Kanbar Institute of Film and Television

14 sessions will be devoted to a history of the genre, screening essential films both inside and outside the canon, with a focus on the changes in style, technique, and subject matter which influenced the form from its earliest beginnings to the present. Undergraduates who take the course for three units are required to keep journals in which they respond to each session and compare observations with those made when viewing at least one documentary of their choice seen outside class, as well as in response to critical essays provided at each session and references in the text. 

13 contemporary filmmakers will be present to show their work (often works-in-progress) and discuss the challenges they face as modes of production and distribution continually change. Former guests have included Don Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, David Grubin, Jim Brown, Susanne Rostock and others whose work is regularly seen on Public Television, H.B.O. and the theatres. Many who appear are TSOA alumni and former students of the instructor, Prof. George Stoney. Undergraduates who take the course for three units are required to keep journals in which they respond to each session and compare observations with those made when viewing at least one documentary of their choice seen outside class, as well as in response to critical essays provided at each session and references in the text. 

This is a specialized course in film marketing and distribution. Students will study two models: studio distribution and independent film distribution. Major studio distribution topics will include devising a release plan and strategy, analyzing grosses and financial elements and creating an advertising and marketing campaign. The independent film portion of the course will cover film festivals, acquisitions, how to create press materials for indie films, understanding distribution deals, shorts and documentaries, and how to work with agents, publicists, attorneys and producers' reps. 

This course focuses on the fundamentals of web design and production. It will provide students with a basic understanding of HTML and CSS page construction, designing and optimizing graphics for the Web and the basic technical skills necessary for getting the student and his/her site online. This course teaches the students how to create a website along with utilizing social media tools and channels as an effective part of a promotional strategy. YouTube, Vimeo, FaceBook, Twitter, KickStarter and Mobile all offer opportunities. In this age of multiple media sources competing for our attention it is important to maintain a consistent and integrated Communications and Brand Strategy across all media distribution channels. The class examines various creative and technical approaches to image manipulation, design, and montage as well as discussing the production techniques necessary to implement creative concepts. This course deals with many of the unique technical and creative challenges – graphic optimization, video compression, and file format conversion – for putting one’s reel, trailer or film online. The students are taught typographical design principles, including the aesthetics of text style and font faces. The class will explore the creative possibilities of designing layouts and integrating animation and video into their sites. Students are introduced to a variety of Internet, DHTML and multimedia tools and experiment with their creative applications. We focus on the Internet as a promotion and distribution medium for the independent artist and filmmaker. Branding, audience awareness and usability are also emphasized. 

Prerequisite: Junior or Senior status.

A course that tracks the filmmaking process from its inception at the idea phase and follows the creative process through development, pre-production, principal photography and post-production. The class will focus on the business and legal issues that arise during every phase of filmmaking. Key topics covered will include: copyright law; option agreements for underlying rights such as books, plays, magazine and newspaper articles; sources of financing; distribution agreements; licensing of music; agreements for actors, directors, producers and writers.

Recommended for students studying both animation and live action. This course offers detailed lectures and sketching from the model,including studies of "anatomical landmarks" of human and animal anatomy, proportion, and portraiture. Development of each student's drafting skills through the study of anatomy of the live model. The emphasis is on anatomy in Life Drawing: Anatomy, whereas emphasis is on drawing in Life Drawing: The Figure.

Reccomended for students studying both animation and live action. This course is designed to train animation students to think visually, and to strengthen their overall drafting and design skills. The focus of the course is drawing humans and animals from live subjects, thereby learning to translate the three-dimensional world into two-dimensional terms. Drafting skills are important to all animators, regardless of their chosen media or focus. In particular, strong drafting skills are essential for character animators. 

An examination of the creative, organizational, and managerial roles of the producer in narrative motion pictures. Topics include how a production company is formed, creating and obtaining properties, financing, budgeting, cost control, distribution. The course gives specific attention to the problems in these areas that will be faced by students as future professional directors, production managers, or writers. Each student is expected to breakdown, schedule, and budget a feature film (90 minutes or longer) of their choosing.

This course provides fundamental and practical instruction in the step-by-step realization of a television program. While productions will not be implemented through the class, students will individually serve as executive producers on projects of their own choosing, based on assignments by the instructor (based on student submissions which include news and cultural documentaries, performance and variety shows, and dramatic works). Student producers will engage in a detailed pre-production phase, which covers research, concept, format development, securing of rights and permissions, pitching to networks and studios, contracts and agreements, formation of the production plan, budget development, assembling staff and crew, identifying on-air talent, determining locations, photo and film archive research, refining the shooting schedule and budget plan. Analysis of why some projects succeed and others fail, an overview.

Producing the Short Screenplay introduces students to a broad range of concepts in short film producing, through an in-depth analysis of the five phases of production: Development, Preproduction, Production, Post Production, and Distribution. In this course, you will learn how to apply the basic skill set of a producer to a screenplay, simulating the methods employed by producers on a short film. Through this process, you will gain a critical understanding of the many tools and techniques of the trade, including: scheduling, budgeting, proposal writing, and strategies for fundraising, festival distribution, and more.

This is a class for students who wish to deepen their editing skills and explore the role of a professional editor by cutting an original short film, using Avid Media Composer software. The course is designed to familiarize you with the theory and practice of cinematic editing and enable you to complete a film of 8-15 minutes in length up to a "locked picture" with an exported file ready for handoff to post audio. Classes will include assigned textbook readings, a weekly lecture and demonstration of software and/or editing techniques, and a workshop period with instructor and technical support as needed. Primary emphasis will be placed on an understanding of the craft of editing, and of the editor's role in the post-production process. Students who do not have projects of their own to edit will have an opportunity to choose from projects offered by current or former students in the department.

Prerequisite: FMTV-UT 20 Storytelling Strategies

This class is designed to help the students analyze a film script through both viewing and reading of a script. Plot and character development, character dialogue, foreground, background, and story will all be examined. Using feature films, we will highlight these script elements rather than the integrated experience of the script, performance, directing, and editing elements of the film. Assignments include writing coverage.

The purpose of this course is to give students important tools for developing and producing an independent film. The course focuses on independent narrative features, and recognizes the fundamental nature of film as art and commerce. It examines the marketplace for independent feature film and its workings, including the mechanics and economics of distribution, festival strategies, and funding strategies, including grant funding. Students construct a plan for a feature project of their choice, incorporating a creative package, production strategy, and a financing strategy. There will be guest speakers and occasional screenings. 

TV Nation: Inside and Out of the Box gives students the opportunity to experience, first hand, how the world of network television works from two points of view: business and creative. Students will gain an understanding of the business aspect through the vantage point of the network executives and programmers. They will also learn the creative process from development to pitching, from the vantage point of writers and producers in the industry. In TV Nation, students will role play the entire process as the key players who put together a season for broadcast and cable networks.