THE SPIEL ABOUT SPIELBERG

Taught by Joe Frankel
Tuesdays, March 8-29, 7:00 PM
4 Sessions
$129 ($109 for JxJ Donors of certain levels*)

Steven Spielberg. The name is impossible to avoid whether you’re a cinephile or just a casual movie fan. Is he an artist or merely a prodigious entertainer? The debate has followed him throughout his career and yet he has had a bigger impact on both the practice of filmmaking and movie culture at large than arguably any other director in the last 50 years. He has taken on the mysteries of the universe, probed some of the darkest chapters in human history and forecast the future with remarkable prescience.

There is truth contained in even his most fantastical movies and there’s fantasy embedded in his most soberingly realistic ones. Watch and discuss key scenes from the master director’s diverse filmography, gain a deeper understanding of the filmmaking process and glean useful insights about how to tell more compelling stories in virtually every genre by looking at his singular approach to lighting, composition, camera movement, editing and directing actors in four key works: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Empire of the Sun, Schindler’s List and Catch Me If You Can.

Taught by award-winning producer and screenwriter Joe Frankel.

Additional streaming film rentals required. The film list is subject to change if streaming availability changes.

Teacher: Joe Frankel has worked as a writer, director and producer, in Toronto, New York and LA, for companies ranging from Cineplex Entertainment to Universal Studios. His credits include a limited series based on The Phantom comics and Steve Guttenberg: Frenchman, a new animated comedy that is under development in Hollywood. In 2019 Joe founded the Imaginary Courtyard content agency and IC Movieology, an online film school that offers courses in film studies and smartphone filmmaking.

Joe is an alumnus of the MFA Screenwriting program at USC, the BFA Film & Video Production program at York University and the co-founder of the Zoom Film Festival a showcase of international student films that just celebrated its 25th anniversary.

 

*JxJ Donors at the Fan Level ($175) or above are eligible for class discounts:

Use the email address attached to your JxJ account and your donor discount will automatically be taken in your cart. If you have questions, call 202.777.3210 and we will be happy to help you complete your transaction.