Class Principles and Ethics of Film Direction

The Curricular Unit Principles and Ethics of Film Direction proposes a practical approach to directing as a process of creating meaning through images and sounds. The central question is: how does one transform a written or observed idea into an audiovisual experience for the audience?   Throughout the semester, students analyse works and undertake challenges that explore the key instruments of directing: framing, mise-en-scène, editing, sound, actors' direction and rhythm. The study of cinematic time is of particular relevance, through exercises in continuity, ellipsis and the construction of relationships between shots, actions and spaces.   The ethical dimension runs through the entire practice: the responsibility of representation, the work with performers and the choices of staging. In the final phase, students apply their knowledge to a scene from the series being developed in parallel in another Curricular Unit, culminating in the presentation of the director's working notebook.

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Point of view and the ethics of the director. Framing, composition and camera movement. Mise-en-scène and décor: blocking, depth and visual hierarchies. Sequence shot, off-screen space and classical continuity. Cinematic time: continuity, ellipsis and affective duration. Sound and point of listening. Actors' direction: body, gesture, pause and the energy of conflict. Ethics of representation and the director's position.   The syllabus is applied through three progressive challenges:   Challenge 1 - Remake. Analysis and recreation of an auteur scene: structure, beats, mise-en-scène, storyboard and floor plans.   Challenge 2 - António. Filming of an original scene with a focus on spatial management, narrative tension, sound and actors' direction.   Challenge 3 - Scene from the Series Script. Integration of all the instruments of directing, with presentation of the director's working notebook.

The Curricular Unit is grounded in student-centred, practice-oriented methodologies. The practical learning cycle structures the three challenges - Remake, António and Scene from the Series Script - according to a cycle of observation, analysis, preparation and execution, applied to the instruments of directing.    CBL (Challenge-Based Learning) ensures that each challenge stems from a concrete problem and demands an autonomous response.   PBL (Project-Based Learning) ensures that filming is not the culmination of the process but its centre. Applied film analysis articulates, in each session, excerpts from reference works with the content under study. The director's working notebook ensures individual reflective recording throughout the semester.

Proferes, N. T. (2018). Film Directing Fundamentals: See Your Film Before Shooting (4th ed.). Routledge. Rabiger, M., & Hurbis-Cherrier, M. (2013). Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics (5th ed.). Focal Press. Katz, S. D. (2019). Film Directing: Shot by Shot - Visualizing from Concept to Screen (25th anniversary ed.). Michael Wiese Productions. Weston, J. (2021). Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film and Television (25th anniversary ed.). Michael Wiese Productions. McKee, R. (1997). Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting. ReganBooks.