Film Directing: Approaching Fiction Now
AFVS 150A
Subject & Catalog Number
Course Information
Description
This course guides students through different issues and challenges in the filmmaking process from the initial development of ideas through to completion.
Throughout the semester, students will write and discuss their own short film scripts. At the end of the first semester, these projects will be ready to move through the pre-production process so that they can be shot during the second semester.
Emphasis is placed on finding a voice, point of view and approaching the film language. There will be formal explorations and various assignments which impose restrictions.
Throughout several personal and group exercises different topics will be explored, such as: directing actors, composition, directorial authorship, as well as the role of camera work in conjunction with narrative structure.
In-class screenings and critiques of student assignments will form an important component of the course.
Class Notes
FALL 2026: Visit the course web site before sending a petition in my.harvard.
The instructor of this course is Athina Rachel Tsangari.
Recommended Prep
AFVS 50 or two other AFVS courses in video or film production required.
Available for Harvard Cross Registration
