FILM STUDIES & PRODUCTION TOPICS

Special Topics: Horror Cinema

Through screenings, lectures, and writing assignments, students gain exposure to the definitive moments in the history of the genre and acquire an understanding of how these films function in their time period and social environment. This course is broken up into three parts: theory, functionality, and marketing. Each section comes with its own set of screenings and assignments pertaining to the category. 

At the successful conclusion of this course, student are able to:

• Deconstruct the connotation and drive behind the horror film phenomenon

• Understand allegory and symbolism (as presented in the genre)

• Identify and develop usable ideas and marketing techniques for the student’s own films on a larger scale, developing characters, constructing stories based on diffusion or polygenesis 

• Conceptualize and write a completed treatment for a feature-length horror film with additional emphasis on marketing and projection

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Production Topics: Horror Film Production

The art and methodology of producing an effective short horror film. The scope and  purpose of the course is to provide a hands-on, real-world experience in producing and filming a movie on location. Students will be assigned roles (like any other production crew) and will be guided through the principles of pre-production, production, and     post-production as a functioning member of a small production team. By the end of the term, the production team will have a completed a horror film approximately 10 minutes in length. Within limits, students may take on multiple roles; however, each student will have specific assignments related to his or her role.

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Below are sample materials from Production Topics: Horror Film Production film Fright Light.