Overview
Aims
To develop a comprehensive understanding of contemporary screen media formats (cultural-educational shows, docu-series, video essays, and streaming hybrids), analyzing their structural conventions, target audiences, and ethical frameworks.
To cultivate practical directing and visual grammar skills, training students in set and field blocking, camera movement, cinematic lighting, and shot coverage (180° rule, shot/reverse-shot).
To guide students through the end-to-end production of an original hybrid media project, from concept development (logline, synopsis, director's treatment) to professional master delivery adhering to media law and ethics.
To master narrative non-linear editing techniques, focusing on temporal continuity, pacing, cut-on-action, J/L-cuts, parallel editing, and cinematic sound design.
Course contents
1.Broadcast to Cinematic Media: Format evolution; shift from studio broadcast to streaming; director's role in modern media.
2. Visual Grammar & Coverage: Shot sizes, focal lengths, 180° rule, axis of action, shot/reverse-shot, master shot vs. coverage.
3. Directing (Blocking & Staging): Choreographing camera and subject motion; locked-off frames, fluid dynamics, and handheld aesthetics.
4. Cinematic Interview: Beyond news conventions; cinematic lighting, shallow depth of field, eyelines, authentic dramatic interaction.
5. Editing I – Continuity & Invisible Cuts: Spatial-temporal continuity, cut on action, eyeline/axis matching, seamless narrative flow.
6. Editing II – Pacing & Montage: Kuleshov effect, J/L-cuts, graphic/audio match cuts, jump cuts, and cross-cutting to build suspense.
7. Cinematic Feature & Video Essay: Non-linear structures, associative editing, voiceover, and visual rhythm.
8. Directing Non-Fiction: Observational (cinéma vérité), participatory, and reflexive styles; unscripted reality and ethics.
9. Non-Fiction Project Development: Concept to treatment; loglines, synopses, director's treatments, and pitch proposals.
10. Preproduction & Directing Scripts: Technical scripts, shot lists, visual storyboards, location scouting, and scene previs.
11. Hybrid Digital & Streaming Formats: Docu-series, docudramas, serialized short-form fiction; pacing for on-demand platforms.
12.Cultural, Science & Entertainment Formats: Narrative design, directing approaches, editorial pacing, and target audiences.
13. Cinematic Sound Design & Fine Cut: Diegetic/non-diegetic audio, soundscapes, micro-rhythm pacing, and master delivery.
14. Audiovisual Law & Ethics: Regulatory codes (CNA), copyright licensing, subject consent forms, and documentary ethics.
Learning outcomes
CLO 1 (Concept): Develop hybrid screen formats (cinematic interviews, docu-series, video essays) using standard treatments and scripts.
CLO 2 (Directing): Apply visual grammar, camera placement, blocking, and coverage on set and field.
CLO 3 (Editing): Execute non-linear editing, continuity cutting, pacing, J/L-cuts, and montage theory.
CLO 4 (Sound & Delivery): Integrate multi-track sound design and deliver compliant master cuts.
CLO 5 (Ethics): Collaborate in production crews adhering to media law and ethics.
Assessment
Evaluation: Lab exercises (directing/editing drills: 40%), final media project (hybrid show/doc: 40%), oral defense (20%). Criteria: Concept & directing (25%), editing pacing & continuity (25%), sound design (20%), ethics & technical master (30%).