LEARNING OUTCOMES
Advanced skills for working with night exterior scenes and in studio or location environment. Practice based learning during workshop that develops the understanding, artistic working methods and practical experience when working with special night atmosphere in filmmaking process. Experience of working as a head of department, management and scheduling students own and crew’s work.
Discipline’s own learning outcomes:
Directing
- how to create a visual style from own written text
- understand how emotion can be visualised with different elements
- to communicate one’s vision to other creators of the cinematic and visual world
- to collaborate with the visual team of a film and form a common visual approach to a scene / to the story
Cinematography
- how to create and modify atmosphere with light in night interior environment
- how to challenge or take advantage on general prejudice about heritage of “night look” in films
- how to make lively illusion in static environment
- how to use colour contrast alongside the contrast of light intensity
- how to collaborate with production designer, film director and other team members in challenging circumstances
- how to collaborate with director’s and production designer’s vision
Production design
- identify elements of production design in the field of film and television including visual, operational and productional entity.
- extend and exchange participant’s own professional competence and artistic expression
- develop critical and analytical knowledge for understanding how the visual and conceptual structures of cinema impact emotional and spatial narration
- Capacity to identify skills needed to boldly bring forth personal perspective on artistic collaboration as a whole
Credits: 9
Schedule: 06.11.2023 - 27.03.2024
Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):
Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Rauno Ronkainen, Kaisa Mäkinen, Anna Heiskanen, Hanna Maylett
Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):
CEFR level (valid for whole curriculum period):
Language of instruction and studies (applies in this implementation):
Teaching language: English. Languages of study attainment: English
CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD
Content
valid for whole curriculum period:
Students will explore the task: how emotions can be visualised and expressed in cinematic storytelling? Course, Night Life 2, is focusing on one very specific and one of the most demanding and fascinating field in filmmaking – making a night interior scene.
Course supports film- and TV-work characteristic structure and duration, and it is divided in three periods that are connected to each-others.
First stage (period 2), artistic planning.
Stage two (period 3) students will concentrate in artistic, practical & technical planning.
Practical execution and final outcomes are executed and evaluated during the last stage (period 4).
This course will be executed in collaboration with students in directing, cinematography, production design and costume design.
Course material is based on short scripts made by film directing students.
Students will plan and execute a short scene that is focusing on visualisation of night atmosphere and night look, that is supposed to be executed during the workshop’s last period. Students will also work in head of department role for his / her crew. During workshop student will get familiar with a variety of different kinds of artistic approaches, practical tools, and cinematic methods.
3rd. year BA-students of cinematography will work as electricians during the workshop.
Final scenes will be finalised in colour grading process, and they will be screened and evaluated together with other students, crew, and teachers.
Assessment Methods and Criteria
valid for whole curriculum period:
Active participation to group working and lectures, accomplishment of given tasks, leadership skills and self-reflection about the learning process during the workshop (work diary).
Student’s development is evaluated during the workshop in checkpoints and in final screening.
Workload
valid for whole curriculum period:
Lectures 32 h.
Contact teaching and feedback 48 h.
Student’s own group work 147 h.
Work diary 16 h.
Lectures, research, hands-on teaching and working, student’s individual and group work.
Common screenings, student’s presentations, and feedback.
At least 80% participation in face-to-face teaching is mandatory to complete the course. If, due to absences, the student does not achieve the learning outcomes defined in the course description, the remaining 20% may have to be compensated as determined by the responsible teachers of the course.
All absences must be reported to the teachers in charge. The responsible teachers of the course will specify the necessary compensating assignments.Study methods changed by decision of Academic Committee for Arts, Design and Architecture on 1st of February 2023.
DETAILS
Study Material
valid for whole curriculum period:
Course material will be delivered at the beginning of the course.
Book: Film Lighting, Kris Malkiewicz 2nd edition. ISBN 978-1-4391-6906-3 tai ISBN 978-1-4391-0739-3 (e-book).
Substitutes for Courses
valid for whole curriculum period:
Prerequisites
valid for whole curriculum period:
SDG: Sustainable Development Goals
4 Quality Education
5 Gender Equality
10 Reduced Inequality
FURTHER INFORMATION
Further Information
valid for whole curriculum period:
Workshop is divided in 3 different periods (periods 2,3 and 4).
Includes also working during nights on location (during periods 3 and 4).
Warm clothes and boots (waterproof) and a head lamp needed.
Night Life 1 and 2 have some equal learning outcomes and similar content. Yet, there is a crucial difference in filmmaking process when working with exterior and interior atmosphere within film’s scenes. These workshops can be accomplished in what-ever order (Night Life 1 first for example) or by participating only to either of these.
Teaching Language : English
Teaching Period : 2022-2023 No teaching
2023-2024 Autumn II - Spring IVEnrollment :
Minimum number of participants 4. Maximum 14.
Participating at the opening day of the workshop is mandatory.
Registration for courses: Sisu. Priority order to courses is according to the order of priority decided by the Academic committee for School of Arts, Design and Architecture, https://www.aalto.fi/en/services/registering-to-courses-and-the-order-of-priority-at-aalto-arts
Minimum number of participants 4. Maximum 14.
Participating at the opening day of the workshop is mandatory.
applies in this implementation
Discipline's own learning outcomes: Costume Design
- Develop critical and analytical knowledge and understanding of how the visual and conceptual structures of cinema impact emotional and character narration in Film.
- Understanding how costume design choices can deepen the cinematic narrative in relation to the visual atmosphere and the emotion expressed in a night interior scene.
- Practice based understanding on how emotion/atmosphere can be visualized and expressed through costume designer’s material and visual choices (e.g., color, shape, and amount of patina etc.) in a night lighting scene.
- Identify how focused pre-planning and preparation impacts the costume designer's collaboration with the director, cinematographer, make-up artist and production designer in forming a shared artistic vision.