Genres Course Overview

Genres is the advanced companion course for Media Arts.  This Honors-level course focuses on filmic and storytelling conventions native to various narrative filmmaking genres.  Through the course, students learn cinematographic, editorial and sound conventions of various narrative film genres.  Students develop original scripts based on learned conventions.  Students also develop and demonstrate advanced filmmaking, editing, and recording techniques.

Day 1

On our first day of class, students did a concept development map around the term "Genres."  Here's what they came up with:

Narrative Films: romantic, sci-fi, fiction, historical fiction, horror, suspense, drama, romantic comedy, comedy, slapstick comedy, dark comedy, silent film, psychological thriller, apocalyptic story, gangster epic, bollywood, musical, action, fim noir,

Documentary Films: biographies, reality shows, mockumentary

Aesthetics: Foreign, art-house, sundance film festival, distinct, creative, old movies,

Projects: music videos, musicals, movies, tv shows, scenes

Skills developed through class: putting yourself out there, brainstorming, thinking outside the box, creative voice, artsy, computer editing, video production, scene structure,  lighting, camera, animation, cinematography, camera angles, acting, costumes, storylines, focus, experimenting, netflix browsing, directing,

Other Arts Genres: choeography, dance, theater, hip hop, heavy metal, techno, jazz, rock, blues, opera, indie rock