Acting for Filmmakers
AS.061.138 (01)

This is a series of 3 workshops. 1. ACTORS’ HOMEWORK & CAMERA AS OBSERVER ~Students will discuss and experiment with different methods of preparing for a role. Trying different methods, feel what works for them. We will work on short scenes and have an open discussion about goals, believability, emotional fatigue, distractions of the filming process. ~On the Sound Stage working in front of the camera: ~show how the camera watches performers’ thoughts. ~differences between working in front of a camera and playing to a live audience. ~Shooting: coverage continuity eye lines & marks blocking & restricted movement 2. AUDITIONS AND CASTING: ~Students will be given a variety of scripts to audition for. ~Discussion of casting; from actors’, directors’ and casting directors’ perspectives. ~How others perceive you- an exercise in diplomacy and self awareness. ~Preparing for an audition. both cold and rehearsed. ~Improv during auditions. ~Memorization (quick!) for auditions. ~We will rehearse and film auditions. ~Review and analyze audition videos. 3. ACTORS DIRECTING DIRECTORS. Working in groups and/or pairs, students will explore what kinds of direction works for them and for others. Students will have an open discussion as to what they need to hear from their director. This will be a class where it is safe to learn what does and doesn’t work when communicating with actors- from the actors’ perspective. The goal is not to deliver a professional performance in the class, but to explore how it feels to be directed.

• Credits: 1.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/8
• PosTag(s): n/a

Reading the Moving Image
AS.061.238 (01)

This course will emphasize close observation and critical thinking. Through weekly screenings and class discussion, students will practice noticing; seeing and hearing with fresh eyes and ears, and taking nothing on screen for granted. And they’ll learn to reflect on and contextualize what they find, drawing evolved conclusions about how film texts communicate ideas and what those ideas may be. They’ll consider all elements of cinematic form; an array of analytical frameworks including genre, historical era, authorship, and modes of production; and representations of gender, race, and class. Regular quizzes, a short oral presentation, and a short written analysis. No prior experience in film studies required; majors and non-majors welcome.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/15
• PosTag(s): FILM-CRITST

Introduction to Cinema, 1941-present
AS.061.141 (01)

Introduction to Cinema provides an overview of American and international cinema from the post World War II era to the present. Through lectures and discussion, weekly screenings, and intensive visual analysis of individual films, we will explore the aesthetic, cultural, political, and economic forces that have shaped the art and industry of film over the past 70 years. Regular quizzes, writing assignments, class participation required. Mandatory film screenings. Lab fee $50.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 7/40
• PosTag(s): n/a

Introduction to Film Production: Rediscovering Early Cinema
AS.061.150 (01)

This course presents several basic elements of 16mm film production. These include the use of a light meter, an understanding of camera lenses and how they function, and some basic aesthetic concerns. These aesthetic issues primarily involve shot composition and lighting. You will also learn basic concepts of film editing. You will be assigned readings from classical film theory texts (primarily from Jean Epstein and Sergei Eisenstein). These readings will closely align with specific exercises for each class. This coalescence of the practical with the theoretical is a vital component of the class. Lab fee $200.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 1/10
• PosTag(s): FILM-PROD

Introduction to Digital Video Production
AS.061.152 (01)

This course introduces students to the world of digital filmmaking. Through screenings, production assignments, and in-class labs, students will develop proficiency in digital cameras, sound recording devices, and software. Students will work individually and in groups to produce several video projects. For their final projects students will pitch an idea and develop a more complex film. Lab fee $100.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 1/10
• PosTag(s): FILM-PROD

Introduction to Screenwriting
AS.061.205 (01)

In this course we will explore the basic principles of visual storytelling in narrative film as they apply to the design and execution of a screenplay. During the course of the semester, each student will work on different writing exercises while they search for their specific story and the best way to approach it. We will study different narrative tools and methods of screenwriting by analyzing films to ascertain how they work or fail to do so at script level. Through in-class critiques, group discussions and one-on-one sessions, students will apply these techniques to their own work as they undergo the process of designing, breaking down, outlining and writing a screenplay for a short film. In-class analysis and debate on the strengths and challenges posed by the students' work will help shape the thematic emphasis of the second half of the course.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/8
• PosTag(s): n/a

Special Topics: Animation Workshop
AS.061.219 (01)

Students will produce several animations using hand-made techniques, including drawing animation, paper puppets and stop-motion. Screenings and readings will provide a historical and conceptual context to the exploration of animation as an experimental technique within both narrative and non-narrative works.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 1/7
• PosTag(s): n/a

Intermediate Digital Video Production: Advanced Camera
AS.061.235 (01)

In this production course students will gain proficiency on a variety of Digital Cinema Cameras. Students will work with the Canon C300, C500, and FS7. We will discuss picture profiles, different lense options, external capture devices, and shotgun microphones. We will thoroughly explore the various unique functionality of each camera. Throughout the semester students will complete several cinematography focused video projects.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 0/6
• PosTag(s): FILM-PROD

Introduction to Film Theory
AS.061.245 (01)

This course offers an introduction to the major paradigms of film theory, with work ranging from Sergei Eisenstein to Andre Bazin. Frequent film screenings are designed to help illustrate film theory concepts. Designed around one operative question, “What is cinema?” the course explores the varied and divergent answers provided by the great thinkers of the cinema in the past century. Students are expected to enter the course ready to engage in discussion.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/14
• PosTag(s): FILM-CRITST

Screenwriting By Genre
AS.061.315 (01)

Story design for the screenplay with special attention to the genres of comedy, horror, melodrama, and adventure. Regular workshops, short written exercises, and a longer final project.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 2/9
• PosTag(s): FILM-SCRWRT

Podcasting: Critical and Creative Practice
AS.061.303 (01)

Podcasting has become an increasingly popular format for journalism, art, and entertainment. In this critical studies course with a creative component, students will learn about the history and cultural significance of audio storytelling, develop tools for critically listening to and analyzing podcasts, and learn how to research, write for, and produce podcasts. Examples will come from a broad sample of narrative, documentary, interview, and discussion panel podcasts on topics ranging from popular culture, sports, politics, history, science, and technology.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 1/13
• PosTag(s): FILM-CRITST

Narrative Productions
AS.061.356 (01)

Narrative Productions is a joint production course for JHU and MICA undergraduates who have completed Acting and Screenwriting for Narrative Productions (AS.061.348). Students work in teams to produce a narrative short from a script written in AS.061.348. Students are assigned a primary and a secondary role on the production or post-production of their chosen film. Students fill all roles from casting, producing, direction, design, cinematography, sound recording and editing. Throughout the course, instructors will facilitate contact with relevant films and film professionals to illuminate the key creative roles necessary in the making of a successful narrative film.  Instructors serve in an advisory role in the production of student projects, offering technical information and guidance throughout the filmmaking process. Students should be prepared to spend a significant amount of time outside of class working on their films.

• Credits: 6.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 11/18
• PosTag(s): FILM-PROD

Writers on Film
AS.220.218 (01)

An interdisciplinary course focusing on the film writings of poets, novelists, critics, and essayists such as Virginia Woolf, H.D., James Agee, James Baldwin, and Pauline Kael; and films showing the intertitle and screenplay work of writers such as Anita Loos, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, and Jean Cocteau. Participants will write weekly assignments on film from a critical perspective.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 6/15
• PosTag(s): n/a

Senior Capstone Project: Production
AS.061.440 (04)

Permission required. Production track students complete an independent project. Should must have completed one advanced level FMS production course (POS tag FILM-PROD).

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Art of the Story
MI.061.230 (01)

Japanese director Akira Kurosawa noted, "with a good script, a good director can produce a masterpiece, but with a bad script, even a good director can’t possibly make a good film." This course will focus on the art of storytelling, exploring the building blocks of what makes a strong story. Students will study examples in literature, television and cinema, animation, radio and art. Students will have a number of short assignments in these areas but will also work on a semester long story in a medium of their choosing. Recommended Course Background: AS.061.152.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 2/2
• PosTag(s): n/a

Documentary Production
MI.061.317 (01)

Explores a wide variety of documentary styles and genres with an overview of the history of documentary film-making. Topics will include pre-production planning, shooting interviews and recording sound in the field. Students will produce several short projects. Recommended Course Prerequisite: AS.061.145 or AS.061.152.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 2/2
• PosTag(s): n/a

Seeing Like a Woman
AS.300.367 (01)

What does it mean to “see,” think, desire, feel, speak, act, or write “like a woman”? Gendered notions of seeing have had an impact on politics and society long before the #metoo movement and far beyond debates about women’s rights in isolation. This seminar examines the issues of female desire, subjectivity, spectatorship and performance in fiction, poetry, memoir and film from a variety of cultures and theoretical perspectives. This is not a course on “the image of the woman” in literature, film or politics, but a course in which we examine the ways in which both male and female theorists, novelists, poets, and filmmakers have imagined how women “see,” feel, think and behave.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 12/18
• PosTag(s): n/a

Special Topics: Professional Development
MI.061.399 (01)

Special Topics in Film/ Professional Development offers coursework designed specifically to meet the needs of our students as they are working concurrently on their senior thesis projects. Assignments will be used to establish a well-rounded professional package; helping to foster and provide professional readiness and growth upon graduation. To prepare for their participation in powering the creative economy, students will: complete a professional package, apply for an outside opportunity (grant, residency, film festival or exhibition), construct a business/financial plan, research jobs and help to manage a semester long series of visiting professionals.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 2/2
• PosTag(s): n/a

Advanced Edit and Post Production
MI.061.325 (01)

Film editor Walter Murch (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now) says that "editing is now something almost everyone can do, but to take it to a higher level requires the same dedication and persistence that any art form does." Through screenings and seminars students will study the art of editing in experimental, documentary and narrative genres while developing a vocabulary to discuss both the function and art of the cut. Additionally, this course will teach advanced editing and finishing techniques including the basics of high definition media formats, frame rates, color correction techniques and working with Photoshop and After Effects. The entire post production work flow will be covered from input to editing to output. Exercises will be part of the course and students are expected to work throughout the semester on one project. Students Students will learn and have the opportunity to work on AVID's Media Composer. Other edit platforms will be demonstrated including FCP X and Adobe Premiere. Recommended Course Background: AS.061.152 Film and Media Studies Majors and Minors Only

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 2/2
• PosTag(s): n/a

Documentary Photography
AS.371.303 (01)

In this course, we will explore different genres of documentary photography including: the fine art document, photojournalism, social documentary photography, the photo essay and photography of propaganda. Field trips offer opportunities to explore Baltimore neighborhoods such as The East Side, Station North and Baltimore’s old Chinatown. Students will work on a semester-long photo-documentary project on a subject of their choice. Camera experience is a plus, but not a prerequisite. Digital SLR are available on loan for the semester. Attendance in first class is mandatory.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 2/10
• PosTag(s): n/a

Senior Capstone Project: Production
AS.061.440 (05)

Permission required. Production track students complete an independent project. Should must have completed one advanced level FMS production course (POS tag FILM-PROD).

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 3/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Senior Capstone Project: Critical Studies
AS.061.441 (01)

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Senior Capstone Project: Production
AS.061.440 (03)

Permission required. Production track students complete an independent project. Should must have completed one advanced level FMS production course (POS tag FILM-PROD).

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 4/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Brazilian Cinema and Topics in Contemporary Brazilian Society
AS.211.316 (02)

Course is taught in ENGLISH - This course is an introduction to the academic study of cinema as a communicative art and to Brazilian film. The films selected focuses on films from the late 1950s to the present and highlight import episodes and challenges in the advancement of the Brazilian society as well as its cinematic production with a special view to the film aesthetics through analysis from a number of critical perspectives, including class, race, gender as well as ethnicity, nationalism or national identity, colonialism, social changes, and the politics of representation. In this sense, the films and documentaries that we will be watching and studying encompass the period from the rise of New Cinema (Cinema Novo) up to films exploring the most recent trends, including movies launched up to 2016. Students wishing to do the course work in English, for 3 credits should register for section 01. Those wishing to earn 4 credits by doing the course work in Portuguese should register for section 02. THERE IS NO FINAL EXAM. May not be taken on a Satisfactory / Unsatisfactory basis.

• Credits: 4.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/2
• PosTag(s): GRLL-ENGL, INST-NWHIST, INST-GLOBAL

Senior Capstone Project: Production
AS.061.440 (01)

Permission required. Production track students complete an independent project. Should must have completed one advanced level FMS production course (POS tag FILM-PROD).

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 3/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Documentary Film Theory
AS.061.361 (01)

Documentary Theory: The Work of Documentary in the Age of Reality Reproduction This course explores contemporary documentary film and video with an emphasis on selected directors and the theoretical implications suggested by their work. In particular, we look at the notion of the ‘real’ as it is constructed and maintained through and by documentaries. This inquiry necessarily involves a reflection that is philosophically as well as politically motivated. Directors include Errol Morris, Trinh Minh-ha, Ross McElwee, and Werner Herzog. Readings are eclectic, ranging from Annie Dillard to Martin Heidegger. Counts toward 300 or 400-level critical studies requirement.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/10
• PosTag(s): FILM-CRITST

Intermediate Screenwriting
AS.061.373 (01)

This course will explore strategy and process for developing a short screenplay from pre-existing literary or journalistic source material (short story, news/feature article, etc.). By exploring several “case studies” — feature films and the source material that inspired them — students will identify the practical strategies employed by professional screenwriters with the goal of employing such strategies with their own screenplay adaptations. Bulk of class will focus on designing, writing, and rewriting a 20-30 page screenplay, and sharing multiple drafts with the class (and with the professor one-on-one) for critique over the course of the semester. Each student should have 2-3 pieces of material under consideration for possible adaptation by the start of class. Discussions from time to time will also touch on the business of screenwriting.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 3/8
• PosTag(s): FILM-SCRWRT

Senior Capstone Project: Critical Studies
AS.061.441 (04)

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Brazilian Cinema and Topics in Contemporary Brazilian Society
AS.211.316 (01)

Course is taught in ENGLISH - This course is an introduction to the academic study of cinema as a communicative art and to Brazilian film. The films selected focuses on films from the late 1950s to the present and highlight import episodes and challenges in the advancement of the Brazilian society as well as its cinematic production with a special view to the film aesthetics through analysis from a number of critical perspectives, including class, race, gender as well as ethnicity, nationalism or national identity, colonialism, social changes, and the politics of representation. In this sense, the films and documentaries that we will be watching and studying encompass the period from the rise of New Cinema (Cinema Novo) up to films exploring the most recent trends, including movies launched up to 2016. Students wishing to do the course work in English, for 3 credits should register for section 01. Those wishing to earn 4 credits by doing the course work in Portuguese should register for section 02. THERE IS NO FINAL EXAM. May not be taken on a Satisfactory / Unsatisfactory basis.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 3/22
• PosTag(s): GRLL-ENGL, INST-NWHIST, INST-GLOBAL

We Conduct: Editing a Documentary
AS.211.369 (01)

This course will provide a hands-on opportunity to work with film director and professor of media studies Bernadette Wegenstein in the editing process of We Conduct, a documentary about the magic of orchestral conducting and the changing face of those who are called to this vocation. The film follows famed conductor Marin Alsop as she breaks new ground in her already distinguished career. The film was shot predominantly in Baltimore, but also in New York, São Paulo, Vienna, Lucerne, and London, with Shana Hagan (Los Angeles) as Director of Photography, additional cinematography by Judith Benedikt (Vienna), and John Benam (Baltimore). During the semester we will be looking at the various narratives in their rough format, and see the film take shape from treatment to full-fledged documentary narrative. Editor Victor Livingston based in Los Angeles will come to work with the class twice during the semester.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 1/10
• PosTag(s): GRLL-ENGL

Revolution in European Theater & Film
AS.211.305 (01)

Contemporary local and global social movements such as the uprisings in Egypt, Gezi Park, Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter create modes of non-hierarchical politics beyond established institutions of representation. Artists continue to join this venture by critically examining institutional as well as aesthetic forms of representation and by searching for artistic expressions that accompany and inspire politics in new public spaces. Concomitantly, art institutions – from film festivals to galleries and museums – display a certain hunger for ‘political art’. But what makes art political? Is only socially engaged art political? And how can we characterize the specific forms and modes of engagement? In order to assess these questions, the course will take you onto a journey into the rich history of art and political movements in Europe after World War II with a special emphasis on Germany. We will focus on theater and film as genres that presuppose and promote collective experiences, and discuss how artists such as Chris Marker, Bertolt Brecht, Helke Sander, Christoph Schlingensief, the Black Audio Collective and others reflected upon, represented, transformed and performed ideas of ‘revolution’. You will practice the analysis of film and theater, will examine key words of the debate on art and politics (such as “autonomy”, “realism”, “documentary” and fiction”) and will explore ideas that continue to shape and inspire contemporary aesthetic practices and notions of “revolution”

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 9/15
• PosTag(s): GRLL-ENGL, GRLL-GERM, INST-GLOBAL

Senior Capstone Project: Critical Studies
AS.061.441 (02)

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Senior Capstone Project: Critical Studies
AS.061.441 (03)

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a

Surrealism and Film
AS.061.375 (01)

We will define Surrealism through primary texts, including those of Andre Breton, Antonin Artaud and Rene Daumal and other works that defined and influenced the movement in the early part of the 20th century. Using an understanding of the practice of surrealism found in the readings, as well as in surrealist games and automatic writing, we'll study a diverse group of filmmakers influenced by the practice, including Luis Buñuel, Joseph Cornell, Raul Ruiz and contemporary artists such as David Lynch. Assignments include weekly papers and one final creative project. Weekly film screenings Thursday 7:30-10:00 PM. $50 lab fee.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 2/12
• PosTag(s): FILM-CRITST

French Cinema of Immigration, Cultural Identity, and Difference
AS.061.380 (01)

An exploration of a series of contemporary French films that bear witness to the contemporary reality of France as a multi-ethnic society and ask essential questions about cultural identity. Is cultural and ethnic identity something that you are born into or it is a role that you elect or perform? How should individuals living today understand their relation to historical injustices? Are there things that we can learn only through relationships with people from other cultures? Screenings include works of Abdellatif Kechiche, Jacques Audiard, Claire Denis, Céline Sciamma, Michael Haneke, Mathieu Kassovitz, the Dardennes. $50 LAB FEE

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Open
• Seats Available: 5/15
• PosTag(s): FILM-CRITST

Terrence Malick: The Poetics of Space
AS.061.374 (01)

This course will closely examine Malick's films, with particular emphasis on his visionary manipulation of the epic vastness and lyrical intimacies of screen space. With this primary concern in mind, we will consider his films' engagement with philosophies of history and time; their increasingly experimental approach to narrative and stylistic conventions; and their enduring fascination with the interaction among the human, natural, and spiritual worlds. We will also look at recent films influenced by his work, including Carlos Reygadas's Silent Light and Shane Carruth's Upstream Color, addressing the question of what constitutes a "Malickian" cinema.

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Waitlist Only
• Seats Available: 0/15
• PosTag(s): FILM-CRITST

Senior Capstone Project: Production
AS.061.440 (02)

Permission required. Production track students complete an independent project. Should must have completed one advanced level FMS production course (POS tag FILM-PROD).

• Credits: 3.00
• Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
• Status: Closed
• Seats Available: 5/5
• PosTag(s): n/a