Film and Digital Media Elective Courses
Elective Courses Spring 2021
Upholstery I 213JFLM515A
This course introduces students to the basic concepts of upholstered furniture needed for self-employment in the re-upholstery industry. The course includes an overview of core concepts such as manufacturing, inside and outside upholstering, industrial safety, measurements and math, teamwork and communication, and problem solving. Students will upholster up to four projects during this course. Students and will need to bring upholstery project ideas and purchase a tool kit and have both ready for the first day of class. Dates for flea market and thrift store shopping will be determined on the first day of class.
For details about the toolkit, please call 678.466.5085
Instructor: Wanda Cody
Cost: $189
Dates: January 21-February 18
Days: Thursdays
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Sessions: 5
Medium: On Ground
Campus: FDMC
Upholstery II 213JFLM516A
This course reviews the basic skills and fundamentals of upholstered furniture construction, including seat construction, inside upholstery and outside upholstery. Topics include safety, terminology, proper use of tools, furniture quality, problem solving and maintenance. Advanced skills will include complex fabrics and stripes, application of skirts and decorative trims, and channeling and tufting. Students will upholster up to four projects during this course. Students and will need to bring upholstery project ideas and purchase a tool kit and have both ready for the first day of class. Dates for flea market and thrift store shopping will be determined on the first day of class. For details about the toolkit, please call 678.466.5085
Instructor: Wanda Cody
Cost: $189
Dates: March 11-April 8
Days: Thursdays
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Sessions: 5
Medium: On Ground
Campus: FDMC
Find It, Fix It, Flip It 214JFLM510A
Turn thrift shop nightmares into ideal furnishings. Students will upholster basic furniture, or strip and paint wooden furniture, or build temporary wall units, or design accent items according to needs and budget, always with an eye to selling their creations to discriminating buyers.Students will complete up to four projects during this course. Students and will need to bring upholstery project ideas and purchase a tool kit and have both ready for the first day of class. Dates for flea market and thrift store shopping will be determined on the first day of class. For details about the toolkit, please call 678.466.5085.
Instructor: Wanda Cody
Cost $189
Dates: April 22-May 20
Days: Thursdays
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Sessions 5
Medium: On Ground
Campus: FDMC
Film-Production
Film Directing 213jflm416A
How do directors get the most out of each production department? How can they help actors to give the performance the story needs? Students examine the role and responsibilities of the director in each of the phases of film production: scripting, casting, and creative work with the actors, camera and lighting design, and communicating effectively with the crew in order to achieve a specific vision.
Instructor: Michael Monty
Cost: $239
Dates: February 6-27
Days: Saturday
Time: 10:00am-2:00pm
Sessions: 4
Medium: On Ground
Campus: FDMC
The Art of the Interview 213OLFM406A
Interviewing is not as simple as asking questions and waiting for answers. It also involves a great deal of script and physical preparation, including camera and light selection. The goal of this seminar is to show students how to prepare and conduct interviews on a variety of topics and in a variety of situations, culminating in the presentation and evaluation of a student to student interview.
Instructor: Brent Lambert Zaffino
Cost: $239
Dates: February 6-27
Days: Saturday
Time:10:00am-2:00pm
Sessions 4
Medium: Online
The Art of the Interview 214JFLM406A
Instructor: Brent Lambert Zaffino
Cost: $239
Dates: May 8-29
Days: Saturday
Time: 10:00am-2:00pm
Sessions: 4
Medium: On Ground
Campus: FDMC
Color Theory 213OLFM475A
The classic film, “The Wizard of Oz,” made obvious the impact of color. Why is Dorothy’s everyday world colorless and flat, yet her fantasy is vivid and alive? What does that stylistic choice tell us about Dorothy’s character, her hopes, her dreams, her story? These and other aspects of color, its effects on our perception and reception of film, are addressed in this course.
Instructor: Mark Smith
Cost: $189
Dates: March 3-24
Days: Wednesday
Time: 6:00-9:00pm
Sessions: 4
Medium: Online
Lighting for Film and Video 214JFLM420A
In film, stories get told 3 times: on the page, on the screen, and in the edit room. This course focuses on lighting as means of not only shaping objects but also of story itself. Light can be hard, specular, and direct. Light can also be soft and diffused. Students study and practice the lighting setups expected by audiences of comedies and dramas and documentaries (etc.) not just to understand how to quickly create the “proper” lighting but also to understand how to play with audience expectations and to craft a visual story not quite as expected.
Instructor: Shawn Bulloch
Cost: $239
Dates: April 10-May 1
Days: Saturdays
Time: 10:00am-2:00pm
Sessions 4
Medium: On Ground
Campus: FDMC
Cameras and Lenses 213JFLM421A
Today’s digital film and video cameras come in a variety of configurations with a multiplicity of sensor arrays, lenses, and exposure options. This course addresses technical craftsmanship issues such as which lens to use, at what ISO, and for which aperture setting to achieve that perfect “look.” Students evaluate and practice with their own cameras and with our studio cameras.
Instructor: Michel Monty
Cost: $239
Dates: March 6-27
Days: Saturdays
Time:10:00am-2:00pm
Sessions 4
Medium: On Ground
Campus: FDMC
Makeup for Film 213JFLM480A
Grunge, glamour, and injuries. The art and application of makeup help actors create characters who look the part. Students in this course consider what looks natural under hot lights and what looks supernatural under moonlight. In addition, how do localized prosthetics work? How do bruises change over time? And if a scene calls for a variety of actors, how can the makeup artist help the camera lens the scene? Students will supply their own kit (or purchase from FDMC for an additional fee).
Instructor: Teresa Steppe and guests
Cost: $299
Dates: January 16-February 27
Days: Saturdays
Time: 10:00am-2:00pm
Sessions: 7
Medium: On Ground
Campus: FDMC
Marketing Yourself Effectively 213JFLM490A
Self-promotion is hard. Writing query letters is harder. Developing a bio statement is hardest. But all need to be done. Taking seriously the craft of self-marketing, this course assists students with creating resumes and business letters, developing marketing reels, and tracking submissions and applications. In addition, special lecturers share best practices for self-employment obligations like taxes and insurance, deciding on an LLC, an agent, a manager, sound legal advice. This course helps self-employed creatives manage life a little easier.
Instructor: Teresa Steppe and guests
Cost: $239
Dates: March 8-31
Days: Mon/Wed
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Sessions: 8
Medium: On Ground
Campus: FDMC
Marketing Yourself Effectively 214JFLM490A
Instructor: Teresa Steppe and guests
Cost: $239
Dates: April 6-29
Days: Tues/Thurs
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Sessions: 8
Medium: On Ground
Campus: FDMC
Script Supervision 213JFLM460A
If everyone hates you, you are doing it right. Script supervision is one of the most essential and thankless tasks on a film set. But a good script supervisor is worth whatever you need to pay. Script supervisors often create and review all pre-production paperwork, in addition to their real job: watching every move actors make and listening to every word they speak. If takes don’t match, editors can’t edit. Production has wasted time and money…mainly money. Eliminating such waste is the reason script supervisors are among the privileged few who can immediately approach directors and cinematographers and sound mixers on set. If you are detail oriented, work well under pressure, and keep cool while your comrades are slowly losing their minds, you qualify. (Internships available as CSU productions demand.)
Instructor: Teresa Steppe and guests
Cost: $239
Dates: March 6-27
Days: Saturday
Time:10:00am-2:00pm
Sessions: 4
Medium: On Ground
Campus: FDMC
Post- Production
AfterEffects 213JFLM430A
Through a combination of discussion and hands-on learning, students develop the basic skill set needed to navigate the AfterEffects interface; importing clips and rendering exports; effective keyframing, masking and blending; creating shapers and using motion tools for animation effects; and tracking and stabilizing video.
Instructor: Juliana Mercado
Cost: $299
Dates: March 3-April 14
Days: Wednesday
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Sessions: 7
Medium: On Ground
Campus: CSU Main, Music 144
Art of Sound 214JFLM400A
I can see their lips are moving. What are they saying? And that background noise! A poorly designed and balanced soundtrack can ruin an afternoon at the movies. Striking the right balance of voice to sound effects to music takes time and patience. This course focuses on sound editing beyond the syncing of voices to picture. Using PremierePro students craft a soundtrack, using available visual and sound materials, focusing on selecting, timing, balancing, and equalizing.
Instructor: David Bergen and guests
Cost: $299
Dates: April 26-June 14
Days: Monday
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Sessions: 7
Medium: On Ground
Campus: CSU Main, Music 144
Writing Courses
Screenwriting 213OLFM470A
With a working knowledge of the screenwriter’s craft, students focus on the three dynamics of a good screenplay or teleplay: Character, dialog, and action. Classroom discussions focus on examples of plot development, character creation, voice and point of view. In addition, students participate in practical in-class exercises that focus on these story creation elements in the context of proper formatting and grammar. A completed script for a short film or a substantive excerpt for a feature will be produced by the end of this course.
Instructor: Teresa Steppe
Cost: $259
Dates: January 25-February 17
Days: Mon/Wed
Time:6:30-9:30pm
Sessions: 8
Medium: Online
Screenwriting 214OLFM470A
Instructor: Teresa Steppe
Cost: $259
Dates: June7-30
Days: Mon/Wed
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Sessions: 8
Medium: Online
Investigating a Situation 214OLFM472A
This course addresses how writers translate everyday situations, whether amusing or annoying, into a compelling film experience. Through voiceover and action, students will examine PSAs, news stories, and short documentaries to determine what makes for a dynamic analysis of a situation that motivates its audiences to act. Students then craft a series a series of PSAs or a short documentary on a situation personally relevant that calls its audience to action.
Instructor: Teresa Steppe
Cost: $239
Dates: April 7-28
Days: Wednesday
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Sessions: 4
Medium: Online
PROSE INTO PICTURES 214JFLM473A
Circumstances often call upon writers to script material that is not their own. In adapting narratives for the screen, writers must decide what to say and what to show or what to ignore completely. Either way, the script must be made visual. In this class, students examine and discuss adaptations of prose pieces into scripted scenes. They create adapted scenes of their own based on their own decisions and on the decisions of others. Students also create a working split script and/or storyboard ready for further breakdown.
Instructor: Teresa Steppe
Cost: $239
Dates: May 1-22
Days: Saturday
Time: 10:00am-2:00pm
Sessions: 4
Medium: On Ground
Campus: FDMC
Performance Courses
Voiceover Fundamentals 213JFLM530A
Understanding the voiceover business is more than reading aloud. This course, through weekly recording of “real” commercials, introduces students to proper vocal delivery and improved fluency. Students focus on effective microphone techniques and on selection of the right tool (microphone) for the job. Equally important, students discover how to promote their talents, to find jobs, and to negotiate fees.
Instructor: Vince Bailey
Cost: $799
Dates: March 2-April 20
Days: Tuesday
Time: 6:00-9:45pm
Sessions: 8
Medium: On Ground
Campus: FDMC
Reel Fight Choreography 214JFLM500A
This course exposes students to the design of combat sequences for film. This course also introduces actors and directors to realistic and historically accurate fighting styles for production while ensuring safety of the crew during simulated fight scenes. Although experience in understanding theatrical staging and the principles of choreography would be helpful, no experience is required for this course which aims to help novice actors hone their skills in unarmed combat from a fighter’s perspective. As students come to value their own hard work, they come to enjoy the experience of co-creation with partners and to troubleshoot problems as a team player.
Instructor: Carnell Holley
Cost: $399
Dates: April 5-May 19
Days: Mon/Wed
Time: 10:00am-1:00pm
Sessions: 14
Medium: On Ground
Campus: FDMC
Acting for Film 213OLFM725A
This course provides actors with an intricate study (both theoretical and practical) of the fundamentals of “on-camera” acting, including techniques for video auditions. Through voice, speech, and movement exercises, on-camera assignments, and constructive analysis of on-camera performances, students will gain the foundational acting tools and techniques necessary to begin or continue their “on camera” journey as professional actors.
Instructor: Shirley Norman
Cost: $ 249
Dates: February 2-25
Days: Tues/Thurs
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Sessions: 8
Medium: Online
Acting for Film 214JFLM725A
Instructor: Shirley Norman
Cost: $249
Dates: April 5-28
Days: Mon/Wed
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Sessions: 8
Medium: On Ground
Campus: FDMC