Script writing and Film making course in Bangalore from Jan to April'13

Learn to Film your Dreams!

Weekend Classes from March to April'13

Free intro talks on 16th and 23rd Feb!

FINAL CUT

Manjushree Abhinav, a film-maker, novelist and teacher, is organizing the fifth batch of the course in film making, from concept to screen, on Saturdays and Sundays over two months, in Bengaluru. Manjushree has taught at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, NID ( National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad), and Srishti, Bangalore.

This Weekend batch organised by Manjushree Abhinav has a great faculty, reasonable fees and a convenient location. It gives people the opportunity to learn film-making without leaving their jobs or studies.

So you can now follow your dreams while taking care of your responsibilities.

COURSE CONTENT

Creative Writing 

Since this course deals with fiction films, we would first tap the biggest reservoir of stories : an unblocked storehouse of memories and emotions. We will also understand the structure of the conflict-resolution story, and we shall dip into the Navarasas. The aim of the workshop is to dig out the blocks that hamper the sprouting of the creative juices and fuel the love of writing towards an intense and natural discipline. It will help the beginner as well as the writer who is stuck in the middle of a story, a script, a film….
Students will get assignments to work on during the week, and they will be expected to write a short story by the end of the workshop.

Scriptwriting 

The story we have structured in the creative writing workshop, we will stretch out into an audio visual script. We will understand the elements of Scriptwriting: Characterization, Plot, Structure, Theme, etc. We shall also be watching world class films and understand how they have been structured  and written. Students will get assignments to work on during the week, which will be reviewed in class. By the end of the course, students will write a short script in the prescribed format.

Acting workshop 

It is only when we our-self get liberated from inhibitions that we can direct others. A theater professional will conduct this workshop, which includes body work, skits, and loads of fun. Most of the times, the short films that we make at the end of the course are enacted by the students themselves. So students have a great time performing for each other.

 Screen Grammar 

The various elements of shot-taking: Image Size, Camera Angles, Camera Movements, Lighting, Camera Speed, Stocks, Graphics, Colour. The Rule of Thirds & the Golden Points. Lenses. Depth of Field and Selective Focus. Maintaining continuity, the imaginary line.

Camera Practicals 

 Basics of how to use a digital camera will be followed by shooting a twelve shot exercise to understand the rules of screen grammar in a practical manner. A professional camera person will conduct this class.

The Elements of Editing 

What we have shot we will now edit on Final Cut Pro, an editing software. So we will experience the entire process of scripting, shooting and editing. The basics of screen grammer, like continuity, will thus become clear.

 We will also talk about how the history of Editing is synonymous with the development of language of cinema. A professional Editor will conduct this class.

Making the short film 

 The final project of the course will be to make short fiction films. The best scripts will be selected from the scriptwriting course, and students will make groups of five to make their fiction films.

Here is one of the films we made in the first batch. Its called , The Skipping Rhyme. An old man gets an answer to a deep question from a little girl.

You can watch other student films here : http://storygram.in/student-films/

CONTACT : You can also email us at  manjushree.abhinav@gmail.com for more information.

VENUE : Bangalore Film Society, 4th cross, Thyagaraja Layout, Jai Bharat Nagar, Banaswadi, Bangalore.

Directions from MG road : Take the road to commercial street, keep going through wheelers road, cross the fly-over cox town, and you will reach Jai bharat nagar bus stop. A few meters ahead there are petrol pumps on both sides of the road. Immediately after the petrol pump, turn right into Thyagaraja layout , find 4th cross on the second right turn. Bangalore Film Society is the corner building, with bamboo trees.
map: click to enlarge.

DURATION : The course would span across two months of weekend classes, from 2nd march to 28th April' 13.

FEE STRUCTURE

The film making course includes creative writing, script writing, acting workshop, camera practicals, elements of editing,  and making the short film, during two months of weekend classes.

The total fees for this course is INR Twenty two thousand and eight hundred, (Rs.22,800/).

The course fees cover the classes, the visiting faculty's fees, the cost of making the student film, and study material like books and cds. A donation of Rs 500/- would be given from every student’s fees to a children’s charity.

Manjushree Abhinav’s Film making Course is right for you if you are:

• A Newcomer: The course would equip you to enter the Film and Television Industry as an assistant director or to make short films independently.
• A Mediaperson who’s learnt on the job: You would benefit from learning the basics formally and getting your fundas clear.
• A Professional who is already working in the Industry in another capacity: It would help you become a full-fledged director.
• From the Corporate Sector: The course would add to your qualifications since films are a very important medium of corporate communication & advertising.
• Animators will understand film making, which is an important aspect of animation.

The benefits of joining this Film Direction Course

• SUNDAY CLASSES: Full-day classes on Sundays, so you can pursue your dreams without forsaking the responsibilities of your work or studies.
• WELL-DESIGNED SYLLABUS: More than 50% of class time would be devoted to hands-on film-making, so that you learn how to transform your ideas into films that light up the silver screen. While the course is practical-oriented, the theory portion would help you develop a sound understanding of the basics of story-telling and film-making. You will also be watching many world class films to appreciate the different aspects of the teaching. The visiting faculty will be from reputed institutes like FTII, SRISTI School of Art and Design, Chitra Kala Parishad, etc.
• STUDENT FILM: You would write and direct a short film. The cinematography and editing would be done by professionals from the Industry, which would be a great learning experience. It would also result in a well-made film which you can be proud of and use as your show-reel as well as submit to film festivals.
• STUDY MATERIAL : The students would be given:

1. Copies of important books
2. Scripts
3. Links to useful websites and free scriptwriting software
4. CDs & DVDs of some important films

• CERTIFICATE: You would be given a certificate at the successful completion of the course.
• FILM FESTIVALS: The student films made as part of the course would be sent to film festivals.
• DEMAND FOR FRESH VOICES: The Indian film and television industry is looking for fresh voices. With the diminishing appeal of the formula masala film, there is a demand for out-of-the-box thinking, for directors who understand the art and craft of film-making. It’s a great time to enter the field!

TEACHER'S PROFILE

Manushree Abhinav has authored a novel, 'A Grasshopper's Pilgrimage'.

She is a film maker. She has studied at FTII, Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. She has made several documentary films, and taught various aspects of film making like scriptwriting, making documentary films, video editing, at FTII, NID (National Institute of Design), Ahemedabad, Srishti School of Art and Design, Bangalore.

She has also conducted several creative writing workshops at the Times of India Nalanda group, Bangalore, Ahemedabad and Mumbai. This is the fifth batch of film making workshops she is conducting in Bangalore.

She blogs at www.baktoo.blogspot.com. You can watch her films and read part of her book at www.storygram.in.

The progress of the toothpaste

Once upon a time, when I was a green college student, during a film appreciation class in the Film Institute, I told Professor Chabria,

'Sir, I don't think advertisements have any effect on the masses.'

'I see. So why do you think advertisers spend so much money on ads?' He looked pained. I think he was planing to talk about effect of colors on the subconscious mind or something.

'I don't know, they are wasting their money, it seems to me.'

This post is a belated, written apology to Prof Chabria.

This morning, the pre-school bedlam is like any other morning. Me shouting at the brat to hurry up every two minutes as I cook and pack his lunch.

'Ai, come here for a minute!' he shouts from the bathroom.

I take his towel and go to the bathroom. He is full of soapy bubbles.

'See my stomach, Ai. See how it is smelling.' he says happily.

'Very nice. You applied shampoo?' I asked.

'No, I put toothpaste. Now my whole body smells nice. Good idea, no?'

Cinema, mon amour

This is to remind myself, that Cinema, I love you still.

I might now prefer blogging than holding a video camera. I might have given up dreams of ever making my feature film. And sometimes I may wonder how I have forgotten the names of the films and the filmmakers I so passionately talked about, under the wisdom tree.

Where did I go wrong, I wonder. What was the name of the thing I left behind in the Film Institute? Why does it evade me now? Does it not like Bombay, or television, or video? It does disappear totally from my heartmind when I make documentary films, the commissioned variety.

The ones we used to see in theaters before the feature film began. Not like the ones Rao saab, our editing teacher showed us. In which there are yards and yards of footage of a boy sitting in a boat lazily sailing over a placid lake.

Now, ofcourse, I dare not keep a shot that long. If I make a film about cycling, it should not show too many cyclists just cycling. Make them say something, no. If I make a film on farming, why use the sunrise? The sun takes far too long to rise. Yes, the colours change, but so what? Is that the point one is trying to make here?

Is it the point? A film on photosynthesis? Why do you want to show the kid playing with a leaf?
Ah, it comes to me! It's name ! What I left behind in the Insti! It is antipoint! No such name exists? Oh well...

God, if you did not want me to use it, why did you give me a right brain? Said I, till a few years passed and my sweetheart of a husband, the nerd, introduced me to blogging! No more producers shitting on the head, but old beaux's commenting, hey I didn't know you are an artist! So what if this doesn't pay, I am willing to starve, so hungry for creation and appreciation am I.

And thus it happens, slowly, that instead of that cut, instead of the light, its the word, the idea, the sentence that I mix in my morning cup of tea.

However subtle, there is an inner unveiling that takes place when one continues to express without fear of judgment.

Why else, did I suddenly remember, a cut today, maybe a decade after I cut it?

The name of the film is, 'And so flows the Indrayani.'

Indrayani is the river that flows, mainly for Tukaram, the poet saint from Maharashtra. The story goes that Tukaram was an absent minded, lost to bliss godmad character. In times of poverty, read joblessness, he was offered to stand guard in a corn field, to shoo away birds who flocked to munch the ripe corn.

Our poet-saint, he did his job. Tukaram composed the bhajan, 'Adhi beeja ekle. Beeja ankireley, rope vadhile,' ( in the beginning, was one seed, it sprouted, and there was a tree), while the sparrows finished off the entire corn.

None of this features in the film, 'And so flows...' But it has a shot, of a couple of sparrows sitting on an upturned piece of corn hanging in Tukaram's temple doorway. The background score is a varkari singing a bhajan, in the temple by the river. One sparrow flies off, maybe to her little ones, to feed them some corn. Then she comes back, and both the sparrows peck the corn. This editor does not cut the shot till both sparrows have eaten their full and flown away, out of the frame.