Designed for students who are already making their own films or who plan to, this course teaches the art and craft of directing. Analyzing the work of classic and contemporary directors, we investigate how they used the language of cinema. Topics include framing and composition, camera angles, camera movement, blocking of actors, visualizing action, creating a sequence, script breakdown, and techniques for establishing character, mood, and conflict. We explore different directing styles such as the subjective approach of expressionism, the pursuit of authenticity in realism, and the narrative conventions of Hollywood. Students do a script breakdown and storyboard for a scene they then videotape.
Short scenes produced on video in class demonstrate principles in practice.
Students must have access to a camcorder. Once a film is in preproduction, a producer's job may be defined as providing the best possible support system and team for the project. The producer must organize all the elements, human and material, including his or her own experience and professional judgment, to carry out the vision of the film's creative team. Duties often include most of the legal and accounting work, revising the script, casting actors, finding props, wardrobe, and equipment within budget, and working with the director and editor during and after the shoot. Learn about the funding possibilities available to you as a documentary filmmaker.