Directing for Film (Digital Film Making)

FOUR-WEEK DIGITAL FILMMAKING
Lecture Hours: 72
Lab Hours: 72
Practicum Hours: 72
Total Instructional Hours: 216
Total Credit Units: 4.5

CERTIFICATE WORKSHOP OVERVIEW:

In this workshop, students are taught the language of filmmaking and the director’s craft as applied to the digital format. Students apply newfound knowledge by writing, producing, directing and editing two digital film exercises, using professional digital cameras, and editing on state-of-the-art Final Cut Pro workstations. Students will take classes in Director’s Craft, Hands-on Digital Camera and Lighting, Writing, Editing, and Producing. Each student writes, directs, shoots and edits three short film projects of his or her own, using Digital Video Cameras and Lowell lighting packages.

The first week students will learn the basic tools or filmmaking and begin
shooting a series of film projects. Films will be edited on Final Cut Pro editing stations. Following production and post-production, students screen their work with their classmates, instructors, and invited guests and engage in critiques and discussion. All films are non-synchronous but the final film will include multiple sound tracks. Students will spend an additional twenty to forty hours a week beyond class time
on production of their film projects. Production or practicum hours are considered separate from lab and lecture hours, however they are still necessary to successfully complete the workshop. The Academy recognizes, as should the students, that these hours will vary from student to student.

WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES:

The educational objectives in the Four-Week Digital Filmmaking Certificate. Workshop are to teach students the art and craft of filmmaking and to instruct students through a strict regimen consisting of lectures, seminars, and total immersion workshops to excel in the creative art of filmmaking.

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Skills learned as a result of successful completion of this workshop include:

• The ability to work independently and collaboratively in a high-pressure creative environment
• An in-depth knowledge Digital Video cameras and motion picture production
• The ability to write and pre-visualize a screenplay
• In-depth experience working as a director, producer, assistant director, director of photography, assistant cameraperson, gaffer, and grip on student productions
• Sufficient Mastery of Final Cut Pro digital editing software
• Knowledge of aesthetic film theory and experience with practical application of the same

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS:

The Four-Week Digital Filmmaking Workshop requires successful completion of the following creative projects in partial fulfillment of the graduation requirements:
Project 1 – Mise-en-scène Film
Project 2 – Continuity Film
Project 3 – Final Digital Film

Students must successfully complete every course of study with a “Satisfactory” grade or better. In order to graduate and receive a Certificate of Completion, students must also adhere to the Academy’s Attendance Policy and Code of Conduct. Additionally, students must fulfill all financial obligations to the New York Film Academy. Satisfactory completion of 4.5 Semester Credit Units is required for graduation from the New York Film Academy’s Four-Week Digital Filmmaking Workshop.

The Four-Week Digital Filmmaking Workshop is an accelerated full-time course of study and does not provide for multiple tracks of study. All courses are mandatory. This is a highly specialized workshop, and there are no majors or minors. The workshop may not be completed in less than four weeks. Classes are taught in either a lecture, seminar or laboratory format. Students are also scheduled for hours of practicum. For the designation of instruction hours lab and practicum are treated as “studio hours” as is customary in visual arts studies.

Acting for Film

Students learn the basics of film acting: calibrating performances based upon shot size and angle, hitting marks, emotional and physical continuity, and strength and imagination in acting choices. Students are assigned scenes from produced screenplays, which are then professionally shot with a crew and edited together. In addition, students learn to perform a number of film crew positions, to broaden their knowledge of the duties of everyone on a professional film set.

Screen Writing

In the film industry, screenwriters are now recognized as being just as important as directors in making films. The cliche still holds true, you can make a bad movie with a good screenplay, but you can’t make a good movie with a bad screenplay.

Successful screen writing, however, requires discipline, perseverance and training. One of the most difficult aspects of screen writing is simply getting started. After years of stopping and starting, many writers find that dedicating themselves to an intensive program of study at a top-notch film school, surrounded by other new writers, screen writing can take on life of its own and become second nature.

The Screen writing Workshops and Programs of the New York Film Academy are the most comprehensive screen writing courses of all top film schools. Students can develop an idea into a feature length screenplay in as little as eight weeks, or hone their skills in our One-Year Screen writing Program, and walk away with a body of work to begin their professional screen writing journey. At each step of the way, the student is nurtured in a workshop environment. There is no better screen writing resource than superior training. Your instructors at NYFA are award-winning, working screenplay writers, most with a Master’s Degrees from some of the country’s finest university film schools.

Whether a student chooses the Eight-Week Workshop, the Twelve-Week Evening Workshop or the One-Year Program, with strict adherence to the daily rituals of writing and learning, students will be able to make tremendous strides.

 

Editing

The Four-Week Digital Editing Workshop was designed to serve the needs of different types of students. For students contemplating a longer-term film school education in editing or a career in the industry, it is an excellent introduction to the field. This Four-week course gives students all the necessary skills to edit with the Final Cut Pro software, and a knowledge of the editing craft from an artistic point of view. Students can choose to study digital editing at our film schools in New York or Universal Studios.

rom day one, students learn the fundamentals of digital non-linear video editing on Apple’s Final Cut Pro. Over the course of four weeks students will edit three different types of material: a short scene from a narrative film, a music video, and a trailer for a major motion picture. The final week of the workshop is devoted to building a DVD reel of the projects created during the course.

Each day consists of approximately three hours of class and three hours of supervised lab time. Lab time is part of the schedule, and allows the students to utilize the skills they have acquired.

 3D Animation

In response to the rise in popularity of the medium and the incredible expansion of venues for showcasing the art, the New York Film Academy has designed a hands-on intensive Four-Week 3-D Computer Animation Workshop. This workshop is designed for individuals who want to learn the basics of a high-end 3-D computer program without having to enroll as a full-time year-round student.

Students in the 3-D Computer Animation workshops will write, animate, direct and edit their own computer animated short films. Our animation programs do not require drawing ability. Animation students at the Academy will be able to create 3-D characters and environments along the lines of “Shrek.”

This is a labor and time intensive medium, so students should be prepared to work long hours. How far students take this opportunity depends on the strength of their animation ideas and their willingness to put in the necessary hours to fully realize their goals.

Our previous Animation Workshops have been among our most successful programs. The quality of student work has consistently been praised, and students themselves applaud the level of intensity and enjoyment involved in learning.
Students have gone on to win prizes at festivals for animated films created at the New York Film Academy.
In the Film Academy 3-D Computer Animation Workshops, classes are held every day during the week. Students will also learn concepts of story writing, directing, cinematography, and editing as they apply to animation. The bulk of students’ time outside of class is spent in supervised labs, where they put into practice what they have learned during lectures. Lab time will be used to complete and to expand upon assignments, as well as to work on their final animated films. The students final films will be output digitally and projected at celebratory screening.
This course will teach students the principles of animation (movement, timing, weight, character development, etc.) using Maya—the industry standard high-end 3-D computer program. Students will progress through basic modeling, motion and rendering exercises en route to the completion of a short 3-D computer animated film (with sound) of their own design by the end of the course.

Producing and Development

In these teacher-supervised labs, the process of directing, shooting, and sound recording for news projects is put into practice. Each workshop is an opportunity for students to implement and examine, in a controlled environment, the techniques they are learning in class.

Prior to the execution of their individual projects, students meet with the Production Workshop instructor for review of their preparation. Required materials may include scripts, location details, and shooting schedule.

Digital Filmmaking

In these teacher-supervised labs, the process of directing,