Jazmín López

In this course, students will conceive a short film from its very basis to its final completion. In fall, we will explore a creative and deep examination of the foundations and processes of writing with images and sounds. The course will provide a path to a certain type of sensitivity that will help writers create not just the screenplay for the course but also contribute to all of their screenplays to follow. What are the fundamental skills that we need for writing a film? What is the observation period in which artists need to participate to successfully translate their ideas into words? The script is a descriptive representation of the images and sounds that the writer has created in their imagination—beginning with the construction of an image that nests a story and exploring its possible forms and shapes, imagining characters from the inside outward, and then situating them in the image to let them grow. In spring, we will explore all areas of staging and styles to digest information within a script—from the very first impression of our story, through the actual image, until the editing. Working with each other on projects in a constructive and meaningful way and exploring an audiovisual style, the course will provide interaction and exposure to a wide range of types of film styles, from small to large productions. Guiding questions will include: How do we understand the core of our image? How do we see scripts from a directing point of view? How is the image able to transmit emotions and thoughts? How can we develop critical and well-formulated thoughts of a film idea and expand our personal visual research? 

In this course, we will explore the power dynamics behind images and how they shape the way we see and experience the world. Drawing on John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, we will examine how visuals—whether in art, film, or everyday life—are never neutral but, rather, always tied to politics. We will dive into works like Harun Farocki’s An Image, Tony Cooke’s Disco Inferno, Martha Rosler’s Semiotics of the Kitchen, Jean-Luc Godard’s radical cinema, and Brechtian approaches to audiovisual composition. Through these films and ideas, we will see how artists and filmmakers use images to challenge the status quo, resist dominant ideologies, and spark political change. With screenings and discussions, we will sharpen the ability to critically analyze the images that surround us and understand how they influence both political consciousness and personal identity. This course is a thought-provoking investigation into how images can manipulate, provoke, invent, and sometimes resist the political forces at play in our world.

In a world filled with moving images, we are all highly capable spectators as well as screenwriters. In this course, we will deepen and complement our existing knowledge of the cinematic medium, challenge our assumptions, and experiment with new ways of conceiving and making cinema. This course will explore a creative and deep examination of the foundations and processes of writing with images and sounds, unveiling the knowledge that students already have and working from there. The course will provide a path to a certain type of sensitivity, which will help writers create not just the screenplay for this course but also contribute to all of their screenplays to follow. Understanding the capacity of the medium will be the most important course objective. Introducing a variety of ways in which film can be made and seen—from contemporary to classical screenwriting sensitivities and from European to Latin American filmmaking—the idea will be to expand our knowledge of the variety and range of films beyond the most mainstream productions. What are the fundamental skills needed for writing a film? What is the time of observation that writers need in order to be able to translate their ideas into words? The script is a descriptive representation of the images and sounds that the writer has created in their imagination, beginning with the construction of an image that nests a story and exploring its possible forms and shapes, imagining characters from the inside outward, and then situating them in the image to let them grow; in other words, to be able to pack entire worlds of thought, feeling, and imagination into the writing of scenes.

In this course, students will be required to have a short film project that they want to do, either a script or a clear and consistent idea for a short film of a maximum seven minutes. In Part I of the yearlong course, we will be tailoring the film idea into a project that is ready to shoot. Analyzing scenes, reading, and creatively putting together the mise-en-scène of the student’s original idea would be our aim. In order to build up a cinematic vocabulary for each project, we will be analyzing, in depth, the tone, style, concept, and proposal that the student is looking for—understanding the aesthetics by watching clips, shorts, and films in order to see how other authors have solved similar ideas on set. Participants will, therefore, have a profound and conceptually well-developed knowledge of each of their own shots and scenes for the projects. By the end of the semester, each student will have a project that is ready to shoot in Advanced Short-Film Projects, Part II. A jury or committee will choose about eight projects from the group to shoot in the spring semester (Advanced Short-Film Projects, Part II).

This is a course in which you will conceive a short film from its very basis to the final completion. In the first half of the year, we will explore a creative and deep examination of the foundations and processes of writing with images and sounds. The course provides a path to a certain type of sensitivity that helps writers create not just the screenplay for the course but also all of their screenplays to follow. What are the fundamental skills you need for writing a film? What is the time of observation that we need to do in order to be able to translate it into words? The script is a descriptive representation of the images and sounds that the writer has created in his or her imagination—beginning with the construction of an image that nests a story and exploring its possible forms and shapes, imagining characters from the inside outward, and then situating them in the image to let them grow. In the second part of the year, we will be exploring all of the areas of staging and styles in order to digest all of the information that we can make out of the script—from the very first impression of our story, through the actual image, until the editing. Working with each other on projects in a constructive and meaningful way and exploring an audiovisual style, the course will provide interaction and exposure to a wide range of types of film styles— from small to large productions. Some of our guiding questions will be: How do we understand the core of our image? How do we see scripts from a directing point of view? How is the image able to transmit emotions and thoughts? How can we develop critical and well-formulated thoughts of a film idea and expand our personal visual research? This class will have weekly conferences at least for the first semester.

This is a course in which you will conceive a short film from its very basis to the final completion. In the first half of the year, we will explore a creative and deep examination of the foundations and processes of writing with images and sounds. The course provides a path to a certain type of sensitivity that helps writers create not just the screenplay for the course but also all of their screenplays to follow. What are the fundamental skills you need for writing a film? What is the time of observation we need to do in order to be able to translate it into words? The script is a descriptive representation of the images and sounds that the writer has created in his or her imagination—beginning with the construction of an image that nests a story and exploring its possible forms and shapes, imagining characters from the inside outward, and then situating them in the image to let them grow. In the second part of the year, we will be exploring all of the areas of staging and styles in order to digest all of the information that we can make out of the script—from the very first impression of our story, through the actual image, until the editing. Working with each other on projects in a constructive and meaningful way and exploring an audiovisual style, the course will provide interaction and exposure to a wide range of types of film styles— from small to large productions. Some of our guiding questions will be: How do we understand the core of our image? How do we see scripts from a directing point of view? How is the image able to transmit emotions and thoughts? How can we develop critical and well-formulated thoughts of a film idea and expand our personal visual research?

This is a film production course in which we will deepen and knowledge on how to find a voice in audiovisual language and be able to do a short film after exploring all of the areas of staging and styles. The course objective is to provide tools to critically digest all of the information we can make out of the script from the very first impression of our story, through the actual image, until the editing. We will work with each other on projects in a constructive and meaningful way and explore an audiovisual style. The course will provide interaction with and exposure to a broad range of types of film styles, from small to large productions. Students will also do exercises trying to find their voice and to develop possible types of mise-en-scène in regards to their audiovisual ideas and research. To better inform our discussions of the students’ materials, we will watch crucial fragments of films relevant to their research. Some of our guiding questions will be: How can we understand the core of our image? How do we see scripts from a directing point of view? How is the image able to transmit emotions and thoughts? How can we develop critical and well-formulated thoughts of a film idea and expand our personal visual research?

In a world filled with moving images, we are all highly capable spectators as well as screenwriters. In this course, we will deepen and complement our existing knowledge of the cinematic medium, challenge our assumptions, and experiment with new ways of conceiving and making cinema. This course explores a creative and deep examination of the foundations and processes of writing with images and sounds, unveiling the knowledge that the students already have and work from there. The course provides a path to a certain type of sensitivity that helps the writer to create not just the screenplay for the course but also all of their screenplays to follow. Understanding the capacity of the medium is the most important objective: to explore its own capacity of expressing emotions by the hand of narration—but not only by it; introducing a variety of ways film can be made and seen; investigating in a creative way the mise-en-scènes aspects that can be explored in the writing process; from contemporary to classical screenwriting sensitivities; from European to Latin American filmmaking. The idea is to expand the knowledge of the variety and range of films beyond the most mainstream productions. What are the fundamental skills you need for writing a film? What is the time of observation we need to do in order to be able to translate it into words? The script is a descriptive representation of the images and sounds that the writer has created in his/her imagination, beginning with the construction of an image that nests a story and exploring its possible forms and shapes, imagining characters from the inside outward, and then situating them in the image to let them grow. In other words, to be able to pack entire worlds of thought, feeling, and imagination into the writing of scenes.

In a world filled with moving images, we are all highly capable spectators as well as screenwriters. In this course, we will deepen and complement our existing knowledge of the cinematic medium, challenge our assumptions, and experiment with new ways of conceiving and making cinema. This course explores a creative and deep examination of the foundations and processes of writing with images and sounds, unveiling the knowledge that the students already have and work from there. The course provides a path to a certain type of sensitivity that helps the writer create not just the screenplay for the course but also all of their screenplays to follow. Understanding the capacity of the medium is the most important objective. Introducing a variety of ways in which film can be made and seen—from contemporary to classical screenwriting sensitivities and from European to Latin American filmmaking—the idea is to expand our knowledge of the variety and range of films beyond the most mainstream productions. What are the fundamental skills you need for writing a film? What is the time of observation we need in order to be able to translate it into words? The script is a descriptive representation of the images and sounds that the writer has created in his/her imagination beginning with the construction of an image that nests a story and exploring its possible forms and shapes, imagining characters from the inside outward, and then situating them in the image to let them grow—in other words, to be able to pack entire worlds of thought, feeling, and imagination into the writing of scenes.