This course material © 1994 Jeremy Butler. It may be reproduced for non-profit, educational uses, but publication in any profit-making form or in any book or magazine form must first be cleared with the author.

Jeremy Butler (jbutler@bamanet.ua.edu), Telecommunication and Film Department, P.O. Box 870152, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487.


TCF 140 FILM FUNDAMENTALS 
FALL 1994

Instructor:  Dr. Jeremy Butler                    Office:   430C Phifer 
Office hours:  TT 3:30-5:00, & by appt.                     348-6350
E-mail:  jbutler@bamanet.ua.edu

OBJECTIVES:  An awareness of the creative potential of the cinema through "hands on"
experience with cinematic materials:  image, sound, editing.  An understanding of the
conventions of narrative film and the tools necessary for film production.

TEXTS:

Malkiewicz, Kris.  Cinematography.  Second edition.  New York:  Prentice Hall, 1989. 
David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson.  Film Art:  An Introduction.  Fourth Edition.  New York: 
     McGraw-Hill, 1993.  Pages 82-84 only!

LAB/PROJECT FILM:  Each student will contribute three 100-foot rolls of black-and-white
16mm film for class exercises and projects.  He/she will also arrange for its processing. 
Currently, a 100-foot roll costs $12.13 and processing is $12.50 (plus shipping).

EQUIPMENT:  The TCF Department provides all cameras, tripods, and editing equipment, as
well as some lighting equipment.  You are financially responsible for all equipment you use. 
Please treat it with care.  We have no insurance.

ATTENDANCE:  You are expected to attend every class.  Roll will be taken.  Your grade will
be adversely effected by unexcused absences, especially during lab exercises. 

FINAL PROJECTS:  The class will be divided into four groups, each of which will create a
ten-minute film.  (These groups will not be the same as the lab exercise groups.)  These four
projects will be based on scripts selected from the class' planning reports (see below).  Each
student will be assigned a specific crew position on these films.  The students whose scripts are
chosen will be the directors.  

PLANNING REPORTS:  Each student will prepare a treatment (due 15 September) and shooting
script (due 13 October) for a ten-minute narrative film.  The four final projects will be selected
from these planning reports.  

EXAMS:  
     Exam One--September 22
          Malkiewicz, chs. 1, 2, 10 and pp. 84-86
     Exam Two--October 25
          Malkiewicz, chs. 3, 4, 7, 8, 11
An approximate reading schedule is indicated below.  Make-up exams will be arranged at the
discretion of the instructor.

OTHER ASSIGNMENTS:  Students whose scripts are not selected for final projects must
prepare three additional assignments:  (1) a narrative analysis (due 22 November), (2) an image
analysis (due 29 November), and (3) a decoupage (scene break-down) (due 1 December).

GRADING:  Exams will count 50% (25% each).  10% of your final grade will be determined by
an evaluation of your film project planning reports (5% each).  Class and lab contributions will
count 6%.  The film project will be worth 34%, if you are directing it, and 25%, if you are a crew
member.  For crew members the decoupage, narrative analysis and image analysis will each be
worth 3%.
     A grade of "F" will be given to a student who has (1) not returned departmental
equipment, or (2) not arranged for the repair of departmental equipment he/she has damaged.

     Grading summary:

     Directors                               Crew Members
          50             Exams                    50 
            6            Class Part.                6            
          10             Planning            10
          34             Final Project            25
                         Decoupage                 3
                         Narrative Analysis        3
           _____              Image Analysis            ____3_   
               100                                     100

     Grade scale:

          A         93-100
          A-        90-92
          B+        88-89
          B         83-87
          B-        80-82
          C+        78-79
          C         73-77
          C-        70-72
          D+        68-69
          D         63-67
          D-        60-62
          F         59 and below

INCOMPLETE GRADES:  Due to demands on equipment, incomplete grades will be given only
in the most dire of circumstances.

APPROXIMATE COURSE SUPPLIES COST:  
     $80 (lab/project film) + $10 (misc.) = $90

COURSE SCHEDULE (subject to revisions announced in class):

August  2  Introduction to film production (view student films)
        30     Camera basics (Canon Scoopic camera) [ch. 1]
September   1  Lens basics:  focal length, f-stops, depth of field 
         6     Light meters and film stocks (Bolex camera) [ch. 2 & pp. 84-86]
         8     Pictorial continuity:  the basic scene
        13     Narrative structure:  the classical model  [Bordwell & Thompson, pp. 82-84]
        15     **LAB EXERCISE #1 (simple shooting sequences, panning)**
               **PLANNING REPORT #1 DUE**
        20     Pre-production planning, camera placement [ch. 10] 
        22     **EXAM #1:  chs. 1, 2, 10, & pp. 84-86** 
        27     Analyze film results of Lab #l
        29     **LAB EXERCISE #2 (overlaps, cut-ins, cut-aways)**
October  4     Composition, screen direction, lighting, SFX [chs. 3, 4, 8]
         6     Analyze film results of Lab #2
        11     Post-production:  editing [chs. 7, 11]
        13     **LAB EXERCISE #3 (shot development, angles, movement)** 
               **NOTE:  PLANNING REPORT #2 DUE**
        18     Analyze film results of Lab #3
        20     **LAB EXERCISE #4 (interior shooting, pull focus)**
        25     **EXAM #2:  chs. 3, 4, 7, 8, 11**
        27     Sound basics
November    1  Analyze film results of Lab #4; prepare for Lab #5
         3     **LAB EXERCISE #5 (a filmed story)**
         8     Editing and sound.  View films
        10     Groups 1 & 2 edit Lab #5 films
        15     Groups 3 & 4 edit Lab #5 films
        17     View/discuss Lab #5 films
        22     Narrative analysis
               **NARRATIVE ANALYSIS DUE**
        24     Thanksgiving Holiday
        27 Hanukkah begins
        29     Image analysis
               **IMAGE ANALYSIS DUE**
December    1  Decoupage
               **DECOUPAGE DUE**
         6     Groups A & B edit films
         8     Groups C & D edit films (Hanukkah begins)
        16     **FINAL EXAM PERIOD--8-10:30 A.M. (Friday)**
               View/discuss final film projects

Jeremy Butler, jbutler@bamanet.ua.edu