Collaborative Discovery... Compliments are Free!

Cameras can be very intimidating. I was concerned about my posture and facial expression the entire time. It was easy to give compliments to people who looked amazing as opposed to a guy dressed in an unflattering tutu. Our day was well-spent and enjoyable. We captured spontaneous occurrences in front of the White House while complimenting random folks. I really enjoyed our conversation with the family from Boston. I sure hope they visited the Natural History Museum while in Washington. Would I change anything about our adventure? NO, because I learned a new definition for the term 'collaboration.' Collaboration: not easy, takes time and patience, worth the while, a learning tool, scary, intimidating, nerve-wrecking, requires structure, time, excellent communication skills, needs facilitator(s), and the eye. Last semester, a collaborative organization visited our class. The name of the group was Floating Lab Collective. Anyway, the group consisted of more than 50 members. Yikes! Can you imagine 50 people working on one project? Our team consisted of 5 very optimistic students. Mark and Nic were the camera crew. Myself, Tina and Sara were the compliment-anchors. While posted near a tree, the compliment-anchors would randomly give compliments to anyone. Well, maybe not. I spoke with Tina while standing on the 'stage' and we both decided that we could not just give people compliments especially if it was not sincere. A few other events lead to an unforgettable collaborative experience such as the rally for social freedom, the group of teens from Pennsylvania, and the large group of military folks dressed in clean white.

Re: Film Making

Yesterday's class really pushed me outside of my comfort zone. I don't have a lot of experience with film so I felt a little lost and unsure of its possibilities. In addition, approaching strangers in an unnatural/forced way is another thing that makes me feel uncomfortable, so the two things combined significantly raised my stress level. I was thinking about my reaction, as I walked home yesterday, and I realize that I tend to disengage and space-out when I feel anxiety. What this tells me (aside from a self-help diagnosis) is that when working with new media, especially in a group setting, I might need to do some research or come in feeling more prepared. The more comfortable I feel, the more invested I feel. Yesterday's experience was not only interesting in terms of what/who is out there in DC but it let me know a little about my current working practice. Now that we have gotten some experience it will be interesting to see where we take this, as a group, next week. I hope everyone has a good weekend.

What is Collaborative Film-Making?

Keith Haring

Collaborative Film-Making is very similar to social networking. In many cases, a production company will use the internet community to create films that vary in content from suspense to action. Star Wreck Studios, based in Tampere, Finland, hopes to build a permanent community for collaborative movie making. Star Wreck Studios is responsible for the creation of an online community titled Wreck-a-Movie. Wreck-a-Movie is a permanent community site for movie-making collaborators. In early August of 2008, the community was working on two projects: "a science fiction comedy about Nazis on the moon, Iron Sky and a horror film called Sauna." Iron Sky and Sauna were written by professional script writers. The community participates by commenting and discussing the script. The production leader decides what is used in the creation based on the comments and ideas discussed on a forum. The company aspires to "take a community of thousands of online movie-making buffs, and have them collaborate on a feature-length film." Anybody interested in film can join the community and create plot and music proposals as well as comment on scenes.

(Links to information above: Star Wreck Studios, Wreck-a-Movie, Iron Sky, Sauna)


Still interested in collaborative film-making? Check out the sites below:)

Rootclip.com " was created to give filmmakers, writers, actors and anybody who just likes to watch movies the ability to collaborate on a video project. Our goal is to be the catalyst that gets people thinking and being creative with video in such a way that it infects the masses and brings a new life to the art of filmmaking. Get creative and show us what you've got! "

In January of 2009, University of Toronto offered a Collaborative Movie-Making Workshop with filmmaker Oliver Husain, who is a Toronto based artist and filmmaker. The workshop began at 10 am and ended at 6 pm and was only offered to University of Toronto students. Workshop participants were able to produce a collaborative video using Hart House, the school's theatre, as a film set.

Nirvan Mullick, an animator and former student of California Institute of the Arts, produced a micro-collaborative movie titled, The 1 Second Film. The purpose of the film is to raise one million dollars for the Global Fund for Women as well as set "the course for a long term project that utilizes collaborative art and social networking to address social issues". Nirvan Mullick began the project in 2001 with an idea "to bring together all the arts programs at the school to create a community art project through "micro-collaboration, a process of many people contributing in small ways to make something much bigger. " In 2007, over 7,900 people had donated over $200,000. All those who donate money to the 1 Second Film will be listed as producers in the credits. Click here to read the interview with Nirvan Mullick.