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Many of our alumni, have all kinds of doors open for them after graduating our school, not just in filmmaking but screenwriting as well. Shortly after graduating from Digital Film Academy, Alex Felix was hired by top Director and Producer Ridley Scott, known for such movies as “Alien”, “Blade Runner”, “The Martian” and Oscar winner “Gladiator”.

Alex was officially brought on to adapt Vicious, a V.E. Schwab / Victoria Schwab novel about two pre-med students who discover how people can develop superpowers, with devastating consequences. Scott Free Productions, Ridley Scott’s production company, and Story Mining & Supply Co. bought the rights to the book with the intention that Ridley Scott will be co-producing.

Alex credits his writing success to his real-life experiences and his filmmaking background, as a graduate of Digital Film Academy. He recalls his film studies at the New York academy as extremely important because it taught him to see things visually. Being able to “visualize what the end product needs to look like” is more important in the world of screenwriting than people realize. It’s certainly helped garner Felix much-deserved attention. At DFA you will get excellent value for a very fair tuition cost. In fact, Digital Film Academy has one of the lowest tuition rates in NYC film courses. Here you can compare the cost of film schools in the USA.

Note: For many of our students who need help with covering tuition we offer The Rose Scholarship (for international students and U.S. citizens and permanent residents): as part of our One Year Programs. This is a needs-based scholarship and is based on rewarding students of strong academic performance. The Rose Scholarship is up to a value of $2,400 and is available to domestic students and as a scholarship for international students.

Ridley Scott had a commercial breakthrough with the science-fiction horror film Alien (1979). He is also known for the dystopian sci-fi film Blade Runner (1982), Best Picture Oscar winner Gladiator (2000), and science fiction film The Martian (2015).

Ridley Scott is known for his atmospheric visual style, containing memorable images of environments, whether Rome (Gladiator), Jerusalem (Kingdom of Heaven), Medieval England (Robin Hood), Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down) and the futuristic city landscapes of Blade Runner.

Films directed by Ridley Scott

As Producer

Television

Commercials

Probably one of our most notable international students at Digital Film Academy in New York was Pavel Kacerle. This was an international student who came all the way from The Czech Republic to study at Digital Film Academy. He took our Digital Filmmaking Program which included the Maya 3D Animation elective.

Kacerle attended DFA in 2009 with no knowledge of animation or digital filmmaking. Since completing the course and receiving his certification he has developed an impressive resume.

Pavel’s work includes visual effects for blockbuster films which have each grossed over 1 billion dollars such as “Jurassic World”, “Iron Man 3” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron”. The visual effects work done on “Captain America: The Winter Solider” even received an Academy Award nomination under the VFX category !

As Pavel learned, mastering the skills of digital media takes time and practice. This requires access: access to industry standard software, access to production equipment, access to cameras, access to microphones and sound mixers, access to the Digital Film Academy green screen room and sound booth. That’s why at our Times Square-based film school, Digital Film Academy students and graduates are given FREE lifetime access to our state of the art equipment and facilities. (DFA students in the Advanced Digital Filmmaking Program in New York even have access to Red Cinema cameras!)

All of this combines to enable you to create quality work. No other film school in New York or indeed the world offers this generous amenity.

Through his training at DFA, Pavel went on to create high quality work which has been used by some of the best visual effects (VFX) companies in the world, including Lucasfilm and The Walt Disney Company. We are proud of all our international students just like Pavel who come from all over the world to learn filmmaking and take their skills to the next level.

Click to learn more about how international students can apply to Digital Film Academy, New York.

Marvel Studios is an American motion picture studio based at The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Marvel Studios is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which itself is a wholly owned division of The Walt Disney Company. The Marvel Studios’ mission is to produce films and other creative projects based on Marvel Comics characters. The studio has been involved in three Marvel-character film franchises to have exceeded $1 billion in North American revenue: the X-Men, Spider-Man, and Marvel Cinematic Universe multi-film franchises.

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” was written and directed by Joss Whedon. Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Elizabeth Olsen, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Hayley Atwell, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgård, Paul Bettany, James Spader, and Samuel L. Jackson. Plot: the Avengers fight Ultron which is an AI (artificial intelligence) obsessed with causing human extinction.

“Captain America: Civil War” is a 2016 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Captain America. Directed by: Anthony and Joe Russo. Screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely. Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Junior, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, and Daniel Brühl. Plot of “Captain America: Civil War”: disagreement over international oversight of the Avengers divides them into conflicting groups (Steve Rogers versus Tony Stark).

Principal photography began in April 2015 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, and continued in the Metro Atlanta area before concluding in Germany in August 2015, with the film being the first to use IMAX’s digital 2D cameras (for the film’s central airport fight sequence).

Chad Boseman The Black Panther: A Digital Film Academy Success Story

Former Digital Film Academy student Chad Boseman has been dominating the movie industry since attending our New York film school. He went on to star opposite Harrison Ford in the Jackie Robinson biopic “42” which received positive reviews and raked in $27 million on its opening weekend.

Boseman is definitely a man who how to portray a real-life person onscreen. In fact, it was this reverence for accurate portrayal that almost made him pass on the role of James Brown in the 2014 biopic “Get On Up” directed by Tate Taylor. Originally from the south, Boseman shied away from this part, unsure of whether or not he could do it justice. He reportedly told director Tate Taylor, “We cannot mess this up! I don’t know if I can do it right!” while being courted for the role. When attending DFA Chad took Cinematography and Directing classes (which have since evolved into our One Year Program in Digital Filmmaking including Video Editing, Sound Editing and Design, Screenwriting, Production Management along with elective classes in Web TV Production, Steadicam, Digital Imaging Technician etc.)

He went on to land the starring role of The Black Panther in the Marvel Studios film “Captain America: Civil War” and received a five-picture deal with Marvel Studios. He is currently starring in the highly anticipated Marvel Studio movie “The Black Panther”.

He will appear alongside Angela Bassett, Michael B Jordan and Academy Awards Winners Lupita Nyong’o and Forest Whittaker.

Since Chad Boseman attended Digital Film Academy, our school has gone on to tremendous growth. Come visit our New York film school and find out how we can assist you to finance your studies. At our Digital Film Academy Times Square location you will find us located within the historic Film Center Building at 630 Ninth Avenue, New York City.

Note: Financial Aid is available for those students who quality. Click here if you’d like to apply for financial aid to go to film school and be sure to use the Digital Film Academy FAFSA School Code: 042062.

Below you can see Chad’s full filmography.

Chad Boseman Film appearances in chronological order.

Chad Boseman Television appearances in chronological order:

As filmmakers, the ability to capture your subject or characters from the right angles at the right moment goes a long way in helping you tell your story right. Perfectly designed shots and camera movements combined with a spectacular performance by the actors can result in cinematic magic.

But, one major factor that dictates the tone of every scene, shot, performance or mood is Lighting.

Successful cinematographers, directors and even photographers know that an in-depth understanding of the role that lighting plays in a scene is as important as knowing why you chose filmmaking as a career in the first place.

Quentin Tarantino

Check out this image below: as part of their Cinematography class, some of our beginner level students at Digital Film Academy were tasked with recreating the lighting from a scene out of ‘Inglourious Basterds’ by Quentin Tarantino. Compare the top and bottom versions.

At Digital Film Academy, students get very intensive and practical training. Check out the following 4 examples, featuring actual DFA students from our Advanced Level Cinematography class. In each , working through various lighting exercises and trying out different techniques.

Lighting exercise: DFA talent, Michael Agate Jr. and Sonali Chatterjee.

The position, size, distance and intensity of the lights in a shot/scene can create various emotions for the audience. How does Tannia’s shot above make you feel: melancholic? wistful? romantic? lonely?

Tannia

Notice how the extreme close-up of Christina below together with the lighting combines to create an almost claustrophobic, brooding emotion. Is this person trapped and watching? Or sinister and plotting? Either way, she’s certainly got our attention!

Christina Watkins

With the right use of lighting, you can make your audience scared, thrilled or happy even before the characters in the scene say a single line of dialogue. What emotion does the shot of Michael below evoke in you?

DFA students learn diverse lighting techniques like Cross-Key Lighting, River-Cop Lighting, Basic 3-Point Lighting, Lighting Ratios, High Key, Low Key, and a whole lot more.

Michael Gross

When you see Martial’s lighting set-up below, would you say: epic? messianic? powerful? all of the above? Leave your feedback in the comments below!

At Digital Film Academy in New York, you will work with instructors who are working filmmakers in the motion picture industry themselves and have a great wealth of experience.

Martial Davis

Learn more about our New York film school and find out how to break into the film industry.

Visit Our Film School at Times Square: https://www.digitalfilmacademy.edu/open-house/

Apply Now