- CONTRIBUTED
Students in the Future Filmmakers Digital Video workshop done through The University of Technology (UTech) film on location.
Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
BY NOW, the film world has realised that the digital revolution was not one of those revolutions that would quickly change the world order. Movies shot on film still rule the roost and it isn't hard for filmmakers to crow about the advantages of shooting on film. Yet, digital technology has significantly weakened the gateposts and has allowed filmmakers who ordinarily had to simply watch from the sidelines to screechie in or maybe even jump the fence surrounding the filmmaking arena.
Jamaica began attempting to become involved in the film industry in the early 1970s and bore fruit with first, The Harder They Come, which has become a classic, and soon after Smile Orange. Since then, the roots of the film industry seemed to have been planted in rocky soil as what has been produced has varied from strange to interesting, entertaining and downright spoilt.
Additionally, we have not been able to consistently produce enough work to have a viable film industry.
ANOMALIES
A significant part of that is the cost associated with film production, which by Hollywood standards sees low-budget films as costing a few million US$, and movies such as The Blair Witch Project, which reportedly cost US$60,000.00, being anomalies. It was for that reason that digital technology gave the local players hope, and movies such as Dancehall Queen and Third World Cop led us to believe that we could stop singing Come-by-yah because the industry had arrived.
Rude Boy was so awesomely bad that it threatened to kill the dream and Shottas was never released, though the bootleg CD has reportedly been significantly distributed. Since then the pickings have grown as emaciated as a supermodel. Even One Love which featured beautiful cinematography and good performances, had problems as its storyline of star-crossed lovers was clearly dated.
Along with the cost of filmmaking, another of the gatekeepers is access to education in film. To date, most of those from the Caribbean who want education in filmmaking have to go outside the region, as only Cuba has a viable industry. However, last year the first Future Filmmakers Digital Video workshop was launched with the aim of providing an introduction to filmmaking, and so once again spawned hope.
The inaugural staging of the workshop was done through the University of Technology. However, this year the eight- week course will shift home to the Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Art under the auspices of the Department of Continuing Education. Organised by Tanya Davies, the course is set to last from June 19 to July 28 with a screening of the films produced on July 29.
The workshop operates in two segments this year. There is a workshop in screenwriting at the intermediate level which will be taught by Amba Chevannes, while the introductory course will take participants through a very basic understanding of the different elements of filmmaking, including writing, directing, and editing.
HIGHLY SPECIALISED AREAS
Davies noted, however, that areas such as lighting and cinematography are such highly specialised areas that the course only gives a very basic introduction and participants are urged to keep it simple. A graduate of the Pratt Institute in New York and Layola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Davies says that the Future Filmmakers workshop intends to separate itself from courses which currently exist by focusing on the artistry that exists in creating film. "It's really to stimulate the creativity for making movies," she says.
Though poorly made films work in defiance of that every day, filmmaking is an art form and one cannot look at the works great directors and cinematographers without realising it. The art of film is essentially storytelling, though film combines visual and narrative art.
Movies such as Hero, House of Flying Daggers explode with gripping colour like rainbows on steroids, and the cinematography, characterisation and plot in films like The Lord of the Rings are captivating, while files such as The Sixth Sense and The Village capture the imagination and are filled with suspense and mystery.
TECHNICAL SKILL, ARTISTRY
Of course, those who exit the course will not yet be at the level of either technical skill or artistry which went into creating those films, but the rudiments can be employed to create interesting films.
"You have a lot of people who feel that to make a movie you still need the millions but that is not so," Davies argues. According to her, budding filmmakers can use low-budget work to get the exposure they require through film festivals, a growing number of which now accept digital footage.
Ann Hamilton, director of the continuing education department, notes that a course in filmmaking easily fits into Edna Manley's vision. "We are using that as a precursor to a much bigger picture," she said. Davies also hopes that the workshop is just a seedling for a more diverse and advanced programme.
Davies points out that there are significant benefits to moving the workshop to Edna Manley. She notes that this time around the course will have more space to work with, and though there will be no studio space, there will be a lab for work on the computer separate from the actual lecture space.
YOUNG JAMAICANS
Davies is quite optimistic about young Jamaicans choosing to get involved with filmmaking. She argues that as the young have the Internet as their playground, they are aware of the decreasing boundary walls surrounding the film industry and, as such, see it as a potential career.
Interestingly, she explains that though watching movies can be stimulating, she advises young filmmakers to read in order to generate creativity. She also argues that the value of attending a film course is to understand how filmmakers achieve what they do, as simply watching a film does not show this.
According to Hamilton, the college hopes to include a filmmaking degree programme after two academic years, which is dependent on accreditation, equipment and space, and would hopefully become a school in its own right. Hamilton points out that our history provides much "fodder" for good film and we need to move beyond the gamut of stories which focus on dancehall and gangster life. "We think there's much more to us than that," she says.
