The Art of improv indie filmmaking
this masterclass will inspire you through the creative freedom improvisation fosters.
And how putting away the script can lead to new discoveries, making your own work, behind and in front of the camera, fresh and exciting.
“Jayne and Malekin’s most glaring experimental gambit throughout the film was improvisation. Most of the scenes are improvised, and more often than not, the dialogue is decidedly candid because of it.”
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The Intro
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The Details
At the end of 2016, after a decade of filmmaking in Melbourne with big budgets, big crews, and dealing with big egos, we were burnt out with filmmaking.
We needed to strip away the excess and reignite our creative spark, recapture what we enjoyed most about filmmaking, and that was telling authentic stories and working closely with dedicated actors. So, inspired by the work of prolific directors Joe Swanberg and Mike Leigh, we put away the script, said no to big budgets, and turned to improvisation.
The cast of Friends, Foes & Fireworks with director Sarah Jayne and DOP Stephen Ramplin watching back the footage.
We made our feature Friends, Foes & Fireworks in 24 hours, completely improvised and filmed on New Year’s Eve.
Gone was the rigid structure. The big crews and big cameras. And in there place was a willingness to experiment, to try ideas without fear of failure, to create as a trusted team and have no expectations other than enjoying the process of creating and collaborating.
It worked. Friends, Foes & Fireworks was a success. So we took the improvisational techniques and tricks that worked and developed them further, using what we learnt to produce another improvised feature called In Corpore in four countries around the world. We attended workshops on improvisation, further refining our process and offering new insights, and we taught live workshops ourselves to filmmakers eager for change.
We were in love with filmmaking again. The collaboration. Collective creativity. Seeing our ideas brought to life, enhanced by incredibly talented actors and artists, right before our eyes. And all in a fraction of the time it would take if using traditional production methods.
Directors Sarah Jayne and Ivan Malekin talking with the actors on set in Malta for In Corpore.
Improvisation gives us the chance to work more closely with actors, it offers genuine creative collaboration, it makes us feel alive on set, constantly keeping us on our toes while allowing us to quickly and efficiently create films that feel authentic.
Now instead of spending months or even years perfecting scripts we work from story outlines and trust our actors to ‘be’ the character and let dialogue flow naturally. We produce films from concept to production in a matter of months. We cut down setups, excess crew, and work efficiently while still challenging ourselves creatively. Our speed saves us money. And the “surprise factor” of improvisation keeps each day – each take – fresh and exciting.
It’s with all this experience and after years of experimenting, implementing, learning and doing that we are now in the position to teach you our process through this online masterclass The Art of Improv Indie Filmmaking.
Here is what you will learn in this masterclass
What improvisation is and the various forms used today so you can understand the different approaches to improv and how you can use it in your film.
The all important Surprise Factor so you can make sure each take is fresh and exciting and how this can lead to authentic performances.
How improvisation can help you get onto set quickly and how you can work efficiently once on set to speed up production and save costs.
The importance of trust in filmmaking and how improvisation fosters collaboration and freedom.
The mindset of Thinking on your Feet and why an adaptable attitude will help you throughout your career.
How to see the Big Picture and how improv trains you to think like an editor so you never face a problem in post production you can’t handle again.
Also included is a ton of supplementary material, from our story outlines and breakdowns to rehearsal notes and character drafts, to our own improvised features In Corpore and Friends, Foes & Fireworks so you can see exactly how we put together an improvised feature from concept to final result.
Available only on IFH Academy, the educational platform designed exclusively for filmmakers, The Art of Improv Indie Filmmaking will transform the way you make feature films.