Fall 2023 Courses in Film, TV Writing, Creative Writing

FLM 500.S60 (#94034) MASTER CLASS IN INDEPENDENT FILM PRODUCTION (4 cr)
Tuesdays, 5:20-8:10 pm - Christine Vachon and Simone Pero

Master Classes focus on filmmaking as an art form and an industry. Creative and business sectors are at an intersection of unlimited potential, and students will learn how to tap into and exploit the shifting paradigms of filmmaking – or content-making -- as practiced today. Students study the craft of script development, directing, and producing, and learn the realities of the independent film business from top industry professionals, including producers, casting agents, cinematographers, designers, actors, distributors, and lawyers, as well as distinguished filmmakers. This class is a core requirement for the MFA in Film. Due to professor Vachon’s course schedule, some of these class sessions will be held remotely.

 

FLM 501.S60 (#94036) Film Tools (3 cr) SAFETY, SHOOTING & SPLICING
Thurs, 5:20-8:10 pm, Jordan Roberts - Section I

FLM 501.S61 (#94089) Film Tools (3 cr) SAFETY, SHOOTING & SPLICING
Thurs, 2:20-5:10 pm, Jordan Roberts Section II

This course will focus on the fundamentals of production; covering safety, production equipment and editing. You’ll be introduced to the tools that you will have at your disposal to shoot your first semester film projects. We will spend time in the classroom and on set, shooting various exercises. We will cover set safety, proper handling of the gear, the ins and outs of framing, blocking and cinematography, sound equipment and natural lighting. In addition we will cover audio techniques and set protocol. This is the first step to help you properly capture the stories you want to tell.

Once we shoot for a few weeks we will move into the edit lab. Whether you are a seasoned editor just looking for a few new tips, or a novice who has never made an edit in your life, this section of the course will provide the instruction that you need. Working with Adobe Premiere Pro, the course will cover the basics of non-linear editing; including: creating new projects, media management, sequence settings, importing, transcoding, sound, JKL cuts, titling, mixed file format editing, export settings and delivery. Not only will we discuss the tools of editing, we will discuss the theory of it, and how each and every cut should have a purpose. Through film examples, articles, books and hands on lessons, we will dive into the craft and explore this often-underappreciated process. You can test out of this class if you possess the skill sets.

 

FLM 525.S60 (#94038)TOPICS IN FILM: WRITING IN FILM: The Short (3 cr)
Mon, 5:20-8:10 pm Jennie Allen - Section I

Students will study short film forms and dramatic storytelling principles but the focus of this class is on practice. The main fuel for each class will be student work. Students write and revise short film scripts, provide and receive peer feedback, and reflect upon the process. Students leave with three scripts, two of which have been through at least one revision. For FLM students, this includes the film they will shoot in Spring. 

 

FLM 525.S61 (#94088)TOPICS IN FILM: WRITING IN FILM: The Short (3 cr)
Mon, 2:20-5:10 pm Jennie Allen - Section II

Students will study short film forms and dramatic storytelling principles but the focus of this class is on practice. The main fuel for each class will be student work. Students write and revise short film scripts, provide and receive peer feedback, and reflect upon the process. Students leave with three scripts, two of which have been through at least one revision. For FLM students, this includes the film they will shoot in Spring.  TV Writers may take this course.

 

FLM 530.S60 (#96880) WRITING THE SHORT II - DIRECTED READINGS - (1 cr) (Scott Burkhardt) Tuesdays 2:20-5:10 pm

Mandatory course for year two, paired with Directing II. In this brief 5 -week course, you will refine your second year short film script in preparation for Production II.

 

FLM 526.S60 (#94084)  Topics in TV Writing for Film (3 cr) – Scott Burkhardt
Mondays 5:20-8:10 pm

Students learn how to write a spec script or pilot.  A “spec” is a script for a TV show that is currently on the air where the writer creates original stories for a show’s existing characters. Students will learn how to brainstorm story ideas, structure an outline and write scenes with dialogue, all in a constructive, supportive workshop atmosphere. The class covers both half-hour comedies and one-hour dramas. In addition, the class will watch, deconstruct and discuss a wide variety of TV shows in order to better understand how a successful episode is built. All the basics of TV writing are covered and the workshop is designed to closely mirror a professional writers room on a prime-time series.

 

FLM 550.S60 (#94040) Teaching Practicum (3 cr)
Thurs, 2:20-5:10 pm, Karen Offitzer

Required course for those seeking future employment as an instructor at the undergraduate level. This course plunges into the basics of pedagogy, including designing assignments, sequencing them, grading them, and creating syllabi for writing, directing, film analysis and producing courses. You’ll get hands-on experience creating lesson plans and conducting lectures, seminars and workshops, and will gain a preliminary overview of pedagogy on your way to devising your own. Most importantly, you’ll ask and ask again, “What is teachable about writing/filmmaking, and who am I to teach it?” (You need permission of the director and at least 6 program credits under your belt to take this class.) Please note that additional class time will be arranged with instructor.

 

FLM 576.S60 (#94056) The Art of Line Producing-Budgeting-Breaking a Feature Script (3 cr)
Wednesdays, 5:20-8:10 pm - Instructor TBD

In this course we will use Movie Magic or Gorilla and break down a feature screenplay for budget and schedule. We will learn how to put together a presentation for a director and how to produce a screening series.

 

FLM 591.T01 (#94028) Independent Project (Flex time), 1 to 3 cr, Magdalene Brandeis

 

FLM 638.S61 (#94117), Directing I: Principles of Directing (3 cr) 
Wednesdays, 2:20-5:10 pm,  Section I - Perry Blackshear

FLM 638.S60 (#94042), Directing I: Principles of Directing (3 cr) 
Wednesdays, 5:20-8:10 pm,  Section II - Perry Blackshear

How do directors decide where to put the camera? How do shots tell a story, create meaning, and make an audience feel something? Students will study and practice script analysis, shot progression, composition, and staging. There will be several assigned directing exercises shot outside of class and workshopped in class; students must shoot and edit their own exercises. The focus is on narrative storytelling but there will be room for interpretation and experimentation. The final exercise will be a four-minute short film.

 

FLM 639.S60 (#94045) Directing II – Advanced Directing (3 cr)
Tuesdays, 5:20-9:10pm - Niav Conty

In Advanced Directing, students will experiment with the script they are preparing to shoot in the Spring Advanced Production course. Exploration of techniques for directing actors and various applications of mise en scene. Testing, script refinement, development of best approaches to directing the material. Students should be prepared for weekly shooting exercises. Prerequisite: Directing I. Paired with FLM 530- Writing the Short II. Mandatory for Directing Track. Starts week 3, September 12.

 

[NEW] FLM 669.S60 (#96882) Advanced Tools-Year III Short Film Workshop - Prep through Post  (3 cr)
Wednesdays, 5:20-9:10 pm - Niav Conty

THIS COURSE IS TO CAPTURE ALL THOSE DIRECTORS WHO WANT TO MAKE ONE MORE SHORT FILM BEFORE THEY TACKLE THEIR THESIS. (IN LIEU OF AN INDEPENDENT STUDY). In this condensed course, students bring in a completed and pre-approved shoot-ready short which they develop visually and logistically for the first third of the semester, and shoot in the middle third of the semester. Final third of the semester will be dedicated to post, including the edit rewrite and the impact of sound design. Students are expected to end the semester with a finished short film. In order to participate students must arrive with a completed short film script, submitted two weeks prior to the first day of class. Shot on the Red Camera. Students from any track must have completed Dir, I, Dir II, Prod I, and Prod II. Short script synopsis must accompany registration requests or the request won’t be considered. Caps at 10.

 

FLM 650.S60 (#94085) THE ADVANCE PARTY (3 cr)
Tuesdays, 8:20-11:10 pm - Lenny Crooks

The Advance Party challenges all you know about screenwriting as you progress from a blank page to a short form screenplay. We start with a character - each student creates a single character and learns how to describe their character in an authentic way. If the class size is 10 then there will emerge 10 characters and you will choose which of these characters will interact with your own.We then focus on the natural story as an essential element in this  organic approach to screenwriting. As we progress, each of your stories will evolve, not out of traditional plot driven characterization but out of the characters' authentic actions and reactions to situations created by you. Caps at 12 students. Priority will be given to those students on the writing track.

The Advance Party process was first utilized by Andrea Arnold to write her Cannes prize winning feature ‘Red Road’.

 

FLM 651.S60 (#94043) Screenwriting Workshop II (3 cr)
Thursday 5:20-8:10 pm  - Lenny Crooks

THIS CLASS IS FULL

This course will build on introductory screenwriting skills and elements. It will offer a more intensive study of the screenwriting craft especially character, scene construction, scene sequence/juxtaposition and dialogue. Rigorous class sessions will consist of group readings and open critiques. The objective of this course will be to structure and write or rewrite a full-length feature screenplay. Intermediate to Advanced Screenwriters. Prerequisite: Screenwriting Workshop I, the first act of a screenplay, or instructor’s permission. Priority will be given to those students on the writing track.

 

FLM 651.S61 (#96879) Screenwriting Workshop II (3 cr)
Thursday 5:20-8:10 pm  - Perry Blackshear

This course will build on introductory screenwriting skills and elements. It will offer a more intensive study of the screenwriting craft especially character, scene construction, scene sequence/juxtaposition and dialogue. Rigorous class sessions will consist of group readings and open critiques. The objective of this course will be to structure and write or rewrite a full-length feature screenplay. Intermediate to Advanced Screenwriters. Prerequisite: Screenwriting Workshop I, the first act of a screenplay, or instructor’s permission. Priority will be given to those students on the writing track.

 

FLM 652.S60 (#94053), Screenwriting III (3cr)
Wednesday 8:20-11:10 pm -  FLM&TVW, Jim Jennewein

This is an intensive writing workshop designed to help students as they finish or revise feature length screenplays. Classes will be devoted to workshopping student ideas and scripts. Students must come in with clear goals for the semester. These goals must be approved by the instructor. In workshop we will consider emotional impact, visual storytelling force, dramatic structure, character, story arcs, scene construction, pacing, embedded values, the creation of meaning - or “What are we left with at the end?,” and all other aspects of screenwriting. You must present your work in class and be engaged with the work of your classmates. We will read and view produced screenplays to deepen our understanding of how these stories work on us - and how they are written on the page. OR SBSNC 9

 

FLM 690.T01 (#94024) Professional Internship (1-3cr.) Brandeis/Koffler

INTERNSHIPS are available to all students in their second year. Students may seek their own internships or apply to intern at Killer Films.

Killer Films: We're looking to onboard our fall interns during the week of 8/22, so we’ll start accepting submissions on 8/1. We ask interns to work two days – one day remote, one day in-person – each week based on availability.

We ask for a resume and cover letter, which can be sent directly to Anna Robinson <ar@killerfilms.com>  We'll interview the week of 8/15. Thanks!

If chosen, for the privilege of holding an internship, students submit an official request for permission to register for 1-3 credits FLM 690.T01 Professional Internship.

 

FLM 670.S60 (#94118) THE MICROBUDGET FEATURE LAB -5TH SEMESTER
Thursdays 8:20-11:10 PM - Perry Blackshear

Stony Brook’s new microbudget feature year-long course will pair recent grassroots innovations in filmmaking methodology with on-the-ground faculty experience to provide a year-long intensive, the result of which will be a completed microbudget feature film. Modern, agile filmmaking isn’t just about making a film for less money... it’s about the freedom to do things that conventionally shot films simply cannot do. This is Part 1, creating the script.

This year-long filmmaking project begins with a course to write a micro-budget feature film from scratch that will be developed the following spring and ready to shoot during the summer. By combining advances in film equipment, agile development borrowed from the technology industry, and the timeless experiences of documentary filmmakers and theater collectives, the goal is to not wait for permission or years of fundraising but to write a feature you love that you can actually make. While writing and workshopping our ideas, we will break down the unique production methods of a wide range of career-launching microbudget features and apply them to our own projects. The lab will leverage once-in-a-lifetime advantages of the thesis period within the graduate school and use them all to aid us in creating feature films for the cost of a conventional short.

Students should bring three feature film ideas to the first class.

Open to Thesis students only.  Prerequisites: Directing II, Production II, Screenwriting Workshop II.

 

FLM 691.V01 (#94025) THESIS PROJECT – (3cr) Magdalene Brandeis
FLM 692.V01 (#94026) THESIS PAPER – (3cr) Magdalene Brandeis

Your thesis is both a calling card for your creative work and a practical dry-run for the complicated process of production. This is a safe space to fail and learn from the multitude of changes, compromises and setbacks you will undoubtedly incur. We will develop your story and find the best possible path toward a polished screenplay or production. The semester will be spent designing plan A, but preparing for plan B, C and D.

FIRST YEAR:

FLM 500.S65 (#94035) Intro. Grad Studies (The Spec) Alan Kingsberg
Thurs, 5:20-8:10 pm, (4 cr)

Students learn how to write a spec script for a TV show that is currently on the air.  A “spec” is a script where the writer creates original stories for a show’s existing characters.  A great spec is a key part in learning to create the portfolio needed to get a job as a television writer.  Students will learn how to brainstorm story ideas, structure an outline and write scenes with dialogue, all in a constructive, supportive workshop atmosphere.  The class covers both half-hour comedies and one-hour dramas.  In addition, the class will watch, deconstruct and discuss a wide variety of TV shows in order to better understand how a successful episode is built.  All the basics of TV writing are covered and the workshop is designed to closely mirror a professional writers room on a prime-time series.   This class is paired with one-on-one advisement every other week.

 

FLM 536.S66 (#94039) Forms of TV – Spec Writ Conf – Alan Kingsberg
Wed, 2:00-4:30 pm, (1 cr)

Students meet individually with the professor to advance their spec scripts, first focusing on story then outline and finally scenes.  Assignments due at each conference. Paired with #96621.

 

FLM 525.S65 (#94027) Topics in Film: TV Guest Series -Alan Kingsberg
Mon, 7:30-9:20 pm (1 cr)

A moderated guest series featuring in-depth discussions with TV writers and producers about their scripts, series and careers.   Meets six times during the Fall semester.

 

FLM 526.S65 (#94020) Topics in TV Writing: Showrunner, (1 cr)
Date and Time TBD.

In a writers room environment, students form teams to pitch and break stories under the supervision of a showrunner.  Working as a cohesive group, the class builds a complete episode for an ongoing series.

 

FLM 536.S65 (#94086) Forms of TV Writing: Short Form/Sketch Comedy,
9 Wednesdays, 6:30-9:20 pm, (2 cr) - Ethan T. Berlin

Taught by a veteran comedy writer, this workshop covers the fundamentals of late night and sketch writing in the style of SNL, The Late Show, Full Frontal, and The Daily Show. Structured like a comedy writers' room, students learn to pitch jokes and sketches live in front of other writers.  Students also gain experience working on a sketch or late night packet.

 

FLM 591.T60 (#94059) Independent project - Flex time, Magdalene Brandeis

           

SECOND YEAR:

FLM 651.S65 (#94044) Screenwriting Workshop II - Advanced Pilot (3 cr)
Wednesdays,  5:20-8:10 pm - Syd Sidner

Students build on the skills developed in their first year to create a new series concept that has a strong story engine and a powerful emotional or comedic core – a concept that can generate compelling episodes over multiple seasons.   Next, students create stories for their pilot episode, outline and write scenes working toward finishing at least one pilot script.  3 Credits. Prerequisite classes: Spec and Pilot.  

 

FLM 576.S67 (#94119) Conference for Advanced Pilot (2 cr)

Students meet individually with the professor to advance their pilot  scripts. Assignments due at each conference. Paired with FLM 651.S65 immediately above.

 

FLM 576.S65 (#94041) Topics in TV - Prod Management - Limited Series –  Business of TV (4 cr)
Thursday 5:20-8:10 pm - Adam Yaffe, Stephen Gates

During the first half of the semester, the class works as a group to plot out a season of a limited series based on a true event.  This includes building story and character arcs across a season, breaking individual episodes and writing scenes.  Led by Adam Yaffe.

During the second half of the semester, this workshop, taught by professional manager Stephen Gates, covers the business of TV including how pilots are sold and TV series set up. How do you get hired in a writers room? Learn about agents and managers, pitching and pitch documents. Design a strategy to launch your career and manage your brand.

 

FLM 638.S65 (#94097) Directing for TV Writers (3 cr)
Mondays 5:20-8:10 pm - Kris Lefcoe 

Students will learn the foundational theory, skills, and practical experience to take a leadership role on set. Key focuses will be on the intersection of writing and directing, script analysis, directing actors, cinematography for directors, blocking and pacing, and mastery of on-set dynamics. While practicing their craft, students will continue to develop their own vision for what kind of storyteller they want to be and apply this to filmed exercises. These include directing scenes from a student’s own script and scenes from scripts written by others.

 

FLM 501.S65 (#94037) TV Skills – FILM TOOLS (3 cr)
Tues 5:20-8:10 pm - Jordan Roberts

For second year TV students, in conjunction with TV Directing.

Learning the fundamentals of how to create shot lists, block a scene and production protocol is invaluable in helping you become better writers. This course will introduce you to the tools that are integral to bringing your vision to life. Working with top of the line camera and sound equipment, you will acquire the skills necessary to navigate the rocky waters of production. Sync sound will be introduced, along with how to properly fill out camera reports, script supervisor duties, the roles of different crew members on set and how to properly break a script down beat by beat to create a well thought out shot list. We will then spend several weeks in the edit lab cutting different scenes to create different emotional impacts and points of view.Through film examples, articles, books and hands on lessons, we will dive into the craft and explore this often-underappreciated process. You can test out of this class if you possess the skill sets.

 

FLM 692.V05 (#94046) Thesis for TV  – For TV Writers who have fulfilled all class reqs - (3 cr)
Kingsberg/Burkhardt/Sidner

Each student polishes one pilot script, preferably their “showpiece” or best script, the one that will be the jewel in their writing portfolio. In addition, each student prepares a pitch for a new series, including series concept, and primary stories. This pitch becomes the project they can develop after graduation.  At semester’s end, there will be a thesis review panel to critique and discuss the final work.

 

FLM 652.S60 (#94053), Screenwriting III (3cr)
Wednesdays 8:20-11:10 pm - FLM&TVW

This is an intensive writing workshop designed to help students as they finish or revise feature length screenplays. Classes will be devoted to workshopping student ideas and scripts. Students must come in with clear goals for the semester. These goals must be approved by the instructor. In workshop we will consider emotional impact, visual storytelling force, dramatic structure, character, story arcs, scene construction, pacing, embedded values, the creation of meaning - or “What are we left with at the end?,” and all other aspects of screenwriting. You must present your work in class and be engaged with the work of your classmates. We will read and view produced screenplays to deepen our understanding of how these stories work on us - and how they are written on the page. OR SBSNC 9

 

M 530.S65 (#96881) Directed Readings - Writing the Crime Drama - A case study of 'The Deuce' and 'The Sopranos' (2 cr)
Carl Caportorto - TVW & FLM & CWL

A deep dive masterclass into the specific skills needed to write a crime drama. A centerpiece of the class will be David Simon's THE DEUCE,  with its reliance on the specifics of time, place and POV to define character and drive action. As a counterpoint, the class will explore THE SOPRANOS and the very different mode of expression David Chase brings to the same storytelling impulse. Where Simon widens his perspective ever outward, Chase burrows inward ever more deeply.  Includes a  live or virtual visit from David Simon or Terence Winter, schedules permitting.

Meets for five classes.  Two credits.  Open to all TVW, FLM and CWL with priority to TVW.

CWL 535.S61 #96272 Writing in Multiple Genres: Make it Strange, Make it New, Make it Yours, (4 cr.)
Wednesdays 2:20-5:10 pm - Robert Lopez
Writing is a risky endeavor and it should feel dangerous. How can we push ourselves to tell the stories we need to tell, to cultivate our own unique strangeness and exploit it on the page? We will aim to risk emotion and language and content in equal measure. We'll read writers like Justin Torres, Lindsay Hunter, Carmen Maria Machado, Nana Adjei-Brenyah, Sarah Rose Etter, and others.  

 

CWL 510.S60 #92582, Forms of Fiction: Short Story,  (4 cr.)
Mondays, 6:05 – 8:55 pm (Online) - Susan Minot

The Greatness of the Short Story. Jorge Luis Borges said, “I find that in a short story you get just as much complexity and you get it in a more pleasurable way than you get out of a long novel.” In this seminar we will read the masters of today and yesterday, examining how each story achieve its success, with a variety of different stories to sample.  Attention will focus on the main elements: style, structure and content and how they are  handled differently by each artist.  In class readings will include short shorts and poetry (among them Elizabeth Bishop, Emily Dickinson, Gwendolyn Brooks, Anne Carson, Edward Thomas, Natalie Diaz, Wendy Cope, Nick Laird.) Students will be asked to write occasional assessments of the work read, but most important is the careful reading--and potential rereading --of the stories and class participation.  Reading will include work by: Anton Chekhov, Flannery O'Conner, Georges Saunders, Toni Morrison, John Cheever, Samantha Hunt, James Baldwin, Ernest Hemingway, Shirley Jackson,  Raymond Carver,  Gina Berriault,  Leo Tolstoy, Claire Keegan, David Foster Wallace, Elizabeth Strout,  Franz Kafka, Amy Hempel and Alice Munro who demonstrated why she called the short story “an important art.” the novella: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Karen Russell, Claire Keegan, Agatha Christie Absent in the Spring, Jorge Luis Borges, Lydia Davis, Samuel Beckett.

 

CWL 565.S60 - The Whole Book- Manhattan  (4 cr.)
Tuesday, 5:20-8:10 pm - Casey Plett 

 A class for students of any genre to lea-rn how to structure a whole book. How do short pieces of writing (or even just short bursts) turn into something larger, more than the sum of their parts? How does a writer begin to think of eventually writing a whole book? In this class, we will read short story, essay, and poetry collections with an eye to how individual selections gel into a larger whole, and we will also look under the hood of the publishing world and examine the nitty-gritty real-life stories of how these collections came to be. This is an ideal course for writers looking to generate ideas for a larger body of work. And how the arrangement of those ideas generates deeper meanings. There will also be a workshop component where we discuss student work with these ideas in mind.

 

CWL 535.S61 From Fact to Fiction
5:20 - 8:10 pm - Karen Bender - In person Manhattan

How do writers transform material from their lives into fiction? In this class we'll track this process, examining nonfiction and fiction by the same writers side by side and watching this process at work. We'll be reading The Journals of John Cheever with some of Cheever's Collected stories, Paula Fox's memoir Borrowed Finery and her novel The Widow's Children, some of James Baldwin's essays and his novel Giovanni's Room, The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean, and watching the movie Adaptation. Students will keep a private journal during the class and transform some element of their journal into a work of fiction to workshop during the class.

 

FLM 550.S60 (Substitution with CWL 581) #92603: Teaching Practicum,  (3 cr.) Prerequisite: Six credits of writing workshops
Thursdays, 2:20 - 5:10 pm - Karen Offitzer

This is a weekly seminar in teaching at the University level, with special emphasis on teaching in the creative arts, specifically creative writing and filmmaking. This course plunges into the basics of pedagogy, exploring learning styles, discovering a teaching philosophy, designing syllabi for undergraduate courses, creating assignments and rubrics for grading assignments, and practicing these skills in a classroom setting. You’ll get hands-on experience and mentoring through visits to undergraduate classes and teaching opportunities, and will gain an understanding of what works best for helping undergraduate students learn. Particular focus will be on discussing issues that arise when teaching creative endeavors such as writing and filmmaking. 

 

CWL 582.S01 #93421: Practicum in Publishing & Editing, Lou Ann Walker & Scott Sullivan 
Note: One instructor will be in Southampton and the other in Manhattan, (1 – 4 cr.)
Tuesdays, 11:00 am – 1:40 pm (Hybrid: This course will be taught jointly. You may take this course in either location, or online.)

Under the guidance of editors and advisors, students will be exposed to the hands-on process of editing and publishing TSR: The Southampton Review. Yes, the P& E Practicum is designed to give you experience in editing a literary and arts review. But here’s the secret: This practicum also provides an excellent means for you to build your skills as a writer. For example, as you read submissions in Submittable, you’ll be seeing what works and doesn’t work in cover letters. You’ll be examining successful structures in fiction, non-fiction, memoir, and poetry. You’ll be acquiring editing diagnostic tools. And you’ll be drilling down to what works line by line throughout a creative piece. We’ll discuss word choices, juxtapositions, imagery, symbolism, all that good stuff.