Current syllabus for FMA3241 Junior Directing Projects, Temple University

Some Sample Scripts for Shorts (we watched)

Weel 14

Here is a list of our individual meetings for study days / finals week:

• Tuesday 4/26
  • 10-11am: Devyn
  • 11am-12pm: Alex
• Thursday 4/28
  • 1-2pm: Eric
  • 2-3pm: Rachael
  • 3-4pm: Lance
• Friday 4/29
  • 9:30-10:30am: Xinran
  • 10:30-11:30am: Kai
  • 1-2pm: John

Here's a little presentation on sound mixing. 

Finally: some basic sound editing tips:

1. "Normal" speaking dialogue (i.e., not whispering or shouting) should peak around -10db.
2. Dialogue should and (most simple) sound effects should be panned center (equally loud in the left and right channels). 
3. Set your headphone or speaker volume at one place (using the pop-song method or fancier metering method we discussed in class). Do not make adjustments to your headphone levels in order to make it comfortable to listen to your sound. Instead, adjust the levels of your sound clips.

Week 13

A brief powerpoint from class on editing.

Week 10 

Readings: Chapters from Rabiger on "Post-Production"

Assignment: Production Notes & Project Organization

Viewing: Michael Caine on Film Acting -- 

Week 09

An example of a Call Sheet Template in excel format. There are others on the web to find.

Here's a scrappy call sheet from my film.

Ryan Coogler's student short "Locks":

Week 08

Assignment: Lined Shooting Script, Floor-plan, Storyboards

Readings: Rabiger on Coverage and the Shooting Script; Rabiger on Rehearsals; Marking the Shooting Script

Additional Reading: Interview with the Dardenne brothers on "Two Days, One Night"

Week 07

Readings: Interview with Ramin Bahrani on "Chop Shop"; Interview with Eliza Hittman on "It Felt Like Love"

Here's a link to some rehearsal footage from "Chop Shop" (password is emailed to you): 

Here are some casting videos (passwords are emailed to you): 

Week 07

Generic Location Agreement Form

Important: FMA Working with Minors Policy

Reading: NYTimes Article "Todd Haynes Collects Images to Guide the Feel of His Films"

Reading: Pink Grapefruit Actors' Info Packet

Assignment: Actors' Info Packet Draft

Week 06

Readings: "Casting" from Thinking Like a Director; Excerpt from Making Movies by Sidney Lumet

Assignment: Casting Breakdown & Initial Crew List

Sample Casting Breakdown

Week 05

Draft of Scripts is due by 3pm Thursday, Feb. 11th. 

In writing your scenes, this might be useful.

Week 04 

Here are individual meeting times:

Thursday 2/4--

• 1:30-2: Rachael
• 2-2:30: Eric
• 2:30-3: XinRan
• 3:30-4: Devyn
• 4-4:30: John

Friday 2/5--

• 10-10:30: Alex
• 10:30-11: Lance
• 11-11:30: Kai

And here's another short we haven't had time to watch in class (the script for it is in the "sample scripts" link at the top of the page):

Week 03

Assignment: Script Breakdown

Here's Mark's Film (I'm working on getting Sylvie's):

Week 02

Reading: Objectives from "A Sense of Direction" by William Ball

Assignment: 3 Stakes

Week 01 

Assignment: Ideation

Here's "Doodle Bug": 

And here's a short doc: 

And here's "Funnel":