Syllabus

Week 19 (Animation)

Monday 1-20 -Holiday-

Tuesday 1-21 (C Day) -Off-

Wednesday 1-22 (D Day)

Agenda: 

• Classic Animation Continued

  • Walt Disney on The Multiplane Camera.

  • Behind The Scenes, The Making of "The Lion King"

• Intro to Stop-Motion Animation:

  • Daniel Anderson, Stop-Motion Animator of "Kubo & The Two Strings"

  • Georgiana Hayns, Head of Puppetry for "Para Norman"

  • Deborah Cook, Stop-Motion Costume Designer

  • Choose one or two of these behind-the-scenes videos from Laika Studios.

Announcements & Reminders: 

• Quiz on Classic Animation & Walt Disney Tomorrow

Thursday 1-23 (A Day)

Agenda: 

• Quiz on Classic Animation & Walt Disney

• Stop-Motion Animation Continued

• Screening: TBD

Friday 1-24 (B Day)

Agenda: 

• Screening: TBD

Week 18 (Animation)

Monday 1-13 (B Day)

Agenda: 

Classic Animation

• Before Walt Disney: 5 Pioneers of Early Animation from "The Atlantic."

• History of Animation

• Steamboat Willie: 

  • The article

  • … And the cartoon itself (with sound!) .

• The Making of Snow White (the first full-length animated film) 

• Walt Disney on The Multiplane Camera.

• Behind The Scenes, The Making of "The Lion King"

Announcements & Reminders: 

Tuesday 1-14 (C Day) -Off-

Wednesday 1-15 (D Day)

Agenda:

• Quiz on Casting & Performance

• Animation Continued

Thursday 1-16 (A Day)

Agenda:

• Walt Disney Documentary

Week 17 (Casting & Performance)

Friday 12-16 (D Day)

Agenda: 

• Emotional Performance

  •  Viola Davis's performance in this scene from "Fences," 

  • this interview where she talks about doing this scene, 

  • ...and this one where she talks about her acting process.

  • (Optional): this extended conversation between Viola Davis and Tom Hanks on acting.

• Method Acting & Physical Performance

  • Studiobinder's piece on Method Acting (you don't have to watch all of the videos embedded in this article, but it would be good to browse through some of them).

  • These two videos featuring Eddie Redmayne on playing Stephen Hawking:  this one ...and this one.

  • Tony Zhou's How to do Action Comedy 

...and  Robin Williams In Motion.

(If Time Permits) Voting on next film

Week 16 (Costume & Props)

Monday 12-16 (B Day)

Agenda: 

• Quiz on Costume & Props

Tuesday 12/17 (C Day) -Off-

Wednesday 12/18 (D Day)

Agenda: 

• Screening: Cruella

Thursday 12/19 (A Day)

Agenda: 

• Screening: Cruella

Friday 12/20 (B Day)

Agenda: 

• Intro to Casting & Performance:

  • The casting process,

  • ...what a casting director does,

  • ...and what the auditioning process is.

  • "The Story of Casting Elliot in ET"

  • …and ANY TWO of the other Academy-Original Shorts on casting (choose among the six videos at the top).

Week 15 (Costume & Props)

Monday 12/9 (A Day)

Agenda: 

• Screening: 'The Batman'

• Costume & Props:

  • New-Yorker’s piece on Ruth E. Carter, Costume Designer for Black Panther

  • Academy-Originals piece on Mark Bridges, costume designer for "There Will Be Blood."  

Tuesday 12/10 (B Day)

Agenda: 

• Screening: 'The Batman'

• Costume & Props: 

  • "The Clothes of Kay Corleone" by Pablo Villaca for rogerebert.com

  • This CBS piece on A Prop Master Who Forges Historical Documents

  • Tony Zhou’s, “In Praise of Chairs”   

  • Tested’s Tour of the Hand Prop Room  

Wednesday 12/11 (C Day) -Off-

Thursday 12/12 (D Day)

Agenda: 

• Costume & Props: 

  • Group Notes

  • Practice Quiz 

  • Voting on Next Movie

Friday 12/13 (A Day)

Agenda:

• Screening: TBD

Announcements & Reminders: 

• Quiz on Costume & Props on Monday

Week 14 (Special Effects / Costume & Props)

Monday 12/2 (D Day)

Agenda: 

• Group Notes on Special Effects

• Screening: 'The Batman'

Announcements & Reminders: 

• Practice Quiz on Special Effects tomorrow

• For-Credit Quiz on Special Effects on Wednesday.

Tuesday 12/3 (A Day)

Agenda: 

• Practice Quiz on Special Effects You can submit this to me in Teams by the end of class.

• If you haven't watched them yet, watch these:  *Think about how ILM blends both PRACTICAL AND DIGITAL EFFECTS TOGETHER for an even more effective look and feel for the audience.

  1. Inside ILM: Creating the Razor Crest

  2. The Virtual Production of "The Mandalorian"

Announcements & Reminders: 

• For-Credit Quiz on Special Effects Tomorrow.

Wednesday 12/4 (B Day)

Agenda: 

• Quiz on Special Effects

• 'The Batman' continued.

Thursday 12/5 (C Day) -Off-

Friday 12/6 (D Day)

• 'The Batman' Continued

• Intro to Costume & Props

Week 13 (Special Effects Continued)

Monday 11/25 (A Day)

Agenda: 

Digital Effects

• Kevin Baille's commentary on the 2020 Visual Effects Oscar Nominees

• Inside ILM: Creating the Razor Crest

• The Virtual Production of "The Mandalorian" *When you watch these last two, about the Mandalorian, think about how ILM blends both PRACTICAL AND DIGITAL EFFECTS TOGETHER for an even more effective look and feel for the audience.

• Voting on Visual Effects Movie: Godzilla Minus One / The Batman / Gravity / Mad Max Fury Road

Tuesday 11/26 (B Day)

Agenda: 

• Screening: 'The Batman'

Wednesday 11/27 (C Day) -Off-

Week 12 (Special Effects)

Monday 11/18 (D Day)

Agenda: 

• "Shawshank Redemption" Continued

Tuesday 11/19 (A Day)

Agenda: 

• *Shortened Period*  "Shawshank Redemption" Wrap-Up: Conclusion, Review Light / Shadow / Color

Wednesday 11/20 (B Day)

Agenda: 

Practical & Optical Effects

• Crash Course's video on Georges Melies

• Silent Movie Special Effects 

• CBS Sunday Morning’s “Hollywood movie backdrops.”

• CineFix’s  “Making the Hallway Dream Fight in ‘Inception’"

• Crash Course's “Special Effects”

Thursday 11/22 (C Day) -Off-

Friday 11/23 (D Day)

Agenda: 

Practical & Optical Effects Continued:

• CBS's “The Art of Hollywood Special-Effects Makeup”

• Roger Ebert on "The Effect of Effects"

• Studiobinder’s info on forced perspective

  • …and this video on how force perspective was used in making “Elf”

Week 11 (Light, Shadow, & Color / Special Effects)

Monday 11/11 (C Day) -Off-

Tuesday 11/12 (D Day)

Agenda: 

• Practice Quiz on Light, Shadow, & Color

• Screening: 'The Shawshank Redemption'

Wednesday 11/13 (A Day)

Agenda: 

• Quiz on Light, Shadow, & Color

• Screening: 'The Shawshank Redemption'

Thursday 11/14 (B Day)

Agenda: 

• Screening: 'The Shawshank Redemption'

• Intro To Special Effects:

  • Crash Course's video on Georges Melies

  • Silent Movie Special Effects 

  • CBS Sunday Morning’s “Hollywood movie backdrops.”

Friday 11/15 (C Day) -Off-

Week 10 (Light, Shadow, & Color)

Monday 11/4 (D Day)

Agenda: 

• Studiobinder's Film Lighting Techniques (this is more of a how-to guide for movie makers, but the content and vocabulary is good for us).

• CineFix's Top 10 Uses of Color.

• The Godfather Explained: The Cinematography of Shadows.

• Screening: 'The Wizard of Oz'

Tuesday 11/5 (A Day)

Agenda: 

• Screening: 'The Wizard of Oz'

• Light & Shadow: The Greatest Cinematographers in the World. 

Wednesday 11/6 (B Day)

Agenda: 

• Group Notes on Light, Shadow, & Color

• Practice Quiz

Week 9 (Light, Shadow, & Color)

Monday 10/28 (C Day) -Off-

Tuesday 10/29 (D Day)

Agenda: 

• Screening: 'Yesterday'

Wednesday 10/30 (A Day)

Agenda: 

• Screening: 'Yesterday'

• Intro to Light, Shadow, & Color:

  • Reading The Silver Screen, Art Without Color.

  • RocketJump Film School’s So You Don't Want to Watch a Black-And-White Movie. 

  • The Stunning Evolution of Color in Film.

Thursday 10/31 (B Day)

Agenda: 

• Screening: 'The Wizard of Oz'

Friday 11/1 (C Day) -Off-

Week 8 (Sound)

Monday 10/21 (B Day)

Agenda: 

• Voting on Next 'Sound' Movie: Ford Vs. Ferrari, Whiplash, A Quiet Place, Yesterday

• Steven Spielberg's remarks from John Williams' AFI Life-Achievement Ceremony 

  • ...and this CNN piece on Williams and his  49 Oscar-Awards.

• CBS this Morning’s piece on score composer Ramin Djawadi.

• CBS this Morning’s piece on the 2017 documentary called "Score."   

  • That documentary, in its entirety, is available here.  You don't need to watch the whole thing, but I recommend browsing through at least some of it.

• Group Notes on Sound

Announcements & Reminders: 

• Quiz on Sound on Thurs

Tuesday 10/22 (C Day) -Off-

Wednesday 10/23 (D Day) 

Agenda: 

• Group Notes on Sound Continued

• Practice Quiz: Sound

• Screening: 'Yesterday'

Announcements & Reminders: 

• Quiz on Sound Tomorrow

Thursday 10/24 (A Day) 

Agenda: 

• Quiz on Sound

• Screening: 'Yesterday'

Friday 10/25 (B Day) 

Agenda: 

• Screening: 'Yesterday'

Week 7 (Sound)

Monday 10/14 -Holiday; No Class-

Tuesday 10/15 (B Day)

Agenda: 

• Tasos Frantzolas's "Everything You Hear on Film is a Lie." 

• Intro / Screening: 'Jaws'

Wednesday 10/16 (C Day) -Off-

Thursday 10/17 (D Day)

Agenda: 

• Sound editor Tina Hirsh on using silence in Dante's Peak. (Stop @ 41:40) 

• Every Frame a Painting's "Art of Silence"  

• Screening: 'Jaws'

Friday 10/18 (A Day)

Agenda: 

• Screening: 'Jaws'

Week 6 (Camerawork / Sound)

Monday 10/7 (A Day)

Agenda: 

• '1917' Conclusion & Behind-the-scenes

Announcements & Reminders: 

• Quiz on Camerawork on Thursday

Tuesday 10/8 (B Day)

• Group Notes on Camerawork

• Practice Quiz on Camerawork

Announcements & Reminders: 

• Quiz on Camerawork on Thursday

Wednesday 10/9 (C Day) -Off-

Thursday 10/10 (D Day)

• Intro To Sound:

  • "Silence is Golden" from David Foster's "Reading The Silver Screen."

  • Crash Course Film History "Breaking the Silence"

  • "Gary Hecker, Veteran Foley Artist"  

Thursday 10/11 (A Day)

• • Quiz on Camerawork

Week 5 (Camerawork)

Monday 9/30 (D Day)

Agenda:

• Intro to Camerawork

• The kidnapping Scene from “Slumdog Millionaire: 

  • …and “The Camera Does The Thinking for Us” from David Foster's  "Reading the Silver Screen."  

• Screening: 1917

Tuesday 10/1 (A Day)

Agenda:

• Studiobinder.com article on camera angles (ignore the video at the top on how to make a shot list; that's not relevant for us).

• Screening: 1917

Wednesday 10/2 (B Day)

• Tony Zhou's video essay on Stephen Spielberg's use of the long take, AKA the continuous shot, AKA the oner.  

• Studiobinder.com article on tracking shots.

• CBS Sunday Morning’s feature on Garret Brown, inventor of the steadicam.  

• If you're into it, you can watch this piece (optional) where Brown talks at greater length about using the steadicam to shoot Rocky.

• Screening: '1917'

Thursday 10/3 (C Day) -Off-

Friday 10/2 (D Day)

•  Tony Zhou's video essay on the effect of camera angle on this scene from 'Silence of the Lambs'.  

• Studiobinder's "Different Types of Camera Shots and Angles in Film".  There's a lot of info here, but we don't have time to cover everything.  So you can ignore the sections on "framing" and "lenses," but you should pay attention to "shots," "angles," "focus," and especially "movement" (including the handheld shot) and click on at least a few examples of each.  

• Screening: '1917'

Week 4 (Editing / Camerawork)

Monday 9/23 (C Day) -Off-

Tuesday 9/24 (D Day)

Agenda:

• Group Notes on Editing

• Practice Quiz

Announcements & Reminders:

• Editing Quiz on Thursday

Wednesday 9/25 (A Day)

Agenda:

• Editing Practice Quiz Continued

• Intro to Camerawork

• The kidnapping Scene from “Slumdog Millionaire: 

  • …and “The Camera Does The Thinking for Us” from David Foster's  "Reading the Silver Screen."  

Announcements & Reminders:

Thursday 9/26 (B Day)

Agenda:

• Editing Quiz

• Camerawork Continued:

  • Studiobinder.com article on camera angles (ignore the video at the top on how to make a shot list; that's not relevant for us).

• Tony Zhou's video essay on Stephen Spielberg's use of the long take, AKA the continuous shot, AKA the oner.  

Announcements & Reminders:

Friday 9/27 (C Day) -Off-

Week 3 (Editing)

Monday 9/16 (B Day)

Agenda:

• Crash Course’s “The Editor.” 

• 'The Godfather' Continued

Announcements & Reminders:

• Group Notes on Editing Next Tuesday

• Quiz on Editing Next Wednesday

Tuesday 9/17 (C Day) --Off--

Wednesday 9/18 (D Day) 

Agenda:

• Crash Course's "The Language of Film". 

• 'The Godfather' Continued

Announcements & Reminders:

• Group Notes on Editing Next Tuesday

• Quiz on Editing Next Wednesday

Thursday 9/19  (A Day) 

• "The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing" Part 1.  

• 'The Godfather' Continued

Announcements & Reminders:

• Group Notes on Editing Next Tuesday

• Quiz on Editing Next Wednesday

Friday 9/20 (B Day)

Agenda:

• 'The Godfather' Continued

• "Alfred Hitchcock's Three Theories of Film Editing" 

• CineFix's "Top Ten Most Effective Editing Moments of All Time."

• Studiobinder’s:

  • Continuity Editing

  • Transitions

  • Jump Cuts

  • The Eyeline Match

Announcements & Reminders:

• Group Notes on Editing on Tuesday

• Quiz on Editing on Wednesday

Week 2 (How Movies Happened)

Monday 9/9 (A Day)

Agenda:

• Intro To Editing & 'The Godfather'

Announcements & Reminders:

• Parent-Permission Form Due Today.

• Quiz on 'How Movies Happened' on Friday

Tuesday 9/10 (B Day)

Agenda:

• How Movies Happened Continued: 

  • Martin Scorsese's 2013 Jefferson Lecture.

Announcements & Reminders:

• Quiz on 'How Movies Happened' on Friday

Wednesday 9/11  (C Day) --Off--

Thursday 9/12 (D Day)

Agenda:

• Group Note Review on 'How Movies Happened'

• Editing Continued

• Screening 'The Godfather'

Announcements & Reminders:

• Quiz on 'How Movies Happened' Tomorrow

Friday 9/13 (A Day)

Agenda:

• Quiz on 'How Movies Happened'

• 'The Godfather' Continued

Announcements & Reminders:

Week 1 (How Movies Happened)

Tuesday 9/3

Agenda:

• Course Intro (Reviewing The Syllabus) 

• First-Day Questionnaire 

Announcements & Reminders:

• Note-Taking Exercise Due by the beginning of class on Friday.

• Parent-Permission Form Due Monday.

Wednesday 9/4

Agenda:

• Complete this note-taking exercise on Crash Course's "Movies Are Magic." *Due by the beginning of class on Friday.

Announcements & Reminders:

• Note-Taking Exercise Due Friday.

• Parent-Permission Form Due Monday.

Thursday 9/5

Agenda:

• Crash Course's "The First Movie Camera."

• Martin Scorsese's 2013 Jefferson Lecture (This should start & stop automatically, covering the portion that you need to watch). 

Announcements & Reminders:

• Note-Taking Exercise Due Tomorrow.

• Parent-Permission Form Due Monday.

Friday 9/6

Agenda:

• Martin Scorsese's 2013 Jefferson Lecture (This should start & stop automatically, covering the portion that you need to watch). 

Announcements & Reminders:

• Note-Taking Exercise Due Today.

• Parent-Permission Form Due Monday.