Critique at Residency
The Critique Session
Presentation: 20-30 Minutes
Discussion: 40-60 Minutes
Total Length: 60-90 Minutes
Incoming Student Observer Only
Mandatory for all students. The Critique is an opportunity for continuing students to present some aspect of their current work in 20 minutes to two or more faculty members who were not their most recent mentor, and to students who are observing the Crit session. Discussions with faculty directly follow the presentation and last 40-60 minutes. Presenting students may opt to open up the discussion to fellow returning students for any portion of that time.
Your Crit is not part of your previous or upcoming semester’s evaluation, but is an isolated opportunity for feedback on a specific segment of your work from the past semester. You need not represent or summarize your entire semester’s work, or detail your process, but should just briefly introduce or frame the work you present.
CRITIQUING WORK
Examples Of What Can Be Presented (And Combined) In Crit Include:
any short script(s) or script excerpts that can be read in less than 20 minutes
up to 20 minutes of edited video at any stage from rough assembly to final cut (not raw footage)
scenes or excerpts from scripts or videos that you have specific questions about (for example regarding pacing, directing actors, sound, structure, etc.)
a pitch for a project, and/or support materials such as a treatment, beat sheet, storyboards, animatics, look book, sample or mood reel, etc.
exercises, rehearsal scenes, or different versions of scenes for comparison
Ideally You Will:
fill your twenty minutes of presentation with as much work as possible
keep explanations minimal and concise, only providing whatever setup is needed (if any) for the work presented
specify what kind of feedback you would like
You have the option to guide Crit feedback around specific questions of interest to you about any aspect of your writing or filmmaking. Some questions may be better asked before you present the work (so everyone can have them in mind) and some may be better asked afterwards.
You also have the option to keep feedback completely free-form and undirected. And finally, you have the option to maximize your feedback from the faculty present, or to open up the discussion at any point to the students present. You may ask if you can record the feedback.
Keep in mind that the feedback you receive will involve spontaneous reactions to what you present in 20 minutes, and may not align with your own or your advisor’s opinions that result from a deeper engagement with your work and process. Like all spontaneous feedback, which may not be fully articulated, it should be processed through a prism of how it may be of value to you, how your work presented this way strikes these specific people, and how it may have potential to inspire thought or action in new directions.
Getting The Most From Your Crit
Set up the overview; briefly explain the story and the structure of your film
Know what you want to get out of the Crit; be specific and intentional
Hand out questions you want the conversation to focus on
Direct the conversation – ask open-ended questions that engage the problem-solving skills of the audience
Enjoy the opportunity for discovery and alternative suggestions; ask follow up questions
Take notes and consider them carefully after your Crit is done