6 WEEK FILM & DIGITAL	6 WEEK ADVANCED HI-DEF	4 WEEK FILM	4 WEEK DIGITAL
3 WEEK FILM	3 WEEK DIGITAL	1 WEEK DIGITAL	WEEKEND FILM

4-Week Filmmaking Camp

"A WHIRLWIND OF HANDS-ON FILMMAKING WHERE YOU WRITE, SHOOT, DIRECT, AND EDIT THREE OF YOUR OWN SHORT FILMS."

The Four-Week Summer Film Camp is one of our most popular workshops; ideal for providing students with a thorough introduction to the foundations of film craft. The one-month length of the program fits easily into most students’ summer schedules. This is a full-time program: students must make a serious commitment to its completion.

Format

The four-week program is structured around the production of three short films of increasing complexity. Students attend class either in the morning or afternoon Monday through Friday, and shoot their films with supervision during the other half of each day. Weekends are reserved for writing, relaxation, and organized trips and activities.

Each student writes, directs, shoots and edits three short films of his or her own using Arriflex S 16mm cameras, Lowel lighting packages, and Final Cut Pro digital editing systems. Hands-on classes in directing, writing, editing, cinematography, and production cover all the creative and technical demands of telling a story with moving images. Each week all the students’ films are screened and critiqued in class with the instructor.

Crews

Every week is devoted to writing, producing, directing, and editing a different film project. The first film focuses on the art of the shot; the second on continuity. These projects culminate in a third film of up to four-minutes with a music track.

Students work in four-person crews to complete each film. Every student directs three films. When their colleagues direct, students rotate in each crew among the key crew positions (director of photography, assistant camera, and editor).

At the end of the course, the final films are celebrated in a screening open to cast, crew, friends and family. All students who successfully complete the workshop will receive a New York Film Academy Diploma.

Students

The Four Week Camp attracts a diverse, international group of students who share a passion for telling stories through moving images. (One entering class included students from Germany, Denmark, France, Brazil, Japan, Canada, and Mexico, Russia, Australia, South Africa, UAE, Egypt, Poland, England, Chile as well as students from five different regions in the United States.)

Each class is limited in size. The compressed length of the course and the subsequent, focused level of collaboration required inevitably brings classes and crews close together. Students must rely on each other’s skills to complete these films in four weeks. The experience is sometimes exhausting, but always rewarding.

The combination of non-stop collaborative work, the mix of diverse cultures and experiences, a shared passion for film, and the opportunities afforded by the various summer locales make the workshop an intensely enriching experience.

FILM 1: THE SHOT

In the first film, students are introduced to the art of visual storytelling. Once they create a dramatic moment, they concentrate on the dynamics of the shot which will best express it.

This assignment introduces the student to composition, angle and lens, movement, and interaction between characters. Students become familiar with the camera and light meter for consistent focus and exposures. Beginning with a storyboard, each person writes, directs, shoots, edits digitally, and screens a film of up to two minutes.

FILM 2: THE CUT

Continuity is one of the fundamental principles of modern filmmaking. By making a "continuity film," students learn the way cuts can advance the story while sustaining the reality of the scene. They learn the difference between "film time" and "real time."

Students are challenged to make a film that maintains continuity in story, time, and space. The action in these films unfolds utilizing a variety of shots (10-15) in a continuous sequence (no disorienting jumps in time or action). Students must produce a clear, visual scene while maintaining the truthfulness of the moment. It is essential that the audience believe in the reality of the scene. Students write, direct, shoot, edit digitally, and screen a film of up to three minutes.

FILM 3: MUSIC & IMAGE

The third film introduces students to the relationship between sound and film, as well as to narrative tools like montage and jump cuts. In this project, students are encouraged to explore a more personal language of the art.

Each student begins with a short continuous selection of music. In the editing room they cut their images to work in concert with, or in counterpoint to, the sound. Students may experiment with rhythm and pacing. Each student writes, directs, shoots, edits digitally, and screens a film of up to four minutes.

Please note: curriculum, dates, prices subject to change.