• New York City Campus: Age Groups 13-16 & 16-18
• Los Angeles Campus: Age Groups 13-16 & 16-18
• Vermont Campus: Age Groups 13-15 & 16-17
• High School Filmmakers: Earn College Credit for our Three-Week Filmmaking Intensives
  

OVERVIEW
SOCAPA mixes the best of elite film programs and exciting summer camps. Nowhere else will you find this level of filmmaking intensity combined with this much fun. Each SOCAPA student writes, directs and edits one film per week of attendance in the introductory filmmaking program (1, 2, and 3 week sessions are offered). Students in the Advanced Filmmaking intensive (3 weeks only) write, direct and edit two films during the three week program. Students in the six-week program take the three week introductory program and continue on to form the Advanced Filmmaking class, making five films in all.

Our return students or students who have previous narrative filmmaking experience may apply directly to the Advanced Filmmaking and Documentary and Advanced Projects intensives. Please note that formal instruction and practice in screenwriting, directing, and editing on FinalCut Pro is required for accetpance into our advanced film intensives. As part of the application, students will be required to submit sample work - completed narrative films and a writing sample. More about Advanced Filmmaking...

CURRICULUM & SCHEDULE
The first two days of the week are spent learning the fundamentals of filmmaking with separate classes in screenwriting, directing technique, producing, cinematography and sound recording.  By midweek, students are "in production" making their first films in small crews of three to four filmmakers along with several actors from the acting program.  Each crew is supervised by an accomplished production instructor who helps guide the director and crew to ensure a safe and successful day of shooting. Once the films are "in the can," the week ends with post-production classes in editing and sound design. Students edit their films and are critiqued in class by their instructors. That night, all the movies are screened in the theater at the weekly Friday night showcase for the entire camp.

LEARN FROM THE PROS
In addition to the daily morning directing classes and the afternoon specialty classes, SOCAPA film students have master classes with visiting lecturers from the New York or Hollywood film world. Accomplished industry professionals give lectures on Producing, Acting for Film & TV, Cinematography, and Directing.

EQUIPMENT
SOCAPA offers the immediate opportunity to learn the most recent digital technologies. Students shoot using state-of-the-art 24P or High Definition video cameras with synchronous sound. All students edit on Final Cut Pro non-linear, digital computer systems. This lets them create an elaborate multi-track sound design for each of their films, incorporating music, voice-over, sound effects and dialogue. 

THE FILMS
Each SOCAPA student writes, directs and edits a film of their own per week of attendance. In addition, students are expected to work in small crews for one another.

1) The Lumière Film (Week One) In a single shot of up to one minute, the student tells a simple story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. The project takes its name from the first films by the 19th-century pioneers of early cinema, Pierre and August Lumière.

2) The Porter Film (Week Two) Edwin Porter was one of the first filmmakers to consider the possibilities of editing shots together in a continuous fashion. He led the way in creating the illusion of "continuity," where material shot over the course of days or weeks looks, once it is cut together in sequence, as if it all flows together over the course of minutes. His famous film, The Great Train Robbery, is the inspiration for this second film, where students explore the same issues Porter faced, and make a 2 to 3 minute film that focuses on continuity.

3) The Kubrick Film (Week Three) Perhaps the greatest and most innovative filmmaker that America has produced, Stanley Kubrick made one masterpiece after another over his five decade career. He set the standard for cinematic excellence in a multitude of genres, combining staging, lighting, set design, acting, and editing to create a radical new vision of what film can do. With films such as "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Dr. Strangelove," "Barry Lyndon," "Lolita," "The Shining," and "Full Metal Jacket," Kubrick proved himself again and again to be a master of his craft. For their third film, a 4-6 minute project, we challenge SOCAPA students to take everything they have learned in the previous weeks and to forge their own masterpiece.

SIX-WEEK CURRICULUM:
Students in our Six-Week Filmmaking Program go on to form the Advanced Filmmaking Program after the first three weeks. Returning students from prior summers join the group and they each make two longer projects, the Hitchcock and Kazan Film, in the final three weeks. See our Advanced Filmmaking page for more details.