Directing for the Camera: Mise en scene class in San Francisco

February 25, 2006

Directing for the Camera: Mise-en-Scène

Wednesdays, April 5 ? May 31, 7-10pm & Sat. May 27, 10am-5pm (no class 05/24)

Explore the vast visual, narrative, and emotional dimensions made possible through mise-en-scène. Find out how stasis and movement, light and shadows, flatness and depth, location and blocking, and color and texture are used to express a filmmaker?s vision. Great for all film enthusiasts and media makers.

Marc Henrich is a Bay Area filmmaker, freelance video editor, and film studies instructor. His work has shown nationally and internationally.

Limited to 12. $200/Filmmaker-level members; $265/others.

To reserve a seat in this class, call Film Arts at (415) 552-8760 or email education@filmarts.org.

Jon-Hebert Barto · March 1, 2006

No offense, but for $265 I could buy myself a whole lotta DVDs and study at home. With soda-pop, and those chocolate covered raisins I like so much. But no popcorn!!! It should be banned from theatres!!! Too damn loud and annoying....

March 10, 2006

No offense, but for $265 I could buy myself a whole lotta DVDs and study at home. With soda-pop, and those chocolate covered raisins I like so much. But no popcorn!!! It should be banned from theatres!!! Too damn loud and annoying....

You could of coarse, use current films as a study guide. But try asking that DVD a question about the art of mise en scene, or to explain a particular lighting set up. You can listen to director commentaries all you like, but odds are you will not get the full satisfaction and understanding of the use of mise en scene just by watching DVD's alone, whether they are training DVD's or released motion pictures. Interaction and discussion are key components to becoming a prepared director.

Jon-Hebert Barto · March 12, 2006

Ever heard of Nick Lacey?

film as film,

"what can be seen must exist before it can be filmed..."

gfyg

Morgan Peline · March 13, 2006

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/052024197...glance&n=283155

Figures Traced in Light by David Bordwell.

I've just started reading this book on and off. It's a little bit too scholarly for my taste but if you stick with it it will most likely give you a great start in staging if you take 'mise en scene' to mean 'staging in depth'

If noth there is always

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/094118810...5Fencoding=UTF8

Shot by shot

or

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/024080467...glance&n=283155

The Visual story

or you can buy many many more books or DVDs and just watch and watch again without sound and then watch again.

Just afew ideas.

Though I haver to admit the class does sound very interesting - why don'y you try to find out which movies the will use as examples and then watch thos movies. Find out who the teacher is.

Jon-Hebert Barto · March 13, 2006

The teacher is Marc Henrich. Thanks for the advice, though. I've read some of those books, specialy the ones by Steven Katz. I've also taken classes...My problem is actually with the "Film Arts Foundation". They should tell people they actually teach activism in their classes. I know peeps who've taken a class or two, the ones that haven't been canceled due to low turnout, and they said it was like" Mao teaches film!" (and some of 'em even like Mao) Teach film and keep your politics to yourself. It's probably just a "city" thing, you can't get by it in San Fransisco. I was there to watch a screening of Bride of Frankenstein and the people couldn't even serve me coffee without telling me about their politics...Who knows...I even called them asking for info on income-to-student expenditure ratios and they refused. "..we're non-profit..." Um, yeah, so why can't you tell me? They don't say how much they get in donations each year and won't release the pay of their salary employees. But then again, I've never taken one of their classes and what I know from friends is all hearsay. If I really cared I could have found all that out since they are Non-profit. It has to be made available by law, I think. Who cares. I made a choice and it wasn't them..Also, I have no problem with San Fran. "the city" is a nice place to visit. Just don't go there when students get pissed-off or they'll stop the whole damn city from moving...