WHAT IS THE CAPSTONE PROJECT?
Beginning in DFM440-O Capstone Film Development, you will be developing and writing the screenplay or treatment for your Capstone Project Film—a short narrative or documentary film. You will continue working on your Capstone Project for the next four months in the four courses following DFM440-O.
The Capstone Project represents a culmination of the skills developed during your time in the Digital Filmmaking online bachelor’s degree program. Your Capstone Project will be a valuable item in your professional portfolio or demo reel. Along with your other portfolio projects, your Capstone Project will represent your work and skill set to future employers and clients.
The Capstone Project must be a fresh project, separate from your other portfolio projects, school work, or other video projects that you have previously created.
You will work exclusively on your Capstone Project in this course and the four courses during months 32–35 of your degree program (see list below). These courses will take you from development through postproduction. You will have one month of development, two months of of preproduction, one month of shooting, and one month to edit your project. View the Academic Catalog for course descriptions.
DFM440-O Capstone Film Development
DFM450-O Capstone Film Preproduction I
DFM475-O Capstone Film Preproduction II
DFM480-O Capstone Film Production
DFM485-O Capstone Film Postproduction
CAPSTONE PROJECT GUIDELINES
There are two formats to choose from, outlined below. As you read about the different formats, heavily consider the following important information:
Keep in mind the scope of your project—length and available resources, such as cast, crew, locations, etc. Make sure that the film you develop in this course will be feasible for you to produce during your Capstone Project courses.
The content of student project work must not contain any pornographic material. Student projects that would be considered offensive by the general public, are sexually explicit, or are extremely violent cannot be filmed as a student project without prior approval of a Program Director. If a film would be rated R under MPAA guidelines it must be approved by a program director prior to filming. Projects in violation of this without prior approval from the Program Director may result in an automatic 0.
The use of real weapons is not permitted. To be clear, students should never have real weapons of any kind on set. This is a major safety and legal issue so do not have real weapons on set.
Students must get prior approval from the Program Director if they plan to use prop weapons and the proper paperwork must be filled out before the start of production (see downloadable file below). Please allow 5 business days to receive an answer when making a request.
The Digital Filmmaking Instructors and Program Director are committed to encouraging meaningful media content as well as students’ safety while on set. We want students to have the freedom to create work that is meaningful to them, but students should be prepared to justify content that pushes the rating beyond PG-13.
You cannot pass DFM440-O without a greenlit script or treatment, meaning that your script/treatment adheres to the Capstone Project guidelines listed here and is approved by your DFM440-O instructor and the Program Director.
Once you have passed this course, you must produce the script/treatment that was greenlit as your Capstone Project. You cannot change projects. Students must receive a passing grade in each Capstone Project course before moving on to the next course.
The Capstone Project must be a fresh project, separate from your other portfolio projects, school work, or other video projects that you have previously created.
CAPSTONE PROJECT FORMATS
Below are the two format options to produce as your Capstone Project:
NARRATIVE
The short narrative film must be between 4–7 minutes in length. For DFM440-O you will write a 4–7 page screenplay properly formatted using Final Draft software. The film can be any genre.
EXAMPLES & ADVICE FROM STUDENTS:
James Flores - Unplugged
If you are setting up your shoot now I would advise you to delegate to those you trust and don’t to compress the schedule, if the script needs 3 days then do 3 days. Else you will burn yourself out and the end product will suffer.
Shawna Cunningham - Coffee with a Ghost
Always have a backup plan, no matter what. Things happen, people get sick, or other issues may arise, but having a backup plan helps in so many ways! Make sure that your actors are fully available on shooting days AND at least 2 weeks after just in case you need to do reshoots. If you are struggling at all with any of your shooting schedules it is VERY important that you reach out to your instructor because they can suggest other ways for you to search and find locations or work around schedules, etc. Keep your head up, don’t get discouraged, this is your dream, your passion, your career!
DOCUMENTARY
The mini documentary film must be between 4–10 minutes in length. For DFM440-O you will conduct research and write a 4–10 page treatment. The documentary type must be either expository, participatory, or performative.
EXAMPLES & ADVICE FROM STUDENTS:
Angela Williams - The Lost Lingit
Always have a backup plan so you’re not wasting a day of shooting due to something like weather or location fails. Having a back up plan — and possibly a back up plan for your back up plan — helps to keep your shoot on schedule. You might lose some shoot time for the day but it’s better than losing an entire day. When it comes to weather, sometimes there are ways to improvise like using tents, gazebos, or tarps if it is raining. When scouting for locations, make sure you always have back up locations in the same area. That way if one fails you can quickly move on to the next one without having to stray too far from your first location. And remember locations can be dressed up! They don’t always have to be perfect, you can make them perfect with set dressings, props, etc. Good luck!