MACS 480

Credit: 3 hours.

This is an intensive pre-professional course in cinema production. It is designed to provide advanced film production students with a workshop opportunity to refine their skills by making a 30-minute narrative film over the course of the semester. The main focus of the class will involve the cinematic treatment of a selected screenplay—from script to final edited stage. The philosophy of the class is learning by doing. Students will be instructed in the finer points of professional film production, including casting, rehearsal, scheduling, blocking, assembly, rushes, and other aspects of the workflow of fiction filmmaking. There will be a division of labor on each project. The class will be divided into two crews consisting of assigned positions. These positions are assigned by the instructor based on a student's previous performance in MACS production courses (particularly MACS 370). The positions are: Producer (production manager/assistant director, location scout), Director, Production Designer (promotion and graphics, unit still photographer; script supervisor), Director of Photography (assistant sound mixer), Assistant Camera (colorist), Gaffer (assistant colorist), Sound Designer (recordist/mixer), and Editor (production designer’s assistant; boom operator). Each group will collectively choose a short film to produce from a series of selected scripts. The semester will culminate in a public screening of the class projects of both groups.

Additional fees may apply. See Class Schedule. 3 undergraduate hours. No graduate credit. Prerequisite: MACS 370: Cinematography and Sound Recording. Concurrent enrollment in MACS 481: Advanced Filmmaking Studio is required. Junior or Senior standing recommended for this course.