The GREEN LIGHT Process requires students in advanced production classes to define the scope and nature of their productions prior to shooting. Information that students must provide include project length, format, production and post-production schedules and the extent to which each project will be completed by the end of the current semester.
Students enrolled in the following classes are required to get a GREEN LIGHT:
FTV 331 – Advanced Film Production
FTV 697 – Thesis in Film and TV Production
FTV 237/637 – Cinematography II
FTV 437/687 – Cinematography III
FTV 532 – Production Workshop I
FTV 577 – Production Workshop III
FTV 631 – Production Workshop IV
FTV 371 – Location Filmmaking
FTV 572 – Location Filmmaking
FTV 430/431 – Senior Project Workshop I
FTV 499 – Individual Study
FTV 699 -- Directed Study
How to get a GREEN LIGHT
To obtain a GREEN LIGHT you must complete and electronically submit a GREEN LIGHT Form to the faculty member overseeing your production. Production faculty members associated with the projects will review these requests and then forward "approved" requests to the Director of Student Production, who will then assign the project a "production number" (.e.g. 090143701) and disseminate the production information to the Dodge College staff.
Access the GREEN LIGHT Form
Projects not approved by either the faculty member or the Director of Student Production will be returned to you via e-mail with a description of specific concerns needing revision. You may then resubmit your revised request and will be notified by e-mail when a project has received a GREEN LIGHT.
IMPORTANT: You will not be allowed to reserve or use production and post-production resources until your project has been assigned a production number.
Revising the GREEN LIGHT
As part of the filmmaking process you may need to revise production and post-production schedules throughout the life of your project. When you need to revise a schedule, return to your GREEN LIGHT Form on the Dodge College website and submit the necessary changes. The changes will be reviewed by the supervising faculty member and approved (and sent on to the Director of Student Production) or returned to you via e-mail with a description of concerns to be addressed.
Although a GREEN LIGHT Form may be modified, this will not automatically extend the GOLD ROOM reservations attached to the production. Be sure to visit the GOLD ROOM to create and sign new paperwork describing any changes to equipment/drive reservations.
GREEN LIGHT Tips from the Director of Student Production
Check the form out! Go to the website and review the GREEN LIGHT Form before filling it out and submitting it to your faculty member. The questions on the form are designed to help you effectively pre-produce your projects before going into production. A review of the form will offer insight into the pre-production process.
Check the faculty member out! Meet with your production faculty member before submitting a GREEN LIGHT Form to review the pre-production phase, and to determine what the faculty member is expecting from you before approving the production.
Don’t wait! You should begin work on pre-production from the first day of class. Waiting until the week before a production date to pre-produce a film is a recipe for disaster, and will most certainly make it difficult to get through the GREEN LIGHT Process.
Multi-task! Filmmaking is an organic process that requires you to put energy into many different directions at once. You need to line up a crew while looking for locations while auditioning actors while reserving equipment while knocking out yet another draft of the script! It’s the only way to pre-produce a film, and the only way to successfully get a GREEN LIGHT.
Ask questions! Pre-production can be confusing business. Take advantage of office hours provided by production faculty and continually ask questions. It’s been said a million times because it’s true: there are no dumb questions!
2008 Cecil Award winners