For Libraries • Community Organizations • Youth + Family Programs

Directing 101

Turn a Scene on the Page Into Something That Lives on Screen.

A hands-on, family-friendly directing workshop where participants learn to block actors, place the camera, build coverage, and collaboratively shoot a scene with working filmmakers and educators.

Fully interactive
Devices provided
Family-friendly — all ages welcome
90-min standard format — tailored to your needs
No specialized film equipment required

No required fee. We work within any community budget.

Bring This to Your Community:

Submit Inquiry →

Presented by

The Room Becomes the Set

The Core Idea

Take the Scene From Page to Screen.

Directing is the process of making hundreds of small creative decisions — where actors move, where the camera goes, what the audience sees — and turning those pieces into a scene. Directing 101 lets participants make those choices together and watch them come to life.

Block the Actors

Learn how movement, position, intention, and staging help bring a scene to life.

Create the Shot List

Translate the action into intentional camera angles, shot sizes, and coverage.

Shoot the Scene

Put the plan into practice and see how directing choices actually look through the camera.

What Participants Actually Do

Learn It. Block It. Shoot It.

▣

Learn the Director's Toolkit

Participants learn blocking, shot size, camera movement, coverage, and the basic language directors use to communicate a scene.

▶

Build the Scene Together

The group works through a simple scene as a room, physically exploring where actors move and where the camera should go.

⇄

Shoot What You Created

Participants rotate through the filmmaking process and use CT Story Labs recording devices to capture the scene they just designed.

This is not a lecture about directing. The room becomes the set.

Rithza S, high school graduate — Rithza SHigh School Graduate

Screening + Q&A

Then We Show Them Where These Choices Can Lead.

Now see where these skills can go. The workshop closes with a short screening that connects what participants just practiced to finished work.

Fully Student-Made Short Film

He Just Likes You

Participants watch a 4-minute short film made by CT Story Labs high-school filmmakers during our 2026 Film Clinic.

It's an example of what young filmmakers can create when blocking, coverage, camera placement, performance, and collaboration all come together.

He Just Likes You film still — Short Film · ~4 min

Then — a live Q&A

Everyone shares an intimate conversation with the working filmmakers and educators who make and teach films.

Participants don't just practice directing in isolation — they watch a finished film made by young filmmakers, then get to ask how those creative choices become finished work.

Built for Real Community Spaces, Not Ideal Conditions

Your Community Room Can Become a Film Set.

🎥Recording Devices Provided

🏢Meeting Rooms & Community Spaces Work Fine

✨Beginners & All Ages Welcome

✓Adapts to Your Space & Policies

There's nothing for your team to prepare. No specialized filmmaking equipment is required from the host, and participants don't need their own phones or cameras. A projector or smart screen is helpful so the whole room can watch the choices in real time — but it's not required, and we can bring a smaller monitor if needed. It works in libraries, meeting rooms, arts spaces, community centers, teen spaces, and similar environments.

Give us a room and a group of curious people. We bring the filmmaking experience — the lesson, recording devices, materials, filmmakers, and screening.

A CT Story Labs educator working through a scene with participants in a classroom

What Participants Take With Them

Practical Tools They Can Use After We Leave.

A group of teen participants standing together during a CT Story Labs workshop scene exercise

01
The 5 Components of CoverageA simple reference for the basic visual building blocks filmmakers use to capture a scene.
02
Shot Scale & Movement GuideA visual guide to common shot sizes, framing, and camera movement.
03
Blocking & Working With Actors TipsPractical guidance for staging movement, communicating with actors, and turning dramatic intention into visible action.

Why CT Story Labs

Built by People Who Actually Make Films.

CT Story Labs is both a filmmaking production model and a youth-development initiative. We produce professional independent work and run hands-on filmmaking experiences for young people and families — so participants learn directly from people who both teach filmmaking and actually make films.

Professional FilmmakersEducatorsReal ProductionsStudent-Made Work

Brian HOGAN

Writer | Director | Educator

Allie O'BRIEN

Producer | Educator

Tyler STIRLING

Editor | Educator

Bring It To Your Community

Bring Directing 101 to Your Community.

Tell us a little about your organization or initiative and we'll follow up personally about availability, format, and fit.

Thank You for Your Inquiry

Someone from the CT Story Labs team will get back to you personally within 2 business days.

CT Story Labs Main Website