Workshop on Digital Film Making

Conducted by
Sudipto Acharyya

Date : 28 August - 13 September 2007
Venue : Academy of Film and Media
01714-099321, filmandmedia.afm@gmail.com
Total Participants : 30

Schedule for Digital Film Making:

One day extra for various exigencies. With the extra day it becomes a 15 day workshop.

Elaboration of the lecture titles:

1. Basics of Film Language
The validity of cinema as an art form-it’s uniqueness & the points of departure from other art forms especially literature. Cinema as an icon centric language. What is an image? What are its properties and how it’s formed?

2. Visual Design
Studying the basic elements of visual design and their application in image formation. How is depth created in a frame? Studying various compositional principles e.g. Balance, Symmetry, Asymmetry, and Emphasis.

3. Basics of Film Direction

The necessity of achieving continuity of space-time–action and the need to preserve the Imaginary line. What is a Shot? What are the parameters that define a Shot? How to achieve an appropriate shot division?

4. Screenplay writing

How to write/describe in audio-visual terms?

5. Understanding Mise-en-scene

Studying the various aspects of Mise-en-scene and its centrality in the development of Film art.

6. Understanding Montage

Role of an editor. The functionality of a cut. Editing as a narrative tool. Understanding rhythm-pace, structuring-edit points[in/out], continuity/discontinuity, transition, working technicalities/steps.
Dialectics in Cinema. Studying the various cinematic tools for an effective portrayal of a dramatic sequence, from Sergei Eisenstein to Wong Kar Waye.

7. Screenplay writing 2
Time as an element in cinema.
One space-one time-one action, multiple spaces-multiple times-multiple actions.

8. Basic Videography

Anatomy of an electronic camera. It’s working principles-controls and functions.(Lecture/Demonstration)

9. Role of sound in Cinema.

Elements of sound design: dialogue/sound effects/music. Introduction to various types of microphones and studying their properties.

10. Six shot exercise

This is a practical class in which each individual student would be asked to narrate an incident with the help of six simple shots. They will be given a camera & a tripod.

11. Film Screening

A collection of contemporary short films for screening & analysis.