Film Workshops
 
St. Audoen’s Primary School, Dublin
Centre Culturel Alban Minville, Bellefontaine, Toulouse
Killyhommon National School, Boho & Florencecourt Primary School, County Fermanagh
 

 

Components
of workshop:
Super-8mm / 16mm projection of a selection of Moira Tierney's short films This gives participants an idea of what can be accomplished with very modest tools (super 8mm cameras, basic audio recording equipment) and unlimited imagination
     
  Super-8mm film shoot: Depending on the ratio of film stock to workshoppers, each participant is given a time limit and allowed to shoot whatever s/he wants, no holds barred
     
  Sound recording #! Each participant records whatever s/he wants in the way of wild/location sound, with time limits set depending on the ratio of audio stock to workshoppers
     
  Rough cut When the developed footage comes back from the lab, Moira Tierney assembles a rough cut for projection ...
     
  Sound recording #2 ... which all participants watch together;
one or more foley sound recordings ensue; with participants adding whatever audio they feel appropriate, experimentation encouraged!
     
  Telecine & editing Moira Tierney assembles the telecined footage and recorded audio into a finished film, whose length is determined by the quantity of footage shot. All partipants and funders are listed in the closing credits.
     
  Final screening / exhibition The completed film is screened for participants (& their guests / the public); it may also be installed as a loop projection if a final exhibition is part of the project. All participants are given a DVD of the film.
     
Underlying principles The workshop are designed to give participants maximum freedom over the creation of their collective work. Instruction consists primarily of technical advice (how to use the camera and audio recording equipment); the choice of image and sound are left entirely up to the participants, with no limitations set on the formal aspects of the work; experimentation is encouraged over conventional narrative construction. The separation of image and audio recording allows participants to fully concentrate on the specificities of each and to grasp the effect of sound on image, once the elements are edited together ('editing' consisting of assembling the sound and image as directed by the participants).
   
Results Participants get a good practical grasp of the basic components of film and of their composition into a finished work, giving them a greater critical appreciation of the media that surrounds them. They also gain confidence and agency, having being given the tools and freedom to describe their surroundings (or the contents of their imagination) as they see fit, with no limits in terms of content or formal structure of the work. The workshop proceeds in gradual stages, allowing for reflection between each element of the film-making process and giving participants the time to process the possibilities offered by each element.
HOME