Creative Filmmaking From The Inside Out

[Teachers Guide for a 3 hour, 1 day a week, 15 week course.
Accompanying
Student Assignments are available under For teachers/student handouts]
Creative Filmmaking from the Inside Out:

syllabus for a course on
originating and developing ideas for films
Goals of this course:
To strengthen students ability to conceive and develop ideas that will lead to
compelling, authentic, personally meaningful films.
To facilitate the expression and development of their own unique artistic identity,
cinematic voice and point of view through an exploration of personal experience,
interests, concerns, values and inherent taste.
To motivate them to develop ideas for stories and characters through observation
of, research into, and direct experience with real life.
To introduce connections between cinematic creativity and liberal arts education,
drawing from a broad range of cultural sources.
To encourage awareness of the infinite possibilities for creative expression
inherent in cinema, including documentary and experimental forms.
To begin an exploration of the societal impact of motion picture media, and the
extent to which awareness of their own point of view can strengthen their creative
process.
To enhance their collaborative skills through group discussion, giving and
responding to feedback, and collective brainstorming.
To enable them to create a diverse portfolio of project ideas, outlines and
synopses that they can draw on in future production classes.
This is not a screenwriting class.

It is about the creative process - observation, visualization, intuition, self-exploration,
emotional response, inspiration, aesthetics, meaning, impact, purpose, and cultural
context. It is about what students want to express as filmmakers and why, what they think
film can and should be. This is all brought to bear through class discussion on the specific
ideas they are originating and developing. There is a progression in the assignments
towards more substantive project ideas and an exploration of various film structures and
forms.
Syllabus at creativefilmmaking.com
* NOTE: This syllabus is ideal for a seminar-style class for 12-15 students. In a larger
group, the class discussions can be designed for small groups, with faculty feedback
delivered more individually in email and written responses to student work rather than in
class.
Ongoing Assignments:
Observational Notebook Students are encouraged to keep a small notebook or
sketchbook with them at all times and write down notes and create word and/or image
sketches. They are also encouraged to take still photographs of things they see around
them that interest them and try to write at least a short paragraph every day in which they
describe something they saw that day, and how they responded to it. They will select
certain entries for their email journal.
Ask them to use the following categories to stimulate what they seek out to observe, and
to help them organize what they find:
Senses
Locations
Objects
Characters
Dialogue
Situations
Acts
Titles
Themes
Questions
sense impressions smells, sounds, tactile sensations,

tastes, visual images
places that are evocative
things that are suggestive of some deeper significance
people they find intriguing or complex
comments or exchanges they overhear that pique their
interest
revealing circumstances and incidents
behavior that is emblematic or provocative
words or phrases they encounter that seem like intriguing
titles
beliefs, ideas and values that seem basic to their
understanding of life
questions they have about what they observe, about their
response, and deeper questions evoked in the process
The goals of this exercise are for students to become better watchers and listeners; to
develop sharper insights into human nature, behavior and relationships; to develop a habit
of observing life and taking note of it; to become more attuned to their own distinctive
interests and responses; and to have a storehouse of observations to draw on when
creating stories, characters and dramatic or comic situations. (Original idea of the
categories originated with Michael Rabiger in his textbook Developing Story Ideas.)
Weekly Email Journal Every week before class, students will be required to email a
brief Email Journal to the instructor (no attachments, please). Their journal is read only
by the instructor and has two parts: Part I: a selection from their Observational
Notebook (outlined above); Part II: a short discussion of whatever feels most relevant
that week in the assigned text reading and their experience of their creative
development in general. A lot of their most important learning will happen experientially
outside the classroom, and these journals are a way to be more conscious of all aspects of
this process, more mindful and more self-aware.
Clipping File Students are encouraged to read a daily newspaper, and at least one
weekly or monthly magazine that includes current events or human interest stories. They
should clip and save articles, photographs and artwork that interests them as well as try to
let new material surprise them. (Needed for the Documentary Homework Assignment in
Week 11.)
Dream Journal Throughout the semester, students should jot down separate, private
notes of dreams they have. See page152 in the text for helpful tips on remembering
dreams. The Journal will be consulted for the Dream Sequence Homework Assignment
Weeks 7 and 8.)
Written Assignments All outside-of-class assignments must be computer-printed or
typed and spell-checked. In addition, students should come to class prepared for in-class
written exercises.
Reading Assignments There will be occasional handouts in class that will be required
reading. The required text is Creative Filmmaking from the Inside Out: 5 Keys to the
Art of Making Inspired Movies and Television by Dannenbaum, Hodge & Mayer. Two
suggested texts are Gabriele Lusser Ricos Writing the Natural Way and Michael
Rabigers Developing Story Ideas.
Preparation for Final Assignment: Fifteen Triggers The final assignment will be a list
of brief descriptions of fifteen of each students best story ideas or triggers for short
film projects. It is important for them to keep track of these ideas as they make
observations, collect news clippings and dreams and do class assignments.
GRADING CRITERIA
Weekly assignments (in-class, homework)
Class participation
Ongoing assignments (Email journal, notebook, news clippings)
40%
30%
30%
Creative work is always a challenge to grade. In this class assignments will be evaluated
both on the quality of the work as measured by commitment, energy, personal
investment and self-reflection as well as the ability to meet deadlines. Class participation
includes full involvement in and contribution to all class discussions, as well as reading
(in advance at times) the assignments of the other students and offering thoughtful,
constructive comments. Class attendance is mandatory, and includes being on time to
class (otherwise, the students who present their material first are short-changed).
15 WEEK SEMESTER OUTLINE

This section is designed for teachers. The assignments referred to are also available
as handouts written for students (see Student Handouts link).
Week One (Introspection I)
Introductions. Review of Course and Syllabus. Handouts, text information.
In-class exercises:
1. Discuss What is creativity? What are the elements of a conducive environment
for creativity? Consider the space your class meets in- could it be arranged differently?
Can the lighting, wall space and noise levels be addressed in order to make the room
more compatible for risk-taking and collaboration?
2. 5 minute Autobiography Ask students to write their autobiography in five minutes.
After they have finished (and not before) ask them to write it again for another five
minutes, using entirely new material. (This idea originated with Deena Metzger in
Writing For Your Life). Discuss aloud the process students went through. Their writing
will not be read aloud or collected.
3. What tugs at your sleeve? Have students write a brief essay on whatever has
tugged at their sleeve up to this point in their lives- worried them, intrigued them, given
them the greatest joy. Encourage them to find concerns that are not so global (world
peace) as to be overwhelming or so specific (my credit card is overdrawn) that they
have too narrow a range. Find issues and experiences that are less easily solved, those
that are very personally defined (eg. What is the nature of my loneliness now that I am
living away from home? How do I mediate my love for my huge SUV and my concern
for the environment?).
This writing assignment is not intended to define the issues that will generate film
ideas for them- it is a snapshot of who they are at this point in their lives, a small piece
of a long journey to find their own voice. Discuss aloud the process they each discovered
as they wrote this essay. This essay is not read aloud or collected but students should save
it (referenced in Weeks 13 and 14).
Homework Assignments:
1. Rediscovering the Roots of Your Creativity. (Limbering, p.45)
Ask students to write about their reactions to this experience of revisiting childhood play
and bring their writing to class. Suggest they notice their own body language as they
play, the elements of total engrossment in creating things as a child would that are
revealed and remembered.
2. Read two subsections of Chapter One: Introspection (1) A Mysterious
Predisposition: Discovering Their Creative Field and (2) Finding the Resonance:
Choosing the Stories They Want to Tell and include a response to the text in their
weekly Email Journals. Journals should also include notes on their process, observations
and are due two days before class meets again.
Week Two (Introspection II)

Warm-up: (done at the start of every class)
This is a very brief activity (one to three minutes) that can be led by the teacher for the
first few weeks and then originated by individual students in the following weeks. Any
appropriate breathing, stretching, meditating, centering/focusing, listening or other
sensory exercises can be used. Many of the techniques encountered later on in this
syllabus can be used multiple times and in multiple ways - clustering, brainstorming,
drawing with the opposite hand, writing to selections of music. Consult Ricos Writing
the Natural Way for more ideas.
Presentations of Homework:
1. Roots of Their Creativity- Students discuss their experiences of playing creatively
and turn in their essays. Encourage students to identify actual sensory experiences related
to their play- smell, sound, texture, sight, taste- and coach them to use vivid and specific
language- a tree becomes the soft, feathery bark of an old redwood. Discuss their
experiences of being inside the zone of total concentration while playing, creating.
Screen: Faith and John Hubleys animated shorts- A Windy Day and Moonbird are
excellent films for evoking childhood imagination and play. They are in The Hubley
Collection, Volume I (1983), and available for online purchase.
In-class exercises:
1. Clustering: Demonstrate this technique on the board and out loud by doing it with the
students participating. Starting with one word in the middle of a blank area, build word
clusters around this word, in any direction. Next identify a string of words or an idea
from the cluster of words that has some heat for them and is a promising direction to
explore. The idea is to then write from this material for seven to ten minutes. (The
clustering idea is from Gabriele Ricos Writing the Natural Way.) Let them know that
the class will be discussing the process but not reading individual material aloud. The
purpose of this exercise is to out-fox their rational minds and let themselves play. They
should write quickly and constantly, keeping their pens moving.
2. Going Home: (Limbering, p.46.) Write about this in class.
Homework assignment:
1. Exploring Family: (Limbering, p. 46) Students can use photocopies of old family
photos or depictions of children and parents found in magazines, comic books, photo
books like The Family of Man, reproductions of paintings and drawings. If they wish,
they can take new photos or create new artwork for this montage. Remind them to do
this assignment at least 2 days before it is due so that they can reflect on it with fresh
eyes. They should write a brief essay about their reflections and bring it to class with
their montage.
2. Read: Introspection A Private World: Drawing on Personal Memories
3. Last weekly reminder- Email journals are due every week, two days before class.
Week Three (Introspection III)

Warm-up Student led.
Presentations of Homework: View the students montages of family images. Discuss the
various themes reflected in them. Ask what is emphasized by the creator and what is not
included. Students turn in their essays on the montage.
Screenings: Use short student films or clips from features to illuminate material that
comes out of a filmmakers introspective connection to their own history. Recommended
films are Emiko Omoris documentary Rabbit in the Moon about living in a Japanese
internment camp, Ross McElwees documentary Shermans March and Julie Dashs
feature of her family history, Daughters of the Dust.
In-class exercises:
Memory Images: Do a short version of the Memory Images Workout on page 151 of
the text. To help them find their own memory/images, ask students to start by first
closing their eyes, breathing deeply and relaxing their whole body. Then spend at least 5
minutes letting the images emerge before writing them out fully. Emphasize tapping into
sensory information (smells, tastes, sounds) that can lead to vivid details like weather and
mealtimes. Screen the opening of Kasi Lemons childhood memories in her feature Eves
Bayou.
1. Family Story: Ask students to write a description of a short film based on a story
theyve heard from their parents, grandparents, or other relatives, one that predates their
birth and does not involve them. It could be a story that seems to resonate with some
significance for their family history or their cultural background. Ask them to add a
paragraph on how the emotions and the thematic resonances of the story will come across
visually and aurally, without being explicitly stated by the characters.
2. Read text: Inquiry: Breadth of knowledge/Liberal Arts
Week Four (Inquiry I)

Presentations of Homework and related exercise:
Students read their Family Story essays aloud and respond to each others work.
Introduce the Embedded Values section at the back of the text and ask them to each
choose one of the sections (eg. family Structure, Race, Ethnicity or Diversity,
Gender, Power etc.) that contains questions that they feel have a bearing on their own
story. Discuss these embedded values and the depth they can add to developing
characters and situations.
Screenings:
Use clips or shorts that celebrate other art forms or fields of knowledge such as
Cullodon, a BBC docudrama of the Scottish/English war; Pollock (Jackson), PI
(mathematics), The English Patient (cathedral ceiling paintings scene), Errol Morris A
Brief History of Time (cosmologist Stephen Hawkings).
In-class exercise:
1. Intellectual Inspiration: Limbering, p.68.
Ask students to list three worlds (kayaking, Catholic mass, woodworking) or areas of
study that they know something about (not media) and write about one of them, capturing
a sense of the texture, detail and characters of this world. They should be specific and use
vivid details rather than choose American History, ask them to try for something
more personal to their own interest like the seeming hap-hazard nature of the beginnings
of this country. Then have them choose one of these worlds and jot down ideas for
an imaginary scene or character in a film that would allow them to draw on this specific
interest or knowledge that they have. Discuss.
1. Observation Notebook: Ask students to read over their written observations in each
of the ten categories listed and choose one from each category as the raw material for a
fictional short story. The categories are Senses, Locations, Objects, Characters, Dialogue,
Situations, Acts, Titles, Themes and Questions. If certain categories are underrepresented in their Notebooks, urge students to pay attention to building them up. As
they fictionalize, they may veer from the reality of the actual elements in order to serve
the story. The idea is to benefit from the rich specificity of real people.
2. Artistic Nurturing: Limbering, p.69.
Ask students to attend a type of cultural event that they are drawn to but have not yet
experienced and write a brief report that captures their observations and a sense of the
textures and details of this world. Students might try anything from samba dancing or
poetry readings to classic car conventions. They have 2 weeks to do this assignment.
(Due Week Six).
3. Read Inquiry: Getting Out of the Car: Observation of the World.
Week Five (Inquiry II)

Warm-up: Use the Limbering Sensing the World, p.69-70.
Presentations of Homework: Students discuss their process of observing real life
elements and then fictionalizing them for a story. Do they feel something was lost in the
process? Gained? Has this exercise affected how they observe or record their
observations?
Screenings: Look for film clips and student shorts that rely on close and skilled
observation of real life such as Fred Wisemans cinema verite films, acting roles that
require a specific body language as in Daniel Day-Lewis rendering of physical disability
in My Left Foot or the production design required to recreate the Washington Post
newsroom in All the Presidents Men.
In-class exercises:
1. Getting out of the car Send students out of the classroom to find a public place
on campus where they can easily observe people as they interact with each other, enter
and exit buildings, order or eat food, etc. They should observe the environment for ten
minutes without writing, then take notes about all that their senses are aware of the
location itself, the quality of the light, the exchanges between people, the noises, the
smells, etc. They want to gather as many observable facts as possible but they do not
need to hear what people are saying. Remind them of the categories Senses, Locations,
Objects, Characters, Dialogue, Situations, Acts, Titles, Themes and Questions. They
many discover other categories that are appropriate. Give them 20 minutes outside the
classroom before they return and discuss their observations.
2. Interviewing
a. Screen: Interviews with Interviewers- About Interviewing (1985, 51:35), which
includes interviews with Studs Terkel and Susan Stamberg. The documentary is by
filmmaker Skip Blumberg and available from Electronic Arts Intermix on the web at
http://www.eai.org. Also consider any film or television programs that contain skillful
questioning such as Bill Moyers work on PBS. Discuss the elements of a good interview,
the skills needed by the interviewer.
b. Partner Interviews: Divide the students into partnerships. Ask each partner to identify
and discuss an area in which they have some expertise or experience. (not movies or
filmmaking). They may want to take notes as they will be summarizing their
partner/subjects experiences and knowledge to the rest of the class. (Give them 8-12
minutes for each interview.)
c. Summaries and Reflections: After each interviewer summarizes the results of their
interview, ask them to reflect on which questions brought out the fullest responses open-ended ones, those that extended the subjects own responses? Which ones had
limited results and why? What questions did they realize later that they could have asked
or followed up with? How do they go deeper? Keep on track? When did they rely on their
own intuition and decide which question to go to next? Did they pick up on their
subjects body language?
Photographing the Character of a Location
a. Ask students to photograph (stills) a room that is well inhabited by a person that had
everything to do with how that room looks. It could be an eccentric dorm room, an
artists studio, a handymans garage, a chefs home kitchen, etc. and it should be
photographed in a way that reflects the character/personality of that person. They should
not photograph the individualjust their surroundings. Urge them to consider the traits
and values reflected in the physical surroundings and to think of unusual places to capture
their characters more hidden side.

b. After they shoot a full roll and have their photographs developed, ask them to select 710 of the most evocative ones and organize them in an intuitive order - one that makes
sense to them, in the order that they want viewers to experience them. If they will tape
the photos on a piece of cardboard to protect them, have them use double-sided tape so
they can move the photos around into a new order during the class presentation.
2. Read Inquiry Doing the Homework: Researching the Film
3. Homework Reminders:
a. Artistic Nurturing Their report on a cultural event in a world that is unfamiliar to
them is due next week.
b. Dream journals: Make sure they are collecting dreams or dream fragments in their
journals. Discuss what works for them and what is difficult in remembering dreams.
Refer them to the texts suggestions for remembering dreams.
c. Final Assignment- Triggers Remind them to keep track of their ideas as they make
observations, collect news clippings and dreams and write class assignments. This is
necessary for their final assignment- descriptions of fifteen of their best story ideas or
triggers for short film projects.
Week Six (Inquiry III)

1. Photographing the Character of a Location Review selections of students photos.
Discuss images of a place as tools for revealing character. What did they glean from
looking at other students photos? What was missing? Emphasized? What changes in the
viewing order of the photos might be made?
2. Artistic Nurturing/world event: Each student summarizes their experience of a
chosen cultural event.
In-class exercises:
1. Turning Points- Student Interviews.
a. Ask students to think of a turning point in their life perhaps a choice they made that,
even at the time, they knew was decisive; or perhaps something small, subtle and brief,
that they might well have missed at the time as significant but that turned out by chance
to change their life; or perhaps a moment that involved no choice at all, but was in some
ways a random brush with fate. They can think of several turning points and choose one
that they are comfortable sharing. They will have several minutes to do this part.
b. Interview- In pairs, students will interview another student about the moment they
have chosen. They should take notes as they interview this other person as they will be
presenting their partners turning point to the class. Then ask the partners to switch roles
and let the subject be the interviewer. (15 minutes each)
c. Report- Students then each summarize their subjects story of their turning point,
trying to capture the essence and the importance of what they communicated and relay it
to the rest of the class. (3 minute presentations)

d. Reflect- Ask students to convey their experience of having their personal story made
public. What was emphasized, minimized, left out, added? How did their perspective
change about their own life because of this public telling? And because of the more
private experience of being asked about it? The purpose is to develop their sense of the
importance of inquiry through improving their interviewing skills, their awareness of the
filtering that goes on in storytelling and the choices that get made in deciding what gets
represented or misrepresented. It can also help students recognize the drama inherent in
human nature, in real dilemmas with complex emotions. Students also recognize the story
potential in their own material as they use both inquiry and introspection skills.
2. Writing: Wings of Desire
a. Screen the Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders) opening without sound and masking the
subtitles so that students can get the idea of watching characters and following them as
they move through their lives. (Or use the American version City of Angels without
sound.)
b. Write: Ask students to choose one of the characters from their observation journal,
someone who intrigued them and imagine them as they go through their day. They
should spend a few moments recalling that character as vividly and as distinctly as
possible, then imagine following them, letting the character come to life and move
independently, revealing what they might be thinking and feeling through their
observable actions and body language. Write for 20 minutes.
c. Discuss this type of writing experience with the class and ask them if they
encountered any surprises. This workout makes a connection between their use of
inquiry/observation and their own intuition.
Homework Assignment:
1. Evocative Object: Ask students to bring an object to class next week- something from
an area other than film that feels mysterious, provocative, emotionally resonant and
exciting to them. It should not be text-based. It might be a photograph, painting, drawing
(from art, architecture, science, anthropology), something that is evocative without
having an obvious literal meaning or narrative, an object with specific significance in a
field (a fossil, a model of a molecule, a geometric shape), and so forth. They should be
prepared to describe the thoughts and emotions this object calls up in them.
2. Altered States Film Clips Students can be thinking about a film clip of dreams, day
dreams, fantasies, premonitions, memories or chemically altered states that they
experienced as remarkably effective. They will bring it in for screening during class
Week 8.
3. Read Intuition Open-closedness: Link Between Intellect and Intuition
Ask them to pay close attention to John Lasseters story on pp.77-8 in choosing their
Evocative Object (see above).
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Week Seven (Intuition I)

Presentations of Homework/ In-class exercises:
1. Evocative Object
a. Re-read animator John Lasseters story in the text on pp. 77-8 about his experience of
imagining the inner emotions of an object- his coffee cup. Have students lay out their
objects on a table where they can be seen easily. (With a large class, split the students
into smaller groups.) After a short period of time of looking closely at the objects, ask
students to notice what first grabs their attention, then what they see after spending some
time looking.
b. Have them choose an object that is not their own. They should note their emotional
response and sense of connection to this object and then, in ten minutes, write the
emotional life of the object.
c. Discuss with them the thoughts and emotions these things called up in them.
d. Finally, ask each student to reveal why they chose the objects they brought in.
2. Art Reproductions
a. Lay out a selection of entirely non-figurative abstract art reproductions for students to
each choose their own. Ask them to choose a color or shape within it, write down the
word that describes that color or shape, and create an associative cluster around the word
(two minutes). Invite them to use that cluster of words to inspire their writing for the
next five minutes and to try to let the writing do itself. (For a refresher on clustering,
see p.92, Making New Connections limbering.)
b. Discuss the linkage between intellect and intuition and ask them to comment on the
quotes in this weeks Student Assignment handout. Draw comparisons with their own
academic work in several fields- such as having a double major- one in art and one in
science.
Screenings:
1. Intuition and Intellect: Screen moments from films that reflect a filmmakers use of
intuition as well as intellect. In Visions of Light, cinematographers describe their
experiences in recognizing happy accidents like the instance in the film In Cold Blood,
where the rain running down the window created an effect of tears coming down the
Robert Blake characters face as he faced hanging.
2. Altered States: Show clips from films that have cinematic representations of dreams,
fantasies and altered states of mind, such as 8 1/2, The Wizard of Oz, Spellbound, La
Jette, Afterlife, Rhapsody in August, Trainspotting, Persona, Minority Report and Dont
Look Now. Students also recommended Vanilla Sky, Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, and
Gladiator. Discuss the feelings and moods these emotionally expressive clips and the use
of dream-like cinematic language (jump cuts, non-linear time, expressionistic style, etc.)
to reveal a characters inner thoughts and feelings.
Homework Assignment:
1. Dream Journal For next week, students need to reread their dream journal from the
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beginning of the term until now and think about what they learn from reading all the
entries as a group. What are they struck by when the entries are considered all together?
Next, they should choose one dream that intrigues them, and that they wouldnt mind
others hearing, and bring it to class.
2. Altered State Clips Students need to select a 3 minute (or less) clip from a film that
embodies an altered state cinematically and bring the tape in, cued to their scene for
screening in class next week.
3. Read Intuition The Dreamer: Connecting to the Nonconscious Mind.
Week Eight (Intuition II)

Warm-up: Student led.
Screenings:
View the clips students have brought in. Ask each one to lead the discussion on their own
film and reflect on the films emotional feel and cinematic language, its dream-like
language and connections to this weeks text, The Dreamer: Connecting to the
Nonconscious Mind.
In-class Exercises:
1. Dreamwork:
a. Ask students to write a one-paragraph description for a short (2-10 minute) film
inspired by the dream they have selected from their Dream Journal. Ask them to write
their film description with the same elements as they might use in a dream journal,
including settings, characters, events, details, emotions, etc. They are free to deviate from
the actual dream but they should keep in mind how they actually experience dreams, and
resist imposing narrative conventions.
b. Have students translate images from their dream into a poetic written form, using
fragments of sentences, vivid and expressive language, evoking a dream-like quality in
how the words are laid out on the page. If possible, give students large sheets of poster
paper to write on and then hang their sheets up when finished so the class can walk
around and read each one silently.
c. Discuss with them how they might use the elements of cinematic expression
(performance, production design, camera, lighting, editing, sound design, music) to create
on film the feel, the dream-like quality of the sequence and its images.
2. Writing to Music:
While listening to music selections (preferably without lyrics), students write
spontaneously and non-stop. The point is not to seek plot or story but to write whatever
flows associatively from the music, emphasizing emotion and image. This can also be a
drawing, painting exercise. Discuss the experience.
Suggested selections: Chelsea Bridge (B. Strayhorn), from Gerry Mulligan Meets
Ben Webster (7:20); Green Arrow, from I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One, Yo
La Tengo (5:40); Isa Lei (Lieut. A. W. Caten), from A Meeting by the River, Ry
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Cooder and V. M. Bhatt (7:39).

Optional Screening: Show a few sequences from the documentary Pulse: A Stomp
Odyssey (2002, based on the theatre performance group Stomp). It is a visual
celebration of sound by filmmakers Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas and the DVD
version is available online from Amazon.com.
1. Ask students to do the Daydreaming limbering (p. 91) for this homework
assignment. They should include their reflections on this assignment in their Email
Journal this week.
2. Emotional Moments: Ask students to make a list of five key emotional moments in
their life. After choosing one, they should try to bring back the visceral sense of the
emotion(s) involved, perhaps by remembering an object, a journal, letter, photograph,
song, etc. They should then imagine and visualize an entirely fictional short scene that
captures and conveys those emotions as fully as possible. Encourage them to think in
terms of images, sounds, and character behavior, but not to worry about plot or how the
scene fits into a larger story. In writing this scene out, they should focus on emotion as
expressed in cinematic languagesetting, light, body language, dialogue, behavior, etc.
Rather than explaining, they need to write what would be seen and heard.
New this week: Ask students to email this assignment to the entire class two days before
the next class so that each students work can be read by everyone else.
3. Read Time at the Desk/ Time Running in the Forest: Enticing Intuition.
Week Nine (Intuition III)

Presentations of Homework: Emotional Momentsdiscuss the process of turning a
remembered emotional moment into a fictional film scene. Instructors can offer specific
feedback on the homework scenes to each student in writing.
In-class exercises:
1. Random Sound effects- Play a series of evocative sound effects (for example, distant
crying, fog horns, sirens, laughter, children at play, etc.) and ask students to cluster the
associative ideas on paper that occur to them. See the Random Sampling Workout on
p.162.
2. Sound Landscape- Ask students to imagine and then write a description of the
multiple layers of sound for the opening of a film scene as if it were a scene
experienced in the dark. Consult the Starting with Sound Workout (p. 154). Option:
Students can then add the visual part of their scene and discuss this process of starting
with sound.
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Screenings:
1. Sound Design - Show clips from films with complex sound design such as PunchDrunk Love, Apocalypse Now, All That Jazz (rehearsal scene with near silence, magnified
effects) and The English Patient.
2. Adaptations Show clips of films that are adaptations of other material - books, short
stories, plays, etc. The Minority Report DVD has a discussion on track two of the initial
response of both the director (Spielberg) and the lead actor (Cruise) to Phillip K. Dicks
original short story Minority Report.
3. Parallel versions: Compare two versions of the same scene- such as the ending of A
bout de souffl (1960, Godard) and Breathless (1983, Jim McBride).
Or a parallel scenes from both Lubitschs 1943 Heaven Can Wait and Beatty/Henrys
1978 version. Discuss how each version reflects the values and perspective of the
director/adaptor.
1. Adaptation: Have students choose a non-filmic work they would like to adapt. It
could be a play, novel, short story, fairytale, poem, song, comic book anything other
than a television program, video game, movie or other motion picture story. It should also
be something that hasnt been adapted before. If the original source is long or complex,
urge them to find a moment or piece of the whole that they most respond to. We
encourage students to find ideas that are short and producible (5-10 minutes), suitable for
their next production class.
a. Write: They should write concise descriptions of (1)what it is about the original work
that interests them, (2) their personal angle; (3) a three-sentence description of their
adaptation (beginning, middle, end); (4) a brief paragraph on what, at this point, they feel
is the storys spine (or theme, or idea, or what the story is really about, etc.), (5) its
central conflict or dramatic tension, and (6) the emotions they want the audience to
experience at the end (they should be careful to describe this in terms of what they want
the audience to feel, not what them want them to think). Encourage them to continue to
pay attention to vivid visual and aural imagery. One to two page maximum.
b. Email: The entire assignment should be no more than one page total, and should be
emailed to the rest of the class in time to be read by everyone before the next class.
2. Read Interaction: Plenty of Rope: The Fluid Collaboration
Week Ten (Interaction I)

Discuss process of adaptation. Student work is responded to in small groups but not read
aloud.
14
In-class exercises:
1. Ground Rules: Use the Ground Rules Limbering on p.115 of the text. Ask students
to do this in partnerships, with the final product being a joint collaborative list. Students
then share their lists with the entire class and discuss the process of effective
collaboration.
2. Observed Moments in Photographs Lay out a variety of candid photos (perhaps
selected from photography books, and then reproduced as high quality photocopies) that
contain provocative Observed Moments. Each student chooses one photograph to write
about. They should imagine that this photograph is a single frame within a very short film
that consists of one scene with one principal dramatic moment (1-5 minutes or less in
length), and then imagine what happened just before and just after the moment in the
photograph. They should write a brief two-paragraph synopsis for that film. The first
paragraph should focus on potential images (visual and aural), motifs and themes in the
film. The second paragraph should be three sentences one each for the beginning, the
middle and the end of the story.
Feedback: Divide the class into smaller groups, and have each writer show their chosen
photo in turn and read their two paragraphs to their group. Then the writer leads a fiveminute discussion, asking for feedback on their story: what intrigues the group about the
story and its key image? How do they connect with it in terms of character, theme, tone,
etc.? Ask the responding students to assume they each have specific roles
(cinematographer, production designer, sound, etc.) as they participate and give feedback.
Screening: Show the special feature on the L.A. Confidential DVD that has director
Curtis Hansons photo presentation of his vision of the film project that he showed to the
prospective producer, production designer and cinematographer.
* From the main menu, click Hush-Hush Headliners; then Extra! Extra! Reel
Shocking Evidence!, then The Photo Pitch.
1. Fictional Narrative: Each student now develops the idea for the short one-scene film
they initiated in class with the photograph they selected. They should go through their
image and clippings files or books, search online and any other sources they can find for
images that will allow them to make a five-minute visual presentation in the next class in
the style of Curtis Hansen on the L.A. Confidential DVD. They should prepare to talk
about such questions as: 1) What will the film be about? 2) What will the film really be
about? (thematic subtext, their point of view); 3) What will be up on the screen? What
will the audience actually see and hear? 4) What will the style of the film be? What will
make it cinematic? Students will email a written version of their answers to these
questions to the instructor as part of the homework assignment. The instructor can email
comments back if necessary, that help the writer clarify their intent. Students should
bring their presentation to class along with their written answers to the above questions.
2. Read Interaction Arguments Worth Having: Responding to Creative Differences.
15
Week Eleven (Interaction II)

Presentations of Homework & In-class exercises:
1. Image Presentation of Fictional narrative- In small groups of 4, each student
delivers the visual image presentation for their film idea from the previous week. Group
members each write down their one sentence summary of the core idea as they
understood it and then share it within the group. Various things can happen- (a) the
group can offer such a diverse array of responses that the writer may realize that their
presentation lacks focus and clarity; (b) the core ideas from the group can be remarkably
congruent, or (c) anything in between. (4 students per group, 15 minutes each, 60 minutes
total.)
2. Rewrite Core Idea- Ask every student to take brief notes on the feedback they
receive. Give them 5 minutes to clarify their core idea in writing and turn it in to the
instructor.
3. BrainstormingBefore
*
beginning the next section, discuss brainstorming as an activity that
involves the creative free-association of ideas with no critical judgment involved. It
requires a safe environment where ideas flow freely and no
one worries about who gets the credit.
Students remain in the same small groups and choose which presented film idea to use
for the following brainstorming session. The writer of the chosen idea becomes the
director and the group discussion leader. Those whose idea is not being used should
select another creative role: cinematographer, sound designer, composer, production
designer, producer, editor, or actor. They should imagine being a creative collaborator on
the crew of this film and offer ideas that build on and contribute constructively to the film
that has been envisioned by the writer-director. (Schedule 20-30 minutes.)
4. Group Presentations- Each writer/director summarizes the results of their groups
brainstorming session to the entire class and then discusses the process, problems and
promise inherent in artistic collaboration.
(20 30 minutes)
5. Ten Things- Ask class members to write their own list of Ten Things I Learned from
the Movies and Television (Limbering, p. 146 of text) and then write a paragraph about
their personal perspective on their list. Refer to embedded Values list at back of text.
Screen: Show a range of forms and styles of short student documentaries and discuss the
filmmakers sources, the choice of form and style. Ask students to consider and discuss
the filmmakers point of view and personal investment in the subject being considered.
Discuss various definitions of what makes a documentary
1. Documentary Preparation- Ask students to select five stories from news clippings
that intrigue them. After choosing one story idea to develop, students need to write down
five good questions that arise and then do beginning research with two other sources
(reference the Inquiry chapter) as they develop this idea into a very short documentary
(5-7 minutes). Students should prepare a written summary of the topic, including the five
16
or more questions they have, the research theyve done, their approach and theme for this
documentary. Remind students to bring in the five news clippings also as part of their
presentations at the next class. Ask them to email a copy of their summary to classmates
two days before the next class. Students are responsible for reading each others email
summaries.
2. Read: Interaction Everyone telling the story: Establishing a creative
environment
Week Twelve (Interaction III)

Presentations of Homework: Each student presents a very brief version of their
documentary idea and approach to the idea, including brief references to their theme,
their approach to the films topic, the research needed and the potential subjects. As part
of their presentation, each student leads the class discussion about their proposed
documentary. The idea is for students to practice staying connected to their intuitive
approach to a topic while being open to others ideas about it (mention Murchs openclosedness, pp.73-80, Intuition). Class members ask questions and offer feedback on the
degree of clarity, the personal perspective and scope of the idea.
Screenings:
1. Collaboration- Show a portion of an episode of the HBO documentary
series Project Greenlight (available on DVD). Discuss the tensions, collaborations and
arguments worth having aspects of the clip.
1. Documentary synopsis- Using the feedback from the class, students continue to
develop their documentary idea into a two page treatment. Only if they feel strongly that
their idea cannot work, should they change topics. As they continue to focus and refine
their approach they should explore the same questions they used on their fictional
narrative treatment: 1) What will the film be about? 2) What will the film really be about?
(thematic subtext, their point of view) 3) What will be up on the screen? What will the
audience actually see and hear? 4) What will the structure of the film be (e.g.,
chronological, topical, by character, etc.) 5) What will the style of the film be? What will
make it cinematic? 6) Why did they choose this topic? Why should this film be made?
Why are they the person to make it? Email- They should email their treatments to
everyone two days before the next class, to be read in preparation for class discussion.
2. Read Impact The Undercurrent: Finding the Soul of the Film
17
Week Thirteen (Impact I)

Presentations of Homework: Discuss the revised and developed documentary summaries
that were emailed. Ask them to give each other their final feedback on the question If
these projects were to go forward into production, what would the filmmakers want to
consider or clarify?
In-class exercises:
Re-read the topic headings of the Embedded Values section in the Appendix of the text.
Screen parallel scenes from several films and discuss the embedded values inherent in
each. Look for films with diverse approaches and common elements. The early morning
scene in Beethoven when the family members pressure Dad to keep a puppy can be
compared to the breakfast scene near the beginning of Ordinary People. The opening of
The Piano, where a woman arrives on the shore of her new home can be contrasted with
the opening of Raise the Red Lantern, with the arrival of a woman as a new concubine in
a wealthy mans home.
Screen: In the opening sequence of the documentary The Making of Portrait of a Lady
where director Jane Campion works on a scene with actors Nicole Kidman and John
Malkovich. Discuss the different collaboration styles that Campion uses with each of the
actors. (available on the Short Cinema Journal DVD, Volume I:2 Issue: Dreams)
Homework assignments:
1. Ask students to re-read the essay they each wrote the first week of class (What tugs
at your sleeve?), reading it as if it was written by someone else and then answering the
question What themes would be particularly important to this filmmaker? Each student
should select one theme and create an assemblage* which reifies** that theme. They
should make minimal or no use of representations of characters, and should not use
explanatory or descriptive text. Suggest that they try out their assemblage on a friend
before bringing it to class to see how or if the intended theme is being evoked. Studentts
should also write brief essays on the work theyve done in class in terms of how it relates
to the themes in their original essay.
*Assemblage: a sculpture consisting of an arrangement of miscellaneous objects,
such as scraps of metal, cloth and string
**Reify: to embody, to make concrete
2. Read Impact Fresh Eyes: The Power of the Audience
18
Week Fourteen (Impact II)

Warm-up: Student-led.
Class views and reflects on their personal responses to the assemblages.
In-class exercise:
Fieldtrip- If possible, take the class on a short campus fieldtrip to encounter an art form
that has some social, political or community significance and impact. Provide students
with background on the artistic form or site before or immediately after the site visit.
Discuss the artists perspective (if possible, in the artists own words) as well as the
resulting impact of the work, both intended and unintended.
*At USC we visit the Blacklist Garden that honors the writers and filmmakers
who were blacklisted and unable to work during the McCarthy era (see USC website).
Screenings:
1. If pertinent, show film clips that relate to your field trip.
2. Screen clips of two different versions of the battle climax in Henry V, one directed by
Laurence Olivier and one by Kenneth Branagh, who both played the title role. Ask
students to write a brief paragraph about the embedded values in each film, reflecting
each filmmakers point of view. Discuss their ideas aloud.
Homework assignments:
1. For the final class students should select a 1-3 minute clip of a compelling moment in a
film, whether it was a positive or a negative experience for them. Ask them to write a
brief paragraph on why they chose the clip and what Embedded Values they detect in the
clip. It can be on VHS (cued to the clip) or DVD (with a precise time noted for the start
of the clip). Option: If they do not have access to a copy of this clip, ask them to email the
instructor with the exact title and director/year of the film as well as a description of the
moment itself. Select from among the available film clips for the class screening.
2. Read Impact (3) Taking Responsibility: Owning the Images We Create.
Week Fifteen (Impact III)

Warm-up: Student-led.
Screenings: Students present their selected clips and describe the reason the moment
onscreen was compelling to them. Discuss the Embedded Values questions that are most
relevant to each clip.
In-class exercises:
1. What wouldnt I do? Ask students to write a brief essay (20 minutes) on
19
What wouldnt I do as a filmmaker? Have them think about this question in

terms of a specific scene or film theyve experienced or, something hypothetical, that in
terms of point of view or content they wouldnt be willing to work on. Have them include
a discussion of what criteria they used to make that decision, what they consider their
responsibilities as a filmmaker to be, and what hopes, expectations, and/or concerns they
have about the impact their work may have on an audience. Discuss these ideas with the
class.
2. Evaluate the class experience- Using a summary list of the class assignments (see
Handouts- Week 15 pdf file online), students should make brief notes on all the
assignments- what worked or didnt work for them, what theyd like to go back to at
some point, what theyd like to continue to do as a regular practice. This evaluation is
partly for them, partly for their instructor.
Homework:
The final assignment for the class is to create a personal list of 15 triggers or ideas for
films that have emerged from the work done over the semester. Each trigger should be
described as a complete idea in one to three sentences and its connection (if possible) to a
specific class assignment. Due in one week.
20

Creative Filmmaking From The Inside Out

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Creative Filmmaking From The Inside Out

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[Teachers Guide for a 3 hour, 1 day a week, 15 week course.

Creative Filmmaking from the Inside Out:

This is not a screenwriting class.

sense impressions smells, sounds, tactile sensations,

15 WEEK SEMESTER OUTLINE

Week Two (Introspection II)

Week Three (Introspection III)

Week Four (Inquiry I)

Week Five (Inquiry II)

their characters more hidden side.

Week Six (Inquiry III)

to the rest of the class. (3 minute presentations)

Week Seven (Intuition I)

Week Eight (Intuition II)

Cooder and V. M. Bhatt (7:39).

Week Nine (Intuition III)

Week Ten (Interaction I)

Week Eleven (Interaction II)

Week Twelve (Interaction III)

Week Thirteen (Impact I)

Week Fourteen (Impact II)

Week Fifteen (Impact III)

What wouldnt I do as a filmmaker? Have them think about this question in

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