STORY IN PICTURES: COMPOSITION FOR NARRATIVE FILM
Ages 16-29
Fall 2018, Johns Hopkins Homewood Campus
In this fiction filmmaking workshop, student fellows will explore the power of the shot to express complex ideas, human relationships, and conflict on multiple levels: characters in conflict not only with each other, but with the environment, with institutions, and within themselves. They’ll be guided by Francis Ford Coppola’s principle that “a shot can be a word, but it's better when it's a sentence,” taking advantage of what the real world offers even as they recompose that world through a viewfinder, and revise first inspirations into layered, evocative moving images. Fellows will begin with their own experiences and immediate environments, but be free to fictionalize as best serves their material. Each fellow will create one or more individual filmed vignettes, 90 seconds or less, perhaps comprising a single shot, perhaps including one or two cuts. And together the group will create a short, collaborative film, 4-5 minutes. Individual and group projects will emphasize the visual, and feature little or no dialogue or voice over. Sound from the natural world, as well as music and sound effects, may be included. Fellows will practice close observation and critical thinking; and be introduced to script writing and storyboarding, the basics of video and audio recording, and editing in Adobe Premiere. Individual and collaborative films will be shared at a public screening and on the program website. Limited to 12 student fellows.
Taelor Clay, a Morgan State University graduate, is an independent film producer and screenwriter, largely focused on stories that address and attempt to heal infighting in struggling communities.
Jimmy Powell, Jr., an alumnus of the Maryland Institute College of Art, is a freelance videographer and editor. His clients include the NAACP, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, and the University of Maryland Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Olugbenga Osikomaiya, a Morgan State University graduate, is a freelance cinematographer and photographer who focuses on creating compelling images that also tell a story.
