The Art of Moviemaking
English 235 – "The Art of Moviemaking" - 3 credits
This is a hands-on workshop-oriented course where students practice the art of filmmaking. The course may include screenwriting and/or film production.
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 class focuses on different areas in different semesters and is repeatable. It 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).
Recommended Prerequisites
Any introductory class in film, creative writing, theatre arts, popular culture, fiction, drama, media, or video production.
Screenwriting
Sometimes a fall semester section will be strictly about writing for the screen. Students will learn to develop story ideas into a coherent plot structure, standard screenplay format, and hints for writing screenplays that may be more attractive to potential producers. Special emphasis will be placed on constructing screenplays that can be practical for a future class (usually the following Spring section of Engl. 235) to produce over a single semester.
Production
Some semesters, usually the Spring semester, will focus strictly on the production of one or more scripts written by previous classes. Still other semesters will have students spend the first month developing and writing the script(s) they will be producing, the second month shooting, and the third month editing the final movie.
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.
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 (or read, in the case of screenwriting-only semesters) and evaluated by the class during the period scheduled for the final exam.
Considerations to Think About
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Develop story ideas from recent news stories, personal experiences, favorite movie genres.
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Be sure to take into account how you might actually produce the concepts you have in mind.
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Make an outline of your basic plot development (setup, confrontation, payoff), then fill it in with descriptions of the action, and finally the dialogue.
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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.
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Contact friends and acquaintances about using locations and/or props.
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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!
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What sort of transitions between scenes will make things easier for the audience to follow?
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How might music and/or extra sound effects help intensify your scenes?