Workshop Registration

Visual Metaphor and Expressive Directing Techniques: 3 Sessions

NOTE: It is recommended that participants wear a mask for all in-person workshops.

This two-part course is an intensive study of the role of visual metaphor, shot composition, and expressive directing techniques in fiction filmmaking. This is not a holistic course about the practical or physical aspects of filmmaking, nor is it a course about what appears inside the frame, such as props, costume, or production design, but rather it is a deep study of how master filmmakers use expressive camera techniques and visual metaphors to elevate their story. Students will undertake a close analysis of directed scenes, encompassing different forms and genres but with a primary focus on the Western classical narrative tradition, and compare these scenes with works of art from other disciplines such as poetry, painting, and music. Upon completing the course they will come away with a deeper understanding of how to deploy sophisticated visual design strategies and metaphors to elevate their stories.

The ultimate goal of the course is for students to reimagine the possibilities of filmmaking in order to move away from simply “covering” a scene towards the numerous ways of expressing a scene, bringing its essential drama, emotion, and poetry to life.

The Introduction to Independent Filmmaking and Camera Theory workshops are recommended as prerequisites. This course is recommended as a companion to the Short Film Writing, Advanced Script Studio, Producing Dramatic Films on a Shoe String Budget and Directing Dramatic Film workshops.​

part 1: Mon 17 June 2024, 6 - 10 pm   
part 2: Wed 19 June 2024, 6 - 10 pm   
part 3: Mon 24 June 2024, 6 - 10 pm   
(Registration deadline is Mon 17 June 5:00 pm)

Instructor: Paul Taylor

Paul Taylor is an Emmy® award-winning director, producer, and showrunner and is the recipient of numerous film festival awards including the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. He has nineteen years of experience producing feature-length documentary films and television series, has acted in senior producer roles on over 140 hours of television, and is currently an Executive Producer overseeing three television series for VICE Studios. 

As a director, his credits include the political crime-thriller, THE ART OF POLITICAL MURDER, (an original commission for HBO), executive produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov for Smokehouse Pictures, and WE ARE TOGETHER: THINA SIMUNYE, which won 14 international awards including the Special Jury Prize and Audience Award at Tribeca, the First Feature and Audience Award at IDFA, the Audience Award at the Edinburgh Film Festival, an International Documentary Association Award and a Grierson Award. 

He produced ROUGH AUNTIES, for British director Kim Longinotto, winning the World Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, and THE INTERRUPTERS by Steve James which received an Independent Spirit Award, a Cinema Eye Honor, and an Emmy® award for Outstanding Long Form Programming.

Paul joined a collective of award-winning filmmakers for AJ Schnack’s CONVENTION teaming up with Laura Poitras, Julia Reichert, Steve Bognar, Daniel Junge, David Wilson and Nathan Truesdale, for a collaborative documentary that aired on the Sundance Channel. 

He co-founded the boutique UK-based production company Rise Films which has produced an extensive library of award-winning documentaries. 

Paul studied for an MFA in film at Columbia University School of the Arts.



Location: 1137 Dupont Street
Category: Directing
Maximum Capacity: 12
4 hours of instruction in 3 parts$250 /member$275 /nonmember
Registration opens
Tue 21 May at 10am