Goals of the Degree:



1-To gain knowledge and experience in the professional routines within the field of audiovisual communication.

2-To employ skills and different technique and resources in the development of contents and processes within the audiovisual communication.

3-To analyse, interpret, explain and appreciate critically facts, social processes, texts and communication projects.





Goals of the Course:



1-To address the analysis of cinema in its plastic dimension.

2-To examine the main aspects in the organization of the cinematographic space as we approach the evolution of set architecture in film throughout its history.

3-To acknowledge the contribution of art direction to the plastic treatment of film aesthetics.

4-To learn about the evolution of film art direction and production design throughout the history of cinema.

5-To approach the organization of the Art Department as we identify the different tasks assigned to film art direction.

6-To address the main creative and conceptual tasks required in the development of an art direction draft for film.

THEORETICAL MODULE: CONTENTS



Lesson 1. Art direction for film: specific tasks and assignments

1.1 Production design and art direction

1.2 Organization of the Art Department

Lesson 2. An art direction project for film: main guidelines

2.1 The project step by step

2.2 Sets and trompe l’oeils

Lesson 3.The symbolic dimension of scenography: Hitchcock as case study

3.1 "The raising and overflowing abyss"

3.2 Anthropomorphisms of the space

Lesson 4. The configuration of space in cinema

4.1 Pictorial space

4.2 Architectural space

4.3 Filmic space

Lesson 5. Set architecture in cinema I

5.1 The theatrical scenography in Primitive cinema

5.2 The plastic of space in Classical cinema

Lesson 6. Set architecture in cinema II

6.1 Spaces of horror, the plastic of space in German Expressionism

6.2 Other avant-garde spaces

Lesson 7. Set architecture in cinema III: the configuration of space in Modern and Contemporary cinema

7.1 Art direction’s degree zero

7.2 Misframings and off-screen spaces

Lesson 8. Urban film architecture: three case studies

8.1 Metropolis.

8.2 Blade Runner

8.3 The World





PRACTICAL MODULE



1. Weeks 1-4

An art direction project for a short film based on the guidelines given in class

1.1 Documentation and Moodboard

1.2 Set design & Locations

1.3 Costume design and colour palettes

1.4 Presentation of the project



2. Weeks 5-9

An art direction project for a feature film departing from the script

2.1 Breakdown and plastic analysis of the script: documentation, first sketches, Moodboard and search of the Concept

2.2 Sets & locations: Concept design, illustration

2.3 Props and color palettes

2.4 Costume design

2.5 Presentation of the project



3. Weeks 10-15

Setting the scene: Creating your own short film as an art director

The course will combine practical and theoretical lessons regarding the most relevant aspects of art direction and the cinematographic mise en scène. Throughout the course we will be working on specific theoretical aspects and case studies including documentation, research, film screenings and analysis. In addition we will provide various creation exercises that will help the student to become familiar with the different tasks assigned to an art director.

The final grade will be obtained from the continuous assessment of the various case studies and practices carried out through the course. The overall assessment will take into account the following guidelines: attendance and participation, the accomplishment and oral presentation of the various exercises and activities proposed.

If the student is not able to attend the course the overall assessment will be based on a final test to measure his or her knowledge of the main theoretical and practical issues gathered in the programme.

Basic bibliography

Barnwell, Jane. Production Design: Architects of the Screen (Short Cuts), Wallflower, London, 2004.

Shorter, Georgina. Designing for Screen: Production Design and Art Direction explained, The Crowood Press, Rambsbury, Marlborough, 2012.

In-depth bibliography

Aumont, Jacques. The Image, BFI Publishing, London, 1997.
Burch, Noël. Theory of Film Practice, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1981.
Dalle Vacche, Angela. Cinema and Painting: How Art Is Used in Film, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1996.
Eisner, Lotte. The Haunted Screen: Expressionism in the German Cinema and the Influence of Max Reinhardt, University of California Press, Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1973.
Halligan, Fionnuala. FilmCraft: Production Design, Ilex, Lewes, 2012.
Neumann, Dietrich (ed). Film Architecture: Set Designs from Metropolis to Blade Runner, Prestel, Munich, 1996.
Ramírez, Juan Antonio. Architecture for the Screen: A Critical Study of Set Design in Hollywood’s Golden Age, University of California Press, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, North Carolina, 2012.
Rizzo, Michael. The Art Direction Handbook for Film, Focal Press, New York & London, 2013.
Sammon, Paul. The Making of Blade Runner, Orion, London, 2004.
Scheffauer, Herman. “The Vivifying of Space” en Lewis, Jacobs (ed). Introduction to the Art of the Movies, Noonday Press, New York, 1960, pp. 76-85.
Sennett, Robert. Setting the Scene: The Great Hollywood Art Directors, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York, 1994.