Film = Art + Technology October 23rd, 2009
Spent an interesting afternoon talking with IT teachers from across Manitoba who are teaching or looking into teaching film in their classrooms.
It was a great chance for me to do some thinking about my own knowledge and opinions regarding filmmaking. Their mandate is to teach the technology of filmmaking – how to use the software and equipment. I titled my talk for them “The Art and Fun of Filmmaking” and tried to provide another perspective – that of examining and making film as an artist rather than a technician.
What makes film so fascinating to me is that intersection between technology and art. I am in awe of each professional involved in making a film – each must be a technician and an artist – the gaffer, the DP, the sound designer, the props master, the make up, hair and wardrobe departments…
We required certain technology to make the earliest films, and technology is changing what stories we tell now — for example James Cameron’s upcoming Avatar with its 3D CGI mixed with “regular” video. According to Cameron, 3D is how all the big movies are going to go now. But there are still stories that can be told on a cheap video camera. The next few years will be a real experiment!
What I talked to the teachers about were the artistic choices – the importance of story, of actors, and the details like what angle to shoot from, how close to be to the actors or the action, the impact of colour and props and sound, and how a story can be told with many other tools besides dialogue. We brainstormed fun projects the students can do to experiment in each of these areas.
It struck me that it’s too rare that I have these conversations with my fellow filmmakers away from the pressures of making decisions on a production-in-progress. The Winnipeg Film Group and Cinematheque are starting a film/maker discussion group and I hope that we’ll be tackling some of these issues.
