A wide shot of a ceramics studio, featuring students working with pottery wheels and other tools.
Gitanjali Kapila wears sunglasses and stands in front of a body of water, the wind blowing her hair across her face.

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Gitanjali Kapila

Associate Professor, Adjunct

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Bio

Education: BA, 1989, Wesleyan University; MFA, 1999, Columbia University. Television Broadcasts: 'Hjælp, Vi har fået børn!': DR1, Denmark. Screenings: 'Løsrivelse': Seattle International Film Festival; Female Eye Film Festival, California; Chicks with Flicks Film Festival, New York; Curtas Vila do Condo, Brazil; Arizona International Film Festival; Boston International Film Festival. Awards: Nominated Best Film, Female Eye Film Festival; Winner Best Film, Chicks with Flicks Film Festival; Breathing above the Treeline: 32 Official Selections (14 live screenings world-wide); 4 Winner, Best Narrative Short; 1, Nomination Best Female Director; 1 Nomination, Best Writing; Selectee, Danish Film Institute Production Grant; Selectee, International Financing Forum, Toronto International Film Festival; Part-time faculty grant, Columbia College Chicago; Faculty Enrichment Grant, SAIC.

Other: Presented on Soderbergh's narrative app Mosaic at the CILECT Congress 2018 Mumbai, India and writing for inter-active narrative at the CILECT Congress 2019 Moscow; Published article on gender and narrative in George Miller's "Mad Max Fury Road" in a volume published by Columbia College Chicago and University of Palermo, Buenos Aires, May 2019; Presented on my gender and narrative article in Buenos Aires at the 4th International Colloquium of Researchers in Design in July 2019; Presented a paper on writing for interactive internet-based media at CILECT 2019 in Moscow, October 2019; Published my second article on race and narrative in Jordan Peele's "US," May 2020; Presented on race and narrative virtually at the 5th International Colloquium of Researchers in Design in July 2020; Published my third article on class and narrative in Bong Joon- Ho's "Parasite," May 2021; Presented on class and narrative article virtually at the 6th International Colloquium of Researchers in Design in July 2021. Published my fourth article on coronavirus, Oedipus Rex and Stephen Spielberg’s “Jaws.” in May 2022; recently completed two narrative shorts, "Bat" and "Groped;" currently in development on a family sitcom "Meet the Singhilas #brampton"Currently in development on a family-sitcom “Meet the Singhilas.”

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Courses

Title Department Catalog Term

Description

This course introduces students to the basic elements of a screenplay, including format, terminology, exposition, characterization, dialogue, voice-over, adaptation, and variations on the three-act structure. Weekly meetings feature a brief lecture, screenings of scenes from films, extended discussion, and assorted readings of class assignments. This is primarily a writing class, with students required to write a four-to-five page weekly assignment related to the script topic of the week.

Class Number

1224

Credits

3

Description

This course introduces students to the basic elements of a screenplay, including format, terminology, exposition, characterization, dialogue, voice-over, adaptation, and variations on the three-act structure. Weekly meetings feature a brief lecture, screenings of scenes from films, extended discussion, and assorted readings of class assignments. This is primarily a writing class, with students required to write a four-to-five page weekly assignment related to the script topic of the week.

Class Number

1598

Credits

3

Description

This course focuses on using the principles of narrative and narrative structure to explore worldbuilding as a method for creating platform-specific time-based media. Students will engage a variety of writings in order to apprehend the theoretical tools necessary for 1) understanding narrative as a controlled and mediated communication between writer and viewer; 2) apprehending the critical role of designed spaces and narrative mapping in creating imagined worlds; 3) interrogating the ways in which media technologies and delivery systems inform the centering of different narrative perspectives; 4) exploring the process of activating narrative content in the imagined world for platform-specific media. The works of Sophocles, Aristotle, and Joseph Campbell will provide a coordinated theoretical framework for course content. Over the course of the semester students should expect to produce an “imagined world” which has undergone at least 5-6 iterations based on course content. Students will also be expected to produce a screenplay, television pilot and bible, game bible or other platform-specific writing based on the world that the student builds.

Class Number

1235

Credits

3

Description

Intermediate Screenwriting expands upon the skills learned in Beginning Screenwriting while preparing certain students for the longer-form writing required in Advanced Screenwriting. The purpose of the course is to allow students to develop mid-length stand-alone screenplays, adaptations from short stories or pilots for television series, while paying special attention to the vital role that drafting plays in the development of a successful script. Since Intermediate Screenwriting is first and foremost a writing class, there will be no formal reading or viewing assignments. However, throughout the semester, the professor will suggest books and articles to read and films to watch, that should help further and develop the various ideas that students are wrestling with in their scripts. For example, a work such as Kieslowski's ''The Decalogue'' will be suggested for students looking to embrace a thematic approach to a series of short films. Students have the option of completing two drafts of a 60-page script or three drafts of a 30-45 page script. Completion of these drafts are required to pass the class

Class Number

1472

Credits

3