The Aesthetics of Directing

Course Description

Your challenge as a director is to realize your vision on the screen. Designed for students who are making or planning to make their own films, this course covers the art and craft of directing. We analyze the work of classic and contemporary directors, observing how they use the language of cinema. Topics include framing and composition, camera angles, camera movement, blocking 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.