| Cinema Language This Weekend! |
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One down, one to go! We had a great class this past weekend and an awesome bunch of students. I knew it was a special group when at around 4:30pm on Sunday, after about 16 hours of no-budget filmmaking wisdom crammed down their throats, I asked if everyone was tired, and an unqualified "NO" was hurled back at me! Good thing, because our final speaker, writer/director/producer/actor Blake Robbins, was a well of information and inspiration. The line that sticks with me was, "do you know what the only thing is between you and your movie? It's YOU!" And he's absolutely right. He challenged the class by suggesting that only 10% of them would actually make a movie, and then he said, "if you're thinking, 'fuck you, I'm making my movie!', then you are one of the 10%!" In line with that thinking, someone from the class tweeted this photo: |
| | | Indeed, the Will to make something is one of the most important factors in actually making something. But the Way is also important, and that's what this coming weekend is all about. Tom Provost's excellent "Cinema Language: The Art of Storytelling" class will get your creative juices flowing by teaching you all those cinematic "secrets" that great filmmakers use to move, inspire, scare and otherwise manipulate audiences. Good films are not an accident. Filmmaking is a craft that can be learned. And it is a language, with its own set of unwritten ways of conveying information. An understanding of these tools is what can separate your film from the rest of the heap. Imagine going through life mute and trying to communicate. Then imagine speaking 10 different languages and being able to express yourself fully. Cinema Language is like learning how to talk. |
| | It can take several years and thousands of dollars to learn these techniques. Tom knows--he teaches graduate screenwriting at Pepperdine University, and his students there pay that kind of money. Or you can spend a fraction of that time and money and gain that knowledge from Tom in a weekend.
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Cinema Language is four courses rolled into one. "Mastering Film Grammar" teaches you how to use the language of cinema--framing, editing, lighting, movement, color, sound, POV, music, sound effects, etc.--to tell your story more effectively and persuasively. "Introducing Your Character" shows you how to quickly and efficiently set up character without lengthy exposition. "Disclosure Of Information" teaches you the essence of storytelling--revealing information. How to do it, when to do it, why to do it, as well as the effect it will have on an audience. And "From Script To Screen" is a comprehensive, candid deep dive into the filmmaking process using Tom's own film, his award-winning Lionsgate feature The Presence, (Tom is pictured at left on set with his star, Mira Sorvino). Students will have the chance to read the first act of the film before class, then watch the entire film in class, then discuss anything and everything about how it was conceived, how it was shot, and how the material evolved through shooting and editing. There are no secrets in this class--Tom will tell you what went right and what went wrong. You will rarely get this kind of unique peak behind the curtain of the filmmaking process than in this course. And as a special bonus, he will be including a new class, "The Do's and Don'ts of Rewriting," where he collates his years of script doctoring and consulting and takes you through his steps to rewriting and honing your script.
Of course, as Subscribers, you are entitled to 20% off the regular price and all attendees get FREE Movie Magic Screenwriter software. Just use the Promo Code SUBS
This will be the last time we offer this class until at least the Fall, so if you're working on a script or planning a shoot, you owe it to yourself to attend this weekend's Cinema Language. It's also a terrifically entertaining class, as Tom shows clips and stills from hundreds of classic films. See you this weekend! |
| NO BUDGET FILM SCHOOL presents "Cinema Language: The Art of Storytelling" Saturday & Sunday, March 7 - 8, 2015 |
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