FILM 182 - The Art and Craft of Shot Composition

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

This production course introduces students to the art and practice of shot composition as a foundation of cinematic storytelling. Drawing on examples from fiction, documentary, independent, and international cinema, students examine how directors use framing, angle, scale, movement, focal length, and depth of field to convey meaning, emotion, and narrative. Films are studied not only for their formal achievements, but as models for practice: analytical discussions are designed to directly inform students’ own weekly production assignments.

Students are expected to design and shoot a wide variety of shot types—including establishing, medium, wide, neutral, point-of-view, and insert shots—at diverse locations and under varying conditions. Special emphasis is placed on understanding how different focal lengths and lens choices (including prime and telephoto lenses) affect composition, perspective, and the expressive possibilities of depth of field. Weekly exercises build toward a portfolio that demonstrates both technical proficiency and an ability to sequence shots into cohesive visual narratives that reflect the grammar of cinema.

Open only to first-year students, this course requires consistent hands-on practice. By the end of the semester, students possess a working vocabulary for analyzing shot composition, demonstrate a mastery of essential camera techniques, and produce a body of original work that showcases their capacity to translate cinematic concepts into compelling visual storytelling. Yance Ford.

Prerequisite(s): FILM 175 .

One 3-hour period.

Course Format: CLS