Emerging Filmmakers
Emerging Filmmakers*
Write, create, act and direct a short film!
Write, create, act and direct a short film! In this week-long residential program at WPI, you will learn how to write a script and to stage, shoot, and edit your own short narrative film (digital video format). Students will be challenged to "think outside the box" of mainstream Hollywood cinema by having to follow the guidelines of the Dogma 95 Film Manifesto, which emphasizes natural lighting, shooting on location, found props, and unconventional stories. At week end, WPI will host a film premier to showcase your finished work. This program will be taught by Dr. John Sanbonmatsu, a WPI faculty member who is a philosophy professor and independent filmmaker. Deadline: Application due by: May 15, 2012*
Program dates: July 15-20, 2012
Audience: Entering grades 11-12 in fall 2012
Cost: $795
This is a residential program. Dinner on the night of arrival, 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, breakfast and lunch on Friday. Students will be mailed a CD of their film to share with family and friends.
The Film Premiere is tentatively scheduled for Friday afternoon July 20, 2012 at 5pm.
Meet the Faculty:
John Sanbonmatsu
John Sanbonmatsu is Associate Professor of Philosophy at WPI, where he teaches social and political philosophy, ethics, and a seminar in film and philosophy. An independent videographer/filmmaker, Sanbonmatsu studied screenwriting with Meade Roberts and wrote and produced an award-winning documentary with Paper Tiger Television in New York. He is presently at work on an experimental documentary on the phenomenology of cats.
Educational Background
- B.A., Hampshire College, 1984
- Ph.D., University of California at Santa Cruz, 2000
Recent Publications
- "The Subject of Freedom at the End of History: Socialism Beyond Humanism," American Journal of Economics and Sociology 66:1 (January 2007): 217-235.
- "Zieht in den USA ein postfordistischer Faschismus herauf? [English title: "American or Post-Fordist Fascism: Structural and Psychological Considerations"], Das Argument 265, (March 2006): 95-105.
- "Postmodernism and the Corruption of the Academic Intelligentsia," Telling the Truth: Socialist Register 2006 (London: Merlin Press, 2005), pp. 196-227.
- The Postmodern Prince: Critical Theory, Left Strategy, and the Making of a New Political Subject (New York: Monthly Review Press, 2004). Publisher's Description Translated into Korean (Seoul: Galmuri Press, 2005), and Turkish (Ankara: Baglam, 2007).
- "The Jargon of Culture and the Banality of Political Theory," review essay of Seyla Benhabib, The Claims of Culture and Laurence Cahoone, The Conservative Meaning of Liberal Politics, in Social Theory and Practice, 30:2 (April 2004): 259-285.
What is a typical day in the Emerging Filmmakers program?
7:30-8:30 Breakfast
9:00-10:00 Introduction to Dogma Film Lab/Experimental video workshop. Students read and critique drafts of scripts
10:00-12:30 Guest speaker. Acting and Directing basics.
12:30-1:30 Lunch at the Dining Hall
1:30-2:30 Digital video camera instruction, sound monitoring, video editing lab
2:30-4:30 Practice shoot. Basics of pre-production, production and post-production including basic story-boarding and scripting
5:00-6:00 Dinner at the Dining Hall
6:30-10:00 Watch/discuss short films and revise scripts
10:30 Dorm check in
12:00am Lights Out!
Programs marked with an asterisk* require the interested party to submit an application, and in some cases, other documentation. Submission of an application does not represent acceptance. Applicants will be notified of their status of acceptance.
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Last modified: January 29, 2012 15:01:28