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FILMPROD 12AX: Narrative Filmmaking: From Script to Screen

Narrative Filmmaking: From Script to Screen is a hybrid writing/production course that guides students through the process of completing a 2-3 minute narrative film. Students will write scripts for short fiction films, and then, by filming them, learn to apply the fundamentals of digital video production. Initial classwork will include visual writing exercises, DSLR cinematography instruction, script work, and basic fiction film production. Students will continue on in groups of three to develop, film, edit, and critique 2-3 minute narrative films based on a shared class theme or narrative premise. This course is truly INTENSIVE and requires a significant amount of work (including nights and weekends) outside of class and daily deadlines for submission of creative work.
Terms: Sum | Units: 2 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE
Instructors: ; Shaw, E. (PI); Tobin, A. (PI)

FILMPROD 13AX: Immersive Cinema

In this exploratory workshop, students will use a variety of tools (Audio recorders/360 cameras/Photogrammetry/Volumetric Capture/XR/Unity Programming) to tell immersive, interactive, and spatial stories. The aim of the projects will be to find forgotten and bring these lesser known stories of the past into the present ¿ including but not limited to Stanford's relationship to Indigenous communities, the formation of the Program in African and Afro-American Studies, the founding of Casa Zapata in 1972.<br>Students will use the conceptual framework of documentary media to inform their work, while also pushing toward new artistic languages and experimenting in the still-emerging form of XR storytelling. Over the course of the Arts Intensive, students will work in teams to create a series of short immersive pieces with an emphasis on experimentation. The course is time intensive: requiring some nights and weekends dedicated to production.n<br><b>Example assignments:</b><br><b>Immersive Spatial Audio "Sonic History of Place"</b> Choose a place on campus with a specific history. With a mix of archival sound recordings, sound effects/foley, and newly recorded sounds, create an interactive audio texture that evokes and tells the history of that place via sound textures only. (note: use of a narrator summarizing (parts of) the story is not allowed.)<br><b>Augmented Installation "Make history visible"</b> Choose a place on campus with a specific history. Using Unity programming or Adobe Aero, 3D objects, VR Painting, and sound elements, create an interactive virtual installation that evokes the history of that place on campus.
Last offered: Summer 2023 | Units: 2 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE

FILMPROD 101: Screen Writing I: Visual Writing

A writing workshop that is an exploration of visual storytelling. Beginning with visual literacy, the class progresses from basic cinematic techniques through scene exercises to revisions and ultimately to connecting scenes in order to build sequences of script pages. Open to all majors; may substitute for ENGL 190F prerequisite for FP104.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE
Instructors: ; Tobin, A. (PI)

FILMPROD 101T: Writing the Television Pilot (FILMPROD 301T)

A writing workshop in which students are introduced to the basic structures and genre of television pilots and to writing within the screenwriting/television writing form. Students will develop, outline, and workshop their own original pilot episode and series bible. Serves as a prerequisite for FP104 Intermediate Screenwriting. Enrollment by decision of instructor. Limited to 16 students. Priority will be given to film studies majors and minors, then seniors, with extra preference for students who have tried unsuccessfully to take the class in the past. You must attend the first meeting; the class list will be finalized after that first session.
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE
Instructors: ; Tobin, A. (PI)

FILMPROD 102: Topics in Screenwriting: Inside the Writers' Room

A workshop where Showrunner and Stanford alum Cheo Hodari Coker guides a select group of students through the writers' room process: workshopping a single idea into the first act of a television show while also shaping their individual script ideas as a means of teaching basic television writing structure. Students will read and analyze successful pilots as well as learn how to develop outlines, write scenes and do a weekly "table read" of a scene. Coker will also invite working showrunners, in person and virtually, to talk about their process and answer questions about the fastest growing medium in visual entertainment.
Terms: Win | Units: 5

FILMPROD 104: Screenwriting II: Intermediate Screenwriting (FILMPROD 304)

Priority to Film and Media Studies majors and minors, and seniors. Craft, form, and approaches to writing for the screen. Students will write, workshop and rewrite the first act of a feature screenplay and create rough outline material for the rest of the film. Prerequisites: FP101, FP101T or ENGL190F and consent of the instructor.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5
Instructors: ; Tobin, A. (PI)

FILMPROD 105: Script Analysis (FILMPROD 305)

Analysis of screenplay, film, and television from the writer's perspective, with focus on ideation, structure, and dramatic tension in narrative features. Sources include screenplays and screenings.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4

FILMPROD 106: Image and Sound: Filmmaking for the Digital Age

Despite the rise of emerging forms like two-minute YouTube videos, six second Vines, or interactive storytelling modules, many core principles of visual storytelling remain unchanged. In this hands-on film production class students will learn a broad set of filmmaking fundamentals (basic history, theory, and practice) and will apply them creating film projects using tools such as iPhones, consumer cameras and FCPX.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE
Instructors: ; Gaynin, J. (PI); He, S. (PI)

FILMPROD 106S: Image and Sound: Filmmaking for the Digital Age

Despite the rise of emerging forms like two-minute YouTube videos, six second Vines, or interactive storytelling modules, many core principles of visual storytelling remain unchanged. In this hands-on film production class students will learn a broad set of filmmaking fundamentals (basic history, theory, and practice) and will apply them creating film projects using tools such as iPhones, consumer cameras and FCPX.
Terms: Sum | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE

FILMPROD 107: Industry Immersion: Film and Media

What is the entertainment industry today? A survey of film and media practice, this course will feature weekly invited guests, including screenwriters, directors, actors, producers, executives, and scholars. Attendance and student participation in Q&A are crucial to the class, along with reflection papers and potential workshop exercises.
Last offered: Spring 2023 | Units: 1-2

FILMPROD 110: Screen Writing III: Advanced Screenwriting

Advanced writing workshop in which students develop and complete a feature-length screenplay. Prerequisites: FP101 Screenwriting and approval of the instructor. Enrollment is limited.
Last offered: Winter 2022 | Units: 5

FILMPROD 114: Introduction to Film and Video Production

Hands-on. Techniques of film and video making including conceptualization, visualization, story structure, cinematography, sound recording, and editing. Enrollment limited to 12 students. Priority to junior/senior Film & Media Studies majors. Admission determined on the first day of class.
Terms: Win, Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE

FILMPROD 115: Immersive Cinema: Experiments in Virtual Reality

In this exploratory workshop, students will use a variety of tools (360 video/ VR cameras and binaural sound design, digital video, and traditional sound recorders) to tell immersive "stories". Students will use the conceptual framework of experimental cinema and documentary film to inform their work, while also pushing toward a new artistic language in the still-emerging form of VR storytelling. Over the course of the quarter, students will work in teams to create a series of short immersive pieces with an emphasis on experimentation. The class has no prerequisites and is open to all students.
Last offered: Winter 2021 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE

FILMPROD 117: Filmmaking: Ethno-fictions and Shared Anthropologies

Ethnographic documentary film, just like ethnography itself, began as a colonial practice. It has relied on unacknowledged biases and personal experiences of the filmmakers to create portraits of cultures and communities around the world. To study documentary film today requires recognizing and acknowledging this lens of otherization; it requires grappling with questions around representation. In this course we look at works that turn the lens inward and offer a self-examination of one¿s own culture or the land that the makers belong to. This inversion of gaze is the fulcrum of this course. We work through the convergence of thinking and practice as filmmaking process, with an emphasis on how to work with sound to create portraits. For final projects, students work in groups to make 3-5 minute video portraits of individuals or communities of their choice, exploring in the work itself the place of the personal and the place they are looking from.
Last offered: Spring 2023 | Units: 4

FILMPROD 118: Remixing the Moving Image

Focusing on the art of editing, and specifically repurposing `found' footage, this hands-on filmmaking course will immerse students in the rich cinematic tradition of appropriating existing footage and remixing it into provocative, personal, and even subversive new work. No prior filmmaking experience required.
Terms: Win | Units: 4
Instructors: ; Keca, S. (PI)

FILMPROD 119: Documentary Cinematography

Focusing on the art of non-fiction cinematography, this hands-on filmmaking course will immerse students in a wide variety of traditions and technical approaches to shooting films in the real world. Students will participate in weekly workshops and exercises focused on topics such as framing and lighting interviews, observational storytelling, lens and camera choices, and experimentation. We will also explore less technical topics such as navigating intimacy with participants, on-the-fly decision making, and ethics. . Prior filmmaking experience is not required.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4
Instructors: ; Lorentzen, L. (PI)

FILMPROD 121: New York Films

This course will be taught at Stanford in New York in winter quarter.
Last offered: Winter 2020 | Units: 5

FILMPROD 301T: Writing the Television Pilot (FILMPROD 101T)

A writing workshop in which students are introduced to the basic structures and genre of television pilots and to writing within the screenwriting/television writing form. Students will develop, outline, and workshop their own original pilot episode and series bible. Serves as a prerequisite for FP104 Intermediate Screenwriting. Enrollment by decision of instructor. Limited to 16 students. Priority will be given to film studies majors and minors, then seniors, with extra preference for students who have tried unsuccessfully to take the class in the past. You must attend the first meeting; the class list will be finalized after that first session.
Last offered: Autumn 2022 | Units: 5

FILMPROD 304: Screenwriting II: Intermediate Screenwriting (FILMPROD 104)

Priority to Film and Media Studies majors and minors, and seniors. Craft, form, and approaches to writing for the screen. Students will write, workshop and rewrite the first act of a feature screenplay and create rough outline material for the rest of the film. Prerequisites: FP101, FP101T or ENGL190F and consent of the instructor.
Last offered: Spring 2022 | Units: 5

FILMPROD 305: Script Analysis (FILMPROD 105)

Analysis of screenplay, film, and television from the writer's perspective, with focus on ideation, structure, and dramatic tension in narrative features. Sources include screenplays and screenings.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4

FILMPROD 400: Film/Video Writing and Directing

Restricted to M.F.A. documentary students. Emphasis is on the development of the research, conceptualization, visualization, and preproduction skills required for nonfiction filmmaking. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3
Instructors: ; Almada, N. (PI)

FILMPROD 401: Nonfiction Film Production

Restricted to M.F.A documentary students. 16mm production techniques and concepts. Multiple short exercises and a final project with multitrack sound design. Enrollment limited to students in MFA Documentary Film Program. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3
Instructors: ; Keca, S. (PI)

FILMPROD 402: Digital Video

Restricted to M.F.A. documentary students. Fundamentals of digital storytelling. Working with small format cameras, interviewing techniques, and nonlinear editing skills. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Win | Units: 4
Instructors: ; Meltzer, J. (PI)

FILMPROD 403: Advanced Documentary Directing

Restricted to M.F.A. documentary students. Further examination of structure, emphasizing writing and directing nonfiction film. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3
Instructors: ; Almada, N. (PI)

FILMPROD 404: Advanced Video Production

Restricted to M.F.A. documentary students. Techniques of visual storytelling and observational shooting. Final quarter of professional training in documentary video production. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3
Instructors: ; Meltzer, J. (PI)

FILMPROD 405: Producing Practicum: The Non-Fiction Film

Restricted to M.F.A. documentary students. Advanced producing principles through the preproduction of the M.F.A. thesis project, including development of a professional film proposal. Practical training in fundraising. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4
Instructors: ; Almada, N. (PI)

FILMPROD 406A: Documentary M.F.A. Thesis Seminar I

Restricted to M.F.A. documentary students. Production of film or video project. Focus is on shooting strategies, ethical challenges, and practical production issues. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Win | Units: 5
Instructors: ; Meltzer, J. (PI)

FILMPROD 406B: Documentary M.F.A.Thesis Seminar II

Restricted to M.F.A. documentary students. Editing and post-production of film or video project. Emphasis is on aesthetic choices (structure, narration, music), distribution, contracts, and audience. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5
Instructors: ; Almada, N. (PI); Keca, S. (PI)

FILMPROD 450: INDEPENDENT STUDY

Independent study supervised by Documentary Film faculty; available to DocFilm MFA students only. Permission of instructor required to enroll.
Terms: Win, Spr | Units: 4-5

FILMPROD 801: TGR Project

Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 0 | Repeatable for credit
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