This is a seven-week course about storytelling on film, designed to help actors survive on a film set; and to help filmmakers know about story structure and how to work with actors to tell their stories. The cost is $175. ($150 if paid upfront).
DUE TO THE CORONA VIRUS THIS CLASS HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. In the meantime, drink a Corona and write your own story…
About Tom Herod:
Tom has a Masters in Film Production from University of Texas at Austin, taught film production at Southern Methodist University, was a Directing Fellow at The American Film Institute, and is a Member of the Directors Guild of America. He has worked behind the camera on over 20 different movies and TV series as a 1st AD, Line Producer and produced a number of award winning shorts and a web-series. He is the writer of 4 (unproduced, “dang”) screenplays and served as dramaturg for various other screenplays and two novels (reviews available). He has been a theater director and an actor appearing in several features, shorts and TV series, most recently co-starring in 4 episodes of the new Netflix Series, MESSIAH.
IF YOU CAN’T ANSWER MOST OF THESE QUESTIONS, YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS CLASS: What is a Protagonist, Antagonist, Conflict, and Dramatic Action? What is the difference between plot and dramatic action? Define Given Circumstances and Objectives. Who are Joseph Campbell, Stanislavski, Kuleshov, Stella Adler, Lee Strasburg, James Dean, Marlon Brandon, Sergei Eisenstein? What are the different effects of different lenses? Describe the most basic lighting set-up and the differences in color temperature, soft and hard light, flags and diffusion. What do these terms mean: Wide, close, turn around, pick-up, handles, honeywagon, grip, gaffer, DIT, a dolly, a crane, marks, clothing noise, room tone, wild lines? For more information see the course outline below.
Attendance to all sessions is mandatory, as lessons will build upon one another. All lessons will include lectures, demonstrations and some participation (exercises and scene study). We will begin with the basics of storytelling (why films work and why they don’t) and then cover the basics of acting (different schools of acting and basic techniques) before covering the basics of filmmaking and how it affects actors.
Note: The lessons about acting in this class are no substitute for ongoing acting classes from the many excellent coaches in town. Acting coaches welcome to observe.
COURSE OUTLINE
Section 1: The Story and Acting Basics
Table of Contents for Section 1
The Story—its structure and why. How it works.
Acting Basics—Descriptions and illustrations of basic terms: Given Circumstances, Objectives, Variations, Beats
Acting Basics (continued)—Being not acting–different schools of acting theory and techniques
Section 2: The Elements of Filmmaking
Class Organization for Section 2
Each separate lesson in Section 2 will consist of a lecture/demonstration and discussion of that subject, which will include film clips or photos to illustrate the topic. A second segment of each class will involve scene study. At the beginning of Section 2, Lesson 1, all students will be assigned a scene to work on for the rest of the course. Exercises focusing on the technical topic of each successive week will be demonstrated using the performances of the student actors in these scenes.
Table of Contents for Section 2
Film Grammar—how different shots (wide, close, etc.) say different things about the story.
Working with the camera—geography—180 line—hitting a mark, eye-line, 15 takes. The camera never lies, a close-up is close up.
How editing affects acting for the camera: the Kuleshov affect, timing and pacing, leaving handles for cutting, pickups.
Lighting and Sound—how to paint with light, basics of sound recording, telling the story with both–nothing works if they can’t see or hear you.
Your equipment for filmmaking, low budget production tips, using iPhone and iMovie
Lesson 6 will demonstrate how to record one’s own “taped audition.”
Lesson 7 will be to shoot a class film!
If you are an Actor you should take this class to learn the basics (story, given circumstances of scripts and characters, and what the hell the character is doing from line to line in a scene, a script, a play, and particularly in scene for an audition) and then work with other acting coaches to practice your craft.
If you are filmmaker, take this class to learn how to talk to actors to help them to tell your story.
See more at: HYPERLINK “https://tomherodfilms.com/storytelling-course/” https://tomherodfilms.com/storytelling-course/
Attendance in the class is by invitation only. Please send an email for more information and/or to apply to: HYPERLINK “mailto:(Enable Javascript to see the email address)” (Enable Javascript to see the email address) All applicants must be seriously pursuing a career as an actor and/or filmmaker, AND if you are 18, you must provide proof that you are registered to vote.
