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Plan
By Phase By Day Calendar
Launch
Students will launch the film festival challenge by analyzing how short films shape audience experience, improvising and filming quick scene tests, and using early feedback plus community input to define strong audience-centered directions for later research and planning.
Days 1 - 3
🎬 Red Carpet Scene Sprint
Launch 145m
🧠 Audience Experience Breakdown
Knowledge/Skill Building 135m
🎤 Festival Standards Q&A Notes
Community Experience 145m
Research & Plan
Students will gather direct audience evidence, study how short films shape viewer experience, and turn research into a practical production direction brief with clear crew roles, feedback routines, and checkpoint plans.
Days 4 - 9
🎬 Audience Hooks in Short Films
Knowledge/Skill Building 120m
📝 Interview Protocol and Consent Cards
Knowledge/Skill Building 135m
🎤 Viewer Interviews and Festival Q&A
Community Experience 145m
🗂️ Empathy Map and Assumption Check
Research 145m
📄 Short Film Direction Brief
Deliverable 145m
✅ Crew Plan and Checkpoint Conference
Assessment 145m
Synthesize & Pitch
Students will synthesize audience research into a focused film direction, generate and compare multiple short film concepts, and pitch storyboarded options that show how story structure, shot sequencing, and scene transitions are designed for a specific audience.
Days 10 - 15
🧩 Audience Insight Wall
Knowledge/Skill Building 145m
🎯 How Might We Brief
Knowledge/Skill Building 145m
🗂️ Concept Sprint Boards
Project Work 145m
🗣️ Storyboard Pitch Clinic
Deliverable 145m
📋 Pitch Deck and Shot Plan
Deliverable 145m
🎬 Greenlight Concept Pitch
Assessment 145m
Prototype & Test
Days 16 - 21
No activities have been added to this phase yet.
Refine & Present
Students will turn tested concepts into polished festival-ready short films by tightening rough cuts, validating choices with representative viewers, revising through structured critique cycles, and preparing a public-facing director’s note and team presentation that explain how audience feedback shaped the final film.
Days 22 - 27
🎬 Rough Cut Revision Clinic
Knowledge/Skill Building 120m
🛠️ Rough Cut Peer Notes Round
Deliverable 145m
✂️ Final Cut Build Session
Project Work 145m
👥 Validation Screening with Festival Partner
Community Experience 145m
📝 Director’s Note and Intro Rehearsal
Knowledge/Skill Building 135m
🎥 Final Cut Presentation Gate
Assessment 145m
Showcase
Students will finalize festival presentation details, present their short films to an authentic public audience, and document how audience feedback and the full design process shaped their final creative choices.
Days 28 - 30
🎬 Festival Run-of-Show Rehearsal
Knowledge/Skill Building 120m
🎥 Behind the Lens Showcase
Community Experience 180m
📝 Director's Note Reflection Portfolio
Assessment 135m