Visual Storytelling: The Shot, The Image, and The Camera

With: Peter Markham
$395

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4 weeks
5
Visual Storytelling: The Shot, The Image, and The Camera
5
Visual Storytelling: The Shot, The Image, and The Camera

About this Live Online Course

Mastering visual storytelling is like learning a new language—the language of the screen—and it is a critical component of a director’s work. Join filmmaker, author, and educator Peter Markham as he leads this live, online course. Over four weeks, gain expertise on the practical aesthetics of the moving image—explored from the perspectives of both shot and camera.


What you will learn:

  • What is inherent in visual language and what depends on context and usage.
  • The granular details of composition, mise-en-scene, shot selection, size, and framing.
  • How filmmakers create images to evoke the passage of time and the “flow of energy.”
  • The nature of images.
  • The effects of camera placement, angles, and movement.
  • The different types of camera function (observing, passive, dynamic, participatory, complicit).

In this four-week live online course, you will analyze scenes across genres and styles to learn how to command your own unique visual style. This course will provoke new ways of approaching your work and will allow you to share and connect with other directors.


This course is ideal for:

  • directors interested in visual storytelling who want to dive deep into understanding the language of the moving image with the guidance of an expert.

Course participants are encouraged to watch the below three films prior to the course:


The course also draws heavily on Markham’s experience as a second unit director on Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York (2002) and Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient (1996).


A limited number of need-based scholarships are available and are considered on a rolling basis as they are received. Those who apply earlier will have a greater chance of getting support. To apply for a scholarship, please complete the course registration form.


Sundance Collab provides accommodations and support services to participants with disabilities. Accommodations and services are designed to meet the needs of each participant. Please email us at accessibility@sundance.org to arrange for services.

Live Online Course
Intermediate
Live virtual class sessions
Certificate of Completion
Access to course for one year

Scholarships

Sundance Collab offers a limited number of full and partial need-based scholarships for individuals who need assistance. 

Due to limited scholarship funds available, we prioritize one course scholarship per participant in a 12-month period. Scholarship applications are available up to one week before the registration deadline and do not stack with discounts or promotions, including early registration.

Outline

9 a.m.–12:30 p.m. PT

Extended Opening Session

Topics covered include:

  • Opening Circle
  • Foundations of our approach
  • Five tasks of the filmmaker
  • Visual language
  • Composition and mise-en-scène
  • The shot

9 a.m.–12 p.m. PT

Topics covered include:

  • Shot size
  • Framing
  • Flow of energy/passage of time

9 a.m.–12 p.m. PT

Topics covered include:

  • The image
  • Camera as concept
  • Permutations of camera function
  • Camera placement
  • Camera angle

9 a.m.–12:30 p.m. PT

Extended Closing Session

Topics covered include:

  • Camera angle (continued)
  • Camera movement
  • Lensing
  • Notes on sound & image
  • Thoughts going forward
  • Closing Circle

Team

Peter Markham

Instructor

Now giving consultations and masterclasses in LA, in China, and online, Peter Markham was previously Head of Directing at the American Film Institute Conservatory from 2010 to 2018. Before that he was Senior Lecturer in Directing (2003-2010) having begun teaching at the Conservatory as adjunct faculty in 2001—a total of 17 years’ experience at AFI. He has mentored some 450 new directors, a substantial number of whom have achieved outstanding success within the industry, at major festivals across the world, and the Academy. He has also inspired dozens of new filmmakers in AFI’s prestigious Directing Workshop for Women. 

Prior to his teaching career Markham directed Second Unit for Martin Scorsese on GANGS OF NEW YORK (Nominated for 9 Academy Awards in 2003, including Best Picture), and for Anthony Minghella on THE ENGLISH PATIENT (Winner, 9 Academy Awards in 1997, including Best Picture). As a director in his own right in the UK, he directed TV drama for the BBC and Granada while his film THE CORMORANT, starring Ralph Fiennes, was nominated for a BAFTA Wales Award. Markham’s book WHAT'S THE STORY? - THE DIRECTOR MEETS THEIR SCREENPLAY is published by Focal Press/Routledge. His second book on filmmaking, THE ART OF THE FILMMAKER: THE PRACTICAL AESTHETICS OF THE SCREEN is published by Oxford University Press.

FAQ

In Sundance Collab’s Live Online courses, participants attend live, virtual class sessions on the same day and time for a specified period. These sessions are led by an instructor and in some cases, supported by a team of advisors. In some courses, you are given assignments with submission deadlines to help you take the next step with your work. 

  • Each week you will be able to attend live lectures via Zoom video and ask questions of your instructor.
  • In some courses, you will receive individualized feedback from your course advisor on elements of your work.
  • In some courses, you will have the opportunity to have a 1-on-1 session with your advisor. Depending on the course, this session may be included or may be purchased separately for an additional cost. Check the course description for specifics. 

All members of the Sundance Collab community are welcome to register for Sundance Collab courses. Please review the course description and any eligibility requirements to ensure the course is a good fit. If you have any questions about a course, please email collab_courses@sundance.org.


Note that space is limited. If the registration window is open, you will see a “Register” button on the course page. If there is an application, applications are considered as they are received and applicants are accepted on a rolling basis until the course is full or the deadline has passed, whichever comes first. 

We do not allow creative partners to do our live online courses as a team. However, both creators can individually register for the course.

Part of Sundance Collab's unique educational approach is to create a teaching team for every course. Each class is led by an instructor who may be accompanied by additional course advisors. This allows us to keep an intimate ratio of participants to advisors and to provide a diversity of voices and approaches to the course content.

We often offer a limited number of need-based, full or partial scholarships. Check the course description to see if that course currently has scholarships available. Scholarships are prioritized for one per person per year (from the date of issue). Scholarship applications are available up to one week before the registration deadline. To apply for a scholarship,complete the registration form by clicking the REGISTER button and selecting the option to apply for a scholarship, if available.

Applicants will be notified about their scholarship decision prior to the first day of the course. Due to the volume of applicants, we are not always able to provide a scholarship, but we may still offer a spot in the course. In this case, depending on the course, payment plans may be available and can be selected at checkout.

Yes, we offer two or three-part payment plans for Live Online courses, depending on the length of the course. In all cases, the first payment is due at the point of registration. The remaining payment(s) are spread out throughout the course term. For specific payment plan dates for a course, please reach out to our team at: collab_courses@sundance.org. 

Yes, you are welcome to take a live, online course even if you can’t make the live sessions. Recordings of each class session are available online by the following day so you can keep up with the course lectures. For courses that include a 1-on-1 session with an advisor or instructor, the meeting is scheduled according to your (and their) availability.

All sessions are recorded and usually made available within one business day. The videos will also contain the chat and transcript from the class session, viewable in the video playbar.


Participants will have access to the recordings for one year following the last class session.

All participants will receive a Certificate of Completion. The certificate will include the name associated with your Sundance Collab account.

You can find any courses that you are enrolled in or have already completed in the profile section of your Sundance Collab account under “Courses.”

You can join a course via a computer or mobile device. All of our live, online courses are conducted via Zoom.


Download and set up the Zoom software (https://zoom.us/download) and make sure you have the latest update. Here are some great resources from Zoom’s Knowledge Base to take a deeper dive into using Zoom:

 

If you have any further questions, please email collab_courses@sundance.org.


Sundance Collab provides accommodations and support services to participants with disabilities. Please contact us at (435) 776-7790 or email us at accessibility@sundance.org to ask any questions or to discuss your specific needs after you have been accepted into the course.

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Payment Plans:

  • A two-part payment plan is available after you register.

  • Payments are spaced two weeks apart with the first payment due at the time of registration.

Scholarships:

  • A limited number of need-based scholarships are available.

  • Scholarship applications are available up to one week before the registration deadline and do not stack with discounts or promotions, including early registration.

  • To apply for a scholarship, complete the registration form by clicking the REGISTER button above and selecting the scholarship option, if available.