Week1
Secrets of the Short
- The main types of short films, organized by structure
- Watching and discussing short films that show each type
Syllabus
Ten weeks, week by week
The course follows the life of a film: first the story, then the visual style, then pre-production and directing, and finally the edit. Each of our five teachers leads two of the ten lectures.
Week2
Genre: Tropes and Subversion
- Examining the tropes that define a genre
- Why genre conventions are useful, and how to subvert them
Week3
Screenwriting in Sequences
- Breaking a feature screenplay into sequences
- Writing a fast, messy first draft, so a feature script feels far less daunting
Week4
Character Building Lab
- Building characters through both writing and visual choices
- Exploring different ways into a character
Week5
2 + 2 = 5
- Avoiding redundancy in a single scene or a whole film. For example, a sad scene doesn't need every filmmaking element to feel sad.
- Subverting tone and genre
- Homework: take a photograph that balances its elements around the meaning of the shot
Week6
Visual Experiences
- Revealing characters' personalities through directing choices
- Shot progression: how the order of shots shapes a scene
Week7
Pre-Production Tools
- Planning shots with Shot Designer and gathering visual references on ShotDeck
- “Chords”: [one-line description]
Week8
Casting
- Finding, auditioning, and choosing actors for your film
No class Sunday, Nov 29 (Thanksgiving weekend)
Week9
Script to Screen
- Analyzing a scene from a real script, with examples
- Working out together how we would bring it to the screen
Week10
Documentary Editing
- Finding and shaping a story from documentary footage in the edit
Ready to join?
Enroll in the course on its own, or with four individualized workshop sessions.
Enroll