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Duration: 2 Years
The Acting curriculum prepares students for film, television, theatre and voice-over work. Through lectures, workshops, extensive scene study, improvisation, monologues, plays and works on students' film projects, the actors master an impressive array of skills. They learn to break down scripts, develop characters, and express interpretive choices while maintaining physical and emotional continuity. From basic acting techniques, movements, dance, fight and stunt work to diction and dialect, students emerge from the course trained to perform for the entire range of acting opportunities available to artists today.
In preparation for the rigours of the industry, students undergo constant fitness training. Each day of classes begins and finishes either with gym training, yoga, contemporary dance, Odissi dance or voice training.
Students hone their craft towards excellence, readying themselves for the rigorous demands of a competitive industry. Be it for dramatic or comedic stage work, single or multiple camera set-up television, feature films, advertising or dance performances, our actors are trained to approach their craft with honesty, intensity and sensitivity. The course trains actors to create truthful, believable characters and to instill the professionalism that will earn them the industry's respect and roles that they deserve. Students learn to manage their careers via auditioning techniques, portfolio development and contract negotiation skills.
Acting students will each compile a show-reel of projects in which they have performed. An impressive body of work may include Continuity Films, Actuality Reporting, Mise-en-Scene Exercises, Dialogue Exercises, Multi-camera Television Show Exercises, Ad Films, Music Videos, and Diploma Short Fiction films, as well as the monologues, scene studies, exercises and plays in which each student participates.
The Acting course covers training in monologues, scene study, script reading, improvisation of character and situation, diction and playback.
A variety of workshops are held to ensure all round development of a student as an actor. Workshops include mind and body co- ordination, horse riding, multi-cam, grooming and dubbing. These workshops are conducted by the likes of Bansi Kaul, Om Puri , Pankaj Kapoor, Makrand Deshpande and Ratna Pathak Shah.
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Actors' Studio - Shaping Actors' For Screen is a new model envisioned by Mr. Ghai and a new division of Whistling Woods International.
Actors' Studio will groom and develop acting skills of students and groom them for ACTING on SCREEN. Mukta Arts , promoters of WWI will provide opportunities to students to prove their talent in various projects which will be funded by Mukta Arts for its production house. Mukta Arts plans to launch atleast 10 such projects every year.
The curriculum for the intensive 2 year course has been developed by none other than veteran Naseerudin Shah
Salient Features:-
1. Foundation Course which will focus on training students in all aspects of filmmaking.
2. Acting workshops
3. Acting for screen and Grooming
Advanced Training: After graduation ,students can enroll for Advanced training in the third year wherein under the guidance of experts they will undergo further training for Screen Acting.
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The cinematographer, also known as the director of photography, is the creative designer of a film or TV show's 'look'. The complex creative and technical decisions made by the cinematographer on lighting design, camera motion and film stock, translate a script from words on a page to the beautiful, mesmerising images that we finally see on the cinema screen. A skilled cinematographer can recreate historical periods, turn an overcast day into bright sunshine, and utilize colour and intensity to emotionally charge a scene. The cinematographer manages a large crew of staff including a camera operator, camera assistants, lighting technicians, grips and electricians.
The Cinematography specialisation focuses on the technical and creative demands of visual storytelling. Students gain a thorough proficiency with different camera types as they progress from still, DV and HDV formats to television broadcast, 16 and 35mm film and high definition cameras. Through workshops and extensive practice, they master the use of lenses, light meters, filters and professional lighting equipment to fully master lighting and exposure for all indoor and outdoor conditions. From manoeuvring complex tracking shots with trolley and crane to the aesthetic use of composition and special lighting techniques for mood and style, students are given the tools, the training and the hands-on experience to realize their vision. Students will be introduced to the techniques used in visual effects and special shooting conditions, such as aerial and underwater photography.
The training will also explore the role of the cinematographer in advanced post production techniques, such as digital intermediate and colour grading. These practical methodologies provide students with the skills to make fast, informed and inspired technical and creative decisions that cover both Indian and international cinematic practices.
The key areas of training include an in depth understanding and exposing of 35mm still cameras, an introduction to moving camera with Sony D-50 and how to operate and pull focus, set lighting practice with a still camera and Sony D-50 in the film studio, understanding film emulsions and an introduction to the 16mm camera. Exposing 16mm film, day and night (interior and exterior), framing and composition in theory and practice, theoretical knowledge on 35mm camera inputs, hands on training on Camera ARRI 3 and Camera 435 and High Definition (HD) Inputs and Hands on training on the SONY F950 Camera are also part of the curriculum.
Students get a chance to learn under a Master, who is a practicing professional; someone whose work they admire and appreciate. He is their first hand contact with the real world. They get an opportunity to interact and get an insight into the way the industry functions as well his own approach to Lighting, Exposing and Laboratory Practices, to get the best at any given point of time. Cinematography workshops are conducted by Ashok Mehta, R.M.Rao, Binod Pradhan, Manmohan Singh, Vikas Sivaraman, Anup Jotwani, C.K.Murlidharan, A.K.Bir, Anil Mehta, Kiran Deohans, Krishna Shetty, Sivaraman(Prasad), Ujwal Nigudkar(Fuji), Rajesh Jiandani(Kodak), Virendra Saini, Mahesh Aney, Santosh Sivan, Rajiv Menon and Sudeep Chatterjee.
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The Diploma combines all the courses such as Basic, Advance, Digital Photo Editing and Workshops with an additional emphasis on Fashion Photography and Digital Photography. We take a pride in stating that the candidates who have opted the aforesaid Diploma get the golden opportunity-cum-a bonanza offer- is privileged to participate in three workshops each on Model Lighting and Digital Photography (so as to master the lighting techniques for Fashion Photography and Digital Photography).
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The one year Diploma in Television and Broadcast Studies offered by Whistling Woods International is the ONLY course in India which emphasizes on the market realities and practicalities of broadcast media.
The programme covers almost all major aspects of the Television and Broadcast environment. Students will complete a Foundation Course of 3 months and thereafter are free to select any of the following two electives that are being offered under the programme namely:
1) Business, Management and Operations
2) Production and Creatives
After they complete the chosen elective they will undergo an internship for 6 weeks in a live production/ broadcast station environment , after which students will be prepared to work in real life work environment.
Eligibility:
Students who have graduated in any stream of education are eligible. In the case of students keen on opting for production and creative elective, undergraduates might be considered subject to certain conditions.
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The Direction specialization equips students with artistic and technical knowledge of the film and television industry, while giving them the opportunity to develop their creative talent through a complete production experience. Each student will direct multiple projects throughout the course, culminating in their diploma film.
These projects may include Mise-en-Scene exercises, short fiction films, ad films, multi-camera television and documentary films. An emphasis is placed on the cooperation and interaction of various disciplines and the student's ability to communicate his or her ideas in balancing the often differing demands of the writer, producer, technicians and actors.
Direction students are required to have a broad knowledge and mastery of many skills.
This demanding specialisation includes an in-depth understanding of screenwriting, visual storytelling strategies, the grammar and language of film and television, aesthetics, characterisation, shot breakdown and storyboarding techniques, production breakdown and design, wardrobe and makeup, editing styles, the artistic and technical use of sound and music, directing actors to achieve natural and specific performances, cinematography, casting and the business procedures of film making.
A student specializing in direction is trained in screenplay and visual storytelling strategies, characterization, aesthetics, cinematography, editing styles and artistic and technical use of sound and music. During the term of the course, he becomes well-versed with the grammar and language of film and television, shot breakdown and story boarding techniques, production breakdown, casting and directing actors, and business procedures of filmmaking.
Masterclasses are held by Ashutosh Gowariker, Anurag Kashyap, Anurag Basu, Rakyesh Mehra, Madhur Bhandarkar, Farah Khan and Karan Johar.
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Duration: 2 Years
In the Editing specialisation, students master the technical and creative challenges of the editing process, from syncing daily rushes to the final cut and sound mix. As they master a range of software, including Final Cut Pro HD, Avid HD, Cinema Tools, Live Type, Motion and After Effects, they simultaneously develop their skills in aesthetics, structure and style. Beyond the formal mechanics of editing, students master the artistic strategies necessary to transform the unsequenced raw footage into emotionally powerful and meaningful stories. Editing students also study Shake software, alongside the Animation students, for compositing. The ongoing exercises that students complete allow for exhaustive practice, review and assessment of their problem-solving creativity. As competence grows from simple cuts, montage and dialogue sequences to the more complex dexterity required for suspense, action, comedic and dramatic styles, the emphasis shifts from the technical to the artistic, as students experiment to find the pace and structure to give their work coherency and impact. In addition to the show-reel of projects common to all disciplines, Editing students complete numerous assignments that include editing for action, comedy and suspense scenes, complex dialogue scenes, montage, narrative fiction, docudrama, news footage, current affair stories, travelogues, personality-based and social issue documentaries, promos and interstitials. Key areas of training include demo of FCP operations, evolution of editing, concepts of editing, demo and practical sessions on the principles of continuity, sound designing, understanding montage, concept of time and space in cinema, visual rhythm and pace and creating dramatic tension in terms of suspense and surprise. Analysis of avante garde cinema, aesthetic use of graphics in cinema, ideology and film style, exposition and summation techniques in film narrative, mise-en-scene, introduction to short fictions and editing diploma films are also part of the syllabus. The course teaches you the various genres and styles of editing for television, understanding playback sequences, an introduction and analysis of ad films, promotional films and trailers, learning about the studio environment, demo of Livetype and effects, an introduction to cinema tools, Motion and Apple Colour softwares, DI workflow, media management, broadcast standard and mastering, Adobe Photoshop and After Effects, multi-cam post production and Avid training. Life skills include an internship and observation trip to a professional editor and a field visit to a post-production set-up. The workshops will enable the students to master their story-telling skills and designing sense by layering of visuals with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, Motion and Shake software. Creative skills will further develop with the help of aesthetical and practical inputs. The technical knowledge will assist in the creative rendition of the editing craft in the process of developing the students into professional editors. Workshops are conducted by Mr. David Hover, Mr. Rajesh Parmar, Mr. Vikas Desai and Mrs. Savita Shekhawat.
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Whistling Woods International offers International Students the finest English-speaking programs about Indian Culture and Cinema from the heart of Film City Mumbai, with a wide choice of curricula.
Starting from this premise, Whistling Woods International is committed to introducing all International students to India, to its historical civilization and contemporary life. Our faculty is specially devoted to teaching music, dance, visual arts, literatures and cultures, as part of the richness India offers, with the aim of reaching better understanding of one of the most complex and significant countries of the world.
As International Students, you will have the unique opportunity to embrace a new country and experience classical and contemporary aspects of Indian culture, while living in Mumbai, and at the same time earn credits towards your degree back home.
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Manipal University in association with Whistling Woods International, India's premier media institute offers the MBA in Media and Entertainment, a course that is new, exciting and set to revolutionize the way future professionals will shape the Indian mediascape.
The 2 year MBA Programme in Media & Entertainment will have specialization in Film, Broadcasting, New and Interactive Media and Event Management.
The first year of the Programme would be conducted at Manipal University Campus in Bangalore covering all General Management Subjects and Media Case Studies. The second year of the Programme will consists of 'Hands On' training at Whistling Woods premises located at Film City, Mumbai. This will include actual production and post production techniques, the process of film making, understanding TV, Radio and other sectors of the entertainment industry.
Manipal University Off Campus (Bangalore)
Semester I : Media Industry Fundamentals; General Management; Marketing the Media
Semester II: Business Creation Principles, Fundamentals of Media Production
Whistling Woods (Mumbai)
Semester III: One of Two Electives : Broadcast OR Film
Semester IV: One of Two Electives : Interactive Media OR Events & Live Media
Eligibility:-
The programme is open to all aspiring media professionals who have completed any undergraduate degree.
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The Producing course covers many topics, including art direction, production styles and formats, domestic/international units and filming requirements, scouting, securing locations, getting permits, legal issues, taxation law, foreign exchange law, censor certificates copyright and piracy bank guarantees, insurance, film financing, budgeting the music industry, artists and dancers unions, safety and occupational health, properties, sets, animals, wardrobe and makeup, equipment, transport, catering, lodging, requirements for special, visual and computer effects, film and television post-production, lab and mastering requirements publicity, promotion, festivals and premiers, ratings and marketing setting up businesses, joint ventures and co-productions television technology, transmission and operations.
The objective of the producing workshops is to skill peoples to be film and TV producers, line producers, production managers and corporate executives. The workshops are conducted by Leonard Goldberg, Michael Peyser, Danny Boyle, Sir Alex de Grunwald, Ritesh Sidhwani and many others.
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The Screenwriting course at Whistling Woods is, in many ways, a unique professional training course. Its overriding objective is to prepare students to become professional screenwriters with a deep understanding of the craft, empowering them to write on a range of topics in varied genres for Indian as well as international cinema. Students are also trained to write for other mass media and narrative formats such as television (fiction, game shows, talk shows, news segments, etc.), documentaries, advertising and corporate films. Since the demand for competent screenwriters in the Indian film and television industry far outstrips supply, we believe that our students, with a two-year intensive training programme behind them, will hold a considerable advantage in the profession.
Cinema and television are essentially mediums for telling stories. The training at Whistling Woods International amalgamates the strengths of diverse story-telling models from around the world while educating a student in writing for popular Indian cinema. In that, Whistling Woods offers broad creative space to students and encourages them to explore their individuality, discover their own talent for telling stories, and develop their own narrative styles. Students become familiar with the universal principles of storytelling, including those underlying the myths, fables and classics that have stood the test of time across cultures. This, combined with intensive training in modern screenwriting principles forms the bulk of their instruction.
Students learn through theory lectures, workshops, film viewing and script-analysis and interaction with professional screenwriters. Regular writing is the main thrust and purpose of the course, providing students with the creative challenges and satisfaction that come with being writers. Self-discipline and productivity are constantly emphasised. By the end of the two-year course, each screenwriting student emerges with one original script, one script on a story assigned by a professional producer, one treatment for an original script, one treatment adapted from a literary work, a complete proposal for a TV programme (with scripts for two episodes and a story line for 52 episodes), and optionally a script for an ad film or a documentary.
Screenwriting course fees are inclusive of an Apple laptop computer. These are provided to students in the first semester and allow students to complete their course work and personal, ongoing writing at their own convenience. Students retain their laptops after graduation.
Eligibility:-
Graduates/ 21 years of age on or before 31/12/2008
- Work Experience Mandatory
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Students begin their specialisation with a focus on basic recording and editing principles. From there, they cover sound recording and mixing, live synchronous sound, microphone techniques and boom operation, digital surround formats, MIDI and digital multi-track recording and mixing. They progress from studio and outdoor field recordings, ADR and Foley practice, and recording music and jingles to the complexities of track laying, music and film mixing, audio sweetening, mastering and soundtrack design.
Students are instructed on professional equipment and studio facilities and become proficient in handling everything from portable location disk recorders, Pro Tools digital audio workstations (one system per student), large and medium format analogue and digital audio mixing consoles, dynamic and multi-effect processors, software based
MIDI instruments, sequencers and editors.
From the initial sound design, through on-set recording, dubbing and sound editing to the final film mix, in the institute's Dolby Mix Stage, students are trained to approach every challenge with creativity and professionalism. On completion of this course, a graduate will be able to manage the entire sound workflow for film, television, ad films, documentaries and live events.
Students specialise with a focus on recording and editing principles in terms of live synchronous sound on film locations, microphone techniques and boom operation, recording and mixing for films in digital surround formats, MIDI recording and applications, digital multi-track music recording and mixing, ADR and Foley, sound editing and soundtrack design, and audio sweetening and mastering.
Students are instructed on professional equipment and studio facilities and become proficient in handling a range of equipment like portable location recorders, Pro Tools and Fairlight digital audio workstations, large and medium format analogue and digital audio mixing consoles, and dynamic and multi-effects processors.
Whistling Woods International also offers training on varied workstation platforms like Pro Tools, Nuendo and Fairlight. Workshops are conducted by Nakul Kamte, Kuldip Sood, Hitendra Ghosh, Anup Dev, Resul Pookutty, Subramanium, Jagmohan Anand, Pradip Suri, Aloke De and Anchal Srivastav.
Masterclasses are conducted by A.R. Rehman and Sukhwinder Singh.
Eligibility:-
Minimum eligibility is a 10+2 / HSC / A-Levels or equivalent level of education.
Preference will be given to graduates.
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The Animation curriculum combines the very best techniques of traditional and digital animation training in a single dynamic programme presented in a focused and interdisciplinary manner and is designed to meet the exacting standards of the animation industry for creativity, originality and high production values.
The programme also develops every individual student into a capable team member with respective specialised skills required for a studio environment anywhere in the world. Through classroom teaching and private mentoring sessions, experienced professionals instruct students in advanced digital environments and cinematic storytelling skills. During the course of their studies, students are able to develop a professional-calibre portfolio.
A student begins with the basics in human anatomy, character design, life drawing, storyboarding, layout and perspective and color theory followed by digital 2D animation, Matte painting, digital storyboarding, background and layout in ToonBoom and Photoshop. These topics will be migrated to 3D using MAYA. Character & BG modeling, texturing, lighting, animation, SFX and also advance techniques such as advance character animation, advance layout and background techniques, and advance acting methods for animation are also part of the syllabus.
Students also specialize in one of the following modules:
1. Modeling & texturing
2. Rigging & animation
3. Lighting & texturing
4. Compositing & SFX
Workshop in modeling, texturing, lighting, storyboarding and creative development are held during the term of the course. Workshops are conducted by BIG Animation (formerly known as Anirights Infomedia), Sony ImageWorks (Chennai), Paprikaas, Vaibhav Studios, Crest Animation Studio, Prime Focus and EyeQube.
A workshop on Experimental Animation has been conducted by Vaibhav Kumaresh, the head of Vaibhav Studios.
Eligibility:-
Minimum eligibility is a 10+2 / HSC / A-Levels or equivalent level of education. Preference will be given to graduates.