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Digital Filmmaking: From Initial Concept to Final Edit

Level: Open to students entering grades 11 or 12 or freshman year of college in fall 2013.

Session: II, July 16-August 2, 2013

Days & Time: Monday-Friday, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM and 2:00 PM-4:00 PM

Instructor(s): Mark Christopher,

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.

"I liked working with students from all over the world and with people in the business... I thought that was a very unique experience for someone my age."

- Christina Mazzio, 2012

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)

Mark Christopher

Mark Christopher wrote and directed Miramax's 54, set at New York's Studio 54 and starring Ryan Phillippe, Mike Myers, and Salma Hayek. His IFC film Pizza won a 2006 Independent Spirit Award, and his award-winning short films have screened at all major international film festivals, with Alkali, Iowa being short-listed for the Academy Award. His first television series, Real Life: The Musical, premiered in 2012 on OWN, and he is currently creating a new scripted series, The Echo Parkers. Christopher is an adjunct professor in the Carnegie Mellon M.B.A. film program in Los Angeles, where he also volunteers for Inner City Filmmakers and continues his work as a writer, director, and producer. He received an M.F.A. in film from Columbia's School of the Arts in 1995.

Specific course information, such as hours and instructors, are subject to change at the discretion of the University.