Since becoming the ninth largest art form, film art has established a broad mass base, and has been under rapid development. As an art discipline, it has also attracted countless students, who want to squeeze into the most outstanding art colleges and universities, and systematically study this "tall" major, but due to the particularity of film, It is different from other art disciplines in terms of college requirements and application materials. In order to help everyone from a film enthusiast to a "film insider", from time planning, creative presentation, professional help, talk about how the creation of professional film works is different from other arts majors studying abroad? How do we deal with it?
"Creating by relying on the sky" should be planned as soon as possible
We all know that it takes time and money to complete a good movie. When director Ang Lee was shooting Twin Killers, for one of the night action scenes that took less than 5 minutes, it took a team of hundreds of people a month and a half to achieve the director's ideal effect from the setting, shooting to the late stage.
For students, most art schools also need us to submit a short film work of about 10-30 minutes, although there must be a big gap between the evaluation criteria and the commercial market. However, most of the students will not borrow the complicated later stage, which is totally based on the real scene, so there will inevitably be a lot of uncertainty during the shooting.
NYU TISCH Film Professional Short Film Works Requirements
The college we graduated from under the direction of Ang Lee—— New York University For example, the film profession's requirements for short film works, Video footage of staged plays or theater performances is not acceptable.
Especially when the theme chosen by many students has high requirements on the site, light and weather, this "creation by the sky" mode makes it impossible for us to make accurate time planning. However, we have repeatedly stressed the importance of planning in the creation of professional film collections. In addition to controlling the time, it is of great guiding significance to the integrity of the works.
Ren's Collected Works of Natural Light Film Art Major
Therefore, we should also give special treatment to the planning scheme of professional film works. In the past, in other works, we would encourage everyone to plan step by step according to the actual operation process from research, material experiment, derivation of plans, design practice, plan landing, etc. according to the timeline.
However, due to the instability of the film profession, we do not need to develop an accurate time plan, but we need to know well, have a psychological goal for the expected effect of the project and the style of the work, and start preparing as early as possible; Secondly, we need to carry out detailed research while writing the script and drawing the shots, so as to ensure the feasibility of the script as far as possible;
Ren's Collected Works of Natural Light Film Art Major
After that, we need to set aside a lot of time to promote our project development in practice, and do a good job of time and space that may need to change details; Finally, after the completion of all aspects of the work, we began to improve the details of the later stage, color matching, subtitles and so on.
A step-by-step creative process
Film is a highly creative art, which can accurately "restore" the imagination of the creator through the cooperation of technology and personnel. But film production is also an extremely rigorous process, especially when creating professional film works, the best way to show our strength is to complete the expectations step by step.
Works collection project of Wang students majoring in natural light film
This is also very different from the creation process of overseas work collections of other art majors. In other majors, we often suggest that students can use more new materials, try "interdisciplinary" and combine more diverse creation methods, but "innovation" is not the fundamental purpose of film professional creation, nor is it an effective means to enhance competitiveness.
As we all know, film is a team work. When it comes to learning the subject of film, the first thing you think of is director. But in fact, both the market and art schools have very detailed departments to support the complex creation model of film. Taking the film major in Nanjing University as an example, we offer courses including film science, film production, film aesthetics, screenwriting, and film art, It even includes detailed lighting, photography, editing, digital production, special effects and other courses.
Works collection project of Wang students majoring in natural light film
In the process of creating professional film collections, students are generally led to complete various tasks. The fundamental purpose of college assessment is to comprehensively consider the strength of students in all aspects, which can be reflected in the requirements of art colleges for collections.
NYU's collection of works requires that, in addition to the above mentioned short films within 15 minutes, students can also provide 10 photographic works, or other artistic forms of works to show. In addition, they must also submit a proposition script writing work. The various forms of work assessment are precisely because the film profession, as a comprehensive art, requires the creators to have superb aesthetic ability and rigorous thinking control ability, while "interdisciplinary" and other innovative forms are difficult to achieve in the already complex creative process.
Natural light X Huawei nova star short video contest student works
In addition, film creation itself is a combination of practicality and experience. For most students who do not have much practical experience, they need to learn through exploration. Therefore, we suggest that students try to follow the steps and choose a more stable design scheme in the process of creating professional film works.
But this does not mean that we can give up the opportunity to show creative thinking, but we need to integrate creativity into all aspects of creation. According to our own advantages, such as vision, photography, script writing, hand painting, etc., we can choose one or two highlights to highlight while maintaining integrity, leaving stylized memory points for admissions officers.
Natural light X Huawei nova star short video contest student works
Seek the most professional "helper"
Film director is known as the most talented profession. Many teachers' directors have won public recognition by relying on their own unique style of work. Quentin Tarantino, only 30 years old, produced the "vulgar novel", which is known as the classic crime film, without professional study.
Film - Pulp Fiction
Source: Douban
But like all art majors, talent is a factor of success but not a necessary condition. And our creation can not rely entirely on personal ability, or blindly imitate master techniques. The school of film creation really starts from imitation, but many students only learned form.
However, it is not considered that the shooting technique of any master is based on the script and story clues, and the purpose of all forms is to make the story fuller and more conflict. In the process of imitation, our students should not only see the surface, but need to practice repeatedly from the parameters of some equipment, scene lighting, sound effects and other details, and use experience to accumulate. Simple imitation of the master's lens language will not be favored by the admissions officer.
Natural light, hand drawn by students
The difference between the film major and other majors is that the creation process of our professional film collection is not alone, but needs professional help. Just like Wong Kar wai's film aesthetics cannot be separated from Zhang Shuping's help, Clint Eastwood's film characters need Morgan Freeman's realization, almost every master director has his own fixed production team. For those of us who are on the way to study and want to complete a complete work, we can also use help from outside.
Source: Douban
This is also Studying abroad in film major The biggest difference of the collection of works is that colleges and universities clearly point out that students do not need to complete the whole work independently, but only need to indicate their specific work on the premise of having outstanding contributions. Different colleges and universities have different requirements for the direction of student leadership.
For example, NYU focuses on screenwriting. Columbia University's film major is divided into two directions: screenwriter and director Students must do enough homework before creating, in-depth research on professional requirements and work style, and then do the most targeted preparation.
But this does not mean that we can take it for granted to "do it on behalf of others", because in the application stage, the admissions officer hopes to see from the works the applicant's own ideas and ability to shape the story. Students need to play a leading role in the creation process, and others' help is only auxiliary, such as actors, scenery, lighting, late stage, etc.
Natural light, hand drawn by students
In addition to these substantive work, the greatest help we can get comes from professional guidance and systematic learning. There is an essential difference between filming and appreciating movies. It requires not only aesthetic ability but also students to establish a very complete knowledge framework and understand all aspects of film production. In order to avoid detours in the process, long-term learning and professional guidance are essential.
Professional things are left to professional people
To sum up, the requirements and assessment standards of the film major are very "special". First of all, it is particularly comprehensive. From high-level aesthetics to the study of various techniques, rigorous thinking ability and accumulated practice, colleges and universities need compound talents in the art field.
In order to help students directly connect with the advanced teaching mode of overseas art colleges, Natural Light has always insisted on providing students with a full range of learning opportunities, from the humanities, practice, technology, and thinking four dimensions, so that students can move from "hands-on" to "thinking upgrading", and comprehensively improve different dimensions, thoroughly stimulating the space for students to rise, Break through more barriers to creation.
Secondly, the film profession is particularly technical. Just like Avatar and The Twin Killers, which are of epochal significance, films are developed on the basis of technology. If you want to understand the film and engage in the film industry, it is inevitable to build on the understanding and mastery of film techniques, which can also convey our imagined emotions and information.
Finally, the creation of professional film collections pays special attention to professional help. Natural Light has always taken strong overseas resources as the cornerstone of students' development, contributing to helping everyone pursue the film dream, and also passing on the most systematic, international, cutting-edge knowledge and content to students.
New York Film Academy
World University Ranking of Film Production (UK/USA)
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