DC 480 Project Bluelight
Summary
Production of a digital motion picture written by students or faculty within the Digital Cinema program. Students will work as crew under supervision of faculty members heading each of the various production areas. Goal is to produce a completed digital motion picture suitable for festivals or distribution.
Texts
All required:
Making Movies by Sidney Lumet
Screenplay for Nostalgia
Grading
In-Class/Shoot Attendance 30%
Shoot Effort and Participation 40%
Script Analysis /Production Expectations Paper 10%
Production Experience Paper 20%
Scale:
A: 93-100, A-: 90-92, B+: 87-89, B: 83-86, B-: 80-82, C+: 77-79, C: 73-76, C-: 70-72, D+: 67-69, D: 63-66, D-: 60-62
Prerequisites
None
Course Philosophy
"I cant tell you what are the basics. I wish that I could. You could turn me inside out. That is the knowledge of a lifetime. Dont think that you can learn it that way. Life is not that way. You learn out of bitter experience, trial and error. Life teaches you that. As sincere as you all are, you cant learn it all in school." --George Cukor
Assignments
In-Class/Shoot Attendance
Most class sessions will be substituted by the shoot dates on the schedule. These shoot dates will constitute your homework as well (on top of a final, written reflection paper). Most of the shoots will run during daylight hours (not to frighten you, but that can include anytime between 5:15 AM to 8:30 PM). Exact hours for each of the days is not determined yet (and may not be known for sure in many cases until the day before shooting). More info regarding transpo will come on the first class meeting on Monday.
Shoot Effort and Participation
More important than simply showing up to the shoot is giving maximum effort and participating as much as possible. For most students, this will be a non-issue, as your crew position will afford you more than enough work to do. In the rare instance in which you find yourself with nothing to do on the set, standby and be available to participate when directed by another crew member. Directing your efforts towards other things besides the shoot at hand can negatively impact your grade. Attendance and shoot effort will be taken together in figuring your final grade. In other words, if I attend only some of the days, but I work my butt off, I could get an A, but if I attend all the days, and I sit around posting on MySpace and need to be told every time to help move a sandbag, I could get an F.
Script Analysis /Production Expectations Paper
As soon as possible, read the script from the point of view of someone trying to produce it (as opposed to a screenwriter, trying to work on story, character, etc.). Write a 1-2 page paper answering all of these questions:
1. What are my long-term plans and aspirations as a filmmaker, and how do I hope to use this production to help forward those plans?
2. What aspects of the script do I expect will be most challenging to produce?
3. What do I expect the production as a whole to be like?
4. What do I expect my role on the film to be like?
5. What aspects of my role in the production do I expect to be most challenging?
Production Experience Paper
Your final for the class will be a paper on your experience in the production. For students enrolled in DC 380, write a 2-3 page paper. For students enrolled in DC 480, write a 3-5 page paper. In your paper, answer all of the following questions:
1. How did the production compare to Sidney Lumet's description of a professional production in Making Movies?
2. How did the production compare to the film Living in Oblivion?
3. What aspects of the production as a whole were most rewarding?
4. What aspects of the production as a whole were most difficult or challenging?
5. What aspects of my role on the production were most rewarding?
6. What aspects of my role on the production were most difficult or challenging?
7. What did I learn about filmmaking as a whole from working on the production?
8. What did I learn about my role on the production?
9. How have my long-term plans as a filmmaker been affected by working on this production?
This syllabus is subject to change as necessary during the quarter. If a change occurs, it will be thoroughly addressed during class, posted under Announcements in D2L and sent via email.
Evaluations are a way for students to provide valuable feedback regarding their instructor and the course. Detailed feedback will enable the instructor to continuously tailor teaching methods and course
content to meet the learning goals of the course and the academic needs of the students. They are a requirement of the course and are key to continue to provide you with the highest quality of teaching. The
evaluations are anonymous; the instructor and administration do not track who entered what responses. A program is used to check if the student completed the evaluations, but the evaluation is completely
separate from the student’s identity. Since 100% participation is our goal, students are sent periodic reminders over three weeks. Students do not receive reminders once they complete the evaluation.
Students complete the evaluation online in CampusConnect.
This course will be subject to the university's academic integrity policy. More information can be found at http://academicintegrity.depaul.edu/ If you
have any questions be sure to consult with your professor.
All students are expected to abide by the University's Academic Integrity Policy which prohibits cheating and other misconduct in student coursework. Publicly sharing or posting online any prior or current materials from this course (including exam questions or answers), is considered to be providing unauthorized assistance prohibited by the policy. Both students who share/post and students who access or use such materials are considered to be cheating under the Policy and will be subject to sanctions for violations of Academic Integrity.
All students are required to manage their class schedules each term in accordance with the deadlines for enrolling and withdrawing as indicated in the University Academic Calendar. Information on enrollment, withdrawal, grading and incompletes can be found at http://www.cdm.depaul.edu/Current%20Students/Pages/PoliciesandProcedures.aspx.
Students who feel they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the instructor privately to discuss their specific needs. All discussions will remain confidential.
To ensure that you receive the most appropriate accommodation based on your needs, contact the instructor as early as possible in the quarter (preferably within the first week of class), and make sure that
you have contacted the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) at:
Lewis Center 1420, 25 East Jackson Blvd.
Phone number: (312)362-8002
Fax: (312)362-6544
TTY: (773)325.7296