MICROSCOPIC TIME: EXPERIMENTAL VIDEOGRAPHY
Ages 16-29
Fall 2020, Online
In this online workshop student fellows will work exclusively with slow motion, shooting their video in slow motion or rendering the shots in slow motion through editing. The renowned French filmmaker and theorist, Jean Epstein, considered slow motion to be an essential element of filmmaking, describing the technique as a microscope of time. The attraction of slow motion, for Epstein and many experimental filmmakers, lies in the ability to reveal another world within the world. Slow motion permits an unfolding, a stretched perception of a world in motion, offering what Siegfried Kracauer described as a “redemption of physical reality.” Shooting in slow motion offers a unique experience for a video maker. Since you do not see the images as slow motion while shooting, you are able, after shooting, to watch the world unfold as a spectator. For each fellow, weekly assignments will lead to the completion of final short individual projects highlighting the beauty of slow motion. Their work will be shared through a virtual exhibition and on the program website. Limited to 8 student fellows.
John Mann is a documentary filmmaker and Senior Lecturer in the Film and Media Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University. Works include the documentaries Shelter: Conversations with Homeless Men, Nicodemus, and Locust Point; the dance for the camera shorts Breathe In…Breathe Out and It Goes Without Saying; and the recent autobiographical short "if...then...”
Lukas MacKinney is an aspiring filmmaker and musician currently in his senior year at Johns Hopkins University. They enjoy all aspects of the movies, but especially scoring films and working as a teaching assistant. They hope to continue sharing cinema as a means of joy, education, and representation.
