STUDYING AT NYU GRADUATE FILM
STUDYING
AT NYU GRADUATE FILM
The NYU Tisch Graduate Film program provides an intensive laboratory in
writing/directing as well as concentrations in all other areas of filmmaking.
Each student makes at least four short films during their three years in
the program, plus a thesis project. Our students are constantly filming,
shooting exercises that allow them to flex their directorial muscles and
prepare them to make their finished films.
Students begin the program as writer-directors, but are trained in the
whole range of filmmaking skills. Coursework focuses on providing the skills to
write, shoot, direct, edit, design, record and produce their own and each
other’s films.
While we
aim for students to achieve basic mastery of the classic tools of the film
director, the curriculum encourages students to explore the personal variations
within the art form that will lead to discovery of their own style.
FIRST YEAR
In the
first year of the program students are immersed in the crafts of writing,
shooting, directing, editing, acting and producing as they are asked to make
three short films over two semesters.
MOS,
A 4-MINUTE SILENT, 16MM FILM
In fall semester, students learn visual storytelling by making a short,
black and white film with no dialogue, and no music, shot on 16mm film, using
only available light.
The MOS project is designed to introduce the student to the graphic,
photographic, and purely cinematic tools which are the foundation of the
medium: frame, location, movement of actor and camera, light, mise-en-scene.
The idea is to create characters in dynamic dramatic situations, simply and
with control of the basic cinematic elements.
The MOS script is developed with the support of the Screenwriting and
Directing faculty. Through the Production Sound, Editing, Actors Craft and
Cinematography courses, students embrace the collaborative tools of the auteur
filmmaker.
NYU
Graduate Film is one of the only film programs in the country that still
requires students to shoot a curricular project on celluloid film. The
discipline imposed on the director by using film is a valuable learning
experience. With only a limited amount of footage to shoot, and without the
instant gratification offered by digital mediums, the director is forced to
plan and make artistic choices to ensure that every frame counts.
OBSERVATIONAL
CHARACTER STUDY (OCS), A 5-MINUTE DIGITAL FILM
The second project of the year is a five-minute, color, observational
documentary exercise that is shot over the inter-term break with one or two
person crews.
In this exercise, students explore a character by observing them.
Each student must find and observe a person from real life who will be the
subject of the piece. Students search for and film various aspects of their
chosen subject that reveal character, such as behavior and place.
What is learned from the documentary exercise can be of great value to
the dramatic director. The OCS project compels the filmmaker to use the camera
to capture life as it happens, a skill which leads to more truthful and
authentic behavior in their narrative fictional work.
SPRING
NARRATIVE, A SYNC-SOUND, 7-MINUTE DIGITAL FILM
For the final project of the first year, students make a short
narrative, sync-sound film without many of the restrictions imposed on earlier
projects. Students write scripts with dialogue, shoot on digital cameras,
in color, using cinematic lighting, and are free to incorporate music into the
finished film.
However, the scope of the project is intentionally limited. Each film
uses no more than three actors, in three locations, in three scenes. Once
again, these limitations are meant to inspire creativity and instill the
discipline of concise, effective storytelling.
Students workshop these projects in small Writing-Directing sections
which emphasize narrative, character development, scene construction, dialogue,
performance and directing styles. Each class the student takes in the Spring
semester focuses on this film, including training in casting and rehearsing
with actors, blocking, locations, design, commanding a set, shooting and
editing for story.
The year
culminates in the First Year Marathon, a celebration and screening which allows
classmates, cast and crew, family members and faculty to view and honor the
films that have been completed.
SECOND YEAR
In the second year of the program the students are given a much deeper
level of freedom to follow their own instincts and artistic voices. At
the same time they are still working under the guidance of the faculty and a
curriculum designed to deepen their knowledge and mastery of the crafts of
filmmaking.
The entire year is devoted to the creation of a 10-minute narrative film
with no restrictions other than the time limit. Spending an entire year working
on a short film allows students to explore the various stages of filmmaking in
great detail. They learn from the processes of writing, rewriting, casting,
rehearsing, repeated viewings, re-cutting, sound design, music composition,
color correction and the creation of the finished film.
A cohort of producing students from the Stern/Tisch Dual Degree program
join the program in 2nd year, participating in the same curriculum as Graduate
Film MFA students and producing many of their classmates’ films, as well as
often directing their own films.
Many NYU
2nd year films have gone on to win top awards at international film festivals,
including multiple Student Academy Awards.
THE
SECOND YEAR FILM, A 10 MINUTE SYNC-SOUND FILM (DIGITAL OR FILM)
The second year begins with a one-week Writing Intensive in which
students workshop and revise the script for their ten-minute film. They
are expected and encouraged to come into this workshop with already developed
ideas, treatments and even drafts of their scripts.
As the students move towards pre-production, they are immersed in
courses which challenge them to further hone their craft in the service of this
project. Directing and Cinematography classes explore the how and why of visual
style, including movement, composition, point of view, cinematic flow,
stillness, light and shadow, color, depth, blocking and mise-en-scene. Special
emphasis is also put on directing actors, focusing on script analysis and
subtext in performance to explore how to cinematically use the basic,
fundamental components of drama.
After eight weeks of class preparation, students enter a production
period that extends from early November through Mid-January. Each student
is allowed one week of production time, with four or five crews going out each
week. Students choose their own crews from among their classmates, and
shoot their films all over the the U.S. and the globe. Equipment (16 mm film or
digital cameras) and a small cash allotment is provided to each 2nd year
director.
Students
edit their second year films throughout the Spring semester. The entire class
convenes in a weekly Master Class with all the directing teachers to screen
cuts of everyone’s work, for an in-depth group critique. Mid-semester, the
entire faculty critiques the fine-cut version of the work.
The spring semester classes are primarily elective to allow the
possibility of specialization. While most students choose to graduate as
writer-directors, in the second year, some students elect to concentrate their
studies in cinematography, producing, or editing, as they move towards the
third year and thesis period. Students also begin to write longer form
material, either feature scripts, pilots or longer shorts, in the spring
writing classes.
As the students prepare for their 3rd year, which will be geared toward
their thesis project, the faculty provides advisement and guidance on how to
approach the entirely elective third-year curriculum.
At the end of the second year, students organize a widely-attended,
celebratory 2nd Year Showcase screening at an off-campus venue.
THIRD YEAR
This final year is more self-designed, depending on what the student
will make for their thesis: a short film, a short or feature length
documentary, a web series, a feature script, a television pilot, or, in some
cases, a micro-budgeted feature film. Students who are focusing on
Cinematography, Producing or Editing pursue advanced coursework and begin to develop
a body of work in their chosen discipline.
Visiting faculty challenge the students to expand their work in ways they have
not yet explored, and guide them as they begin preparing their thesis.
Collaborative classes with other Tisch Graduate programs provide a unique
opportunity to create films in concert with students from the Design, Acting
and Dramatic Writing programs.
A range of electives are offered, including Directing Commercials, Documentary,
Writing the Feature or Television Series, as well as Independent Studies
with selected faculty.
The goal is that by the end of the Third Year, the student has strengthened and
deepened their skills sufficient to successfully launch a thesis project soon
after finishing their course work.
THESIS (3RD OR 4TH YEAR)
The thesis offers an opportunity to take on a project of considerable
sophistication, and should be an expression of the student’s own personal voice
and vision. The final thesis presentation must demonstrate mastery of the craft
of filmmaking and should rise to the level of professional standards in its
execution so that it can help the student transition to a professional career.
While it
is possible to graduate at the end of their 3rd year, many students will choose
to shoot or write their thesis after the conclusion of their coursework, during
a period of matriculation that lasts up to two semesters (a 4th year). During
these two additional semesters, tuition is not charged, but students pay
maintenance of matriculation, registration and departmental lab fees.
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