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The beginning of the course will focus on exercises that develop your skills, get your creative juices flowing, and enable you to get to know other people in the class as possible collaborators and crew for your later projects. Each person will be individually tested on basic skills. Thus, while filmmaking is a collaborative endeavor, it is important that you encourage and allow your classmates to learn with you. There will be several larger projects, leading towards the one final project due at the end of the semester.

The goal for this class is for you to produce meaningful, creative, expressive, innovative media for an intelligent and potentially limitless audience. Within the world of independent video production, there are ample opportunities for student work to be shown at festivals across the country. On the Internet, clever, topical videos can garner international attention. Videos produced in this class can and should rise above the culture of the campus. I encourage you to think of yourself an artist-director-producer from the first day of this class. Consider the topics and ideas that are genuinely engaging to you – about culture, people, history, politics, life – and to listen and learn from others about how to practically structure, visualize, express, and ultimately translate your ideas to a audiovisual medium.

Class Overview and format:

This class will provide introductory film making principles to students with a critical eye toward content and short format filmmaking. Course objectives will assimilate students with the processes of utilizing the camera, lighting, sound, editing, storyboards, writing, and budgeting. Software covered during this class will include Final Cut Pro, Live Type, and Motion Graphics Software (either After Effects or Motion). Some lectures may include guest speakers from the film industry or advertising industry. The instructor is available for technical assistance throughout the week and during lab hours for further assistance.

Student Responsibilities and Requirements:

•Class attendance is imperative for success in this course.
•Participate in class discussions.
•Complete the required online tutorials, reading and research assignments that are incorporated with the creation of your video projects.
•Be thorough in your note taking during class lectures, for they will help you during the execution of class homework.

Required Materials and Reading:

The required text for this course is: Gross and Ward. Digital Moviemaking. All daily assignments will be posted with tutorials for completing your assignments.

All students will be required to purchase a consumer dv tape, available at target, best buy, Walgreens, etc. The cost of this tape is eight dollars. Please alert your instructor if you anticipate problems with this.

You are responsible for your data. BACK IT UP!! Store your data in multiple locations: burn it to disk, buy extra hard drives, etc.

Assignments and Grading: 300 points total

Exercise 1: Camera 10
Skills Test1: Camera 10
Exercise 2: Scene Analysis 10
Exercise 3: Montage 10
Skills Test 2: Editing 10
Exercise 4: Sound Design 10
Skills Test 3: Sound 10
Project 1: Argument
(treatment, rough cut, and final cut) 30
Essay of Intentions 1 10
Critique 1 10
Project 2: Advertisement
(treatment, rough cut, and final cut) 40
Essay of Intentions 2 10
Critique 2 10
Proposal for Final Project 10
Script for Final Project 10
Rough Cut 10
Final Cut 70
Essay of Intentions 10
Critique 10

GRADING BY % OF POINTS: ( A) 90-100 ( B) 80-90 ( C) 70-80 ( D) 60-70 ( F) 0-60