Kids Weekend Camp (AGES 10-13)

The New York Film Academy is pleased to offer film and acting programs for youth (ages 10-13) on weekends during the school year and in one and two week camps during the summer months. We have designed our tween programs with the same high standards that we apply to our high school and university level programs.

The Two-Week Filmmaking and Acting for Film Summer Camps meet Monday through Friday for two consecutive weeks. These two-week programs are held at Lower Manhattan Community Middle School in New York City and at our school at Universal Studios, Hollywood. Students may also choose to enroll only in the first week of the Two-Week Workshop. Students should be prepared to devote additional hours of their own time for rehearsal and preparation.

Weekend Filmmaking and Acting for Film Camps meet on twelve consecutive Saturdays for the beginning and intermediate level workshops. Please note, the weekend workshops are held at our Union Square facility in New York City (not the Lower Manhattan Community Middle School), and at our school at Universal Studios, Hollywood.

There is no dormitory housing available for the Tween Camps. Therefore, we only accept students who have made prior arrangements with family or friends.

INTRODUCTORY FILMMAKING
Filmmaking Camp challenges young people to tell a story with moving images. Students begin on day one working with digital cameras and learning the fundamentals of directing films. Hands-on classes in directing, writing, editing, cinematography, and production cover the creative and technical demands of telling a story with moving images.

In the two-week program, each student writes, directs and edits his or her own short film of up to three minutes and fulfills basic crew positions on his or her classmates’ films.

Students shoot on digital video cameras and learn how to compose, direct, and light for quality images and edit using Final-Cut Pro on an Apple editing stations. At the Universal Studios location, students will shoot their productions on the studio backlot.

Students make one short film in each week. Two week students write and direct a film of greater complexity in the second week. At the end of the Two Week and Weekend Workshops, the final films are celebrated in a screening open to cast, crew, friends and family.

INTRODUCTORY ACTING
This course emphasizes the basic elements of the craft of acting for film using fundamental acting technique and scene study as starting points. Students participate in in-class shoots aimed specifically at training the actor for the technical requirements of acting on a film set. Every student shares the same curriculum. Some additional time may be scheduled for productions as needed.

Classes encourage students to break down physical and internal inhibitions, and help each student find the most effective personal sources for the creation of truthful characters. Students should be prepared to work in non-traditional acting classes emphasizing the construction of and control of character given the unique pressure of a film or television shoot. Video cameras ­are used during class time.

Students develop the techniques and confidence they need to create believable performances for the camera. They apply what they learn to a series of on camera exercises designed to develop their screen acting ability.

Students in the Two-Week Camp perform in a film scene that is taped, edited and screened for a live audience.

Students in the Two-Week Summer Camp Program who enroll in only the first week do not act in the student productions but receive all the fundamental acting instruction.

INTERMEDIATE FILMMAKING
Designed expressly for graduates of the Academy’s Tween Filmmaking program, this intermediate course offers students the opportunity to take the next creative and technical step in filmmaking.

Students develop, pre-produce and create a longer and more complex project than that completed in the beginner program. Closer attention is paid to set and costume design, locations, shot choices and coverage, as well as additional crew roles.

The finished product is a film of up to 5 minutes. Classes focus on topics including digital cinematography, screenwriting, editing practice and aesthetics, and directing for cinema.

INTERMEDIATE ACTING
Starting where they left off in the introductory Acting for Film program. Students are cast in and explore the process of performing in a more in-depth production. Students may shoot the final project on location or in a closed set at the Film Academy.

While students are introduced to specific acting techniques and exercises as they apply to acting for the camera, classes primarily focus on rehearsal and preparation for the final project.