Syllabus

CELL PHONE CINEMA • SYLLABUS
OART-UT 566 / OART-GT 2566 / 4 units
Wednesday, 6:20PM-9:00PM • 721 Broadway, Room #1202

 

Hollywood in your palm. That is what this combination of lectures, screenings, demonstrations and practical production workshop will offer to the students in this course.  There will be several professional guests making presentations and Q&A sessions from the mobile phone filmmaking industry. In addition to the historical and critical overview of the emergence and exponential growth of global cell phone cinema, students will shoot all footage on cell phones and download them for computerized editing.

The final project will be under an under three minute short film. Projects will include all genres of film and television: news, mini-documentaries, animation, music videos and narrative shorts.  Completed student projects will be suitable to be posted on the Internet and entered into domestic and international mobile phone film festivals.  For example, two minutes long improvisations of Bollywood Style Music Videos shot on Cell Phones by the students have been projected at the Tribeca Cinemas as part of the New York Indian Film Festival.  It is suggested but not compulsory that students bring to the class a cell phone capable of recording video.

PROF. KARL BARDOSH OFFICE: #1018 PHONE: 1-(212) 998-1537 CELL: 1-(917) 859-5928		PROF. PETER TEREZAKIS, MPS Guest lecturer, creative, technical, and web advisor.
Office Hours by appointment: Monday 2-3pm, 6:30-8:30 • Wednesday 3-6pm

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
While there aren’t any pre-requisites, students should own or have access to at least one cell phone with video recording capability.

RECOMMENDED TEXT:

(A textbook that is specifically written about the subject is currently a work-in-progress by Karl Bardosh)

INTERIM TEXT:
Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video
David Irving and Peter Rea – Focal Press
Writing the Short Screenplay
Ken Dancyger and Pat Cooper – Focal Press
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Digital Video
Karl Bardosh – Alpha-Penguin Books
(Copies of this book will be available on loan to the students of the class free-of-charge)

 WEEK ONE

Lecture:

• Course Overview • Introductions • Set up websites and video streaming.
• Students’ expectations and project ideas
• Digital Video basics:
• Brief history of the mobile phones
• The Theory of Cell Phone Cinema
• The birth of the camera-phone
  • Still Photography by Cell Phones
• The Emergence of the Frame
• Properties of Photographs
• Image Manipulation
• Genres in Cell Phone Still Photography: News, Documentary, Arts, Fashion, Portrait, etc.

Assignment:

Cell Phone stills:

Photos by students in their chosen genres

After practicing the taking of photos of each other with cell phones in class, go outside and take still pictures in some of the following choices:

– portraits (SELFIES)
– street scenes: people, animals in activity
– events: weddings, bar mitzvahs, football games
– music: clubs, bands etc.
– still life compositions: tabletop arrangements of flowers, fruits etc.
-nature: sunrise, sunset etc.
-commercials: beauty products, fashion items
-art: gallery exhibits, painters, sculptors etc.
-theatrical: actors, filmmaking etc.

Minimum requirements:
-6 stills during the week between classes in different genres

Recommended reading:

Bardosh: Part 1. Digital Video Basics
1.The Digital Revolution  (pages 3-10)
2.Getting Equipped to Shoot Video  (pages 13-29)

WEEK TWO

Lecture:
-Review Still Pictures and their Apps

• The Emergence of Video Phones
• How Video Phones Work
• Comparison and Evaluation of the different kinds of Video Phones

Assignment:

Shooting short video exercises of chase (15-20 seconds) by Video Cell Phones in one chosen genre.

Minimum requirements:

Practice video recordings with cell phones in at least one of the following areas:

– Street/park scenes: people, animals in activity
– Cafes, restaurants, clubs
– Galleries, movie theaters
– Cityscapes: bus/subway/car rides

At least two continuously recorded (that is unedited) 15-20 seconds video recordings during the week between classes in the same areas

Recommended reading:

Bardosh: 3. Lenses (pages 31-45)

WEEK THREE

Lecture:

• Audio for digital video:

  Location sound recording for film versus video

Audio, the neglected feature in Cell Phone Video recording

• How to beat the system: “Film Style” audio recording for Cell Phone Cinema
• “Close Up” audio recording on Cell Phones
• Double system audio recording for video cell phone projects

Assignment:

-Students practice audio recordings with cell phones in class
-Students record location sound outside of class:

1/ Street scenes
2/ Monologue sound
3/ Dialogue sound
4/ Double system film style sound recording with cell phones

Minimum length: 30 seconds in each category

 

Recommended reading:

Cooper-Dancyger: Using Sound to Tell the Story (pages 23-33)
Irving-Rea: Sound (pages 185-198)
Bardosh: Sound – It’s Not a Silent Movie (pages 195-205)

 

WEEK FOUR

Lecture:

• Smart Phones: The integration of Computers into Cell Phones
• Traditional resources for story ideas
• Programming ideas generated by computer software
• Cell Phones as Receivers of Entertainment Programming:
• Television Series, Shorts, Documentaries, Features

Assignment:

Students digitally generate ideas for cell phone video projects by computer software in class
Students stream/download their favorite programs to Cell Phones

Recommended reading:
Cooper-Dancyger: Chapter 1. Storytelling in General (pages 3-11)
Irving-Rea: Chapter 2. The Script (pages 11-24)
Bardosh: Chapter 7. Writing, Re-Writing, and Going Scriptless (pages 85-103)

 

WEEK FIVE:

Lecture:

• Hollywood in our palms: Smart Phones as Production Devices
• Preproduction on Cell Phones:
• Location Scouting, Casting & Crewing on Cell Phones

 

Assignment:

Location scouting with cell phone cameras
Still photos or short videos (10 seconds maximum) e-mailed or sent to class by MMS

Recommended reading:
Irving-Rea: Chapter 7. Location (pages 91-99)
Cooper-Dancyger: Chapter 2 Telling a Story in Images (pages 11-23)
Bardosh: Chapter 13 The Production Environment (pages 183-193)

WEEK SIX:

Lecture:

• Preproduction on Cell Phones: Scheduling and Budgeting on Smart Phones

Assignment:
Students budget and schedule their own projects using digital devices like Excel and other computer software programs

Recommended reading:

Irving-Rea: Chapter 4. Schedule (pages 47-60)
Chapter 5. Budget (pages 61-76)
Bardosh: Chapter 9. Budgeting (pages 117-124)

WEEK SEVEN:

Lecture:

• Pre-Visualization by Cell Phones
• Genres in Cell Phone Cinema: Narrative Shorts

 

Screening:

Best Cell Phone short features from Robert Redford’s Global Shorts Films Project and Spike Lee’s Nokia Internet Shorts

Assignment:

Students pre-visualize their projects using Cell Phones

Recommended reading:

Cooper-Dancyger: Chapter 7. Visualization strategies (pages 76-88)
Irving-Rea: Chapter 3. Breakdowns (pages 31-47)
Bardosh: Chapter 8. Pre-Visualization ( pages 105-113)

 

WEEK EIGHT:

Lecture:

• Editing on Cell Phones and/or downloading footage to the Computer for NLE
• Genres in Cell Phone Cinema: News and Documentaries

Screening:

• News: iReporters for CNN
• Documentaries: Best Cell Phone documentary shorts

 

Assignment:

Students shoot and edit news segments and /or mini-documentaries on Cell Phones (maximum length 3 minutes)

Recommended reading:

Bardosh: Chapter 15. Covering Events on Video (pages 207-213)

WEEK NINE:

Lecture/Screening:

• Genres in Cell Phone Cinema: The Long Form Documentary
• The Pioneers

Screening and Discussion:

Marcello Mencarini and Barbara Seghezzi:
“The New Love Connections”

• a remake of Paolo Pasolini’s 1964 Italian documentary.
  (Amsterdam Documentary Film Festival, 2006 Pocket Cinema Festival, Paris 2006)

Assignment:
Students edit their Cell phone documentaries on Computers

Recommended reading:
Irving-Rea: Chapter 16. Picture Postproduction (pages 223-257)
Bardosh: Chapter 16. Introduction to Non-Linear Editing (pages 215-238)

 

WEEK TEN:

Lecture/Screening:

• Genres in Cell Phone Cinema: The Long Form Experimental Feature
• The Pioneers

Screening ad discussion:

Cyrus Fritch: “Why Didn’t Anybody Tell Me It Would Become This Bad in Afghanistan?”  — full length experimental video. (Tribeca Film Festival, New York, 2006.   San Francisco Film Festival, 2006. Theatrical Release in Amsterdam, 2007.)

Assignment:

Students shoot their narrative or experimental shorts or music videos with Cell Phones (maximum length 3 minutes)

Recommended reading:

Cooper-Dancyger: Chapter 3. Using sound to Tell the Story (pages 23-33)
Irving-Rea: Chapter 17. Sound Postproduction (pages 259-279)
Bardosh: Editing Techniques and Intro to Sound Editing (pages 241-248)

WEEK ELEVEN:

Discussions of last week’s reading assignments

Lecture/Screening:

• Genres in Cell Phone Cinema: The Long Form Narrative Feature
• The Pioneers

Screening and Discussion:

• Aryan Kaganof’s 007 SMS Sugar Man(87min, South Africa) the first full length feature film shot entirely on cell phone cameras, starring Luthuli Dlamini,John Matshikiza, Leigh Gravesand Dej

Assignment:
Students shoot and edit their narrative Cell Phone Cinema shorts (maximum length 3 minutes)

Recommended reading:
Cooper-Dancyger: Chapter 9. Characterization Strategies (pages 101-113)
Irving-Rea: Chapter 10 and 11 Rehearsals and Set Procedures (pages 121-145)
Bardosh: Chapter 12. Directing (pages 167-180)

 

WEEK TWELVE:

Lecture and Screening:

• Genres in Cell Phone Cinema: A sampler of Animation shorts

Assignment:
Students shoot and edit their Cell Phone Cinema Animation shorts (maximum length 60 seconds)

Recommended reading:
Bardosh: Digital Effects and Animation (pages 251-259)

WEEK THIRTEEN

Lecture and screening:

• Distribution of Cell Phone Cinema
• The Emergence of the International and Domestic Cell Phone Film Festivals:
• The World’s Smallest Film Festival by Big-Digit, Los Angeles (New Orleans, March 2003)

Zoie Cellular Cinema Festival, Dallas, USA(2004)
Case Study: The launching of Cell Phone Cinema in India and in Hungary
DIGI24 – Hungary (2005) 3-minute shorts shot and edited in 24 hours (Artistic Director- Karl Bardosh)

First Cell Phone Short Films in India: “Mobile Moments” a co-production between Karl Bardosh and Sandeep Marwah at Film City, Marwah Studios, India.  (Press Conference: January, 2006)

• First Festival of Cell Phone Cinema, India -launched by Karl Bardosh and Sandeep Marwah at AAFT, Film City, Noida, (2007)

The first student film festival in US for movies shot entirely on a cell phone:

• Ithaca College: “Cellflix,” (2005)

A partial listing of International and Domestic Cell Phone Cinema Festivals:

• Pocket Films Festival- Paris, France (2005)
• Mobifest Toronto (2006)
• Global Mobile Awards-Barcelona (2006)
• Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival – Young Creatives Competition (2006)
• Cell Phone Film Festival in Minsk, Belarus (2006)
• Century City Cell Phone Fest, Los Angeles (2007)
• Hollywood Film festival- Mobile Phone Category(2007)
• Mobifest Toronto & LA (2007)
• Hong Kong International Mobile Phone Festival (2007) •
• “Shoot4Life”- First Global 24 hour digital/cell phone film competition on the Internet–Artistic Director, Karl Bardosh (2008)
• Pocket Films Festival in Japan (2008)
• Mobilefest Africa- Nigeria (2009)
• Dogma Mobile International Film Festival-Denmark (2009)

Recommended reading:

Irving-Rea: Chapter 19. Distribution (pages 289-298) 
Bardosh: Chapters 19 and 20
Building Menus and Burning Your Movie to DVD (pages 261-273)
Presenting Your Video (pages 273-279)

WEEK FOURTEEN:

Screening and Discussion of students’ Cell Phone Cinema projects and entering them to mobile festivals and/or posting on the Internet

Supporting Materials:

• Awards, Lectures and Press Conference at the launching of Cell Phone Cinema in India (January, 2006)
• Press Kit from India about the birth of Cell Phone Cinema (January, 2006)
• Cell Phone Cinema (Tisch Film Review- 1^stedition)
• 2^ndInternational Festival of Cell Phone Cinema in India (January, 2009)
• “SHOOT4LIFE” – first 24-hour global filmmaking competition on the Internet (November, 2008)

GRADING:

Attendance to each class meeting is required. A missed class will negatively impact your final grade. Three unexcused absences will lower your final grade by one letter. Each additional absence will decrement the grade an additional letter. If you do not sign the attendance sheet you are considered absent. All students must create and maintain an NYU Word Press web journal for class. Assignments are due Tuesday afternoon before class.  Late assignments will not receive the same grade as those submitted on time.  Video assignments must be uploaded to NYU’s streaming video service (stream.nyu.edu) and correctly embedded in your class web journal. Using stream.nyu.edu to upload your videos and embedding them so that they are viewable as movies in your class website is a requirement: work which is not presented as described will not be viewed or graded. Website journal entries received three days after the due date will receive a grade of zero.

Absence:
Should illness require you to miss class send a note alerting me to your intended absence before class begins. When you are next in class provide a valid letter from your doctor excusing you from the class you missed. If you have a recurring or otherwise serious issue which will cause you to miss classes please get in touch with your advisor and/or the Office of Student Affairs for direction and ask them to contact me.

Lateness:
Students are expected to attend class on time.

Lateness in excess of ten minutes will be considered an absence.

Exceptions:
Life happens to us all. Should something outside of your control occur which causes you to be late or to miss class let me know as soon as possible.

Missed work:
You are responsible for the work that you miss.  Through your network find out what was covered through a classmate, do the assignment, write your journal post, send me a note when your journal is ready for review.

NYU GENERAL POLICIES:

STATEMENT OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s original work as if it were your own. More specifically, plagiarism is to present as your own:

• a sequence of words quoted without quotation marks
• a paraphrased passage from another writer’s work
• ideas, sound recordings, computer data, or images composed or created by someone else.

Please refer to the Tisch Policies & Procedures Handbook for more.    

HEALTH AND SAFETY/ACCESSIBILITY

Your health and safety are a priority at NYU. If you experience any health or mental health issues during this course, we encourage you to utilize the support services of the 24/7 NYU Wellness Exchange (212-443-9999). Also, all students who may require an academic accommodation due to a qualified disability, physical or mental, please register with the Moses Center (212-998-4980). Please let your instructor know if you need help connecting to these resources.

TITLE IX POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Tisch School of the Arts is dedicated to providing its students with a learning environment that is rigorous, respectful, supportive and nurturing so that they can engage in the free exchange of ideas and commit themselves fully to the study of their discipline. To that end Tisch is committed to enforcing University policies prohibiting all forms of sexual misconduct as well as discrimination on the basis of sex and gender. Detailed information regarding these policies and the resources that are available to students through the Title IX office can be found by using the following link: https://www.nyu.edu/about/policies-guidelines-compliance/equal-opportunity/title9.html

OPEN ARTS SPECIFIC GUIDELINES:

 

USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES
Students must bring a laptop and/or a smart phone to every class.

OPEN ARTS PRODUCTION SAFETY GUIDELINES

All students working on Open Arts class-related film projects, media projects, and media-related exercises must follow the Tisch Open Arts General Production Safety Guidelines, available online at: 

https://wikis.nyu.edu/display/tsoaftv/Production+Safety+Guidelines

(You must be logged into your NYU account in order to view the wiki.)

Students should consult with their instructors to address questions about any media-related class projects.