The Art of Filmmaking & The Craft of AI
Cinema from 29 Sept to 13 Oct. 2026 in Mumbai
Film and Television Institute
of India (FTII), Pune, under its Centre for Open Learning (CFOL) initiative
announces Workshop on “The Art of Filmmaking & The Craft of AI Cinema” from
29 Sept to 13 Oct. 2026 in Mumbai
Following
are the details in this regard;
(1) Workshop Name: The
Art of Filmmaking & The Craft of AI Cinema
(2) Dates: 29th
Sept. to 13th Oct. 2026
(3) Timings: 10.30
am to 4.30 pm
(4) Total No. of
participants: 25 (Course will be conducted only if min. strength of 15
is reached)
(5) Age: Participants
must be 15 years or above in age as on 01st Sept. 2026
(6) Educational
Qualification: SSC (10th std.) pass
(7) Nationality: No
bar. For Foreign national, no documents/ invitation emails will be provided
(8) Venue: Shop
No. 2, First Floor, Harmony Mall, Bhagat Singh Nagar No. 1, New Link Road,
Goregaon West, Mumbai – 400105
(9) Per participant
course fee: Rs 45,000/-
Course fee is excluding
breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea/ coffee, snacks etc.
Course fee of selected
participants will be non-refundable, non-transferrable, non-adjustable, etc.
under any circumstances. Course fee of all the non – selected participants will
be refunded within 21 working days of the course commencement. Also, due to any
other reason, if the course is cancelled by FTII, course fee will be refunded.
However, due to any reason,
if the course is postponed OR cancelled by the organisers, course fee will be
refunded.
(10) Last date to
apply: By 6 pm, 19th Sept. 2026.
(11) Course Director:
Mr. Rajesh Bhatia and Mr. Bharat Arora
(12) Medium of
Instructions: English and Hindi.
(13) Selection
Criteria: First – Come – First – Served basis. Selected candidates
would be communicated by email. List of the selected participants will be
published on FTII website.
(14) Certificates: All
participants would be given participation certificate on successful completion
of the course which will carry logo of FTII and will be jointly signed by FTII
Director and the Course Director. Minimum 90% attendance is mandatory to get
certificate.
(15) Queries: For
any queries contact
- Mr.
Milind Joshi, Asst. Outreach Officer – 020 -
25580085, info(dot)cfol(at)ftii(dot)ac(dot)in
- Future
Story Cinelabs, Mumbai – Priyansha on 7766967634
(16) Communication
with participants: All communications with the participants will be
carried out through email only. List of shortlisted participants will be
published on FTII website and selection email will be sent to the selected
participants on their registered email.
(17) Accommodation: Outstation
participants may please note Future Story Cinelabs, Mumbai, will facilitate for
accommodation in Mumbai. Please call Priyansha on 7766967634 for the same.
(18) Participants
need to assure general decency, decorum etc. on the course campus. Failing to
do so will lead to cancellation of admission without refunding course fee apart
from taking internal disciplinary action and dealing the matter as per law of
the land. All rights in this regard are reserved with FTII.
(19) How to apply:
1. Click on the following link:
2. Fill-up the application
form with requisite details and proceed for payment.
3. Make necessary payment of
Rs 45,000/-
4. Once payment is done,
please note "SBI collect Reference Number" (mentioned in payment
confirmation receipt). This may be required for future reference.
5. If possible, digitally
store the receipt of payment. This can be carried out in one of the following
ways;
(i) by taking printout of
receipt of payment, scan & save it
(ii) by taking screenshot of
payment (if using mobile) or print screen (if using computer)
(iii) by simply taking a
photograph from mobile
(iv) check your bank account
to confirm whether money (course fee) has been deducted or not
(v) After a day or two, once
again check to see whether money (course fee) has been refunded.
(vi) In case of refund, it is
a transaction failure and if so, once again apply for the course afresh.
6. No document/ certificate
related to educational qualification, age etc. is to be attached. Participants’
self – declaration in the application form is sufficient.
7. Terms &
conditions: By agreeing to the terms & conditions in the
application form, participants are confirming that they have read &
understood the website advt. They are eligible to apply and fulfill all the
requirements as stated in the advt. Also, it is presumed that participants will
be staying and or attending the course at their own risk & cost and FTII will
not be held responsible for anything or matter of what-so-ever nature. Further,
participants agree that decision of Director, FTII regarding admission to the
course and its conduction in all respect will be final.
(20) About
Course Director: Mr. Rajesh Bhatia and Mr. Bharat Arora
Rajesh Bhatia is an
accomplished Indian director, producer, and writer, and an alumnus of the Film
and Television Institute of India (FTII). With a career spanning television,
documentaries, and socially driven cinema, he has directed popular TV series, cultural
documentaries, and award-winning films. His notable works include Voice of
Cinema, Unparalleled, and the long-running TV shows Kkusum and Kutumb. He is
also actively involved in teaching film and media, and explores the
intersection of storytelling, culture, and emerging technologies through his
creative practice.
Bharat Arora is a
cinematographer, AI filmmaker, and colorist with over 25 years of experience
across television, feature films, commercials, and industrial photography.
Trained at B.R. Films, Mumbai, he combines traditional cinematography with
AI-driven visual methodologies. He has worked on projects like Geetiyan and
Khalil, serves as a Canon Mentor, and conducts workshops on cinematography and
production workflows, while actively exploring the integration of artificial
intelligence in filmmaking.
(21) Course Overview
This five-day foundation
course introduces participants to the complete traditional filmmaking process
before they move into AI-based filmmaking. The course begins with idea
generation - how to observe, think, identify a theme, develop a premise, and
expand it into a usable story route with character, conflict, stakes, genre,
tone and audience in mind. It then moves into the basics of screenplay writing
from an AI-aware point of view: what a screenplay is and what it is not,
three-act structure, scene construction, visual writing, dialogue, dramatic
beats, and the difference between story, treatment, screenplay and dialogue
draft. Participants also learn how AI can assist in brainstorming, formatting,
research and variations, while human experience, intention and taste remain
central.
The course then covers the
journey from script to screen: casting, script breakdown, master breakdown,
location recce, scheduling, shot listing, mood boards, look design, production
design references and shoot preparation. In the shooting module, participants
are introduced to the language and grammar of cinema - shot sizes, composition,
screen direction, blocking, camera placement, continuity, exposure, dynamic
range, basic lighting and how light creates mood. They also learn how to work
with actors, direct performance, rehearse, block and correct takes. The final
part introduces editing as rewriting, with basics of continuity, rhythm, sound,
colour correction, DI, final mix and output. Through practical exercises,
participants understand how traditional filmmaking knowledge helps them prompt,
plan, control and direct AI filmmaking tools with greater clarity.
AI FILMMAKING MASTERCLASS -
10 DAYS COURSE OVERVIEW
This 10-day AI Filmmaking
Masterclass builds on the foundation of traditional filmmaking and focuses only
on how that knowledge is translated into AI-based production. Instead of
repeating screenplay, casting, lighting, camera grammar or editing basics, the
course shows how those same principles are converted into AI direction: shot
grammar becomes prompt language, the shot list becomes a generation plan,
performance direction becomes detailed instruction for expression, posture,
gaze and body language, and the visual look of the film becomes a structured AI
visual bible. Participants learn prompt hierarchy at scene, shot, frame and
technical levels, negative prompting, continuity prompting, character
consistency, location consistency, lens and lighting prompts, and methods to
reduce the synthetic look of AI-generated footage.
The course then moves into a
complete AI production workflow, where participants develop and produce a short
AI film in groups. They prepare concept notes, visual bibles, character cards,
location references, shot lists, prompt stacks and continuity logs, then
generate, review, regenerate and assemble the film shot by shot. The final
stage covers AI footage assembly, colour matching, sound design, titles,
export, workflow presentation and professional screening. The objective is not
just to introduce AI tools, but to train participants to use AI like filmmakers
- with cinematic intention, continuity, emotional clarity and control over the
final output.
TOTAL—15 DAYS ( 5 DAYS
OFFLINE+ 10 DAYS OFFLINE/ONLINE)