The Essay Film

Permission of Instructor required. This
production class will explore the essay-film.
Film critic Alexandre Astruc created the term
camera-stylo in 1948 to suggest a new means of
writing through cinema, in which the camera would
serve as a pen, creating arguments, meditation
and inquiries. Film essays are neither straight
documentaries nor fictional narratives but are
usually a hybrid of different forms and tend to
be driven by theme rather than plot. We will
screen film essays and read written essays paired
to compliment the films. We will consider how
these media can inform each other. Students will
produce three short videos over the course to the
semester in response to course directives.
Priority give to MFA studnets and upper level
undergraduates.