About us
Film-making for Fieldwork, May-June 2011
These pages describe the Summer School courses as they were last delivered in May-June 2011. These were fully subscribed and received further positive feedback from participants. However, as the courses have now been running for three years, we are currently having a review of both the format and the timing, and do not expect to be able to announce our plans for next year until some point in the Autumn Semester of 2011. In the meantime, if you wish to be notified of the announcement of arrangements for 2012, please contact the administrator, Noémie Rouault at the address below.
Following the success of the 2010 practical short courses, the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology will again be joining forces with the University of Manchester Media Centre in 2011 to offer basic technical instruction in documentary film-making methods. This instruction is
- designed for anthropologists and other social researchers who wish to explore the practical implications of making documentary films as part of a programme of ethnographic field research.
- aimed particularly at postgraduate research students, but postdoctoral and other more senior researchers, as well as undergraduates, are equally welcome.
As many of those who participated in previous courses expressed a keen interest in coming back, in 2011, we will again be offering training at two different levels. These have been scheduled for the following dates:
- Introductory course, Sunday 22 May - Friday 3 June. This course will provide an introduction to the basic techniques of shooting and sound recording that ethnographic researchers will need in order to use film-making in their field research. Participants will also be instructed in the basic principles of editing so that they can ‘shoot to edit’, thereby improving the quality of their rushes. Over the course, they will make 3 short exercise films on topics likely to be encountered by ethnographers: technical processes, oral testimonies and collective social events.
- Editing course, Sunday 12 June – Wednesday 22 June. This course is aimed both at those who have already taken the Production Course or who have equivalent experience, and also those wishing to make their starting point the editing suite. Whereas the Introductory course is focused on film-making in the field, the principal emphasis of this course will be on editing. Participants will therefore be invited to bring with them a body of rushes, already logged and ready for capturing. Those who don't have their own rushes will be supplied with a suitable stock of rushes to work on. After a series of initial workshops, participants will work for two weeks under tutorial guidance to turn those rushes into a film or sequence of 15 - 20 minutes' duration.
Participants may take both courses in a single year, using the the 8 day interlude between the two courses to shoot the material required for the editing course. The Granada Centre will supply the necessary production equipment to do this for no extra charge.
Related Events
International participants may like to use their visit to the UK to combine these Film-making for Fieldwork short courses with the following documentary film festivals:
- Sheffield International Documentary Festival, 8-12 June
- 12th RAI International Festival of Ethnographic Film, London, 24-26 June
Contact details
Noémie Rouault
Conference Administrator
School of Social Sciences
2nd floor, Arthur Lewis Building
University of Manchester
M13 9PL
Email: noemie.rouault@manchester.ac.uk
Tel: 0161-275-7058