Unit information: Digital Filmmaking in 2013/14

Unit name	Digital Filmmaking
Unit code	DRAM30027
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Piccini
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	PERFORMANCE FORMS AND ANALYSIS FILM AND TELEVISION FORMS AND ANALYSIS PRODUCTION SKILLS FOR PERFORMANCE PRODUCTION SKILLS FOR SCREEN PERFORMANCE HISTORIES FILM AND TELEVISION HISTORIES
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Film and Television
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This workshop- and seminar-based unit explores digital video as a mode of production, and digital cinema as an audio-visual form. It focuses on the changes in production practice and film style that have occurred in tandem with the technological changes of the last fifteen years, exploring a range of uses of and responses to recent technologies in modes of production including fiction, documentary, and experimental film and video. The unit encourages students to engage critically with digital technologies, and to incorporate the use of digital video into their intellectual and creative lives. It also aims to familiarise students with a range of digital film-making techniques, and to develop students’ practical skills in areas including camerawork, sound recording, directing, producing, production design/art direction, and post-production.

Aims

• knowledge and understanding of digital filmmaking
• knowledge and understanding of relevant debates and critical literature supported by a wide range of examples
• familiarity with a wide range of comparative texts
• a detailed engagement with creative strategies through (1) close analysis of selected media texts with reference to genre contexts and conventions, and, where appropriate, (2) collaborative practice and reflection;
• a collaborative structure within which students can explore a range of issues

Intended Learning Outcomes

• To demonstrate knowledge of, and use creatively, a wider range of secondary literature than at Level I
• To be aware of, and able to apply a range of established critical and theoretical ideas and to develop a critical approach towards them
• To present a clear and well-structured argument, supported by relevant critical and theoretical literature, that additionally develops independent lines of inquiry
• To present work that is assured in its use of English and referencing
• To be able to communicate verbally key ideas based on secondary reading, relevant primary texts and independent research/lines of inquiry
• To demonstrate skills of time management
• To plan and execute a research project

Plus as appropriate to the mode of teaching, that is, the combination of seminar and practice-based workshop and/or presentations:

• To be able to write a reflective account of practical work, making connections with an appropriate range of critical ideas
• To be able to work constructively and creatively in a group-based workshop
• To be able to work within the disciplines of production and project processes, working to deadlines and within production budgets
• To work independently and reach individual/personal judgements within a collaborative context
• To be able to reflect on individual work within a collaborative production context and with reference to an appropriate range of critical ideas

Teaching Information

Seminars, workshops, screenings, as appropriate

Optional units may be taught according one of three models, depending on student numbers choosing the option and resource matters. Unit convenors will decide on teaching mode in consultation with HoE and with students in advance of advertising option year-on-year. Contact hours and assessment details will be mapped to teaching mode, as detailed below.

Model A is a seminar-based unit

Model B combines seminars with workshops encompassing an average 30-hour production period

Model C is taught through workshops encompassing an intensive 60-hour production period

Assessment Information

Teachers will assign assessments according to the teaching mode employed.

Model A:

4,000-word essay (50%) + student presentation (25%) + 2,000-word write-up (25%), or equivalent.

OR

Model B:

Essay [3,000 words] (33%) +

Workfile (22%): containing evidence to demonstrate student contribution to workshops / practical exercises; contribution to seminars Presentation/performance (22%) Critical analysis [1,500 words] (22%)

OR

Model C:

Workfile (33%): containing evidence to demonstrate student contribution to workshops / practical exercises; contribution to seminars, preparation & execution of technical production role Presentation/performance (33%) Critical analysis [2,500 words] (33%)

Reading and References

• Billups, S. (2008) Digital Moviemaking 3.0. Los Angeles: Michael Wiese Productions
• Ondaatje, M. and Murch, W. (2002) The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing. London: Bloomsbury
• Mulvey, L. (2006) Death 24x a Second: Stillness and the Moving Image. London: Reaktion
• Rodowick, D.N. 2007. The Virtual Life of FIlm. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Willis, H. (2005) New Digital Cinema: Reinventing the Moving Image. London: Wallflower.