24-6312 Directing I (MFA)

This course teaches the basics of the craft of directing, including text analysis, characterization, casting, blocking, rehearsal and performance. Students learn the tool of the director’s breakdown and its uses in preparing a movie for production, concentrating on scenes from well-known plays and films. The emphasis is on conversion of dramatic texts into emotionally effective performances; camerawork is withheld so as to focus on the relationship between actor, text, and director. Students also learn to make connections between their own inner lives and the work they direct, as well as to apply the lessons of society, history, and current events to the text at hand. Everyone acts as well as directing. As a final project, each student casts and directs a scene of his or her own choosing.

3 Credits