ACTION! On the Filmed City: What Is Not There In Front of Us

Abstract

In a digital and hyperconnected world, we sometimes see, feel, perceive and sense what is 'not there in front of us'. How can we give that shape through film?Students will respond to this questions through short, experimental films that will aim to articulate how cities today may be reimagined and reappropriated by its inhabitants in new and inventive ways.

Objective

Through a combination of practical exercises in video and audio techniques in parallel with the study of seminal observation-driven texts like, this course aims to equip students with the basic tools and core principles to create short but complex portraits of urban space. This semester, these approaches will focus on the idea of 'what is not there in front of you'. What are the hidden lifeworlds of a place? How can we reach towards and articulate faraway realities that feel uncannily close? Through repeat observation, students will collectively create mosaics of their impressions, manifested through documentary film, digital animation, and other methods. Using widely available recording tools and editing software, students will turn their fieldwork into short video or audio works of about 3-5 minutes.

Content

The course will compose of lectures, practical crash courses in media use and storytelling, and fieldwork sessions. The course will be a laboratory in the creation of short media works that aim to inform the architectural design process, working between the city and the studio in ONA. Students will be expected to complete all required work within the hours that the elective meets, with few requirements outside of the class hours.

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