Month: March 2010

OPEN CASTING CALL 3/29

Event: CASTING CALL FOR STUDENT FILMS
What: Audition
Start Time: Monday, March 29 at 5:30pm
End Time: Monday, March 29 at 7:30pm
Where: Studio A, Reese Phifer, University of Alabama

Open Casting Call for 11 UA student short films!

Come by Monday March 29, 2010 between 5:30 and 7:30 and show us your talents by auditioning for one of our short films! All ages are welcome!

Bring your headshot and resume if you have one, though they’re not required to audition. Sides will be provided for you to read at the audition.

Call for Short Comedy Scripts

Call for Entries

Short comedy scripts for TCF 389:

Shooting the Short Comedy

Winning script will be produced in the course.

Short screenplay: 5-10 pages.

Can be any genre of comedy: Dark Comedy, Screwball, Parody, Satire, Romantic…

Guidelines:

Keep it simple!

One event, one primary character.

Logistically feasible: no car crashes, explosions, visual effects, helicopters, giant marshmallow men, epic battles, etc.

Deadline: Friday, April 16th

E-mail a PDF of your submission to Professor Adam Schwartz @ adam.j.schwartz@ua.edu.

(You may also place a hard copy in a drop box outside of office 430D.)

TCF Prof Leads Discussion for LUNAFEST

The University of Alabama Women’s Resource Center is hosting the LUNAFEST Lecture Series and Film Festival with events March 1-9.

The LUNAFEST Film Festival, a national festival where people come together as a community to view a selection of diverse short films by, for and about women, will be held March 9 at the Bama Theatre in downtown Tuscaloosa. A silent auction and reception featuring acoustic music by Sparrow & The Ghost will begin at 6:30 p.m., followed by the show at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 for students, $18 for faculty/staff and $20 for general admission.

The LUNAFEST Lecture Series began on campus with Dr. Catherine Roach, New College associate professor, discussing “Women and Romance in Popular Culture and Film” on Monday, March 1, and will continue on Wednesday, March 3, at 2:30 p.m. in the Ferguson Center game room with Dr. Rachel Raimist, telecommunication and film assistant professor, presenting “Women Behind the Camera.”

The event is designed to raise awareness about women’s issues, highlight women filmmakers, bring women together in their communities and raise money for the Breast Cancer Fund and the Women’s Resource Center. For more information, contact Jenny Suarez at jlsuarez@crimson.ua.edu, 205/348-5040.

TCF Senior Capstone Production Course: Now Accepting Applications

[PLEASE NOTE: For the launch of this course, the course designator will be TCF 444!]

The TCF Capstone Production course sequence, a unique year-long intensive filmmaking class designed for TCF media production seniors, is now accepting applications for our Fall 2010/Spring 2011 class.

The TCF Capstone Production course sequence is a specialized course in filmmaking, that allows TCF seniors to pre-produce, direct, film, and edit an original short piece. Students may choose to make a narrative short film (15 minutes or less), a documentary (30 minutes or less), a music video, an experimental short, a live event video, a multimedia project, or a web-based media project. In the fall, students will work with Dr. Raimist to develop, write, revise, and pre-produce their project. In the spring, students will work with Professor Schwartz to film and edit their piece. May 2011, the sequence will culminate in a public screening at the Bama theater!

Eligibility

The TCF Capstone Production course sequence will consider any TCF media production senior, who applies by the deadline: 5pm, Friday, March 19th. Class size is limited to 12 students and requires permission of the instructors

If you submit a late application, there is no guarantee that you will be considered for the 12 spots in the course.

How to apply

The application consists of:

  • application form (download here)
  • additional sheet (answers application questions)
  • resume
  • pitch, treatment or script
  • optional materials: DVD, QT file, or link to work samples

Interested students should download an application HERE or pick up a hard copy of the application in the 430 pod in Phifer.

Deadline

The deadline for application is Friday, March 19, 2010, but early application is encouraged. As applications are received, students will be contacted to schedule an interview with instructors on Monday, March 22.

Submit your application to Dr. Raimist via email – rraimist@ua.edu (recommended), or you can submit a hard copy to Dr. Raimist in 430C or drop off the TCF main office – 484 Reese Phifer.

Questions

Dr. Rachel Raimist: 205-348-8656 or rraimist [at] ua [dot] edu

Professor Adam Schwartz: 205-348-7182 or adam.j.schwartz [at] ua [dot] edu

Documenting Justice Course: Accepting Applications

Documenting Justice, a unique year-long documentary filmmaking class designed for non-film majors, is not accepting applications for our Fall 2010/Spring 2011 class. If you’re interested in exploring issues of social justice and documentary filmmaking apply now.

Documenting Justice is a specialized interdisciplinary course in documentary filmmaking and critical journalism, tracing the variety of ways in which documentary filmmakers and journalists represent culture and the relationship between the individual and society. Students devote two semesters to completing the class, which involves study in critical journalism, visual anthropology, ethnographic film, and the ethics of cinematic non-fiction, culminating in the creation of an original seven to nine minute film. The aim of the class is to learn how to use both film and the written word to document and analyze the many dimensions of culture and social experience at issue in matters of justice or injustice.

Alabama Documenting Justice

The Fall semester of the course is dedicated to instruction, exercises, and readings which familiarize students with the fundamentals of video production and their application to ethnographic and documentary approaches. Assignments raise representational, methodological, and ethical issues in documentary filmmaking. By the end of the first semester, students will be comfortable with the techniques of production and will select a topic for their film.

During the Spring semester, students shoot and edit an ethnographic film on their subject. Demonstrating a concern for justice in Alabama, such pieces may focus on an individual, a relationship, an occurrence, an institution, a sub-culture, or a worldview. Students will become well-acquainted with their subjects through extensive fieldwork and participant observation. In producing the final film, students will have access to state-of-the-art digital video cameras and post-production facilities at the College of Communication & Information Studies. The final films are premiered at a public screening at the BAMA Theater in downtown Tuscaloosa at the end of the semester.

An award-winning group of filmmakers collaborate as instructors in this team-taught course: Andy Grace, Director of Documenting Justice with the Department of Telecommunications & Film and Rachel Morgan, adjunct instructor at UA and instructor of radio and TV at Lawson State Community College. The course also includes guest lectures from other professionals with expertise in documentary filmmaking.

International Documenting Justice

The first semester (completed before travel) is completed in conjunction with the 12 students enrolled in the Alabama section of Documenting Justice. During the spring semester or summer term, students travel abroad, choose a film topic, become well-acquainted with their subjects, and capture footage. During the fall semester, students edit their films. Public screenings are also planned for this section.
Documenting Justice: Law A special year-long Documenting Justice course is open to law students. Law students also learn the fundamentals of video production and documentary approaches in the fall and shoot and edit their films in the spring. A separate Documenting Justice: Law screening will be held each year. The Documenting Justice: Law class is limited to eight students.

Eligibility

Documenting Justice is open to any student pursuing a bachelors or graduate degree in any department or graduate school at The University of Alabama. The course requires no prior experience in filmmaking or production. However, students applying for Documenting Justice International must complete either IHP 105: Honors Culture and Human Experience or CIP 200: Introduction to Global Studies before their travel.

Credit

Undergraduate (400-level) credit for the course is available through Telecommunication & Film, Anthropology, New College, and the Honor’s College. A 500-level credit is also available through Telecommunication & Film and Anthropology. Class size is limited to 18 students (12 in the UA Doc Justice course and six for International Doc Justice) and requires permission of the instructors.

How to apply

Interested students should acquire an application from cesr.ua.edu and return it to the Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility on the first floor of Temple Tutwiler Hall. Feel free to use additional pages if necessary. The priority deadline for application is Wednesday, March 10, 2010, but early application is encouraged. As applications are received, students will be contacted to schedule an interview with instructors. If you have additional questions, please contact Heather Christensen at 348-6495 or hchristensen@aalan.ua.edu.