York University

Film Class

In May, I joined a diverse and talented group of students on a quest to produce a film in less than a month.  In our film class at York University, we were assembled into teams of four – Producer/Writers, Directors, Directors of Photography and Sound Designers.  Under the tutelage of expert course directors, Genevieve Appleton and Rafal Sokolowski and TA David Han, we learned about film production and especially as it applied to the neo-realist genre.

Our mission was to produce a short, neo-realist film. We had to write the screenplay, get the actors, design the storyboard, find and assemble the set, plan the shot list, sound design and then shoot the film and edit it, refining it multiple times in post-production during a three week period.

For me, it was a fabulous opportunity to learn a lot about film-making in a very compressed period of time.  It was also very stressful at times to meet the required deadlines, incorporate feedback and changes after presentations and coordinate the way forward as a group.  There were 14 short films shot by the teams in FILM 2030, all of which are available for viewing in Vimeo.  Following are some pictures of the class and then links to videos where the licensing has been approved for public viewing.

Links to short films on either vimeo or youtube:

Team 12 – Just Landed, about Pakistani immigrants to Canada

Team 6 – Swan Song, about a young musician who is going deaf