Media Production II: HD & Film Cinematography

Media Production II: HD & Film Cinematography is a Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies class taught by Bill Brand. This course requires instructor permission.

Course Description
High definition digital video offers image resolution and color rendition comparable to yet different than analogue film. Filmmaking is no longer either chemical or electronic but often a hybrid of the two where images migrate from celluloid to computer chip and computer to film. Likewise, cinema is no longer primarily experienced merely in the movie theater or on television but also in the art gallery, on the computer screen, the iPod and the cell phone. This course will teach advanced skills in cinematography as well as evolving contemporary techniques of post-production and exhibition. The course will equally emphasize the development of technical skills and esthetic sensibilities including composition in the frame, camera placement and movement, color, use of light and lighting, production planning and design, choice of film stock or digital camera set ups for control of contrast, color rendition, frame rate, sharpness and saturation. Students will be expected to develop high levels of practical skill yet be willing to explore and invent unconventional approaches and uses of the medium across digital and analogue platforms. Students will work in 16mm film and HD video on group and individual exercises and projects. Students will be expected to attend screenings of works in documentary, narrative and experimental genres, as well as absorb critical and technical readings, and to complete one analytical essay. This course is open by instructor permission to advanced film and video students who have completed either Video I, Film I or the equivalent. A $50 lab fee provides access to equipment and editing facilities. Students are responsible for providing their own supplies including film, processing, tape or data storage. NOTE: Enrolled or top 5 waitlist students who DO NOT attend the first class session risk losing their place on the class roster.