WORKSHOPS Friday Workshops Improv Comedy and Timing – Nora Hassan Friday, July 21, 12-2pm, Radisson Hotel Improv Comedy and Timing will offer a very hands-on chance to work in front of a group using basic improve tools that encourage the development of strong characters. The Groundlings, begun in 1974, continues to be among the leaders in improve and sketch comedy worldwide. Alumnus that includes Phil Hartman, Will Ferrell, Jon Lovitz, and Lisa Kudrow Out of the Closet: A History of Costume Design -- Walter Peterson Friday, July 21, 2:30-4:30pm, Radisson Hotel Fashion and costume designer Walter Peterson will share his designs and stories. He worked with Bob Mackie and Edith Head and dressed Marlene Dietrich and Cher! Richard Leacock Master Class Friday, July 21, Plimoth Plantation, 4-6pm Making the sequence: in which Leacock details the circumstances that led to some unusual sequences and techniques that invite the audience to be there. Screenwriting -- Scott Thompson Part 1, Friday, July 21, 5-7pm; Part 2, Saturday, July 22, 3:30-5:30pm, Radisson Hotel In a constructive workshop environment, Scott Thompson and participants will work together to identify the narrative story behind an idea. Volunteers will pitch their ideas and will then work on the process of developing character and plot. Two-part workshop! Scott J. Thompson has been teaching screenwriting for thirteen years and is currently a full-time Visiting Professor at Boston University. After receiving his MFA in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California, Scott worked as a Development Executive and Story Consultant for various production companies including New Line Cinema, MTM Enterprises and the Fred Silverman Company. Since moving to Boston, he directed the Screenwriting Certificate program at Emerson College for eight years, while teaching at Emerson College, Boston University, Lesley College, New York Film Academy, and Grub Street Writers. He has also consulted for local production companies such as Saint Aire Productions and is currently working with Los Angeles-based Collaborative Artists on a comedy of his own. He is also under contract with Montreal-based Cine-Roman Productions on a "period drama" slated for release in 2008. Special Effects: From Design to Destruction – Gary King Friday, July 21, 7:30-9:30pm, Radisson Hotel Gary King will share special effects how-to’s. Credits for more than 40 TV shows and 60 films include Aliens - The Resurrection, Terminator 2, True Lies, and Patriot Games. Saturday Workshops Thirty Years Below the Line, or How to Make Your Movies Look Like Storaro Lit Them – Mike Moyer Saturday, July 22, PACTV, 11 am – 1 pm First Electrician Mike Moyer will share secrets for lighting a scene, including the value of key and fill lighting, and how to light a scene using supplies from the local hardware store. Mike’s credits include The Producers, As Good As It Gets and In the Line of Fire, among others. An Experiment in Subliminal Persuasions and the Movies -- Lance Norris Saturday, July 22, 2-4pm, PACTV An Experiment in Subliminal Persuasions and the Movies Lance Norris, a former card carrying member of the liberal media elite, will conduct an experiment in subliminal persuasion as it relates to the movies. Of course the term subliminal is technically archaic, hopelessly bound to the concept of a well-defined sensory threshold which was made obsolete by the introduction of signal detection theory into psychology. Norris, who has made his archaic presences felt subliminally in such movies as Clint Eastwood’s MYSTIC RIVER, Alek Keshishian’s WITH HONORS and Edward Zwick’s GLORY will demonstrate how this influence represents a social threat and how we are all already greatly, even unfairly, being influenced by carefully crafted psychologically sophisticated persuasion tactics. Fun for the whole family. With the passing of Tony Randall the term 'raconteur' never gets used anymore, but it must surely apply to Lance Norris. A long time veteran of Boston radio (WZLX, WBCN, WAAF, MIKE-FM), Norris has been seen in Academy Award winning pictures like Mystic River and Glory, as well as lighter fare like With Honors and The Mouse. Norris has also written for TV on the Emmy nominated Politically Incorrect and Saturday Night Live as well as the quickly cancelled Mike O'Malley Show. His humor has been published in magazines as far afield as National Lampoon, Entertainment Weekly, People, Hustler and Mad. The author of several books and screenplays, as well as acting, directing and writing for the stage; it's no wonder he had to recently close his comedy club 'The Bitter Man'. A family man, with a wife, and four kids, Norris also teaches at UMass in Boston, The John Robert Powers Academy, various acting workshops, and is a former cultural lecturer at The Chengdu University of Science and Technology in The People's Republic of China. He also performs as a mentalist when the need arises. Ask a Bitter Man is a small collection of his writings from 1984 – 1999. Panel -- Richard Leacock and Collaborators Saturday, July 22, Plimoth Plantation, 4-6pm Is Documentary fiction? What is the Future of Film? A panel discussion focusing on how CV has influenced fiction, vice versa, and what’s next? The Reel Deal II -- Nora Hassan Saturday, July 22, 4:30-6:30pm, PACTV The Reel Deal II a workshop with an emphasis on the professional ‘business’ side of the industry and discussions and demonstrations of on-camera workshop Sunday Workshops Cinital: Virtual Sets – From Design to Production Sunday, July 23, 1-4pm, PACTV Previzion's powerful features enable you to take in live video of a camera pointed at a scene in front of a blue or green screen, and send out video of the live scene combined with any background you can imagine - in real time!