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 interpret art direction in relation to other artistic practices

4-To identify and understand the main tasks of Art Direction and Production Design in the process of audiovisual production.

5-To apply working concepts, methods and procedures in the development an Art Direction project.

THEORETICAL MODULE



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. Mise-en-scène

3.1 What is Mise-en-scène

3.2 Components of the Mise-en-scène

Lesson 4.The symbolic dimension of scenography: Hitchcock as case study

4.1 "The raising and overflowing abyss"

4.2 Anthropomorphisms of the space

Lesson 5. The configuration of space in cinema

5.1 Pictorial space

5.2 Architectural space

5.3 Filmic space

Lesson 6. Set architecture in cinema I

6.1 The theatrical scenography in Primitive cinema

6.2 The plastic of space in Classical cinema

Lesson 7. Set architecture in cinema II

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

7.2 Other avant-garde spaces

Lesson 8. Set architecture in cinema III: the configuration of space in Modern

8.1 Art direction’s degree zero

8.2 Off centered framings and off-screen spaces



PRACTICAL MODULE



1. A first practical approach to film art direction.



1.1 Documentation and Moodboard

1.2 Set design and Locations

1.3 Costume design and colour palettes

1.4 Presentation



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



2.1 Breakdown and visual analysis of the script: documentation, visual Concept, Moodboard

2.2 Sets design and locations

2.3 Props and colour palettes

2.4 Costume design

2.5 Presentation



3. Setting the scene: Creating your own project as an art director.

Throughout the course we will be working on the fundamental aspects of film Art Direction and the staging processes combining practical and theoretical lessons 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 projects proposed. The first practice will be worth 2.5 points. The second project will be worth 3.5 points and the third one 3.5 points. Attendance and participation throughout the classes will be worth 0.5 points.



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. The student will be required to complete the integral version of the first two projects described in the practical module.



*This assessment system will be applied both face-to-face and/or non-face-to-face, in the event that the situation demanded.

Basic bibliography

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

Barnwell, Jane (2017). Production Design for Screen: Visual Storytelling in Film and Television. New York: Bloomsbury.

Rizzo, Michael (2013). The Art Direction Handbook for Film. New York & London: Focal Press.

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

In-depth bibliography

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

Journals

http://www.imdb.com/
https://www.bifilmcommission.com/es/
http://www.davidbordwell.net/