Teaching at NYU Tisch: New Technologies in Filmmaking

Personal introduction in course session one.

What This Is

A graduate-level course at NYU Tisch School of the Arts on new technologies in filmmaking; covering immersive media, stereoscopic and volumetric capture, virtual production, real-time workflows, and AI in cinema.

Grounded in over a century of filmmaking innovation, the course explores how each technological shift changes the way stories are framed and experienced.

Topics Covered

  • The evolution of filmmaking technology over 125+ years

  • Virtual production and real-time workflows

  • AI for previsualization and post-production

  • Emerging capture techniques, including stereoscopic and volumetric imaging

  • Spatial and immersive storytelling as extensions of cinematic form

  • Modern production pipelines and collaboration tools

  • Distribution across screens, headsets, and other experiential formats

Each topic is grounded in a central question:

How does this change the way filmmakers actually work today?

Framing Reality

The language of cinema has always been shaped by technology.

From early cameras to digital editing, from synchronized sound to real-time rendering, each shift has expanded what filmmakers can do and changed how audiences experience a story.

In this course, new technologies are treated as part of that continuum.

Students explore questions like:

  • What does this tool make possible?

  • What does it constrain?

  • How does it change the relationship between filmmaker, subject, and audience?

Because every technological shift is also a shift in how we frame reality.

Core Philosophy

Most conversations around new technology focus on what’s possible.

This course focuses on something more useful:

What’s appropriate for the story

Students are pushed to evaluate tools through a storytelling lens:

  • What does this technology actually do well?

  • Where does it break down?

  • What does it demand from the filmmaker?

  • How does it affect staging, performance, and pacing?

Every technical decision is treated as a creative decision.

How the Course Works

The course runs as an intensive hybrid format combining:

  • Pre-recorded lecture modules

  • Weekly live discussions

  • Guest expert sessions

  • Applied assignments

Each week introduces a technological shift and examines it through:

Technical capabilities

What the tool can actually do

Historical context

How similar shifts have shaped filmmaking over time

Creative implications

How it changes the way a film is made to enhance narrative

In the Classroom

The structure mirrors real-world development.

Students move through a progression:

  • Explore multiple emerging technologies

  • Analyze strengths, limitations, and trade-offs

  • Select an approach for a project

  • Build a production plan and budget

  • Present a final concept or case study

They also:

  • Debate technologies from different production perspectives

  • Break down real-world workflows

  • Examine how decisions ripple across a project

For example:

  • How immersive stereoscopic capture changes blocking

  • How the real-time feedback of virtual production enhances creative collaboration

  • How AI tools reshape budgets and schedules in every phase of production

Media Theory & Perspective

In addition to production, the course incorporates elements of media theory and philosophy.

Students explore:

  • The relationship between viewer and subject

  • Presence vs observation

  • How framing influences meaning

  • The role of the filmmaker when the audience is no longer outside the frame

These ideas ground technical decisions in a deeper understanding of what it means to represent reality through a medium.

Beyond the Classroom

In addition to teaching, I’ve worked directly with students as a thesis advisor, helping them integrate emerging technologies into their graduate films.

This includes translating ideas from the course into practical production strategies, designing workflows that hold up under real constraints, and ensuring that technology choices ultimately serve the story.

Outcomes

By the end of the course, students develop:

  • A framework for evaluating new filmmaking technologies

  • The ability to scope and communicate emerging-format projects

  • Experience building a project from concept through execution strategy

  • A deeper understanding of how media technology continues to evolve

More importantly, they leave with the ability to make strong creative decisions in unfamiliar territory.

Guest Lecturers

Guest speakers join from across the industry, offering insight into how these technologies are being used in real productions.

Sessions focus on how projects actually get made on set, in post, and in distribution.

Why It Matters

Filmmaking is undergoing a structural shift.

New technologies aren’t just for VFX, they’re changing how scripts are written, how scenes are staged, how performances are directed, and how audiences engage with a story.

Yet the fundamentals remain.

This course connects over 125 years of filmmaking language to the tools shaping what comes next.

Collaboration Opportunities

I collaborate with institutions and organizations on:

  • Guest lectures and speaking engagements

  • Curriculum development

  • Workshops on immersive filmmaking and AI workflows

  • Consulting on spatial storytelling and experiential media

In addition to NYU, I’ve been invited to speak at Columbia University, the School of Visual, and have served on the education committee of Video Consortium.

Start a Conversation

Interested in bringing this curriculum to your organization, inviting a guest lecture, or collaborating on a program?

For inquiries, collaborations, or speaking opportunities:
sam@sambaumel.com

You can also reach out via LinkedIn or schedule a time to connect: