The course aims to provide students with the historical, critical, technical and technological tools to understand the dynamics underlying the direction and staging of audiovisual products. At the end of the course, students will gain critical maturity, a broad and cross-cutting theoretical background and a specific technical knowledge that can serve as a filter to best transform his or her own personal universe (or that of others) into an audiovisual project.

- Defining cinema and audiovisual media.

- Essential steps in the history of cinema and the (moving) image.

- How audiovisual media communicate: some theories of perception.

- Narrative: idea, subject, screenplay.

- Direction (A): framing, camera movements, cuts, ellipses, rules and conventions, editing, postproduction.

- Direction (B): interactions between the director and other figures: roles, constraints, possibilities, responsibilities.

- Audio: music, sound effects, synchronisations with video and movement in front of the camera, possibilities and inventions.

- Technical and technological evolution, new technologies, special effects.

- Practical exercises and the role of the camera operator.

- Editing, post-production, grading and export: software and possibilities.

The course has a strong focus on multimedia and the possibilities of video, storytelling and communication, in its various forms today: cinema, music videos, video games, social media content, advertising. These are tied into a continuous intermediality that involves the students, helping them to discover and adopt as many stimuli as possible. The incentive is to explore reality with a critical eye by grasping its continuous stimuli and imagery to be adopted to enrich artistic production: in this case, in the field of producing an (audiovisual) product. Every form of institutional and popular culture, social networks, memes, comics, cinema – in the widest, free and most transversal sense – converge to enrich expressive possibilities. Rudiments of each stage in the chain of filmmaking, leading to the complete production of an audiovisual, object will be provided: from the idea to the screenplay, passing through the conventions of directing and staging, to editing and post-production, providing as many “living” and first-hand aphorisms and suggestions that are not to be found in textbooks.

Students are expected to achieve:

Knowledge and understanding: knowledge and assimilation of cultural tools and dynamics suitable for the creation and representation of one’s own audiovisual creative universe.

Applied knowledge and comprehension skills: ability to adopt a mature and professional method of approaching production through suitable terminology ascertained and understood during lectures, and in a rigorous and more conscious pragmatism in the creation of a product.

Autonomy of judgment: acquisition of tools that are suitable for the formulation of active and elaborate judgments, ideas and perspectives of vision. Conscious attitude in dealing with culture, media and people. The ability to create an appropriate distance between one’s cultural comfort zone for the purpose of increased and informed observation of the world of communication.

Communication skills: Capacity for active and controlled confrontation with third parties, use of appropriate terminology, awareness in the possible use of obsolete or abused terms. Active view of own skills and limitations and aptitude to juggle them in professional confrontation.

Learning skills: Incentive to understanding and learning in order to develop personal and level-headed critical thinking. The ultimate goal is the construction of an imagery, a universe, that will be infused into artistic and professional production.

In various steps, theoretical and practical tools will be provided to students to provide awareness and context whenever s/he has to pick up an audiovisual recording tool for the purpose of production. Taking unique and personal ideas as an absolute and primary value, the student will be provided with the tools, anecdotes, examples and suggestions to be able to carry it out with whatever instrument at her/his disposal. Of course, professional dynamics and professional equipment will be analyzed, but without underestimating modern and more “flexible” instrumentation, such as action cams or the smartphone.

A theoretical part of the course will provide all the classic grammatical rules and conventions, varied and broad examples without restrictions, providing the student with the understanding that stimuli and influences can be grasped from any work. At the same time, it will reflect on the instruments, dynamics and various components (camera, optics, microphones...).

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

There are no planned external activities or seminars led by other instructors, but practical laboratory sessions are integrated into the course.

Teaching

Lectures, group excercises, film viewings

Attendance

To be counted as "attending”, students must participate in at least 75% of the lessons and/or, for example, have completed any classwork, exercises or other such activities organised by the lecturer during the course.

Course books

Notes from the course, texts and video materials presented during lessons.

Facoltativo di approfondimento. 

Poletti Stefano, Il manuale del videomaker, Milano, Hoepli, 2021

Letture utili non obbligatorie:

-Lischi Sandra, Il linguaggio del video, Carocci, Rome 2005
-Balzola Andrea, Le arti multimediali digitali. Storia, tecniche, linguaggi, etiche ed estetiche del nuovo millennio, Garzanti, Milan, 2004
-Cassani Diego, Manuale del Montaggio - Tecnica dell'editing nella comunicazione cinematografica e audiovisiva, Utet, Milan, 2006
-Lavandier Yves, L'ABC della drammaturgia, Dino Audino Editore, Rome, 2001
-Grasso Aldo, Storia della televisione italiana, Garzanti, Milan, 2000
-Costantini Costanzo, Fellini - Raccontando di Me, Editori Riuniti, Rome, 1996
-Truffaut Francois, Il Cinema secondo Hitchcock, Pratiche Editrice, Parma, 1977
-Gianni Rondolino, Dario Tomasi, Manuale del Film, Utet, Turin, 1995
-Costa Antonio, Saper Vedere il Cinema, Milan, Strumenti Bompiani

Recommended Film Viewings:

Motivational débuts, i.e., how the great masters started at the same level as the students on this course:

- Two Men and a Wardrobe (Roman Polanski, 1958)

- Summer in the City (Wim Wenders, 1970)
- Ecce Bombo (Nanni Moretti, 1978)
- Bad Taste (Peter Jackson, 1987)
- Tetsuo: The Iron Man (Shinya Tsukamoto, 1989)
- Vibroboy/Gisele Kerozene (Jan Kounen, 1989/1993)
- El Mariachi (Robert Rodriguez, Messico, 1992)
- Acción mutante (Álex de la Iglesia, 1993)
- Clerks (Kevin Smith, USA, 1994)
- Timecrimes (Nacho Vigalondo, 2007)
- Diamond Flash (Carlos Vermut, 2011)
- One Cut of the Dead (Shin'ichirō Ueda, 2017)

General Filmography for Reference:

- The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1926), Robert Wiene
- Battleship Potëmkin (1926), Sergej Michajlovič Ėjzenštejn
- Citizen Kane (1941), Orson Welles
- Sunset Boulevard (1950), Billy Wilder
- Umberto D (1952), Vittorio De Sica
- Rear Window (1954), Alfred Hitchcock
- À bout de souffle (1960), Jean-Luc Godard
- Il Sorpasso (1962), Dino Risi
- 8 1⁄2 (1963), Federico Fellini
- The Leopard (1963), Luchino visconti
- Blow Up (1966), Michelangelo Antonioni
- Teorema (1968), Pier Paolo Pasolini
- Once upon a Time in the West (1968), Sergio Leone
- The Wild Bunch (1969), Sam Peckinpah
- Day for Night (1973), François Truffaut
- The Tenant (1976), Roman Polański
- An American Warewolf in Londron (1981), John Landis
- Scarface (1983), Brian De Palma
- Zelig (1983), Woody Allen
- El Sur (1983), Victor Erice
- Nostalghia (1983), Andrej Tarkovskij
- Hong Kong Express (1994), Wong Kar-wai
- The Blade (1995), Tsui Hark
- Hana-bi (1997), Takeshi Kitano
- Dead or Alive (1999), Miike Takashi
- Cargo 200 (2007), Aleksej Oktjabrinovič Balabanov
- Magical Girl (2014), Carlos Vermut
- Black Coal, Thin Ice (2014), Diao Yinan

Assessment

Verification will be by through an individual oral exam. In it, the student will have to demonstrate that s/he has actively learned the concepts expressed in class. S/he will present a self-produced short video film (the dynamics of which will be explained in class) and make a short promotional pressbook of the same. Any viewing, understanding and dissemination skills of the films included in the lists of recommended titles will be part of the assessment.

All the material (short video and pressbook) must be delivered at least 30 days before the exam date in order to activate revisions and tutoring.

For excellent grades: students must command appropriate terminology, the understanding and active acquisition of the tools provided, the ability to adopt and use them to the best advantage in the production of the short film, any optional readings and viewings, and the mature and personal ability to analyse and disclose information regarding these.

For good grades: students must possess of a mnemonic knowledge of the content, a good ability to be critical on and link the topics covered and use an appropriate language. They must have a decent practical ability to adopt and use the tools provided.

For sufficient grades: students will demonstrate partial and uncertain acquisition of the tools provided, poor application of them in a practical way, use of inappropriate terminology.

For low or negative grades: students use inappropriate terminology, lack knowledge of basic tools, demonstrate little applied interest in the course and have a willful inability to apply the tools provided in a practical way.

All materials (the short film and pressbook) must be submitted at least 30 working days before the examination date.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

To provide the opportunity for non-attending students to balance out their individual study with the content of the lessons and gain a full understanding of the course, the programme includes following supplementary materials:

Course books

To provide the opportunity for non-attending students to balance out their individual study with the content of the lessons and gain a full understanding of the course, the programme includes following supplementary materials

Recommended readings:

-Lischi Sandra, Il linguaggio del video, Carocci, Rome 2005
-Balzola Andrea, Le arti multimediali digitali. Storia, tecniche, linguaggi, etiche ed estetiche del nuovo millennio, Garzanti, Milan, 2004
-Cassani Diego, Manuale del Montaggio - Tecnica dell'editing nella comunicazione cinematografica e audiovisiva, Utet, Milan, 2006
-Lavandier Yves, L'ABC della drammaturgia, Dino Audino Editore, Rome, 2001
-Grasso Aldo, Storia della televisione italiana, Garzanti, Milan, 2000
-Costantini Costanzo, Fellini - Raccontando di Me, Editori Riuniti, Rome, 1996
-Truffaut Francois, Il Cinema secondo Hitchcock, Pratiche Editrice, Parma, 1977
-Gianni Rondolino, Dario Tomasi, Manuale del Film, Utet, Turin, 1995
-Costa Antonio, Saper Vedere il Cinema, Milan, Strumenti Bompiani

Recommended Film Viewings:

Motivational débuts, i.e., how the great masters started at the same level as the students on this course:

- Two Men and a Wardrobe (Roman Polanski, 1958)
- Summer in the City (Wim Wenders, 1970)
- Ecce Bombo (Nanni Moretti, 1978)
- Bad Taste (Peter Jackson, 1987)
- Tetsuo: The Iron Man (Shinya Tsukamoto, 1989)
- Vibroboy/Gisele Kerozene (Jan Kounen, 1989/1993)
- El Mariachi (Robert Rodriguez, Messico, 1992)
- Acción mutante (Álex de la Iglesia, 1993)
- Clerks (Kevin Smith, USA, 1994)
- Timecrimes (Nacho Vigalondo, 2007)
- Diamond Flash (Carlos Vermut, 2011)
- One Cut of the Dead (Shin'ichirō Ueda, 2017)

General Filmography for Reference:

- The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1926), Robert Wiene
- Battleship Potëmkin (1926), Sergej Michajlovič Ėjzenštejn
- Citizen Kane (1941), Orson Welles
- Sunset Boulevard (1950), Billy Wilder
- Umberto D (1952), Vittorio De Sica
- Rear Window (1954), Alfred Hitchcock
- À bout de souffle (1960), Jean-Luc Godard
- Il Sorpasso (1962), Dino Risi
- 8 1⁄2 (1963), Federico Fellini
- The Leopard (1963), Luchino visconti
- Blow Up (1966), Michelangelo Antonioni
- Teorema (1968), Pier Paolo Pasolini
- Once upon a Time in the West (1968), Sergio Leone
- The Wild Bunch (1969), Sam Peckinpah
- Day for Night (1973), François Truffaut
- The Tenant (1976), Roman Polański
- An American Warewolf in Londron (1981), John Landis
- Scarface (1983), Brian De Palma
- Zelig (1983), Woody Allen
- El Sur (1983), Victor Erice
- Nostalghia (1983), Andrej Tarkovskij
- Hong Kong Express (1994), Wong Kar-wai
- The Blade (1995), Tsui Hark
- Hana-bi (1997), Takeshi Kitano
- Dead or Alive (1999), Miike Takashi
- Cargo 200 (2007), Aleksej Oktjabrinovič Balabanov
- Magical Girl (2014), Carlos Vermut
- Black Coal, Thin Ice (2014), Diao Yinan

Assessment

Verification will be by through an individual oral exam. In it, the student will have to demonstrate that s/he has actively learned the concepts expressed in class. The student can choose between two exam formats.

1) The first option, practical, is common to attending students: they must present a self-produced video short film (the details of which will be explained during the lessons) and create a brief promotional pressbook for it. 

2) Alternatively, the student can choose a theoretical option, which involves an in-depth study of the book "Poletti Stefano, Il manuale del videomaker," Milan, Hoepli, 2021.

The choice must be communicated 30 days before the exam. In case of option (1) all the material (short video and pressbook) must be delivered at least 30 days before the exam date in order to activate revisions and tutoring.

For excellent grades: students must command appropriate terminology, the understanding and active acquisition of the tools provided, the ability to adopt and use them to the best advantage in the production of the short film, any optional readings and viewings, and the mature and personal ability to analyse and disclose information regarding these.

For good grades: students must possess of a mnemonic knowledge of the content, a good ability to be critical on and link the topics covered and use an appropriate language. They must have a decent practical ability to adopt and use the tools provided.

For sufficient grades: students will demonstrate partial and uncertain acquisition of the tools provided, poor application of them in a practical way, use of inappropriate terminology.

For low or negative grades: students use inappropriate terminology, lack knowledge of basic tools, demonstrate little applied interest in the course and have a willful inability to apply the tools provided in a practical way.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.