FILM 380 - Working with Social Actors

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

This course focuses on the history and practice of collaboration with actors in fiction and non-fiction cinema. By re-considering traditional relationships between director and actor, as well as the difference between the term “subject” and “social actor,” this course focuses on how to navigate the complex relationship between the person behind and the person in front of the camera. In what ways does the filmmaker invite creative input from their social actor? What are different formal approaches to the interview in documentary history, and how might the documentary filmmaker determine their project’s approach? And most importantly, how does the filmmaker account for the inherent performativity of life in seeking out the right approach to their project? We look at the collaborative approach of such filmmakers as (but not limited to): Jean Rouch, The MacDougalls, Shirley Clarke, The Dardenne Brothers, Mike Leigh, Clio Barnard, and many more. Students participate in a series of production exercises that culminate in a final project that draws from the various methods they consider throughout the course. The Department.

Prerequisite(s): FILM 240 and permission of the instructor.

One 3-hour period.

Course Format: CLS