Topics in Acting for the Screen (377-0-21)
Topic
Independent Feature Lab
Instructors
Alexander John Lester Phillips
Meeting Info
Louis Hall 106: Thurs 3:00PM - 5:50PM
Overview of class
The feature film lab is modeled on professional directing and writing labs to give actors, writers,
and directors the opportunity to prepare a feature screenplay for performance and production.
Through collaborative work in class, students will explore and experiment with the
interrelationship between text, camera, and actor in a workshop setting. Writers will bring in
scripts, actors will embody the text, and directors will stage scenes - rehearsing, shooting,
editing the results in an experimental workshop environment. The goal is to prepare the material
and the approach to it for the challenges of low-budget feature production, in an exploration of
story, characters, visualization and on-set practicalities. Students will work in small groups to
workshop key scenes or sequences from a feature script in class and on camera as a means of
better understanding and evaluating the whole film and process.
Registration Requirements
Completion of RTVF 190. The course can count as an elective for
the Acting for Screen.
Contact Prof Spencer Parsons s-parsons@northwestern.edu to request a permission number
Learning Objectives
Collaboration in the preparation process for filmmaking--rewriting the
screenplay, developing characterization and performance strategies, and developing the
audiovisual approach with an eye toward the realities of low budget production
Teaching Method
In class performance exercises and shooting projects in the field, with intense in class discussion and critique.
Evaluation Method
Class participation and engagement in exercises and critique, meeting
project deadlines, demonstration of conceptual understanding of both performance and camera
techniques covered.
Class Materials (Required)
Links to necessary readings and viewings will be provided at no cost by the
instructor via Canvas.