Kicking Off a New Semester with Reel Works' Fellows

The Reel Works Fellows program launched in early January, and the group of young filmmakers has begun their year-long journey to explore new skills and techniques while collaborating on three films to debut this Summer.  Nineteen students were selected as screenwriters, producers, directors, cinematographers and editors.  Each of the roles dives into the work of skill-building and all join together once a week to learn film history and theory as a collective.

As a collective, the Fellows have been studying the element of suspense through the lens of Alfred Hitchcock.  Students have been analyzing several of his silent films, from The Lodger to Rope and Rear Window in full Technicolor.  Vincent, one of this semester’s Fellows, noted that in Rope: “Having a McGuffin like the dead body in the trunk during that dinner party made the whole dinner party so tense!”  Some of the analysis also touched on modern social norms. During analysis of Strangers on a Train, another Fellow by the name of Chi commented that “The norms of the time forced people to be extra polite despite how forward Bruno was. That sort of behavior in a modern film, or with a black woman, gives a totally different message.”

Each week Fellows meet with their instructors and study the respective skills of their craft.  Directors have had the opportunity to analyze scenes from Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us to understand character development.  Producers have gotten to break down scripts.  Editors have created music videos from stock footage. And writers have gotten to review their first scripts. 

For cinematography students, the focus has been on the world of narrative lighting.  Our cinematographers have explored the qualities of light, color temperature and placement. Still, despite all the equipment provided at the shoot, a cinematography student named Aldo pointed out “The sun was sometimes a better hairlight than the lights.”

Truly, we’re beyond excited to have this group of young filmmakers grow with us. And, we’re twice as excited to have them meet the Narrative Lab students next month! Together they will build teams and collaborate on the Narrative Lab shoots coming in April. So stay tuned, and we will certainly keep you updated!