Collaborative Filmmaking

In this intermediate to advanced studio course, we will explore various ways to make films together in small teams, including with people outside the course. Student films will explore genres from narrative to documentary to experimental. Collaboration is unlike the Hollywood model where making a film brings together highly skilled individuals that interlock like parts of a machine and are disbanded when the task of making the film is complete. These are managed in a top down fashion, meant to be efficient and to build products (films) designed for profit. We will attempt to eschew these hierarchical systems in favor of processes that honor the ideas and voices of the video makers (and subjects when present). Collaboration can create a dynamic process when artists exchange ideas and perspectives. You will be challenged to incorporate other artists’ ways of working and to try new creative methods and approaches. We will attempt to design systems and parameters that offer agency to all collaborators. We will experience various approaches to creative collaboration and sharing leadership. Depending on student interests, these may include works that emphasize the creation of a team as a whole, multimedia approaches, partnering with documentary subjects, and chance operations. In-class exercises and experiments will provide jumping-off points for more in-depth works as the term progresses. Students should bring some experience in filmmaking to the course.