Being a Director Student Book Preview

An Introduction to Filmmaking Being a DIRECTOR T BOOK STUDEN NAME:

BEING A DIRECTOR An Introduction to Filmmaking Copyright © Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved.

Introduction Being A Director Welcome to Being a Director, a hands-on, action- packed course designed to teach you everything you need to know in order to direct and produce your very own film! In this course, you’ll learn everything from set and costume design and techniques for working with actors to how to film a scene and edit and add music to a film. You’ll hear all about how directors think through the filmmaking process, and you’ll get to practice each of the many steps along the way. As you learned in the Being A Screenwriter series, the first step to a great film is a heart-tugging, gut-wrenching story -- one that’s filled with love, jealousy, action, drama, or all of the above. This course takes that story and turns it into a live, visual production that audiences will watch with excitement and intrigue. Just like a real director, you’ll move through the process of making your movie in three phases: pre-production, production, and post-production. You’ll work with your classmates to plan out every last detail of your movie: what your characters will wear, how they will look, the kind of props they will use, and how you’ll use your camera to capture the action. Using clips from famous movies like Harry Potter, E.T.: Extra Terrestrial, School of Rock, and Men in Black, you’ll gain insight into how directors think, what their roles are on a movie set, and how they interact with other crew members in order to create a movie that moves audiences and wins Oscars! You’ll also engage your creative side as you draw storyboards, act out scenes, film video clips, and edit your movie. Plus, just like in the Being A Screenwriter courses, you’ll play some super fun games to help you learn all about the filmmaking process. As you’ll learn in the coming lessons, every director gets her or his start in filmmaking from one small project that leads to another. Whether you’ve made movies before or not, this course can be your first small step toward a future full of creative energy and blockbuster films! What you’ll learn in the next ten lessons will give you the skills and know- how to continue making movies on your own in and out of the classroom. So what are you waiting for? Get out your director’s chair, and let’s get the cameras ready! It’s time to make a movie! Copyright © Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved. Student Book  1

Copyright © Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. 2  Student Book Copyright © Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents Introduction..................................................................................................................1 Lesson 1: Places Everyone The Role of a Film Director ..................................................................4 Lesson 2: Film as Art Learning to Think Cinematically ........................................................7 Lesson 3: Movie Stars Casting and Working with Actors.....................................................13 Lesson 4: Take One Shooting Your Film..............................................................................15 Lesson 5: Your Best Shot Cinematic Techniques......................................................................... 18 Lesson 6: Bright Lights Storytelling with Light and Color......................................................24 Lesson 7: Invisible Art Editing Your Movie ............................................................................ 27 Lesson 8: Guiding Your Audience Storytelling through Editing.............................................................. 28 Lesson 9: Finishing Touches Harnessing the Power of Music .........................................................32 Lesson 10: Rolling Out the Red Carpet The Movie Premier..............................................................................34 Glossary .................................................................................................................37 Copyright © Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved. Student Book  3

Lesson 1 Places Everyone The Role of a Film Director

Lesson 1 Activity 1: The Effect of a Director Director What do the clips have How are the clips Martin Scorsese in common? different from other directors? Steven Spielberg Chris Columbus Copyright © Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved. Student Book  5

Lesson 1 Activity 2: The Effect of a Director Take notes on this page as you listen to your classmates’ movie pitches. Note any interesting characters, storylines, or other ideas you hear. Note any questions you might have about the pitch to ask later. 6  Student Book Copyright © Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved.

Lesson 2 Film as Art Learning to Think Cinematically

Lesson 2 Activity 1: Mise-en-scene at Work Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Costume Props Set What do you think the characters in this scene are like? What do you think is happening in this scene? 8  Student Book Copyright © Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved.

Lesson 2 Activity 2: Storyboarding ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ Copyright © Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved. ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ Student Book  9

Lesson 2 Activity 2: Storyboarding Continued ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ 10  Student Book ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ Copyright © Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved.

Lesson 2 Activity 2: Storyboarding Continued ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ Copyright © Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved. ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ Student Book  11

Lesson 2 Activity 2: Storyboarding Continued ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ 12  Student Book ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ Copyright © Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved.

Lesson 3 Movie Stars Casting and Working with Actors

Lesson 3 Activity 2 Name of Character What type of actor do Name of Actor or you need? Actress chosen 14  Student Book Copyright © Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved.

Glossary actor: person playing a character in a film dialogue: audio recorded when characters are aesthetic: the look or feel the films of a director talking to one another in a movie. have in common. director: person responsible for overseeing the angles: the perspective from which a shot is creative aspects of a film, including the story, recorded by a camera. the actors, the cinematography, and the artistic artistic director: person responsible for set design, direction. costumes, props, and artwork within a movie. dissolve: transition in which one shot gradually is casted: hiring actors to play roles in a movie. replaced by another. character actor: person who can play many different dubbing: process of recording new dialogue that types of roles but rarely stars in a movie, and often will be matched with video of characters talking in appears in costume or heavy make-up so that they the editing process. are not easily recognizable between films. editor: person who assembles the shots of the film cinematographer: person in charge of placing into a final movie. cameras and lighting in a scene and recording a film. establishing shot: usually the first shot in a scene cinematography: the art of carefully placing that shows the viewer the setting. It “establishes” to cameras and lighting in a scene to record a movie. the viewer where the scene takes place and who is close-up: a shot that appears to be taken close in it. to the subject. If a person appears in the shot, the extreme close-up: shot that is taken extremely close viewer would be able to see the person just the to the subject. person’s head, neck, and shoulders. fade: transition in which a shot gradually dissolves continuity: the feeling that all of the shots you’ve to a black screen or vice versa. filmed are a part of one continuous scene. foley artists: artists who make sound effects for costumes: anything a character wears including movies. clothes, jewelry, and accessories like hats, glasses, high-key lighting: design in which there is a lot of a cane, etc. bright light. credits: list of names that scrolls at the end of impersonator actor: type of actor who often plays the film. their role by mimicking or doing impressions of critic: a writer who reviews movies. others. cut: when one shot is replaced by another in a lighting design: process of choosing the correct movie without a transition. lighting for a scene’s mood. log sheet: list of all of the takes recorded during the filming of a movie. Copyright © Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved. Student Book  37

Glossary long shot: shot that appears to be taken a long way screening: viewing your film. from the subject. sets: anything in a scene that helps establish where low-key lighting: design in which there is not a lot the scene takes place like the pictures hanging on of light and the scene is darker. walls in the background; streets filled with cars and medium shot: shot that appears to be taken a pedestrians in an outdoor scene; or trees, birds, or medium-length distance from the subject. animals in the woods. mise-en-scène: arrangement of objects in a scene. shoot: slang word directors use instead of “record”. movie premiere: a special, invitation only party shooting: recording a movie. where they watch the film together. shot: uninterrupted, continuous video recording; open: beginning of a scene or movie. usually many shots make up a scene. paparazzi: photographers who take pictures of shot list: written list of the shots filmmakers will celebrities. need to record in order to make their film. personality actor: an actor or actress who seems to sound effects: sounds added to a movie to rely on their own personality for many of their roles emphasize what’s playing on screen and often play the same type of character. soundtrack: all of the sound in a movie. post-production: anything done after a movie is star actor: someone who is widely known by movie filmed including editing and adding special effects. viewers. This person may or may not be a great actor, premieres: becomes available for people see in but she or he is someone who people will be excited theater. to see on screen. pre-production: all of the work done on a movie take: each version of a shot that is recorded during before shooting begins including storyboarding the production phase of your film. and planning mise-en- scène. three-point lighting: system for lighting scenes that production: phase of the filmmaking process in includes three lights on a subject: one in the front, which the movie is filmed. one in the back, and one on the side. props: objects that characters could interact with transitions: effects used in the editing process to during a scene like household items, dishes at a switch from one shot to the next. restaurant, or office supplies on a character’s desk. wild card actor: someone who can play a wide review: article a critic writes evaluating a film. variety of roles easily. rough cut: basic version of your film in which all of the takes are laid out in a sequence without any transitions or special effects. 38  Student Book Copyright © Community Learning LLC. All rights reserved.

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