Fall '05/Spring' 06 : New Media Course- Making Documentaries and Multi-Media Websites that Illustrates Themes in Selected Literature

Syllabus

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    In this term, students will focus on the studies of three genres: poetry, short stories and documentaries. They will learn the critical process of reading poetry and stories and learn the techniques of  composing their original poems and stories based on a theme. Their finished creative and analytical work will be published in

 The selected work will enter the following contests-

    In order to make students become more aware of their social and personal responsibilities and develop the belief that their thoughts count, students will develop a theme on  which their will make a documentary film in a collaborative movie production group. They will submit the documentaries for the Tribeca Film Festival. Through this movie project, students will learn

The themes may include:

Contents of the Movie Project for Tribeca Film Festival : 2005 Award-winning films

"NY, NY Narrative Features and NY, NY Documentary Features, capture the diverse perspectives of living and experiencing New York "

"The New York Narrative film competition presents New York stories ranging from dramas dealing with lost love and post 9/11 grief, to suburban tales, slapstick comedies, and films that use the Republican National Convention as their backdrop. The New York Documentaries include stories about gentrification, portraits of New York icons, and politically and socially conscious films."

Click the link to view details about the Tribeca Film Festival Awards

Read the synopsis of some short film that participated in the Film Festival

God’s Hand On A Spray Can is a coming-of-age story about three boys growing up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn who use graffiti as their form of artistic expression. I had the privilege of meeting and interviewing the film’s writer/director/producer Sai Varadan.  He made the film as his thesis project for NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts Film Program. His story was 25 months in the making before it was shaped into the film that’s at the Festival.  Sai wrote God’s Hand based on his own experiences growing up in Crown Heights.  He says "Graffiti often gets a bad rap and people think its gang-related when really its just art." God’s Hand was shot on 35mm film stock thanks to Kodak.  Sai won the very prestigious Kodak Student Filmmaker award; he was awarded with 15,000 feet of film. The 30-minute film was shot entirely in New York in three to four days.

Sai acknowledges that its no coincidence that minority youths living in underdeveloped neighborhoods happen to be the majority of graffiti artists. However,  he wanted his film to tell a story about young artists seeking a place to express themselves; it wasn’t meant to be political.  Painting on the streets provides a much wider audience for artists.  Sai said " The streets are our galleries."  He feels very honored that his film is being showcased at the Tribeca Film Festival. 
 

 

Amazon Short Film Competition Site featuring  MacroMedia Flash Video

View the finalists of  Year 2005 contest

To encode a film in Flash , use Sorenson Squeeze 4

For information on how to encode your film with Squeeze, see http://www.sorenson.com/solutions/prod/mx_win.php#interface

You can learn more about Sorenson Squeeze at http://www.sorenson.com/solutions/prod/mx_win.php

If you have questions about the contest rules, contact: shortfilms-questions@amazon.com.

If you have questions or problems with Sorenson Squeeze, contact: http://p094.ezboard.com/bsorensonsqueeze.

:Tribeca Film Institute partners with NYC Department of Education to implement documentary filmmaking program for high school students at annual Summer Arts Institute.

The studio we'll work with  Yellow Box Studio

Making a documentary of our classroom

Partner with Two Other High Schools through Video Conferencing

Tribeca All Access Connects