Arts & Entertainment

Introduction

Lesson time 03:43 min

Meet your new instructor: Oscar-winning actor and director Jodie Foster. Jodie talks about her perspective from both sides of the camera, what you’ll learn in her class, and why filmmaking means so much to her.

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Topics include: Jodie Foster Teaches Filmmaking

Jodie Foster

Teaches Filmmaking

In her first-ever online class, Jodie Foster teaches you how to bring stories from page to screen with emotion and confidence.

Preview

The one thing I wished that I had learned when I first started as a director was that all I really needed was confidence and a pen and a paper. I thought that somehow I had to know every lens size, that I had to be aware of every type of film stock. The truth is, is that everything that you have to know is inside of you. Every decision making process is instinctual. And as long as you have a pen and a paper to write it down, you're in good shape. I was a child actor. I started when I was three years old. I understood that the director had a full vision, that the director could make decisions that would influence how the film was and how the film ended up on screen. I understood that the director was in charge of dreaming the dream. I think the first time I got the bug to direct, I was about six or seven years old. I was on a television show called "The Courtship of Eddy's Father." And one day I came to work and the man who was playing the father, Bill Bixby, was the director that day. I was stunned. I couldn't believe that they let actors become directors. And I watched him that day, directing the crew, setting up the shots, talking to the actors. And I knew immediately that that's what I wanted to do when I grew up. We're going talk about a bunch of things in this course. We're going to talk about working with actors. We're going to talk about working with technicians, whether it's your script supervisor, your first AD, your DP, your production designer; how to work with a screenwriter; and how to recognize shifts and changes that you'll need to be making in your script as time goes on, how to develop it. And then there's all the technical things, how to make a shot list, how to choose coverage, how to work with an editor, and how to edit down the sequences that you've come up with. I'm going to give you the actor/director's perspective, somebody who inhabits both sides of the fence. So acting and directing simultaneously and what you may need to know about how to get your own films off the ground. One of the reasons why I wanted to teach this class was I wanted to bring the excitement of creating a signature and expressing yourself in a work of art. For me, that's been the whole point of my life. It's been the greatest joy of my life, is to take everything that I am and everything that I think, and I feel, and I question, to put it on an arrow and to shoot it outwards, and to hope that it connects with other people. One of the things that you achieve by doing this is a real understanding of who you are, of your identity, where you come from, your signature, what you love, and why. You're opening yourself up to people. You're connecting you to them. That means you to the crew, but also you to the wider audience. Really, that's the joy of making movies. I'm Jodie Foster. And this is my MasterClass.

About the Instructor

Go behind the scenes with two-time Oscar-winner Jodie Foster, star of Silence of the Lambs and director of Little Man Tate. In her first online film class, she’ll teach you how to bring your vision to life. Jodie discusses her experience on both sides of the camera to guide you through every step of the filmmaking process, from storyboarding to casting and camera coverage. Everyone has a story. Learn how to tell yours.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Jodie Foster

In her first-ever online class, Jodie Foster teaches you how to bring stories from page to screen with emotion and confidence.

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