Two Year Filmmaking Program - New York Film Academy

TWO-YEAR FILMMAKING CONSERVATORY PROGRAM

Start Dates: January, March, July, September, October

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• OVERVIEW • YEAR TWO FILMMAKING PROJECTS

Two-Year Conservatory students learn the fundamentals of visual and dramatic storytelling through the production of a series of short films in year one, as outlined in the One-Year Filmmaking Program. They then build on this foundation in the second year as they focus on feature filmmaking as well as music video and commercial production. Conservatory students receive over 2,000 hours of hands-on instruction and actual production experience. Students will complete the Two-Year Program having made short films, music videos, commercials, and documentaries. Additionally, students choosing to do so can direct a feature film in a paid fifth semester.

To create this curriculum, we have distilled the key ingredients of the most respected graduate and undergraduate film schools from around the world to provide two intensive years of learning and production. The Two-Year Conservatory Program requires students to commit themselves to a focused and demanding curriculum.

Conservatory students work with 16mm and 35mm film as well as 24P and HD Digital Video in both year one and year two. They will work with an array of production equipment including tungsten & HMI lights, boom & wireless microphones, and various dollies & camera accessories. They have the option of shooting their final projects for the first year, as well as their second year thesis films, on the format of their choice.

The New York Film Academy encourages individuals to take creative risks and find their own voices as visual artists. Conservatory students receive a certificate upon successful completion as well as a full arsenal of filmmaking skills, an enormous amount of production experience, a body of their own work, and a feature film project. The network of working relationships they develop with their classmates will help carry them forward as they pursue their own careers in filmmaking.

Two-Year Conservatory Filmmaking students are invited to visit one of our campuses before the course begins.

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Year two course descriptions

The first year of the two-year conservatory program follows the curriculum outlined in the One-Year Filmmaking Program. Year two classes include the following:

FEATURE SCREENWRITING
The goal of this workshop is to fully immerse each student in an intensive and focused course of study, providing a solid structure for writing and meeting deadlines. Students learn the craft of writing by gaining an understanding of story, structure, character, conflict and dialogue. With strict adherence to the rituals of writing and learning, students complete a first draft of a feature length screenplay of 90 to 120 pages. This class is designed as a creative and academic safehaven for students to develop, rewrite, and polish their scripts. In order for a student to successfully pass this class, each project must be “script–locked” by the end of the semester, and ready for Pre- Production in Semester Four.

FEATURE FILM DIRECTING
This class is an advanced exploration of the art of directing. The special requirements of directing multiple character and plot lines, as well as sustaining a point of view over the course of a ninety minute film are examined. Students hone their skills and prepare a number of scenes from their feature scripts for in-class presentation. They workshop the scenes (both inside and outside of class) with professional actors from the local community. Instruction and in-class criticism focuses on the director’s process and working with actors.

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QUICK FACTS:

Start Dates: January, March, July, September, October
Locations: NYC, Universal Studios, Abu Dhabi Film School
Program Requirements: High School Diploma, GED
Cost: $15,000* (USD)/Semester
€10,115 (EURO)/Semester
You Graduate With: Diploma/Certificate, DVD Film Reel

*Please note, Equipment Fee is $2,000 (€1,349) per semester, students will also incur additional expenses on their own productions. This varies depending on how much film they shoot and scale of the projects.

ADVANCED LINE PRODUCING WORKSHOP
In this class, students analyze budgets and schedules of feature films in order to gain an understanding of these two key elements in preparing a project for production. In later sessions, students prepare a budget and a schedule for their own feature projects to be used in the production package.

SOUND STAGE SCENE WORKSHOP
In this hands-on workshop, students gain the valuable experience of shooting on a sound stage. Working with dollies, cranes, flats, standing sets, green screens, and the many other elements inherent to filmmaking on a closed stage, students are exposed to a professional filming environment. Students shoot several in-class group projects including a music video, and are encouraged to make use of all of the tools at their disposal.

ADVANCED POST PRODUCTION
In a series of lectures, field trips, and hands-on demonstrations, students study the constantly evolving world of high end digital Post-Production and finishing to film. Many aspects of Post- Production including telecine, datacine, Efilm, negative cutting, conforming, optical printing, color timing, answer printing, sound editing, sound track mastering, effects compositing, ADR, foley, looping, and theatrical printing are explored.

APPLIED FILM STUDIES
Through screenings and discussions of historic and modern cinema, students identify techniques they may use in their own feature films. They learn how filmmakers have approached the challenge of telling stories with moving images from silent films to the digital age.

NEW MEDIA
In the ever-changing world of the motion picture industry, it is essential for a filmmaker to keep abreast of evolutions in new media technology. New media trends are nearly impossible to predict. The climate changes so quickly that often times, revolutionary new ideas face obsolescence within months of their inception. In this class, students are immersed in this maelstrom of technological developments. Each student completes a short new media project for posting on the internet.

THE BUSINESS OF FILMMAKING
As burgeoning film professionals, conservatory students learn the importance of balancing their artistic inclinations with a thorough understanding of the business of filmmaking and the industry as a whole. Topics such as option agreements, financing, sound licensing, film festivals, representation, distribution and marketing are covered.

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Production design plays an important role in the success of any production, as it provides the audience with the visual clues that establish and enhance the production content. The production designer works to create a design style or concept that visually interprets and communicates a story, script or environment appropriate to the production content and action. This workshop is intended to help students prepare for the design requirements of their feature film projects. Topics covered in this hands-on workshop include set design and construction, makeup design, costume design, and basic aesthetics.

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ADVANCED CINEMATOGRAPHY
This hands-on study of the art and craft of motion picture photography provides the student with multiple approaches towards intelligent and artistic ways of shooting. It is an in depth analysis of painting and sculpting with light, cinematographic control of the aesthetic, and the emotional possibilities of a well designed and executed photographic image. Students who wish to crew as Director of Photography on any Year Two thesis films are strongly encouraged to take this elective. Students who choose to pursue the Cinematography thesis option are required to take this elective.

Additional semester
Students who choose to direct and edit a feature length film do so in an additional semester held after the end of Year Two. This is reserved entirely for Production and Post Production of the feature projects. Students who choose to direct a feature film as their thesis will be required to pay for a fifth semester.

CONSERVATORY FILMMAKING PROJECTS - YEAR TWO

MUSIC VIDEO
Each student conceives, produces directs and edits a music video. This project is an opportunity for students in the second year to develop and demonstrate their visual style as filmmakers. It is intended to help students build their reels for possible professional work in the future. Students are encouraged to collaborate with a musical artist or band that incorporates performance and the use of playback.

• Allotted shooting time: 2 days
• Editing time: up to 40 hours
• Screening time: 1-5 minutes

COMMERCIAL
Each student writes, directs, and edits a television commercial for an existing or invented product. This project challenges students to try their hands at this very influential form of filmmaking. This medium demands high production values and concise storytelling. It is another opportunity for students to showcase their talents for their reels.

• Allotted shooting time: 2 days
• Editing time: up to 40 hours
• Screening time: 30 or 60 seconds

Thesis Project:

Option A: Feature Film
Direct and edit a feature length film in a paid fifth semester of study at the end of Year Two, and fill essential crew positions on short form films directed by fellow students

Option B: Trailer or Short Film
Direct and edit a trailer or short based on the feature project of up to 30 minutes in length, and fill essential crew positions on short form films directed by fellow students.

Option C: Cinematography
Collaborate as Director of Photography on three feature trailer films of fellow students or one feature length film.

SEMESTER TWO CLASSES

ADVANCED DIRECTING
This class further explores the aesthetic elements of mise-enscene: 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 practice different approaches to coverage by breaking down scenes from their own scripts. They create floor plans and shot lists, and then discuss their choices with the instructor.

CASTING
This class builds on the tools students gained in the Directing Actors program of the first semester. Students break down their own scripts, identify the dramatic beats of each scene, and translate this into effective feedback for actors. Students learn to adjust character objectives through rehearsal. This results in specific and believable performances. By “workshopping” scenes from their own scripts, the class demonstrates the effectiveness of the method and maximizes individual attention. Actors are brought into class to perform from the students’ scripts and give them feedback and in-class directing experience.

PRODUCING
To ensure an organized shoot, students must take their films through a comprehensive pre-production period. The producing class leads them 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.

ADVANCED HANDS ON CAMERA
Students are trained to operate the Arriflex 16SR camera, HD camera, and accessories. Through hands-on practice they learn:

• Loading the film magazine
• Use of battery and charger
• Use of tripod
• Testing & preventing problems
• How 16mm camera maintains sync
• Creating scene files on HD
• Shooting HD at 720 and 1080
• HD workflow
• Slating
• Camera reports
• Functions of all moving parts
• Eye-piece and zoom lens
• Marking focus pulls and zooms
• Labeling the magazine, film can, and HD storage device
• Focal lengths, filters, and apertures
• Use of dolly and track

LOCATION SOUND RECORDING
This hands-on class teaches students how to record syncsound for their projects. Location recording, sound mixing and boom operation are practiced using scenes from the students’ scripts. Sound will be recorded using digital hard drive recorders, portable mixers, shotgun microphones, and wireless lavalier microphones.

ADVANCED PRODUCTION WORKSHOP
In a series of sync-sound production exercises, students shoot scenes on 16mm film and HD from their own scripts with the guidance and critique of the instructor. One of the many benefits is that they are able to determine what adjustments to make to their scripts and shooting plans before their films go into production. These practice scenes are fully pre-produced (storyboarded, cast, scouted, rehearsed and pre-lighted) and treated as actual productions. Students gain experience working together and fill all the key crew positions (Director, Director of Photography, Sound Recordist, Gaffer, Grip, and Boom Operator). They spend a full production day shooting each scene with the same lighting, sound, and camera support they will use on their own films. They work with a grip equipment package (flags, nets, gels, stands, and clamps) and practice how to control light. Students come out of a series of production workshops with practical producing, directing, lighting, shooting, and location sound recording experience.

SOUND DESIGN
This class details both the practical sound editing choices and the aesthetic decisions students will need to make on their own films. It is given during the post-production period after students return from their year-end film shoots. It covers the following subjects:
• Working with dialogue
• Equalization
• Sampling and looping
• Rubberbanding (digital audio manipulation)
• Building FX ambience and music tracks
• Preparing for a mix
• Overlapping sound
• Subliminal sound
• Location sound, foleys, and ADR
• Introduction to ProTools and other software
• Visual sound cues
• Working with a composer
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35mm film aking
This class will use Panavision 35mm cameras and accessoriesthe gold standard in motion picture photography.

All the fundamental creative skills and concepts students have learned working with 16mm film and digital video apply fully to 35mm filmmaking. The 35mm class is an opportunity for students to see how the wider frame and higher resolution of 35mm affects their shot design, framing, composition, staging, camera movement, lens choice, and lighting. The class will explore the process of designing, shooting, and editing scenes on 35mm. Students will digitally edit the scenes shot in class. The following subjects will be covered in the 35mm classes:
• Loading and operation of 35mm cameras
• Lighting for the 35mm frame
• 35mm aspect ratios
• 35mm tripod head
• Working with Elemack Spyder dolly and track
• Lenses for 35mm
• Anamorphic photography (super wide screen)
After completing their instruction in 35mm, students may
shoot their final projects on 16mm, 35mm film, or HD

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. In addition, students learn the most economical ways to light a scene by shooting set-ups from their own storyboards. A special focus on lighting for and shooting with HD teaches students how to achieve a film look and maximize possibilities of working with this format.

SYNC-SOUND EDITING
Film dailies and HD media are imported to Final Cut Pro where students learn to sync and edit with dialogue. This experience provides students with the hands-on technical training they need to edit their own projects. An even greater benefit is the creative discoveries students make when they compare the very different versions that are edited from the same material. With this hands-on practice in sync-sound editing, students will go into production on their own films with a full understanding of the challenge that awaits them after the shoot.

PRE-PRODUCTION, PRODUCTION & POST-PRODUCTION
Students start the second semester with a finished script of up to 15 pages. They continue to improve these scripts in one-on-one consultations with their mentors and as they work with scenes from their scripts in their other classes. During the instruction period they find locations, cast, and design their shoots. They continue to meet with instructors in one-on-one advisement sessions to get feedback on their shooting script, casting, storyboards, floor plans, schedules and budgets.

Each student receives five shooting days, according to a production schedule designed in class. Students work on their classmates’ films in the principal crew roles. Schedules are designed to allow for days off between productions and for last-minute preparations for the subsequent shoot. The production period is as intense and demanding as a professional feature film shoot.

After the production period, students begin editing their films. They screen rough-cuts of their films for the directing instructor and their mentors and receive feedback before presenting their finished films to an invited audience at the end of the semester. Throughout the post-production period, the editing instructor is available for consultation. Students may use up to 300 hours of individual editing time. They finish their films with a digital sound mix on the computer. Some students may choose to do more elaborate sound work and take their films to a professional sound mix.

LIFE AFTER THE NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY
There is no single path or formula for creating a career in filmmaking. Our filmmaking graduates have gone on to win awards at film festivals, start production companies, become cinematographers, film editors, screenwriters, directors, producers, and even actors.

We have an open door policy for alumni. With campuses all over the world, former students visit us and seek advice from our staff and faculty. Graduates also find that their most valuable professional network is one another.

During the last weeks of the program, students explore the many different possible roads to a life in film. Guest filmmakers share their experiences with students.

Subjects may include:
• Building your reel
• Film festivals and grants
• The studio system and alternatives
• Contracts, negotiations, and deals
• Networking and jobs in the industry
• The internet and new media
• Multi-camera studio shooting

Final screenings
At the end of the One-Year Filmmaking Program, a final screening will include a diploma-granting ceremony and will be open to friends, family and invited guests. Students will take their finished films with them and are free to submit their work to the many film festivals in the U.S. and abroad.

NEW YORK CITY
ACTING & FILM SCHOOL

The New York Film Academy located in New York City is licensed by the New York State Education Department as a non-degree granting proprietary school. Qualified students may request that their course work be accepted for an award of credit or advanced standing in a degree program at the New York Film Academy Los Angeles campus.

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, CALIFORNIA
ACTING & FILM SCHOOL

The New York Film Academy located at Universal Studios offers MFA and AFA degree programs as well as certificate programs for college credit.

Any college credit or degree earned is awarded solely by the New York Film Academy's academic headquarters in California. All camps are solely owned and operated by the New York Film Academy and are not affiliated with Universal Studios, Harvard University, or Disney Studios.

100 East 17th Street New York, New York 10003 United States
Tel. +1 (212) 674-4300 Fax. +1 (212) 477-1414

ACTING & FILM SCHOOL