Teaches Filmmaking

Jodie Foster

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.

Introduction

To help you find the story you want to tell, Jodie gets personal. She speaks candidly about failure, identity, and self-knowledge so you can learn her process for authentic filmmaking. 

Finding Your Personal Story

Jodie breaks down the concept of the “big idea” in film. You’ll discover how you can use it as a tool to hone your storytelling skills. 

Exploring the Big Idea in Film

Inspiration can come from anywhere. Jodie translates a real-life experience into a dramatic scene with Scott Frank, the screenwriter of her first film, Little Man Tate. 

Jodie’s Short Film: Building Your Story Into a Screenplay, Part 1

As a director, your job is to communicate with your collaborators to create the vision for your film. Jodie discusses the tools she uses so you can bring your ideas to life.

Creating the Vision for Your Film

Jodie breaks down a storyboard sequence from her movie The Beaver to explain how she chose shots that help convey the emotional message of the scene.

Deconstructing Visual Choices: The Beaver

Jodie reunites with Scott to continue workshopping the draft screenplay inspired by her real-life experience. Learn how Jodie collaborates with writers to help build character, tension, and realism into a scene. 

Jodie’s Short Film: Building Your Story into a Screenplay, Part 2

Jodie and Scott go deeper into how to make the relationship between a director and a screenwriter more fruitful and effective. 

Jodie’s Short Film: The Screenwriter-Director Collaboration

Using the short scene that she wrote with Scott, Jodie demonstrates how you can begin to visualize your story by mapping out a shot list.

Jodie’s Short Film: Constructing a Scene

Prepping and scheduling is critical to your film’s success. Learn the tools and methods that Jodie uses in her films that you can apply to your own. 

Prepping and Scheduling

Jodie argues that casting is one of the most important decisions you can make as a filmmaker. Learn how she approaches the casting process and what you can look for in an actor when casting your own films. 

Casting

Drawing from her own acting process, Jodie teaches you how to inspire a powerful and honest performance from an actor. 

The Acting Process

Jodie teaches you how to work with an actor on set to create a compelling scene.

Directing Actors

Directing a film is a series of choices and compromises. Learn about the tools Jodie uses to track her film while shooting, including set notes and reaction shots. 

Shooting Your Film

Using Jack O’Connell’s performance in Money Monster, Jodie shows you what she considers when selecting a performance from multiple takes. Learn how to review dailies to make choices for your own film. 

Selecting a Performance Case Study: Jack O’Connell in Money Monster

Learn how Jodie approaches the editing process as she breaks down a scene put together from raw footage for Money Monster.

Editing

Jodie uses music as a tool bind the seams of a movie together. With examples from her own films, Jodie teaches you how music selection can enhance your film. 

Music

Jodie concludes her class with a note on the future of filmmaking, female filmmakers, and her final words of wisdom. 

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