Directors Foundation Certificate | London

This series of evening courses is designed to provide new directors with the basic techniques and information needed to direct a short film or feature.

Tutor:	Chris Thomas	Venue:	St George's Church, Bloomsbury Way London WC1A 2HR
Date:	Starts Thursday 5 weeks Thursday 14 October	Duration:	5 Thursday Nights
Time:	6:30 - 9:30pm	Price:	£165 + 17.5% VAT

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The director is ultimately responsible for every image and sound that appears on the screen. Many new directors chase the dream of directing without the technical and creative skills needed to succeed.

You will learn the basics of working with the screenplay, directing actors and using camera, lighting and sound equipment in this introductory course, and gain an overview of each area of the director’s responsibilities.

Week 1: The Director And The Script

The script is the blueprint for a movie. The director's job is to read and interpret the screenplay. Discover how a good director translates the written word into the visual elements on the screen.

Analysing and reading the script
Discovering the true story
Identifying key moments
Finding additional visual elements
Written assignment

Week 2: The Director And The Rehearsal

The director¹s challenge is to communicate his/her vision to the cast. Learn to run a rehearsal and create mood and tension by inspiring the actors and using the tool of staging.

How actors work
Creating characters for the screen
Tools for communicating with actors
Rehearsal process and staging
Written assignment

Week 3: The Grammar Of Directing

Directors use a variety of shots and lenses to compose their scenes and create a vocabulary of cinematic techniques and processes. Directors must learn the do's and don'ts of film grammar.

Camera placement and technique
Framing and composition
Storyboarding and Pre-Vis as directing tools
Written assignment

Week 4: Directing The Shoot

Using professional actors and a HDV camera, a short scene will be shot to demonstrate the techniques used by professionals.

Planning The Shoot - Shot Lists
Protocol on set
Lenses, lighting and movement
Shooting for the edit
Written assignment

Week 5: Directing The Edit

In the edit, the audiovisual material collected during the shoot is reorganised to tell the story in the best way. The director must thoroughly understand the editing process.

Time scale and project management explained
Viewing rushes and making decisions
Working with sound and music
View edit from last week's rushes
Written assignment

Writers, directors, producers, actors, filmmakers, cinema lovers, anyone with an interest in how movies are made and who seek a basic introduction to the filmmaking process.

Chris Thomas has been teaching with Raindance since 1999. His many years in theatre as both an actor and director have given him a strong sensibility towards storytelling and working with one of the filmmakers most valuable resources – the actor.

Working from a grass-roots approach, Chris engages his attendees in the whole process of Directing and gives great insight on how to nurture their individual talents ensure that they thrive in their roles as Directors. Many of Chris’ attendees have gone on to produce high quality, award winning work.

"Thank you for being so helpful. I don't know if this is the sort of thing Raindance is interested in knowing but I've gotten a job on the back of this class. Also, weren't the students amazing? A really balanced mix of enthusiasm and disparate skills - fantastic.
Thanks again to Chris." Amanda Baker

"Just want to say I am so grateful I went on the Director's Foundation course. At the moment I have an interest from the History Channel regarding a documentary. I have partnered up with a film company in LA and one of my synopsis as also an interest for a TV show What I need now to do is to focus on writing and especially learning how to write a treatment and putting together a good story for a feature.
Raindance courses have been very valuable to me." - Sofia Theophilou, Director

"The Director's course is a compact and inspiring introduction to film directing, packing more information into 5 weeks than you can get from twenty jobs as a runner! It has inspired me to get my own short film into production after many months of unfocussed activity. The course gave me the shove I needed!" – Chris Hauke, writer and director of the movie “Again” (www.againthemovie.com) he is also the owner of LetuknowFilms (www.letuknowfilms.co.uk)

“Excellent introduction to filmmaking, highly recommended.” – Mark Loughlin

Shot By Shot - a useful book explaining the grammar of film directing
Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know - using the camera as a visual storytelling tool