BOSTON—Boston University said it is adding an experimental course in its College of Communications that teaches students esthetics and production methods for making films designed specifically for mobile phones and handheld devices.
The course will be led by director Jan Egleson. Students will be asked to create, write, produce and edit 10 short “mobilette” narrative films during the semester-long course. The films will be distributed on Amp’d Mobile Inc.’s Amp’d Live entertainment service, said the university. Amp’d is providing camera phones and editing equipment for use during the course.
Amp’d Mobile Senior Vice President Seth Cummings, a 1997 graduate of BU, came up with the idea for the course.
“No one has figured out how to produce a long form narrative specifically for portable devices,” said Charles Merzbacher, chairman of the BU Department of Film and Television. “This is an attempt to broaden film students’ frame of reference beyond the two-hour feature or the one-hour TV serial and get them thinking about the shape of things to come.”
