SCREEN 701 : Introduction to Directing

Arts

2024 Semester One (1243) (30 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Provides students with a practical overview of the drama and documentary production process from a director's point of view. Students are taken through pre-production, production and post-production on a series of group projects, as well as their own 2-minute short film. Emphasises the importance of directing style, character and story alongside acquiring practical skills. Students are encouraged to critique their own work as well as the work of their classmates.

Course Overview

The course consists of a series of seminars each examining a particular part of the production process. These seminars will include critical analysis of film making techniques, group and class discussions, practical sessions with the film making equipment and the viewing and critiquing of each others work. Learning film making as a skill relies heavily on the act of doing and as such the emphasis during the seminars is the practical application of conceptual ideas discussed in class. Students will shoot exercises in class time and will be expected to complete them in their own time and present their work in the following seminar. They will be expected to reflect on their own work and creative choices and also offer feedback on classmates work. Students will work individually but also in groups to develop the collaborative skills essential to film making practice through crewing for each other on the assessment projects. The seminars are structured as such to guide students from the basics of using a camera, introductory post production skills, sound recording and the fundamentals of lighting a set through to more advanced concepts of approaches to directing documentary and drama, pre-visualising your film, telling your story visually, incorporating subtext and more advanced approaches to editing and crafting narrative in post production.

Course Requirements

No pre-requisites or restrictions

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 3: Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4: Critical Thinking
Capability 5: Solution Seeking
Capability 6: Communication
Capability 7: Collaboration
Capability 8: Ethics and Professionalism
Graduate Profile: Master of Arts

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Understand and engage with the conventions and creative possibilities of film grammar, style and narrative. (Capability 3, 4 and 5)
  2. Reflect upon, justify and undertake active decision-making in the face of creative constraints and opportunities. (Capability 4, 5, 6 and 7)
  3. Demonstrate an understanding of the basic principles of film and television production. (Capability 3, 4 and 5)
  4. Work collaboratively on creative projects, reflect on creative choices and incorporate ideas from others. Constructively critique own work and that of others. (Capability 5, 6, 7 and 8)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Assignments 100% Group & Individual Coursework

Workload Expectations

This course is a 30 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in. As such for this course students can expect to spend up to 20 hours a week on work related to this course.

For this course, you can expect 4 hours of lectures, 4 hours of reading and thinking about the content and 12 hours of work on the completion of in class exercises and assignments.

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

Attendance is required at all scheduled activities to complete components of the course.

Lectures will not be available as recordings.
The course will not include live online events.
The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

More emphasis will be placed on working with students to understand the auditioning process and a bit more emphasis on performance.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Well-being always comes first
We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page https://canvas.auckland.ac.nz/courses/33894, which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course students may be asked to submit coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.

Published on 31/10/2023 10:29 a.m.