H68.2034.901       3 Credits

During the fall semester, each student directs a four-minute black and white silent film. A script for this project is initiated in the writing class and developed with the participation of the directing instructors. The film will be shot only on exterior locations and will use sound effects but no music. The basics of film language are studied in class and practiced in film exercises. Students work on their projects in crews of four or six, with each student doing the camera work on another crew member's project.  Each student will therefore be exposed and contribute to a number of productions other than their own.

Viewing of clips by master directors, basic reading, and classroom discussions will together provide a framework for the heart of the course, which is a super 16mm production.

The purpose of the course (the viewings, readings, and especially the productions) is to challenge the student to find his/her own cinematic voice within the basic, commonly understood language of narrative film.

The approach in something of a Fine Arts laboratory: While we will aim for a basic mastery of the classic conventions and tools of the film director, the course will also encourage that students explore, with genuine artistic seriousness, the personal and formal variations that will lead to the discovery of one’s own style.

Students will take the initiative to embrace and work with the various (and collaborative) resources that are available to the auteur: sound and image, motion, light, character, story - these are not the end, but the tools that the serious filmmaker masters in order to make their work live.

Additional sections of the same course (H68.2034.902, .903, etc.) may be offered.