Core Subjects

• Director’s Craft: Students will refine their visual storytelling skills, learning how to plan and execute complex scenes with dialogue, balancing camera movement, blocking, and performance direction to enhance their narrative.

• Writing: With a focus on dialogue-driven storytelling, students will refine their understanding of scene structure, subtext, character voice, and pacing, ensuring their scripts are dynamic and engaging.

• Digital Cinematography: Students will operate a more advanced digital camera, gaining hands-on experience with lens choices, depth of field, camera movement, and shot composition, all with an emphasis on visual storytelling within dialogue scenes.

• Advanced Lighting: This class delves deeper into cinematic lighting techniques, exploring how to use light and shadow to shape emotion, direct focus, and create meaning within a scene, with an emphasis on multi-character dialogue scenes and layered lighting setups.

• Production Workshop: Students will experience an instructor-guided set environment, practicing on-set collaboration, troubleshooting production challenges, and ensuring efficient scene execution under real-world filmmaking conditions.

• Directing Actors: Students will learn techniques for working with performers, focusing on effective communication, blocking for the camera, emotional authenticity, and capturing natural performances in dialogue-heavy scenes.

• Digital Editing: Students will apply advanced editing techniques, learning how to shape performance, manage pacing, and cut dialogue scenes effectively. They will also explore sound design, dialogue editing, and continuity in performance to ensure seamless storytelling.

• Sound Recording: Since sound is a crucial component in dialogue films, students will receive in-depth instruction on sound recording equipment, boom operation, and mixing techniques. They will learn set protocol for sound, dialogue leveling, syncing audio in post-production, and crafting a strong soundscape to enhance their film.

• Producing: Students will gain a foundational understanding of pre-production planning, scheduling, casting, and set logistics, ensuring they can manage the complexities of executing a dialogue-driven film efficiently and professionally.

Course ProjectOver the three weeks, students will write, direct, shoot, and edit a Dialogue Film, applying everything they’ve learned in a single, highly focused project.

• Dialogue Project – As one of the most complex filmmaking exercises at the introductory level, this project requires students to integrate both visual and auditory storytelling elements, crafting a film that is engaging through both performance and cinematic language. Because dialogue adds an additional layer of complexity, students will receive specialized training in dialogue recording, sound leveling, and dialogue editing, ensuring clarity and emotional impact. They will also work closely with actors to deliver natural, nuanced performances, learning the intricacies of directing dialogue for the screen.

In addition to directing their own projects, students will rotate through key crew positions on their classmates’ films, gaining hands-on experience in cinematography, sound recording, assistant directing, and editing, ensuring they graduate with a comprehensive, real-world filmmaking skill set.

By the end of the program, students will have developed a deeper command of cinematic storytelling, the ability to craft engaging dialogue-driven scenes, and a polished short film showcasing their skills in directing, cinematography, sound, and editing.

To learn more about NYFA’s teen camps, visit the NYFA Camp Brochure.