The course is designed to teach the essentials of both playmaking and filmmaking from the perspective of the director, covering all phases of preproduction and production. It aims to guide the students to professional standards of expression and control and to go to the heart of what makes a director for play and screenplay.

The first 1/3 of the semester will be an introduction to the collaborative art form and fundamentals of directing for the theatre. The lectures will provide working techniques needed for the play script analysis, the directing scenes, and communication with actors and designers. The intent of the teaching on play directing is not only to outline basic principles but also stimulate the students to understand and appreciate the art of directing onstage.

The left 2/3 of the semester will be instructions focusing on the basic building blocks of narrative filmmaking. The objective is to enable students to make informed decisions for communicating the themes, moods, styles, and story arcs that they envisioned for films. Through lectures, readings, and out-of-class shooting exercises, students will make the steps to understand the practical and conceptual notions of visual storytelling. They will then explore key aspects of visual expression through the use of composition, shot progression, POV, texture and colour, rhythm, sound design, and editing. Students will complete a short film using a video camera, and the work will be screened and critiqued by the instructor and peers in the last class of the semester. The goal of this creative process is to let students become acquainted with the role of visual language in the process of acting for a film.