Unoriginal Film Lab

GR - Graduate

Originality is every artist's aspiration--and often the greatest obstacle. In this course, working with self-originated material is strictly forbidden. Free from the pressure of creating something from nothing, students will instead discover how to apply their creativity through the process of making. Using a constraint-based approach, students will refine their skills in filmic interpretation, technical craftsmanship, creative problem-solving, and collaboration. They will work individually and in groups to challenge conventional notions of authorship, emphasizing interpretation, transformation, and invention.
Students will make work based on a series of constraints, working within specific parameters, some set collectively by the group and some assigned by the instructor. Sources for the work will include non film materials, such as poetry, research, interviews, music, painting (etc) and/or be drawn from locations and objects. The workshop fosters a generative environment where students learn to see the creative process not as a solitary struggle but as an open playground for filmmaking. By embracing limitations as opportunities, students will engage with art as a game--one in which the artist defines the rules that shape the final work. Ultimately, this course encourages a critical distance between artist and artwork, reinforcing filmmaking's most essential function: casting a new perspective on the world around us.

RGFDPFV - Film Directing & Film Video Program