Cameraless Cinema // 16mm Experimental Film

Embrace the darkness and experiment! The goal of this class is to interpret 16mm celluloid film as a fertile canvas and explore visual realms beyond conventional representative images. In this class students will learn how to work with a diverse array of experimental techniques including painting, drawing, collage on celluloid, scrapes and scratches in the emulsion, defamiliarization and disfiguring through chemical manipulations, and the direct exposure of the photosensitive material to create images on 16mm Black and White film stock, all without touching a camera. We will focus on non-traditional techniques for film and present possible alternatives to the digital effects with which we have been inundated. We will cover how to develop and edit film all in the comfort of your own home. Everyday objects such as nail polish, bleach, markers, scotch tape, sewing needles, thread become exciting and useful tools to manipulate film. Each person will develop and splice their work into a final short group film. The class will be complemented by screenings of works by Experimental Film makers from the last century.

This class will explore the potential of moving image rayograms and photograms, a technique whereby a variety of semi-transparent, transparent and opaque objects are placed on the surface of the film, exposed to light, and processed to negative. Contact printing will also be incorporated into this process, where images of pre-existing found footage are used as source material, manipulated on the surface of the raw film stock, and exposed to create stunning new images.

It is my belief that the artistic filmmakers' desire to retain the full armory of celluloid filmmaking is not some remnant of a dying practice but rather a burgeoning artistic response to the speed at which we discard practices and technologies. Mixing science, film history, and good old fashioned chance, we can offer specific, quasi-magical access to memory and a sense of continuity with our predecessors. Envisioning 16mm as a flexible canvas becomes a triumphant pursuit for those whose interests involve the material pleasures of the celluloid medium - of feeling, smelling and projecting something substantial.

A materials fee covers film and processing chemicals.

Instructor
Ashley Connor received her BFA in Film, Photography and Visual Arts from Ithaca College. She has travelled the world working as a cinematographer and continues making experimental films and music videos in her spare time. Her work has been shown at galleries and film festivals, most recently at BAMcinemafest. She is currently breaking in a new pair of boots to shoot a western in Kentucky.

Zia Anger is a filmmaker from Ithaca, NY. She has an MFA in Studio from The School of the Art Institute in Chicago. She works on and makes all different types of films, and occasionally acts in them too. Although her first love is coffee her second is 16mm film. She lives and works in Hudson, NY. www.ziaanger.com.

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