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Week 9: Short film troubleshooting

Michael, Miriam and Bryan discuss the initial stages of their short film project. What hurdles did they have to overcome? What decisions did they have to make? What role is played by planning on the one hand, and improvisation on the other?

Week 8: The Player

Jessica and Sam dissect Robert Altman's jaundiced view of Hollywood in "The Player." What message is Altman proposing about the world of the movies? What about guilt and justice? How does the genre he chooses -- neo-noir -- and the particular filmmaking techniques he employs reinforce those themes?

Week 8: Producing

Lennon and Wilson share the trials and tribulations of planning a short film. What are the pitfalls to watch out for? What can and can't be controlled? And how are their crews preparing to embrace the unpredictable?

Week 7: Blow-Out

Elizabeth and Eric ponder Brian De Palma's in-your-face cinematography this week. How does De Palma make a story about sound into a collection of stunning visual experiences? What changes in style do we find when we leap from the 1950s to the 1980s? Can such overt borrowing be used to create an original work of art?

Week 6: Screenwriting

Lynn and Kimberly take us through the process of writing for film. How is it different from other kinds of writing? What tools are needed? How does screenwriting assist in planning and conceptualizing a film project?

Week 5: Singin' In The Rain

Jenny and Doug take us back to the fifties -- and then back to the twenties, when synchronized sound revolutionized the movie industry. How does the musical format illuminate some of the challenges of that time? And how does this sunny Technicolor view of Hollywood compare to the portraits of filmmaking we've gotten from our other examples so far?

Week 4: Cinematography

Katie and Sarah peek through the lens at the complexities of the motion picture camera. What factors affect the image produced? What principles guide the selection of shots and angles? And how will all this become useful as they plan their short films?

Week 3: Sunset Boulevard

Tommy and Jo Beth take us through the characteristics of film noir and the cynical picture of Hollywood moviemaking that emerges from Billy Wilder's 1950 film Sunset Boulevard. What kinds of planning and execution were apparent in this viewing of the film that might not have been visible to a more casual observer? And can a sixty-year-old film say something relevant to a young, contemporary audience?

Week 2: Editing

Cameron and Imran share the mind-blowing information on editing and sound presented at Eric Deitz's workshop. What goes into creating a finished film sequence? And what kind of planning does it take to make the final result seem effortless and natural?

Week 1: Beginnings

Join Erin and Jordan for a quick tour through early film and the metaphors used by artists and audiences to understand the new medium. How do we approach film as viewers and creators today?