DIRECTING TELEVISION DRAMA

(SPRING 2008)

VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS ¥ 21&62:965:309:01

PROFESSOR LEO ARISTIMUÑO

Bradley Hall 417 (973) 353-5119 x37

Office Hours Th: 11:30 – 12:30 pm

Please use sign-up sheet on office door and e-mail to confirm

Course Description:This course is designed to provide advanced students with the skills and time necessary to successfully complete a longer fictional project of 7-10 minutes. It offers students the experience of working with a group of people to create a collaborative vision for the final work. The process which students will undertake will closely emulate the process found in the Òreal worldÓ of media production, and students will be expected to follow all the procedures involved in pre-production, production and post-production. Each students will fulfill a major role during production stages and will be graded in their work within this role. In addition students will develop their various production skills through production exercises. The final outcome of the course is the production of professional quality projects.  The course is designed as a studio workshop. As such, its two main components are training and production of a professional project.

(1)  Through lectures, readings, and quizzes, students will learn about the various responsibilities of the major members of a production team.

(2)  Students will select the screenplays which will be produced in the class.

(3)  Students will form production teams. Each team will be composed of a Producer, a Director, a Director of Photography, and Editor. Additional crew positions which students will be expected to fill (by recruiting folks from outside class) include gaffer, sound recordist, art director, and, of course actors.

(4)  Each group will complete ALL PRE-PRODUCTION WORK and will be ready to begin production by week 8 of this semester.

(5)  Pre-production includes a final draft of script, casting, location scouting and releases, crew lists, storyboards, floor plans, lighting set ups, production boards, scene breakdowns, shooting scripts, shooting schedule, and budget.)

Because of the above goals, this quarter is work intensive, as students will be both training and preparing their projects for production in a very meticulous way. The second half of the term will focus exclusively on production and post-production.

This term introduces to this course a collaborative component planned with Urban Journalism, Photography, and Literature courses.  The purpose of this collaboration across academic programs is to encourage students to learn about a specific Newark community and thus extend their academic learning from the classroom into the city of Newark and its people. Specifically, students in each class will be exploring a small segment of Bloomfield Avenue as a unique and rich microcosm of the new realities of urban landscapes in North NJ.

Students from each of the collaborating classes will visit the Avenue to conduct field research in the community and to learn of its stories – through the filters of journalism, dramatic video, photography, and literature. After the initial collaborative research our students will go their separate ways and create works inspired by their research. The resulting works will be featured in a web site tentatively called "Bloomfield Avenue Mosaic" that will provide a portrait of the life on the Avenue as seen through various lenses.

Video Production students will be expected to reserve two free periods in the term to meet with students in other classes to share their findings and experiences on Bloomfield Avenue.

SELECTION OF SCREENPLAYS: All students in the class will submit a script for production consideration. Each student will pitch the project to the class. The class will then vote and choose the two projects to produce. (The professorÕs vote will count for 2). Screenplay choices shall be judged on quality of idea/pitch, feasibility of completion within budget, originality, and other such considerations. Screenplays should be influenced by studentsÕ visit to Bloomfield Avenue.

SELECTION OF PRODUCERS

Students wishing to work as producers will make a brief presentation to the class highlighting their previous experience, their skills, and other factors which  make them qualified to produce a project from beginning to end. If more than three students wish to produce, a vote will be held to select the three producers.

SELECTION OF DIRECTORS:

Students wishing to direct will align themselves with a producer from the class and pitch their VISION for the project of choice. They will also pitch to the class their abilities as as director (including screening samples of previous work nad experience). The class will vote on who merits the opportunity to produce & direct.

D.P.

Once director/producer teams are chosen, the teams will choose their Director of Photography (who will not only operate the camera, but will also be in charge of lighting design for the project). (More on D.P. responsibilities in later classes).

EDITOR

If a group has more than 3 people, one member will act as editor. IF it

has 3 people, then the role of editor shall be decided and/or shared by the 3 members. (More on editorÕs  responsibilities in later classes). If there is a 4^th member in a group, the editor will double up as gaffer during production.

OTHER CREW POSITIONS

Producers are expected to lead the effort in obtaining adequate crew for the project. To this end, they will be expected to recruit crew members from Rutgers, other universities, and/or the professional filmmakers community of NY/NJ. Groups are expected to have the following crew positions filled: gaffer, sound recordist, art director. Groups can have larger crews as longs as producer is clear on the responsibilities of each crew member. (More on crew responsibilities in later classes).

ACTORS

Students cannot act in these projects. This means that actors will have to be auditioned and selected from outside of class. Each group is expected to hold auditions for all roles. Friends and acquaintances shall only be cast if they audition and are selected by producer and director. (More on auditions in later classes).

PRODUCTION LOG

Starting Week 1, each studentwill keep a running production log to track their experiences during the term. This log should include 1) Reactions to films viewed, to readings, to life moments that spark curiosity and/or inspiration, 2) reactions to the process of preparing a script, sources of inspiration, etc, 3) Once the groups form, they should include reflections on the pre-production process, ideas shared, assessment of progress, 4)  During production, include production problems, discoveries, successes, and personal  evaluate the workings of the group, etc. Overall, these logs should reflect your development as a media maker working on a specific project. Make sure everything you experience is a learning opportunity. In other words, from every challenge or problem, find and reflect on the learning that it brings you.

These logs shall be submitted weekly by 5:00 PM each MONDAYBEFORE class.

Logs should be approximately 1-2 pages long and should be submitted directly to the professor by e-mail during the semester. At the end of the semester, each student will submit hard copies of  their production logs compiled in a folder.

PRESENTATION OF WORK & DEADLINES

As this will be an organic process of learning, selecting a project, selecting a crew, preparing for production,shooting, and editing a short film,  a schedule for regular presentations has been clearly set up in the syllabus. Because delays in the presentation of due work will inevitably affect the advancement of the class and of all students, ALL ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE TURNED IN ON THE DUE DATE SPECIFIED IN THE SYLLABUS.  Unless otherwie specified, all assignments must be turned in on paper (not e-mail). Students whould keep copies of all assignments turned in so they can continue to work with documents such as scripts, storyboards, plans, etc.

WORKING WITH GROUPS:

Because it is essential that group dynamics be as productive, efficient, and respectful as possible, each group member will be expected to perform work of the highest professional level. I reserve the right to fire anyone from their position and hire someone else to substitute if I receive complaints from group members or if I notice that a specific student is not doing his/her work on time and professionally. Specifically, I expect punctuality, completion of all assigned tasks, respectful working demeanor, flexibility, and cooperation. Later in the course, production logs are the best way for me to find out if someone is not respecting his/her responsibilities to the group.

As soon as groups are formed, I encourage you to establish a reliable system of communication, list serves, yahoo groups, etc, so you can all be in the loop in all aspects of the process.

MIDTERM:

During the first weeks of the course, I will assign readings and will give a midterm exam on this material. This is to assure that we are all on the same page and working with the same level of knowledge. FYI, by the end of the term, you will be expected to be familiar with all the Pre-Production & Production sections of the textbook and– for the purposes of technical review- with all the principles of the Fundamentals of Video Production Web Site.

A POINT SYSTEM has been established giving each assignment a specific point value. For individual items (such as ideas, treatments, screenplays, quizzes, production logs), each student will receive points according to his/her work. For group projects (group exercises, Project Pre-production, production, rough edits, and final cuts) all group members will receive the same gradeaccording to the quality of the work accomplished by the group.

POINT/GRADE BREAKDOWN:  The following chart indicates the point value for all assignments. Just because you turn in the assignment does not mean you will get all the points. You will be graded based on the quality of your work. Consider the grade/point relationship as follows for each assignment: A=5, B=4, C=3, D=2, F(but turned in)=1, F(without turning it in)=0.

GRADE BREAKDOWN:

A = 90-100; B = 80-90; C = 70-80; D = 60-70; F = Below 60

PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT

Production equipment is managed by Michael Stachiw  at the Resource Center.

You are required to abide by all the rules & regulations of the Resource Center.

There is a $51.00 lab fee for this course. Students must pay before using equipment.  I strongly recommend each group reserve production as early as possible for at least 3 different production dates