and discussed as examples of motion
picture production realities and/or what can be done with limited means. Each
student will write one script (from which the class project(s) will be chosen)
and occasional short critical papers may be assigned. The first several weeks
of class will involve some heavy reading assignments, and the last half or more
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.
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WEEK
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TENTATIVE
CLASS VIEWING/DISCUSSION/PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES
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Aug.
23
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Project
Greenlight 1-2-3; Soldier Boy, previous film class &
moviecamp movies;
clips
from regional indiefilms like Ole & Lena, Dick’s Beer, Awry, Pros
& Cons, Newton’s Disease, Dark Highways, Miss Mystic, Music to My Ears,
Dangers from Within
|
|
Aug.
30
|
Project
Greenlight 4-5-6, Script ideas, start writing
scripts; L.A.M tutorials
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|
Sep
6*
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Project
Greenlight 7-8-9-10; Work on scripts, preliminary
preproduction.
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Sep
13
|
Project
Greenlight 11; workshop scripts in class; cinematography doc: Visions of Light
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Sep
20
|
Project
Greenlight 12; documentary on casting: Casting About;
L.A.M.
camera/lighting tutorials, in-class demos (“Classy Kids”)?
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Sep
27
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Intro to Editing (computer lab); editing doc: The
Cutting Edge
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Oct
4
|
-
PRODUCTION -
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Oct
11
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-
PRODUCTION -
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Oct
18
|
-
PRODUCTION -
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Oct
25
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-
PRODUCTION -
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Nov
1
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-
PRODUCTION
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Nov
8
|
-
EDITING - intro/logging &
capturing, foley, ADR, scoring, color grading,
“fixing
it in post,” etc.
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Nov
15
|
-
EDITING -
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Nov
22
|
-
EDITING - (Thanksgiving
weekend!)
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Nov
29
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-
EDITING -
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Dec.
6
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-
EDITING FINECUT - distribution options
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FINALS
WEEK
|
View
final movie projects
|
Possible movies
to be viewed either in class or outside of class (in whole or in part):
State and Main
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
The
bulk of the semester, however, will be devoted to making a movie, using digital
video equipment.
It will be
divided into eight segments approximately one or two weeks each, that focus on
- basic
production concepts and elements of screenwriting for a low budget (Aug.
25 - Sept 13),
- the
producer’s responsibilities for organizing the project so it can be
completed (Sept. 13),
- effective
and efficient methods of shooting scenes and working with actors (Sept.
20),
- basic principles
of camera composition and lighting for a “film look” (Sept. 27)
- actual
production of the class script (Oct. 4-Nov. 1)
- evaluating
raw footage and possible post-production fixes for faults (Nov. 8-15)
- editing
the footage for maximum impact (Nov. 15-22)
- adding
sound effects, ADR, and music scoring (Nov. 29-Dec. 6)
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 with different teams producing
different segments. 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
- 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
- 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
ones 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. Note that most
consumer HD camcorders use a format that is too highly compressed to
maintain its apparent sharpness through typical post-production processes.
- As of 2011,
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 video,
roughly $4,000-$50,000 for HDTV-quality “hi-def,” and perhaps
$50,000-$500,000 and up for “film quality” HD video suitable for mixing
with footage actually shot on 35mm movie film. (Note that the price of
recording media also jumps substantially with each higher level of
quality.)
- 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!)