ACTING & FILM SCHOOL

Based on an academic year, the curriculum is divided into four semesters. During the first semester students learn the art and technique of visual storytelling. Courses held during the first eight weeks include: Director’s Craft, Hands-on Camera and Lighting, Writing, and Editing. Students use this knowledge to write, direct, and edit four short 16mm films.

During weeks nine through twelve students are given instruction on the fundamentals of digital video production and digital editing. Students then write, direct, and edit three digital shorts and/or documentaries. Directly following the three digital projects, students begin preparing for their final Year-One film project.

The second semester is divided into three phases. The first phase is devoted to intensive instruction, demonstration, group sync-sound directing exercises, individual consultations, and preproduction (including casting, rehearsal, and location scouting). During this phase students have one-on-one consultations as they work with scenes from their scripts. In the second or production phase, each student directs his/her own film and crews on his/her classmates’ films. The third phase of the program is devoted to post-production. During this phase, students edit, receive instruction, and screen rough-cuts of the films. Students receive instructor feedback and finish their films for a final group screening.

Students spend additional hours each week beyond classtime on the production of their film projects and projects of their classmates. Students should be aware that these hours vary from student to student. During the 5th and 13th weeks and after the end of the 6th month, students work exclusively on film projects while consulting with instructors. Students are responsible for making their own film project schedule, which must be supervised and approved by an instructor. Students also need to collaborate with their fellow students as well as postproduction supervisors to ensure that their projects are completed during the designated times.

The overall goal of the Second Year is to challenge students to grow as artists by exposing them to skills, techniques and approaches to filmmaking that are more specific and complex than those they learned in Year One. Students are required to complete projects of increasing complexity.

In the Second Year, completed projects allow students to mature in terms of artistic ability, compared with the work of the previous year. One way to insure this is to give the students ample time to complete a Thesis Project by allocating most of class time to discussing and critiquing their on-going projects.

Toward the end of the program, students attend classes focusing on the “Entertainment Business,” where they meet guest speakers from the film industry. Lecturers discuss strategies for those students interested in exploring filmmaking careers after completion of the program. Students may choose to direct a feature length film, which means they stay at the New York Film Academy for a fifth semester (Thesis Option B). Students who choose this option, complete the production and post-production portion of their Thesis Project during this Optional Semester Five.

  Continue >>

YEAR-TWO EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Skills learned as a result of successful completion of this program include:

• Grow as artists by finding new and effective ways to visually express stories
• Hone group problem solving skills through collaboration on increasingly complex film projects
• Complete shot exercises assigned by instructors, which are designed to challenge their status quo as artists
• Examine Filmmaking from a business perspective
• Direct a Thesis Project

THIRD AND FOURTH SEMESTER REQUIREMENTS
The Associate of Fine Art in Filmmaking Program requires successful completion of the following creative projects in partial fulfillment of the graduation requirement:

• Project 1 – Commercial or Music Video
• Project 2 - Commercial or Music Video
• Project 3 - Script Lock on Thesis Script
• Project 4 - A “Greenlight” Production Schedule, Budget and Storyboard
• Project 5 – Complete Thesis Project (Excluding those students who choose Thesis Option B)

FIFTH SEMESTER (OPTIONAL) EXPECTED LEARNING
OUTCOMES & REQUIREMENTS:
Skills learned as a result of successful completion of this program include:
• Completion of Feature Length Film

Students must successfully complete every course of study with a “Satisfactory” grade or better. In order to graduate and receive the AFA degree, 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.

Semester one COURSES

Director’s Craft 1
This course introduces students to the language and craft of film directing. Director’s Craft prepares students for the film exercises and is the venue for screening and critiquing their work throughout the course. The Director’s Craft instructor challenges students to find the most effective and visually expressive means to tell their stories. This course also exposes students to the unique ways great directors have approached visual storytelling and how they have used miseen- scène (the task of staging scenes and moving actors within the frame).

Hands-On Camera & Lighting
In the first week of the course students are trained to use the 16mm Arriflex-S motion picture camera and its accessories. In lighting class they learn fundamental lighting techniques through shooting tests on film. As they progress through the workshop they learn how to support the mood of the story with lighting choices, and they experiment with expressive lighting styles.

SCREENWRITING I
This course focuses on the fundamentals of visual storytelling and provides students with constructive analysis and support as they take a story from initial idea, treatment, and outline to a rough draft, and finally, a shooting script. The intersection of story structure, theme, character, tension, and conflict is examined through detailed scene analysis. Students are encouraged to tell their stories visually, and not rely solely on dialogue to tell the story. The scripts they write become the basis of all class work and the Year One Final Film projects in the second semester.

Continue >>

Semester Two

Director's Craft 2
Director’s Craft 2 further explores the aesthetic elements of mise-en-scène: shot choice, composition, setting, point of view, action of the picture plane, and movement of the camera. Starting where the first semester directing class left off, students learn how to cover a dialogue scene with a series of shots as well as more sophisticated approaches to coverage including the use of dollies. Students break down scenes from their own scripts to practice different approaches of coverage. They create floor plans and shot lists and discuss their choices with the instructor.

Screnwriting 2
Screenwriting 2 focuses on the completion, rewriting, and polishing of the scripts for the Year-One Final Film. Students use live readings of their screenplays and engage in instructor led round table discussions of the work to hone their material. The goal is to increase the writer’s mastery of screenwriting as outlined in Screenwriting 1. In order to successfully complete this course, all students must achieve “script lock”. At the completion of this course, each student formally enters into Pre-Production of the Year-Two Final Film.

Student Producing 2
Student Producing II leads students through the entire process of pre-production, including scouting and securing of locations, permits, and casting. The producing instructor and the students design a production schedule for the entire class. The instructor encourages students to form realistic plans for successfully making their films. Using script breakdowns, students learn how to plan and keep to a schedule and budget for their productions. They use their own finished scripts in class as they learn how to take advantage of budgeting and scheduling forms and methods.

Directing Actors 2: Casting
This course builds on the tools students gained in the Directing Actors I course of the first semester. Students break down their own scripts by identifying the dramatic beats of their scenes and translating this into effective feedback for actors. Students learn to adjust character objectives through rehearsal. This results in specific and believable performances. Advanced Hands-On 16mm Camera & Lighting Students are trained to operate the Arriflex 16SR camera and accessories.

Cinematography
This class immerses students in the technical and creative demands of cinematography. Color film stocks are tested to help students make the best choice for their films. The use of color correcting filters and gels is practiced through shooting tests. Lighting and contrast ratios are reviewed. By shooting set-ups from students’ own storyboards, this camera and lighting-centric class provides students with a practical approach to getting the most out of their resources.

Continue >>

Semester THREE COURSES

Director’s Craft 3: Contemporary Masters
A continuation of Director’s Craft 2; students study the language and craft of film directing from the perspective of the last thirty years. In preparation for the film exercises executed during Production Workshop, students study the style and techniques of contemporary filmmakers like Spielberg, Scorsese, and Coppola. This class is the venue for screening and critiquing their work throughout the course. The Director’s Craft instructor challenges students to find new and effective ways to visually express their stories.

Advanced Hands-On Digital Camera & Lighting
Class sessions are designed to help students master the many elements of digital video photography using professional DV cameras. In preparation for the Semester Three Music Video or Commercial Projects, students learn lighting techniques of increasing complexity, building on their arsenal of skills through shooting tests on film and experimentation.

Screnwriting 3
This course focuses on the fundamentals of visual storytelling and provides students with constructive analysis and support as they take their Thesis Project Script from initial idea, treatment, and outline to a rough draft. Each student’s work is discussed and critiqued by their peers and instructor during in-class workshops.

Student Producing 3
Students apply the fundamentals of film producing to their own Thesis Project. Similar to Student Producing II, this class continues to examine the job of producer by matching tasks and challenges with ways of approaching them. As students start to produce their own projects, the challenges become clear, and some class time is devoted to specific production “hurdles”. Students hone group problem-solving skills, a film industry must-have, and learn through sharing real examples.

Advanced Editing 1
Students continue studying the Final Cut Pro digital editing system. Students are given instruction and asked to complete exercises of increasing complexity. Each student edits his or her own films, and can supplement their classes with individual consultations at the computer. The goal for students is to grow as editors and to understand the wealth of tools available to them in Final Cut Pro that they can use in the post production of their own evolving Thesis Projects.

Critical Film Studies
In this seminar, students are taught to identify techniques that they may use in their own films through screenings and discussions. They learn how filmmakers have approached the great challenge of telling stories with moving images from silent films to the digital age. The course explores ways that the crafts of directing (particularly shot construction), cinematography, acting, and editing have developed. Instructors select films for screening and discussion from among the great cinematic innovators. The course gives students an understanding of how cinema has evolved from its origins to the present moment and where they find themselves in that development.

Production Workshop 3
In continuation of Production Workshop II, students stage and shoot exercises building in complexity, under the supervision of the instructor. Students are introduced to a broad range of technical aspects of filmmaking. Through these exercises, students learn various techniques and practical tools that they can use to successfully complete their Thesis Project.

Advanced Film Projects
While each student in the program writes, directs and edits his or her own music videos or spec commercial, it is also essential that he or she learn the importance of collaboration. Crews function as working groups for each film project. Thus, each student not only directs a series of projects, but also works in crew positions on his or her colleagues’ films. Students edit and screen their films for critique and discussion.

Continue >>