Making a documentary is much more than simply filming what surrounds us.
It can be a way of understanding the world, a tool to make it a better place, and an art form where you can find and express your own voice. This intensive, inspiring lab is designed to introduce participants to the engrossing world of documentary filmmaking.
During this workshop, filmmakers will gain first-hand experience working alongside Oscar-Nominated documentarian Rithy Panh. The world-renowned storyteller will teach participants his method of narration through working with memory, culture, and identity to gain an in-depth understanding of personal traditions, celebrations, community, and the oral history of a country. His teaching techniques build on the foundations of cultural memory to capture fragile moments through film. Participants will be encouraged to find their own narratives that explore the idea of identity and origins by truly living, working, and breathing with their subjects.
In small teams, students will make short documentaries from initial concept to final product during two lab sessions. The first session, lasting 3-weeks, will focus on development and pre-production, and the second 4-week session will entail production, editing and post-production. By the end of the programme, participants will experience the entire process of making a film. Experienced professional mentors will guide participants throughout the filmmaking process, and participants admitted in the program must commit to participating in both sessions.
The goal of the lab is to provide new skills, to discover cinematic language, and to transform students into filmmakers who are ready to change the world and tell their stories.
Application Deadline: May 11, 2019
Dates:
Please note that participants are expected to attend both sessions, and should apply before the deadline.
hours:
Session 1:
Timings will be determined based on the availability of accepted applicants, however, participants must be able to commit at least five hours per day. Proposed timings are 5-10 PM daily on weekdays, full days on weekends.
Session 2:
Full commitment may be required during production and post-production, depending on the project.
Lab Fee: 2,800.00 QAR
Language: English
Group Size: Up to 10 Participants
Level: Intermediate
Applicants should demonstrate some experience in filming and storytelling.
Schedule and Course Description
Session 1: Documentary Filmmaking – Theory & Practice, Development & Pre-Production
16 June to 6 July, 2019 (three weeks)
Mid-Lab Recess:
Session 2: Filming, Editing, and Post-Production
15 September to 15 October, 2019 (4 weeks)
By the end of the course, students will have created three to five documentary short films, which are screened for the class. As a group, we prepare distribution strategies. Then, based on their personal experience, each student proposes a new idea for another documentary. The lab ends imagining new films and defining the personal style of each student.
Course Introduction by Rithy Panh
"The essential is always threatened by the insignificant,” wrote the poet René Char. In this new era of globalisation, his sentiment now seems to resonate with even more depth. The endless flow of information made possible by digital media brings with it countless benefits, but also contains many irrelevant distractions. Society is changing rapidly; views are changing, and economic development is accelerating. For centuries, since the drawings of the cave of Lescot, humanity has experienced art in two dimensions. Now mankind is entering the epoch of virtual reality, but what do we do with this new and powerful technology? How can we integrate this medium into our art without losing our roots and identity? It is on this reflection that the workshop will be built so that each participant not only discovers the relevant digital techniques, but also learns how to question their narrative in order to stay true to their content.
The secret to authentic documentary filmmaking lies in the approach of the filmmaker, in that they do not seek to make films about people, but with them. This means living with them, doing things with them, listening to them, giving them a voice. Only by working with the protagonists will their films bear true witness to the subject and the changing nature of today. The workshop will develop within participants this ability to look outward from the inside and pay close attention to language. Every culture has its own grace. We must capture these moments now, and perhaps later, when this kind of process has become ingrained, we can build the foundations of a cultural memory. This memory will be especially vivid and meaningful, as it is told by men and women - faithful witnesses of a time. Every community needs to know their roots to help them invent their future together, and this workshop will raise appreciation of the diversity of cultures within each community
During this workshop, filmmakers will gain first-hand experience working alongside Oscar-Nominated documentarian Rithy Panh. The world-renowned storyteller will teach participants his method of narration through working with memory, culture, and identity to gain an in-depth understanding of personal traditions, celebrations, community, and the oral history of a country. His teaching techniques build on the foundations of cultural memory to capture fragile moments through film. Participants will be encouraged to find their own narratives that explore the idea of identity and origins by truly living, working, and breathing with their subjects.
In small teams, students will make short documentaries from initial concept to final product during two lab sessions. The first session, lasting 3-weeks, will focus on development and pre-production, and the second 4-week session will entail production, editing and post-production. By the end of the programme, participants will experience the entire process of making a film. Experienced professional mentors will guide participants throughout the filmmaking process, and participants admitted in the program must commit to participating in both sessions.
The goal of the lab is to provide new skills, to discover cinematic language, and to transform students into filmmakers who are ready to change the world and tell their stories.
Application Deadline: May 11, 2019
Dates:
- Session 1: 16 June to 6 July, 2019
- Session 2: 15 September to 15 October, 2019
Please note that participants are expected to attend both sessions, and should apply before the deadline.
hours:
Session 1:
Timings will be determined based on the availability of accepted applicants, however, participants must be able to commit at least five hours per day. Proposed timings are 5-10 PM daily on weekdays, full days on weekends.
Session 2:
Full commitment may be required during production and post-production, depending on the project.
Lab Fee: 2,800.00 QAR
Language: English
Group Size: Up to 10 Participants
Level: Intermediate
Applicants should demonstrate some experience in filming and storytelling.
Schedule and Course Description
Session 1: Documentary Filmmaking – Theory & Practice, Development & Pre-Production
16 June to 6 July, 2019 (three weeks)
- Theoretical discussion and tutorials
- Looking inside yourself: what do you want to talk about?
- Looking outside yourself: discovering reality
- Ethics in documentary filmmaking
- Overview of the creative process—from idea to the final product
- The relationship between you and reality during the process
- The relationship between your goal as a filmmaker and the expected final product
- Film Screenings and Analysis
- Development of participants’ documentary proposals
- Practical training:
- How to scout for locations and subjects
- Fundamentals of filming and recording
- Shot lists, shooting plans
- Exercise: make a 3-to-5-minute film without editing (the subject will be assigned).
- Selection of projects to be produced in the second session
- Formation of production teams. Each participant will work in the team of at least one project as the director, producer, sound recordist, or camera person.
- Planning for the 2-month period of independent work
Mid-Lab Recess:
- Free time for participants to work in preproduction, scout locations, and start working with their subjects independently
- Filming permits are requested
- No formal group sessions or tutorials are held during this time
Session 2: Filming, Editing, and Post-Production
15 September to 15 October, 2019 (4 weeks)
- Shooting and analysis of the rushes with the assistance of an editor
- Editing and Post-production
By the end of the course, students will have created three to five documentary short films, which are screened for the class. As a group, we prepare distribution strategies. Then, based on their personal experience, each student proposes a new idea for another documentary. The lab ends imagining new films and defining the personal style of each student.
Course Introduction by Rithy Panh
"The essential is always threatened by the insignificant,” wrote the poet René Char. In this new era of globalisation, his sentiment now seems to resonate with even more depth. The endless flow of information made possible by digital media brings with it countless benefits, but also contains many irrelevant distractions. Society is changing rapidly; views are changing, and economic development is accelerating. For centuries, since the drawings of the cave of Lescot, humanity has experienced art in two dimensions. Now mankind is entering the epoch of virtual reality, but what do we do with this new and powerful technology? How can we integrate this medium into our art without losing our roots and identity? It is on this reflection that the workshop will be built so that each participant not only discovers the relevant digital techniques, but also learns how to question their narrative in order to stay true to their content.
The secret to authentic documentary filmmaking lies in the approach of the filmmaker, in that they do not seek to make films about people, but with them. This means living with them, doing things with them, listening to them, giving them a voice. Only by working with the protagonists will their films bear true witness to the subject and the changing nature of today. The workshop will develop within participants this ability to look outward from the inside and pay close attention to language. Every culture has its own grace. We must capture these moments now, and perhaps later, when this kind of process has become ingrained, we can build the foundations of a cultural memory. This memory will be especially vivid and meaningful, as it is told by men and women - faithful witnesses of a time. Every community needs to know their roots to help them invent their future together, and this workshop will raise appreciation of the diversity of cultures within each community
| In collaboration with: Bophana Center, Cambodia.http://bophana.org/ | ||
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