Film School Research Articles

Filmmaking as ‘Meaning-Making’ Activity: Robert Kegan’s Developmental Theory and Its Implications for Training Film Directing Students

Robert Kegan’s The Evolving Self: Problem and Process in Human Development (1982) is a psychological theory on personality development that is centered around the idea of meaning-making as the primordial activity of existence, and which proposes an understanding of the ways we conceptualize our self and other according to our current stage of development, with relevant implications for many types of care work, including education. This theory is presented here in the context of film education for film-directing university students, for which it hopes to inspire a more student-centered approach, which values process over outcome. As many of the professional abilities that are sought after in the training of film-directing students can be seen as intra- and interpersonal abilities, the conceptualization of self and other becomes especially relevant in this particular educational setup, where working with the students involves a close encounter, insufficiently recognized, with their meaning-making activity. This also brings into discussion the way we model ideals for teachers in terms of their own personal development and the role that the film school as an institution could play in this matter.

왜 영화를 트는가? - 동시대 비제도권 시네클럽 연구

This study aims to examine non-institutional cinè-clubs that screen films in the context of the increasingly individualised way of watching movies. Cinè-clubs in Korea, which have existed in various forms, have had a significant impact on the film viewing experience and the formation of cinephilia, which has been shaped by the military dictatorship, democratisation movement, and media changes of video and internet. This study analyses the activities and programming processes of non-institutional cinè-clubs in Seoul through a qualitative research methodology to discover the role and significance of cinè-clubs. Cine club operators born in the mid-90s to early 00s have embraced cinema in a variety of different ways. From this experience, their cinè-clubs represent a cross-section of contemporary cinèphilia, with activities that straddle the boundaries between legal and illegal, and programming that does not follow the canon, in the realm of the non-institutional. The university space and interaction in online communities are important conditions for the operation of these cinè-clubs. In addition, non-institutional cinè-clubs, which were formed as a result of the film movement in the 1990s, contribute to the diversity of film culture and the formation of new communities by discovering and screening films that have been marginalised by the Korean film institutions such as film festivals, film schools, and cinèmathèques. In the current stagnant Korean film culture, non-institutional cinè-clubs become a cultural space to discover lost vitality.

Claiming the Reality (of Loss): Some Remarks on the Screenplay, Novel and FilmKwiecień (April, 1961) by Witold Lesiewicz and Józef Hen

The article discusses the interrelationships between Józef Hen’s novel Kwiecień (April), his two unpublishedscreenplays based on it, and Witold Lesiewicz’s fi lm Kwiecień (April, 1961), a canonicalwork of the Polish film school. The key problem concerns the question of the sense of sendingsoldiers to fight in the final days of the war, when its final outcome is already determined. Whenwriting his novel and its screenplay versions, Józef Hen referred to his own experience in April1945, when he fought in the ranks of the Second Polish Army and personally witnessed the tragedyof the soldiers dying in the final hours of the war, when personal ambitions and attitudes of commanderstook precedence over a rational assessment of the situation at the front. Hen’s noveland its screenplay and fi lm versions can therefore be seen as attempts at claiming the realityof loss. This is one of the main themes of Józef Hen’s writing. In April it is reflected in the attitudesof the main characters, as shaped by various dimensions of loss.

Italy’s colonial archives and its history of racial violence. An interview with Gaia Giuliani, author of Bianco e nero. Storia dell’identità razziale degli italiani (2013) and Race, Nation and Gender in Modern Italy. Intersectional Representations in Visual Culture (2019)

ABSTRACT This interview is dedicated to the pioneering work of Gaia Giuliani in critical race, whiteness and postcolonial Italian studies in Italy and internationally, over ten and five years, respectively, from the publication of Bianco e nero: Storia dell'identità razziale degli italiani (with Cristina Lombardi-Diop, Mondadori Education, 2013) and Race, Nation and Gender in Modern Italy: Intersectional Representations in Visual Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). Shelleen Greene is an associate professor of Cinema and Media Studies in the Department of Film, Television and Digital Media at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Her Equivocal Subjects: Between Italy and Africa – Constructions of Race and Nation in the Italian Cinema (Bloomsbury, 2012) set a milestone in scholarship on Italian visual culture and race. Lorgia Garcia Peña, scholar and activist, is a professor of Latinx Studies at the Effron Center for the Study of America and the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University. Her Translating Blackness (Duke, 2022) conceived Latinx Caribbean diaspora (also in Italy) as part of both Black migrants’ oscillating border-crossings and their forms of resistance to colonialism and racism. Both scholars have long been in dialogue with Giuliani’s scholarship.

The Sound/Image Cinema Lab, Long Way Back (dir. Brett Harvey): developing working principles for crewing feature film production with higher education students

Since 2009, students, graduates and staff from the School of Film and Television at Falmouth University in the UK have collaborated with professional partners in the development and production of over 20 short and feature-length narrative and documentary films, within the Sound/Image Cinema Lab research centre. This article makes use of a Sound/Image Cinema Lab co-production with Cornwall-based production company o-region – Long Way Back, directed by Brett Harvey, released in 2022 – as a case study to demonstrate both the successes of, and the challenges faced by, the Lab within a higher education environment. Interviews with staff, students and professional crew participants are used to contextualise the principles of work-integrated learning, and the processes that have sustained institutional support for professionally led film production framed by pedagogic practice.

‘An intellectual environment of ambition’: exploring questions of independence with film(-making) education in conversation with Ben Gibson

This article presents an interview with Ben Gibson, former distributor, programmer, film journalist and producer, who went on to run the London Film School from 2000 to 2014. In this interview, Gibson deconstructs what is meant by the term ‘independent film-making’ in an educational context. Drawing on his wealth of experience in a variety of contexts, Gibson takes apart current notions that dominate in contemporary educational and industrial discourses, surprisingly arriving at a conclusion which could lead emerging film-makers and their supporters towards a notion of independence after all.

Tragedy and Tender Beauty: Exploring the Tradition of Kuqing in the Chinese Film School

Abstract Films such as An Orphan Rescues His Grandpa (Guer Jiuzuji, 1923), New Women (Xin Nüxing, 1935), Hibiscus Town (Furong Zhen, 1987), Nuan (Nuan, 2003), and Sister (Wode Jiejie, 2021) demonstrate that, over a century of development, Chinese cinema has crafted a distinctive and significant lineage of kuqingxi (苦情戏, tragic drama with Chinese characteristics). This lineage not only preserves but consistently maintains the kuqing (苦情, a literary and artistic style that signifies tragedy in China) narrative tradition intrinsic to Chinese storytelling, culminating in a unique national aesthetic and cultural experience. In accordance with the core essence of “school,” these family-themed works, which preserve the tradition of kuqing, have emerged as a deliberate and stable genre in Chinese Film School. The films, and their public reception, offer a reflection of China’s national character, emotional structure, and refined aesthetic preferences. It is the central theme of tenderness found within adversity, presented in these films, that conveys the values and spirit of contemporary China.

RASA TAKUT DALAM FILM ANIMASI 2 DIMENSI "FEARS" KARYA NATA METLUKHLUKH)

“Fears” is a graduation film made by Nata Metlukh at Vancouver Film School in 2015. Nata’s first twodimensional animation film got numerous awards at various film festivals. Without dialogs, the film putsforward the strength of how visualization in the form of animation and music represents the feelings of fearin different forms and conditions as the message of the animator. Analysis of “Fears” aims at (1) describingthe plot of the story through the visualization of animation, and (2) exploring the forms and meanings of thefeelings of fear through the interpretation of the visualization of the plot of the story. Fifteen selectedanimation visualizations of black creatures with white eyes --signifying feelings of fear and alwaysshadowing the main animation character and others—were analyzed. The result of the analysis demonstratesthat feelings of fear may be understood by the owners as the entity disturbing, hindering, and limiting theirthoughts and actions; but on the other side, feelings of fear are also understood in a constructive sense whichfacilitates people to be always alert and cautious.

Typology of literary script in Russian cinema of the 2000s

The study materials included screenplays by authors who made their debut in the 2000s: M. Kurochkin, I. Ugarov, V. Sigarev, A. Rodionov, A. Novototsky, V. Moiseenko, A. Zvyagintsev, and O. Negin. Since the 1930s Soviet film school had formed a specific type of screenplay, literary script, in which the visual identity of the future film is created through literary means. In the 1990s, a competitive type of script appeared in the Russian film production – it was American screenplay format which implied he abandonment of literary techniques. By the 2000s, Russian film dramaturgy was influenced by three tendencies: the Soviet tradition of the literary screenplay, the new Western American screenplay, and contemporary theatrical dramaturgy of the turn of the century, whose authors began to experiment with cinema during this period. The study of the cinematic language of literary screenplays is conducted using a structural-semiotic method. Elements of cinematic language are analyzed: speech, voice-over, actor's score, character action in the frame, composition. The results of the analysis allow us to conclude the emergence of two new directions in Russian film dramaturgy. The poetics of literary screenplays by authors who transitioned to cinema from theatrical dramaturgy manifest in a quest for documentary realism in characters and their speech, proposed circumstances, setting, and plot, which is reflected in lyrical remarks. The techniques they use, including the theatrical technique of verbatim, have a tremendous impact on contemporary Russian cinema. The concise language of the American format, traditionally associated with the producer model of production, finds its reflection in the authorial film dramaturgy of A. Zvyagintsev and O. Negin, aiming for precision and conciseness in the staging plan. This split marks the actualization of the problem of form, which was acute in Soviet cinema in the 1930s.

Makerspace as a space in a children's library сreativity and the latest information technologies

The peculiarities of the organization and the main functions of the makerspace in the children's library as a space for creativity and the use of the latest information technologies are analyzed. Makerspace in the children's library is aimed at promoting the development of creativity, convergent thinking, and the search for innovative ideas. It is emphasized that the makerspace combines traditional creative activities in the children's library with digital technologies, including: 3D printers, laser milling machines, thermal presses, application software, equipment for creating robots, drones, digital cameras, Google Glass, etc. For children, creative activities in the makerspace involve the formation of integrated literacy in the fields of reading, science, art, mathematics and technology or specific competencies: creating digital films, web cartoons, remakes, video editing, combining remixes, 3D modeling and printing, training for screenwriters, master classes in programming, control of drones, robots, mobile photography and film school, digital storytelling studio, etc. It was concluded that the makerspace is a complex inclusive environment in which a specific culture and common values are formed, and creativity, exchange of information and technologies act as mutual support; a space that promotes technological development, provides services and programs for the formation of STEM competencies, digital literacy, to help children develop creative abilities and problem-solving skills in the age of the digital environment. This enables the makerspace to implement a number of functions of the library's informational and creative activities: formation of digital literacy, development of convergent thinking, intellectual and creative potential, knowledge exchange and collaboration, formation of environmental awareness. Thanks to the implementation of the concept of makercraft, the children's library is transformed into various spatial forms: digital literacy; knowledge exchange and collaboration; creativity; interactivity; communication.

‘Once you are in number 9 you are stuck in this space’: Constraint, Creativity and Inside No. 9

In this article, I will explore the ways in which the critically acclaimed British TV comedy anthology series Inside No. 9 (BBC Two, 2014–), created and written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, uses constraints to facilitate creativity. While the generative properties of constraint have been explored by a wide range of scholars, their application to understanding the creative process in film and television has been limited, with studies of pedagogical approaches at the National Film School of Denmark and their influence on Danish cinema and television being the key example. While frequently described as ‘dark comedy’, Inside No. 9 embraces a wide range of subject matter and genre conventions, ranging from gothic horror to naturalistic drama. But the primary distinguishing characteristic of the show is that the self-contained stories are confined entirely or predominantly to a single location – frequently the No. 9 in question – and feature a limited cast. In addition to this foundational premise, the series embraces the generative properties of constraints in a rich variety of ways – including spatial, temporal, narrative and intertextual. This article will explore how these have functioned to create one of the most innovative and critically successful British TV shows of the last decade.

Jak autor zdjęć może pomóc aktorowi, czyli Joker od kuchni


 
 
 The main inspiration of my essay How the cinematographer can help the actor – an insider’s perspective on Joker is Lawrence Sher’s masterclass that took place on 1st December 2020 via Zoom. It was a masterclass for students of the Polish National Film School in Lodz and I had great honor to lead this workshop. In this article, I try to analyze how a cinematographer can help actor to make a great performance. My essay is a “case study” because I focus how cinematographic means create a story and serve the actor who likes to improvise.
 
 

Cinematographers’ Perceptual Professionalization from Novices to Experts: Observations from an Eye-tracking Case Study

Abstract Cinematographers represent a group of experts whose professional skills depend to a great extent on their visual perceptual abilities. By the term perceptual professionalization, we emphasize the embodied dynamics of perceptual learning processes that shape the ways in which cinematographers make creative decisions during their daily practices. Novice cinematographers are initiated in film schools and during assisting jobs to a range of technical skills required for working as heads of the camera department in film productions. However, honing one’s perceptual skills as a professional cinematographer is nothing less than a lifelong process. While scientific studies show evidence for behavioral and physiological differences between experts and novices in many different fields, so far no such studies exist between professional cinematographers and novices. As a starting point for studying how cinematographers’ perceptual learning evolves from the level of novice to that of experienced professional, we assumed that the different expertise levels of cinematographers can be observed in the way they view moving images. We then conducted an eye-tracking case study where we identified differences in the gaze patterns between film professionals with different levels of expertise in cinematography during viewing a film trailer. As the experiential heuristics of creative decision-making of professional cinematographers largely rely on the practical skills accumulated in film work, in order to gain access to such knowledge, we also report how involving a practicing cinematographer both in designing the study and in analyzing the results provided us new insights to the topic under scrutiny. Based on our findings, a new study protocol is proposed.

Między kontestacją „małej stabilizacji” a pastiszem etosu marynistycznego. Uwagi o narracjach filmu „Cała naprzód” Stanisława Lenartowicza

Between the contestation of „small stabilization” and a pastiche of the maritime ethos. Some notes on the narratives of the film Cała naprzód by Stanisław Lenartowicz. Polish cinematography of the 1960s criticized the achievements of both Stalinism and the so-called Polish Film School. In the first case, for ideologizing the message, and in the second, for its excessive psychologization accompanied by a pessimistic vision of man’s fate. Domestic 10th Muse of Władysław Gomułka’s decade developed a passion for adventure novel and Cinema of travel. Polish cinematography began to pay more attention to film as an entertainment. The film Cała naprzód (1966/1967) by Stanisław Lenartowicz, discussed in the article, met these conditions, while at the same time being a light joke aimed at the everyday life of the People’s Republic of Poland in the times of Wladislaw Gomułka. The plot is based on the dialogue of two characters. Janek is a sailor who came to Szczecin to visit his beloved. He meets an old friend – Leon. The latter is a worker and works in a repair shipyard. Janek tells him about the overseas adventures he experienced.

First encounter with the celluloid ceiling: female representation at a student film festival in Türkiye

ABSTRACT Gender inequality in the film industry and the barriers women encounter are referred to as the “celluloid ceiling.” To fully understand the structural and social causes of this phenomenon, comprehensive data collection and analysis are required. The current research aims to explore women’s representation in student projects to examine how women studying in film schools encounter the celluloid ceiling before graduating and entering the workforce. For this purpose, 266 short films submitted over three years to a student film competition in Türkiye were investigated. The gender distribution in leadership positions, such as producing, directing, and screenwriting, as well as technical and acting roles, were examined. The study also looked at how having a woman in a leadership position in a film affected recruiting more women for positions behind the camera. The findings revealed that women are underrepresented behind the camera compared to men, and the proportion of women working behind the camera was higher when a female director or producer was present. A female director’s or screenwriter’s presence in a film also significantly affected passing the Bechdel-Wallace Test, an indicator of on-screen representation.

Teaching screenwriting from the inside out: The importance of writers’ inner, emotional discoveries in understanding the tools of screenwriting

This article discusses the vital importance of expanding a screenwriting curriculum to demonstrate screenwriting techniques and finding originality by initially deriving story ideas from students’ life experiences, emotional memories and insights. It highlights the inherent problem common to a number of screenwriting students who desire to ‘race for originality’ that tends to imitate films they have already seen rather than finding the inspiration from a world they are better familiar with. The article introduces examples and results where the stories have first been solidly rooted in the writer’s own experiences. The qualitative research question is, how do students benefit from learning to write from the inside? The article challenges the order in which basic elements must be disseminated to students and suggests that alongside the traditional structures and tools of storytelling in teaching screenwriting, teachers should first and foremost guide students towards the private sources of their individual experiences and memories, highlighting their unique potential and originality. The article is based on qualitative research materials collected from screenwriting workshops the author has conducted in various film schools in Finland and Belgium between 2017 and 2021 using an emotional mapping method.

Redrawing Boundaries in “In-Lawfully Yours”

The film is an essential medium filmmakers use to disseminate information to their target audience to (positively) influence them. It has been observed that universities and film schools – Christian and Non-Christian alike have joined the league of film production companies, aside from their primary task of teaching and research. This paper discusses Redrawing Boundaries using Regent University’s production, In-Lawfully Yours, as a case. Its scope is limited to Christian universities as film producers. Hence, Regent University is the primary focus. It reflects how well Christian Universities can use their redemptive films to redraw boundaries away from their primary corporate responsibilities to impact the public. This paper submits that In-Lawfully Yours is a well-produced redemptive film by a private Christian university. It shows the emergence of Christian film schools as part of institutions capable of redrawing boundaries. It recommends that governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other relevant stakeholders give the necessary support such universities need.

Rino Lupo before Portugal, Russia and Poland: A biography for poetics under construction

In recent years, the figure of the Italian filmmaker Rino Lupo (1884–1936) has taken on alternative developments that not only keep attention on his cinematographic work, but also expand to the birth of a new poetic centred on his numerous travels. The essence of Rino Lupo’s transnational and pro-European cinema is linked to an idea of the ‘search for beauty’ through ‘the discovery of the new’. In Poland, Rino Lupo worked on some of the most important concepts that were developed in the following years in Portugal and Spain. In particular, in this article I explore his period in Russia and Poland (1916–21), when Lupo began to expand his cinematographic activity beyond directing movies to creating a journal and a film school, the first in Warsaw.

Reception of neorealist films in the Polish Film School

In this article, I examine the influence of neorealism on the ideological and artistic establishment of the Polish Film School. In the first part, I discuss theoretical assumptions about the Polish Film School, focusing on its characteristics and the reasons behind its foundation. Then, I analyse neorealism’s contribution to the Polish Film School in the 1950s using examples from Polish literature. In the last part, I present an analysis of the two Polish films most strongly imbued with the spirit of neorealism: Pokolenie (A Generation) () and Godziny nadziei (The Hours of Hope) (). Through a critical analysis of interviews and press coverage from 1953 to 1955 that takes the historical perspective of Italian neorealist films into account, I conclude that the Polish Film School was most fascinated by the Italian observation of reality and curiosity about human affairs.

Narrating the preservation of a film school archive – Re-configuring the hero’s journey across the nexus of conservation and film production

Narrating the preservation of a film school archive–Re-configuring the hero’s journey across the nexus of conservation and film production. In 2013, a program to secure the future of the more than 1800 films produced by students in the Victorian College of Arts’ Department of Film and Television commenced at the University of Melbourne. This is a highly significant collection, with films from 1966 to the present, that contains work by some of Australia’s pre-eminent producers, cinematographers, scriptwriters, and others. Utilising narrative frameworks theory, and particularly the victim to hero narrative, this paper explores the journey taken to preserve this archive and make it accessible to current and future students and the public. This makes explicit the value of narrative inquiry as a method for active rethinking and reframing of the project, the opportunities for democratisation and increasing plurality during the project and highlighted the need to contest the celebratory narrative of project completion to ensure that the continued risk to the hero-archive remains a central institutional concern.