Program Overview

Based on an academic year, the AFA filmmaking curriculum is divided into six semesters. During the first semester, AFA filmmaking students learn the art and technique of visual storytelling. Students will take courses such as Director's Craft, Hands-on Camera and Lighting, Writing, and Editing over the course of their first semester. Students will write, direct, and edit approximately 7 short films in their first semester working with both 16mm film camera systems as well as DSLR digital camera systems. All students will be trained to edit with AVID media composer software.

The second and third semester is divided into three phases. The first phase is devoted to intensive instruction, demonstration, group sync-sound directing exercises, individual consultations, and pre-production (including casting, rehearsal, and location scouting). During this phase, filmmaking school students have one-on-one consultations as they work with scenes from their scripts. In the second, or production phase, each student directs his/her own film and crews on his/her classmates' films. The third phase of the filmmaking AFA program is devoted to post-production. During this phase, students will edit, receive instruction, and screen rough-cuts of their films. Students receive instructor feedback and finish their films for a final group screening.

Students spend additional hours each week beyond class time on the production of their film projects and the projects of their classmates. Students should be aware that these hours vary from student to student. During the 5th and 13th weeks, and after the end of the 6th month, students work exclusively on film projects while consulting with instructors. Students are responsible for making their own film project schedule, which must be supervised and approved by an instructor. Students also need to collaborate with their fellow students as well as post-production supervisors to ensure that their projects are completed during the designated times.

The overall goal of the second year of the filmmaking AFA program is to challenge students to grow as artists by exposing them to skills, techniques, and approaches to filmmaking that are more specific and complex than those they learned in year one.

In the second year, students are expected to mature in terms of artistic ability. One way to ensure this is to give the students ample time to complete a Thesis Project by allocating most of class time to discussing and critiquing their on-going projects.

Toward the end of the filmmaking AFA program, students attend film school classes focusing on the entertainment business, where they meet guest speakers from the film industry. Lecturers discuss strategies for students interested in exploring filmmaking careers after completion of the program.