Short Course - Fundamentals of Film Appreciation

Certificate by Whistling Woods International Mumbai View Contact

Starting from: INR 8,427 Per Course (Taxes Included) Request Info

Fundamentals of Film Appreciation

Credit Points : 0.5

Award : Certificate in Fundamentals of Film Appreciation

Overview

The Fundamentals of Film Appreciation course offers a unique learning experience that will deepen the understanding of films among the participants. The course is an introduction to the diverse expression of the film language and to the defining features of the medium - such as the cinematic construction of an event and the macro and micro composition of space and time in cinema. The course is an initiation programme for those participants interested in developing their knowledge of the language and aesthetics of cinema. 

Learning Objectives

- To introduce participants to the specificity of film language

- To develop an analytical method of looking at films

Components

- Uniqueness of cinema as an art

- Cinema as an art medium and as a communication medium

- Event, time and space in cinema

- Macro and micro-compositions in cinema

Class time will include lectures and screenings. In addition to it, the participants will have an access to selected WWI guest screenings and interactions with renowned filmmakers. There will be a final assessment at the end of the course.

Course Heads

Anil Zankar

Anil Zankar, Senior Professor, Film Appreciation, at Whistling Woods International (WWI) trained in Film Direction at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, and is a media professional with 30 years of experience in filmmaking, teaching, writing and media planning, and 19 short films to his credit.

Prior to his present appointment at WWI, he has been the Coordinator of the UNDP assisted project at FTII, Films for Human Development (2005-2006).

Anil has taught Film Direction and Film Appreciation as full-time faculty at FTII from 1980 to 1995. He introduced and conducted the Film Course taught at International Baccalaureates at the Mahindra United World College of India, Pune. He has been a Guest Faculty to various institutes such as the National School of Drama (NSD) and the National Institute of Design (NID), and at various Indian Universities and media institutes. He conducts training programmes for various media/administrative/private/governmental organisations and has been a consultant/curator with the National Centre for the Performing Arts. He has published about 100 articles/papers on media and cinema in various journals. He has been the Editor of the film journal, Lights Camera Action, published in collaboration with the British Film Institute. He is the recipient of two National Awards – in the Feature Film Script Competition held by NFDC  (1982) and for Best Writing on Cinema (1997) for Cinemachi Goshta, a book on the history of Indian Cinema.

Anil Zankar is currently Joint Director of the Pune International Film Festival.


Indranil Chakravarty

Indranil Chakravarty, Professor, Film Appreciation at WWI, is a film academic and filmmaker. He graduated in Film Direction from the International Film School (EICTV) in Havana. He has been a Script Consultant for the European Union Cross-Cultural Programme and has taught Screenplay-writing, Film Direction and Film Appreciation at all major film institutes in India and at several universities abroad.  Among his publications, The New Latin American Cinema: Readings from Within (1998) is a reference text for postgraduate students at several Indian universities. He has been invited to speak at several international conferences around the world. Currently, Indranil is working on his feature film which is the first ever Indian co-production with Latin America. He has been on the jury of several international film festivals (in Brazil, Mexico and Cuba), and is the Director of the Indo-Latin American Cultural Initiative (ILACI), which has a long-term collaborative contract with Ibermedia and UNESCO. He is the Coordinator of the ILACI-UNESCO Documentary Workshop  being held at WWI in April 2010.

Whistling Woods International

The Institute

Founded by one of the India’s leading filmmakers – Subhash Ghai and is promoted by Mukta Arts Limited & Filmcity Mumbai. Whistling Woods International(WWI) is Asia’s largest Film, Television, Animation and Media Arts institute, providing world-class education in all technical and creative aspects of filmmaking and television.

Whistling Woods has also been rated amongst the top 10 film schools in the world by ‘The Hollywood Reporter’, alongwith institutes like NYU Tisch, NFTS, FAMU & AFTRS. WWI was the youngest school to be featured in that list.

The WWI Mumbai campus is located inside Mumbai’s film & television production hub ‘Filmcity’, and offers courses that vary in duration from 1 year to 3 years, both full-time and part time in nature. All the major specializations of the Media & Entertainment industry are catered to, including Acting, Animation, Cinematography, Direction, Editing, Producing, Screenwriting, Sound and Media Studies. WWI also offers India’s first MBA in Media & Entertainment and India’s first MBA in Media & Communication.

The full-time faculty of WWI is a body of academics and renowned industry professionals like Subhash Ghai, Rajen Kothari, M Krishhnamurthy, Rob Reece, Anjum Rajabali, Rakesh Ranjan, Ashmaki Acharya, Somnath Sen, Samar Khan, Prashant Naik, Yusuf Mehta, Dhananjay Khore with regular guest lectures by leading Indian & International filmmakers, actors & technicians like Ashutosh Gowarikar (Director of oscar-nominated ‘Lagaan’), Farhan Akhtar, Ashok Amritraj, Shyam Benegal, Naseeruddin Shah, Danny Boyle (academy award winner for Slumdog Millionaire), Rajkumar Hirani, Rakeysh Mehra, Vishal Bharadwaj, Farah Khan, Nagesh Kukunoor, Shelley Page (head of international outreach for Dreamworks Animation), and several more. Students at Whistling Woods, hence, have a unique opportunity to interact on one-on-one basis with some of the most successful professionals in the Indian film industry.

The courses at WWI are designed to ensure that the students’ learning is collaborative and industry oriented. The curriculum at WWI is a unique hybrid of theoretical and practical aspects and ensuring that the creative dovetails well with the business aspects. All students also undergo rigorous study in several co-curricular faculties like Film Appreciation, International Art Literature Culture, Production Design & Music.

These unique elements in the curriculum & the teaching methodology have seen WWI’s student body growing over three times over the past three years. Further, almost 15% of the student body now comprises of International students, from the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, Italy, France, Holland, Vietnam and others who choose WWI over the multiple film-studies options available in their own countries.

The Institute is also highly committed to ensuring that its students move into the industry in creative and rewarding areas of employment. WWI alumni are currently working at several leading media organisations like Aamir Khan Productions, Annapurna Studios, BIG Animation, Balaji Telefilms, Dharma Productions, Dreamworks, Excel Entertainment, Fox Star Studios India, Mukta Arts Ltd, Percept Picture Company, Prime Focus, Rajshri, Red Chillies Entertainment, Reliance Mediaworks, Rhythmn & Hues, Star TV, Technicolour, Walkwater Film, UTV Motion Pictures, Yashraj Films and several more.

In early 2011, The Sony Media technology Center – a global Center of Excellence established by Sony Corp. & WWI and located at the WWI campus in Filmcity, Mumbai was inaugurated by Sir Howard Stringer (Chairman, CEO & President, Sony Corp.). Sony has recognised WWI as a leader in the Media & Entertainment education sector in Asia, decided to partner with the institute for setup of the same. This follows Sony’s two other centers in London & LA and is the only one that has been setup in association with another organization, the first two being standalone centers. The Sony Media technology Center (SMTC) at WWI will focus on new and emerging technology in the fields of High Definition filmmaking, 3D filmmaking, High Definition Exhibition and HD Broadcast. Sony has equipped the WWI Mumbai campus with the latest technology in both HD filmmaking & 3D filmmaking and will also be stationing on campus their global subject matter experts from whom WWI students would learn a great deal.

In 2010, WWI was accepted as a full member of CILECT (Centre International de Liaison des Ecoles de Cinéma et de Télévision) – a global association of film schools, which lays very high standards on admitting members (there are only 150 members of CILECT). This membership has enabled huge expansion in WWI’s international operations with student & faculty exchanges been planned with the best film schools in the world. In the past as well, WWI has initiated affiliations with several global film schools, including first-ever-in-India activities like International student co-productions. Some of the schools that we have undertaken these activities with are Deakin & Griffith in Australia, Bradford College UK, Syracuse University USA & NYU Tisch Asia.

In a major step in secondary education in India, WWI was invited to partner with India’s premier High School Board - the CBSE board by the Ministry of Human Resource Development - Government of India to design a Media Studies curriculum for the country’s primary High School board (the CBSE board). WWI has prepared the curriculum, teaching methodology & is undertaking teacher-training for the ‘Media Studies’ elective in the 11th & 12th grade.

With the Mumbai campus operational since July 2006 and the student body having grown from 90 to 350 over 3 years, WWI is strongly looking at expansion both in terms of course verticals and campuses.

The above is just a snapshot of what Whistling Woods International has achieved in the short span of five years and the institution strongly marches on its way to fulfilling it’s goal – to be the institute of choice for media education globally.