One of this year's NextTerm courses took to Hollywood for a full investigation of the movie industry. The class met with alums and industry experts to explore every avenue of the movie-making process from a story's inception to the execution and profitability of that story.
Students met with the team at Electronic Arts to learn about motion capture and how human movements are translated to video games and movies through infrared cameras and sensors.
UTA literary agent, John Kaiser, explained how his clients' screenplays are selected to go into production, the economics behind how profits are distributed, and the recent WGA strike's impact on the industry.
Josh Mack '99, VP of Production at New Line Cinemas, described how and why movies are greenlit and supported by studios as he shared some of his most notable memories from over a decade in the movie business.
Alyssa Pone Starr '09 took students for a full tour of the ABC7 Los Angeles studio to show them the ins and outs of immediate storytelling in a news broadcast. Alyssa introduced the class to anchor, Kayna Whitworth, who shared the importance of finding and sharing a truly complete story.
The class spent an entire day at a Burbank studio with filmmakers Chris Johnson '05, Jim Manning '05, and Joe Carugati '07 who helped students film different scenes and promotional materials for the 2 prospective movies that they conceived and pitched to audience members during the showcase event, NexPo. Chris and Jim taught students how to use their state-of-the-art equipment including RED digital cameras, a heavy-duty steadicam rig, a motorized camera slider, and a probe lens while using advanced lighting techniques to give a professional quality to their work. Students then spent some time in the editing bay with Joe as he gave tips, tricks, pointers, and tutorials to help the students create incredible projects displayed during NexPo.
The WB studio tour taught the class about the cost benefits of shooting on a lot as well as the imagination needed to turn a building used in a 1960's film into a modern-day casino. Students took a peek behind the scenes of some shows currently filming and observed some incredible set design. Throughout the trip, students explored locations used to film some of the most iconic movies set in LA and learned about the cost and logistics of filming on location compared to a studio lot.
The class took to Venice Beach, where students engaged in filming activities to complement their prospective movie pitches while engaging local business owners to understand the components of filming inside their respective restaurants and shops.
When the students returned home, they used the knowledge and expertise gained during the trip to create comprehensive pitches of movie concepts that were born in the classes leading up to NextTerm. Students allocated hypothetical funds to hire cast and crew and make a box-office-smash. They created detailed marketing campaigns to build excitement for their movies, which included digital, physical, and spectacular advertising strategies as well as captivating video content akin to Vanity Fair, Complex, and GQ's promotional RU-vid material. Lastly, they created heart-pounding trailers for these movies, projected onto the big screen to students, parents, faculty, and staff during NexPo.
8 июл 2024
