2022-3: Actor's Guide to Film-Making

Dates/time: Wednesdays, 15 June - 13 July 2022, from 6:30pm to 9pm

Director: Rush Jopson

Director's Assistant: Jonathan Briden

Cost: $150^*
* = We can provide a discounted rate for those experiencing genuine financial hardship. Please let us know if this applies.

Venue: NZ School of Tourism, 829 Colombo Street, Christchurch

Enrolment: class has ended

About this block

(this is a reboot of the earlier block 3 which was postponed due to covid)

This block takes a look at the technical aspects of filmmaking, and how they can affect an actor's performance - through the eyes of the cinematographer, the editor and the director. Blocking, staging, camera movement, terminology and on-set workflow will all be examined, with practical exercises and some theory, where we will examine some famous examples in cinema and why they work.

please note: Start date has changed from 8th to 15th June.

Week 1

Blocking, staging, dollying and trucking - what does it all mean? We take a look at these terms, and concepts such as screen direction, visual hierarchy and the Kuleshov effect. Students will also begin learning a monologue.

Week 2

Basic Blocking & Visual Hierarchy. We begin to break these concepts down and practice hitting our marks - and look at why an actor's position on screen is so important.

Week 3

Focal Lengths & Staging. Carrying on from Week 2, we look at how staging and lens choice can greatly affect a performance - and students get a chance to practice with different focal lengths and adjust their performance accordingly.

Week 4

Advanced Blocking. We examine how character action affects dialogue and examine some famous examples. Actors practice delivering their monolog while acting out more complex blocking scenarios.

Week 5

The actors' monologues are filmed professionally, using blocking and staging concepts from throughout the course to deliver an impactful and cinematic monologue, in a way that mimics what filming on set is really like.

A personal message from the instructor

I’m excited to really dive into some of the more dense concepts behind filmmaking, and look forward to pulling it all apart and examining not just how we do things as filmmakers - but the more important question for me - why?

Rush Jopson

Photo by Lê Minh from Pexels