Film Academy Course

Delivery: Online (across Africa) / On-Site (Lagos, Nigeria only)

RECOMMENDED BOOK FOR COURSE:

VIDEO SHOOTER 3^rd EDITION: MASTERING STORYTELLING TECHNIQUES (FOCAL PRESS)
by Barry Braverman. Available as an e-book in multiple languages.

Show me a world I haven’t seen before!

In this course, students will be immersed in the art and craft of capturing visually compelling stories with their mobile phones. The aspiring cinematographer will examine how the story imperative impacts one’s creative choices in composition, lighting, focus, and point of view. The role of close ups in cinema and TV will be emphasized, and how to properly direct the viewer’s attention inside the frame and propel a story forward. Through practical hands-on exercises, students will hone their craft, applying the cinematographer’s mantra to exclude elements inside the frame that are not helpful to the filmmaker’s intended story.

Comparing genres and the disciplines associated with feature films and documentaries, participants will gain rapid proficiency in the visual storytelling skills from script to screen. Along the way, in preparation for a final project, the emerging cinematographer will create a look book and storyboard, and because we are concerned with the total filmmaker specific to the African context, students will also explore the rudiments of proper audio recording and editing, ultimately creating a finished five-minute program for public screening at the conclusion of the course.

At the course conclusion, students will be able to produce their own short-form video from script-to-screen, at a professional or near-professional level, for government agencies, houses of worship, NGOs, and social media outlets. Specific skills to be gained in the course will include how to hold, move, and operate the camera; efficiently compose scenes and construct sequences while maintaining a proper eye line, and use appropriate lighting to add three-dimensionality and to communicate a clear genre.