Digital Filmmaking: From Initial Concept to Final Edit
Level: Open to students entering grades 11 or 12 or freshman year of college in fall 2010.
Session: II, July 20-August 6, 2010
Days & Time: Monday-Friday, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM and 2:30-4:30 PM
Instructor(s): Alex Sichel
Related Courses: Students interested in this course might also be interested in Critical Focus in the Visual Arts or Theatrical Collaboration: the Actor, the Director, and the Playwright, both offered in Session I.
"I learned the whole process of filmmaking (from concept to edit) by actually making the films."
–Jacqueline Lem, 2009
Course Description
Students learn basic video production skills and essential film grammar (i.e., types of shots, framing and composition, camera movement, and blocking actors) through a focus on narrative storytelling.
Working in small groups, students create a finished video film. Each group makes a film based on a theme devised through discussion with the instructor. Students work sequentially through the stages of production: initial concept, synopsis, treatment, script, storyboards, and final shooting and editing.
This course is divided into three sections: pre-production, production, and post-production. During pre-production students learn how to work in a group to plan for and realize a short film from concept to shooting script. During production students work together to coordinate and shoot their script. And finally, in post-production students edit and polish their projects. The instructor provides guidance throughout the process emphasizing the students’ responsibility for carrying the project from inception to completion.
Instructor(s)
Faculty
Alex Sichel
Alex Sichel directed the film All Over Me, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, won a Teddy Bear Award at the Berlin International Festival, and was released in 1997. If These Walls Could Talk 2, which she co-created for HBO, was nominated for four Emmies. She is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Columbia University School of the Arts graduate Film Program, where she teaches directing. She received her MFA from Columbia 's School of the Arts in 1996.
Specific course information, such as hours and instructors, are subject to change at the discretion of the University.
