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Universitat Internacional de Catalunya

Film Direction

Film Direction
4
9490
3
First semester
op
Film Creation
Dirección cinematográfica
Main language of instruction: Spanish

Teaching staff


By appointment.

Pre-course requirements

No prerequisites.

Objectives

Main objective of this course is to provide students with the knowledge and mastery of every tool cinema director. The study, through filmed by great directors of world cinema examples of the way intender the use of any artistic element contained in his office, bring the student to a correct way to work intender director.

In parallel, the practical work of realization, preceded by lectures, help the students to acquire a correct and functional mechanical equipment in the development of any audiovisual work of fiction.

Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme

  • 01 - The ability to adapt to varying circumstances
  • 02 - The ability to understand, accept criticism and correct errors
  • 03 - The ability to administer and manage human and technical resources
  • 04 - The ability to work in a team and autonomously
  • 05 - The ability to organise time and workspace
  • 06 - The ability to develop academic rigour, responsibility, ethics and professionalism
  • 07 - The ability to apply the deontology and respect for the audiovisual sector
  • 08 - The ability of critical analysis, synthesis, concretion and abstraction
  • 10 - The ability to confront difficulties and resolve problems
  • 11 - The ability to generate debate and reflection
  • 12 - The ability to meet deadlines, develop the ability to be punctual and respect for human, technical and material resources
  • 13 - The ability to create spoken and written communication
  • 14 - Knowledge and mastery of rhetoric and oratory to communicate own ideas
  • 16 - The ability to manage, analysis and reflect on content
  • 24 - The ability to plan and organize both short term and long term projects
  • 25 - The ability to maximize creative development
  • 26 - The ability to develop a sense of taste and perfection in the aesthetics and finalization of projects
  • 27 - The ability to adapt to distinct audio visual publics and markets.
  • 32 - The ability to confront audiovisual and film projects in all phases (pre-production, shooting, post-production, distribution)
  • 33 - The ability to create and direct.
  • 34 - The ability to know and respect the different roles of the artistic and technical teams
  • 35 - The ability to contextualize and critically analyze the products of the audiovisual industry
  • 36 - The ability to create, direct and manage audiovisual companies
  • 40 - The ability to defend and respect authorship and intellectual property
  • 41 - The ability to know how the distinct elemental agencies of the audio visual sector function
  • 42 - The ability to distinguish, analyze and dominate the distinct genres and formats of television, film and radio
  • 43 - the ability to create scripts for film, television and radio according to the demands of the genre
  • 44 - The ability to adapt to new audiovisual formats
  • 45 - The ability to know and dominate the techniques of audiovisual narrative.
  • 46 - The ability to dominate resources used for image (Photographs, lighting...) and sound.
  • 48 - Knowledge and mastery of the techniques of filming, directing, producing and editing
  • 49 - The ability to write fluent texts, step outlines or scripts
  • 50 - The ability to adapt, understand and apply the expressive possibilities of new technologies and future changes
  • 51 - Knowledge and mastery of the functioning of Corporate and Institutional Communication.
  • 52 - The ability to apply audiovisual knowledge and techniques for commercial purposes in any form
  • 53 - Lingustic ability in Catalan, Spanish and English
  • 54 - The ability to skillfully manage the literature, terminology and linguistic structures of the English language related to the field of communication.

Learning outcomes of the subject

The  students:

1. Navigate through the techniques of language and audiovisual narrative. They know dialogue and coordinate all departments involved in the production and / or shooting a film with the aim of integrating their diverse perspectives.

2. Be able to organize and coordinate all the logistics required for any film production.

3. Be able to guarantee the final quality of the image / texture and composition) and also to plan and organize the logistics that occurs in all elements to be filmed.

4. Know take care of all the elements that serve to convey to the viewer an environment, a climate or atmosphere.

5. Be able to develop simple editing and mounting sense of rhythm and narrative coherence.

6. Compose coherent and consistent stories being flexible enough to adapt elements to the original text to the amendments to the initial expectations of the ultimate goals that all audiovisual project ends up suffering.

7. You will know the different classic cinematic forms, not only to cultivate them but to be able to innovate with hybridization and mixing of formats and / or genres to suit the new sensibilities and social trends.

 

Syllabus

BEING A DIRECTOR

 Movie crew

What does a movie director do?

Starting point: 

  What first questions do you ask yourself as a director?

The script: the origin Narrative structures   Genres and Movements: iconography Modern paradigm: postmodernism


CONCEIVING A MOVIE

A team effort: 

Functions, filming preparation

 

The staging: Production design Direction of photography Soundtrack and sound

 

VISUAL COMPOSITION: DEPTH OF FIELD AND POINT OF VIEW

 

Visual design principles: light, color, tones, atmospheres

Field

Visual organizing forces The power of the margin: the frame (balance, three-thirds, out of frame, empty field)

    The lenses

    Lenses perspective: wide angle, space compression

Focus

 

 

FROM SCRIPT ANALYSIS TO THE FRAME


Typology of shots

 

Scales according to the size of the subject Scales according to the camera perspective

  Angles

  Camera and actors movement

 

FORMATS

 


Technical script

Coverage

Sequences shot by shot

Frontal Position

Master Shot

Shot/Reverse

Sights, visual contact

Breakdowns, Shooting Plan

Point of view

Involvement and identification with the viewer

 

Axe

Crossing the line

 

Visualization

References

Storyboard

Animatics

 

Staging

 

Letter schemes Between 2 subjects Between 3 subjects

Shot designing

 

Editing

Emotional Route

Progression, Continuity, Rhythm

Versions, structure changes, tones

Final rewrite

 

Actors

Casting, Building a character, Rehearsals

Improvisations, Background, Active Ideas, Goals

Expressive values of the shot

Teaching and learning activities

In person



TRAINING ACTIVITY ECTS CREDITS
Coaching. Monitoring how students learn the content of the subject, either individually or in groups. In the coaching sessions, mistakes will be corrected, queries answered, and exercises and activities to achieve the established objectives will be suggested. 0.8
Focused Praxis. Handing in occasional exercises to learn theory through practice. 0.4
Practical workshop. A highly practical working activity, where students can acquire skills that are practical or also theoretical (intellectual skills, logical skills, critical skills, intellectual learning skills, study skills, quoting skills, etc). 0,6
Lectures. In lectures, lecturers/professors not only transmit content or knowledge, but also, and above all else, attitudes, motivation, skills and values, etc. They also ensure that participants can express their opinions and arguments to the other students. 1.4
Meeting Point. Meetings will be organised with notable people from the professional and scientific fields or the international field, and students. These sessions will take the form of conferences, work sessions, discussions, or interviews, etc. 0,4
Mentoring programme. Ensuring a review of and in-depth look at competences and knowledge, as well as the development of habits involving social commitment and responsibility, with the strongest students providing guidance for students from lower years, particularly if they have any type of disability (physical, etc). 0,4

Evaluation systems and criteria

In person



The evaluation is continuous through the monitoring of the work in the classroom and the presentation of individual and collective exercises.

A participative attitude in class is essential to pass the course.

Class attendance is compulsory as well as the delivery of all the exercises proposed during the course on the dates indicated, which will be announced in advance in class.

The final grade will be the balance between the marks of the individual exercises, the collective ones and the attitude and punctuality of the student. When evaluating the exercises, creativity, content and formal commitment will be specially taken into account.

Project dossier: 40%

Analysis work and collective and individual practical exercises: 40%

Attitude, attendance and punctuality: 20%



The students who have not taken the course and are presented to the second call, must carry out a work agreed with the teacher.

Students who fail the first exam will have to present a work agreed with the professor according to the continuous evaluation.

Bibliography and resources

KATZ, Steven D.: Plano a plano de la idea a la pantalla. Edición 25 aniversario, Plot Ediciones.

LUMET, Sidney: Así se hacen las películas, Ediciones Rialp.

KAGAN, Jeremy: La mirada del director, Plot Ediciones.

MURCH, Walter: En el momento del parpadeo, editado por ECAM y DAMA, junto a Caimán Cuadernos de Cine.

PAEZ, SERGIO i JEW, ANSON: Professional storyboarding. Rules of thumb, Focal Press.