Filmmaking from the First Directors
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Introduction6 Steps
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Lesson 1 - Documenting Life: Edison & Lumiere8 Steps
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Watch: The Big Picture (13 min video)
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Watch: Films - "Let's Go to the Movies" (3 min video)
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Watch: Films - Muybridge, Lumiere & Edison (20 min video)
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Watch: Films - "How You See It" (8 min video)
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Watch: Production (13 min video)
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Assignment: Filming an Action (2 min video)
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Submit: Link to Finished Film***
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Watch: Films - Lumiere & Edison Films (external links)
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Watch: The Big Picture (13 min video)
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Lesson 2 - A Magical Story: George Melies8 Steps
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Watch: The Big Picture (19 min video)
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Watch: Films - Milies Shorts (18 min video)
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Watch: Films - "A Trip to the Moon" (1902) (12 min video)
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Watch: Production (16 min video)
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Assignment: Scripting & Filming a Simple Story (7 min video)
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Read : Screenwriting Software
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Submit: Link to Finished Film
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Watch: Films - More Melies Films (external links)
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Watch: The Big Picture (19 min video)
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Lesson 3 - Editing Action: Edwin S. Porter6 Steps
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Lesson 4 - Multi-Shot Narrative: D.W. Griffith6 Steps
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Lesson 5 - Parallel Editing & More: D.W. Griffith7 Steps
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Watch: The Big Picture (19 min video)
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Watch: Films - "The Lonedale Operator" (1911) (16 min video)
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Watch: Films - "The Unchanging Sea" (1910) (13 min video)
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Watch: Films - "Corner in Wheat" (1909) (14 min video)
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Watch: Production (15 min video)
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Assignment: Lesson 5 (3 min video)
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Submit: Link to Finished Film
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Watch: The Big Picture (19 min video)
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Lesson 6 - Mise-en-scene - Framing, Depth, and Setting: D.W. Griffith6 Steps
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Lesson 7 - The First Epics - Introduction of the Feature Film8 Steps
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Watch: The Big Picture (22 min video)
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Watch: Films - Cabiria (1914)(2 hour video)
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Watch: Production (19 min video)
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Assignment: Lesson 7 (8 min video)
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Read: Selections from Aristotle's Poetics
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Read: Wikipedia entry on Screenwriting
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Assignment: First write an Outline, then a Simple Treatment
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Read: Screenwriting Books (external links)
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Watch: The Big Picture (22 min video)
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Lesson 8 - Feature Films & Auteur Theory: Maurice Tourneur7 Steps
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Lesson 9 - The Character of Comedy: Charlie Chaplin10 Steps
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Watch: The Big Picture (19 min video)
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Watch: Films - Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914) (6 min video)
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Watch: Films - The Tramp (1915) (26 min video)
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Watch: Films - The Immigrant (1917) (24 min video)
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Watch: Films - A Dog's Life (1918) (32 min video)
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Watch: Production (18 min video)
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Assignment: Lesson 9 (2 min video)
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Submit: Link to Finished Film
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Watch: Films - The Gold Rush (1925) (1 hour video)
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Watch: Films - How to Make Movies (1918) (16 min video)
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Watch: The Big Picture (19 min video)
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Lesson 10 - Comedy as Complex Sequence: Buster Keaton8 Steps
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Watch: The Big Picture (10 min video)
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Watch: Films - One Week (1920) (18 min video)
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Watch: Films - The Goat (1921) (23 min video)
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Watch: Films - Cops (1922) (18 min video)
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Watch: Production (17 min video)
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Assignment: Lesson 10 (3 min video)
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Submit: Link to Finished Film
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Watch: Films - The General (1926) (1 hour video)
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Watch: The Big Picture (10 min video)
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Lesson 11 - Documenting Life: Robert Flaherty6 Steps
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Lesson 12 - Realism and the Classical Cinema: Douglas Fairbanks and John Ford5 Steps
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Lesson 13 - Formalism and Montage: Sergei Eisenstein3 Steps
Read: Setting up a Vimeo Account
There are a lot of free video hosting services out there, with YouTube being the most well-known. Vimeo is another service that generally is regarded as the place independent filmmakers post their videos.
Why is this? Vimeo isn’t as cluttered as YouTube since there are rules to posting, the most important of which is only original content can be used on Vimeo.
You are welcome to use any hosting account you want for this class. All you need to be able to do is supply a link that people can click on to see your film. If you want to use Vimeo, however, here’s how to do it:
Setting up a basic account is easy (and free). Go here to set one up.
Vimeo has an upload limit to the free account, as well as a few other limitations. But that shouldn’t pose a problem to the class. If you do want to upgrade, there is a Plus account (but, again, it’s not necessary for the class).