Engauge 2023 – Drop-In Direct Animation on 16mm Film [Free In-Person Workshop]
This workshop will be offered on a drop-in, drop-out basis. Come any time and stay as long as you like, from 3–8pm on Closing Day of Engauge Experimental Film Festival 2023!
The workshop is FREE to attend, with no registration required, and will be held in the Workshop Room at NWFF. The Workshop Room is up a one-story flight of stairs, and unfortunately is not accessible for wheelchair users. Donations to NWFF and Interbay Cinema Society are appreciated!
No prior experience with 16mm film is required. All ages are welcome, but guests 12 and under should be accompanied; sharp tools (scissors, razor blades, sandpaper) may be in use.
FESTIVAL PASSES:
(passes do include the Harry Smith live score by Lori Goldston!)
- $60 General
- $50 Student/Senior
- $40 NWFF/SIFF/GI/PCNW member
- $40/30/20 All-Day Festival Pass (Friday or Saturday; for each of the above, respectively)
Ticketing, concessions, cinemas, restrooms, and our public edit lab are located on Northwest Film Forum’s ground floor, which is wheelchair accessible. (This particular workshop takes place in the Workshop Room on NWFF’s second floor, so it will NOT be wheelchair accessible.) All doors in Northwest Film Forum are non-motorized, and may require staff assistance to open. Our upstairs workshop room is not wheelchair accessible.
We have a limited number of assistive listening devices available for programs hosted in our larger theater, Cinema 1. These devices are maintained by the Technical Director, and can be requested at the ticketing and concessions counter. Also available at the front desk is a Sensory Kit you can borrow, which includes a Communication Card, noise-reducing headphones, and fidget toys.
The Forum does NOT have assistive devices for the visually impaired, and is not (yet) a scent-free venue. Our commitment to increasing access for our audiences is ongoing, and we welcome all public input on the subject!
If you have additional specific questions about accessibility at our venue, please contact our Patron Services Manager at cris@nwfilmforum.org. Our phone number (206-329-2629) is voicemail-only, but we check it often.
Made possible due to a grant from Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, in partnership with Sensory Access, our Sensory Access document presents a visual and descriptive walk-through of the NWFF space. View it in advance of attending an in-person event at bit.ly/nwffsocialnarrativepdf, in order to prepare yourself for the experience.
NWFF patrons will be required to wear masks that cover both nose and mouth while in the building. Disposable masks are available at the door for those who need them. We are not currently checking vaccination cards. Recent variants of COVID-19 readily infect and spread between individuals regardless of vaccination status.
Read more about NWFF’s policies regarding cleaning, masks, and capacity limitations here.
This workshop is expressly designed for casual engagement with experimental filmmaking on 16mm film leader; “direct animation,” or “cameraless filmmaking.” Anyone is welcome to drop by, whether or not they’re attending the festival! With a buffet of materials at their disposal – markers, decorative tapes, hole punches, etc. – all provided by Interbay Cinema Society, students can explore what a variety of techniques and material applications look like when they’re projected. Build your own film loop and watch it come to life just moments later!
Whether you’re coming in hot off of a festival screening, itching with inspiration, or you’re just looking for some craft time to help you unwind, we’d love to have you.
More about the process:
Direct animation can run the gamut from strictly planned, intentional work, to a completely haphazard kitchen-sink approach. In the magical discipline of experimental filmmaking, wrapping your shoes in found footage and running to the corner store and back is every bit as valid and interesting a creative approach as spending back-breaking hours scratching miniature patterns onto black film leader. (Five hours is not enough time for the latter; this workshop will be much more in the kitchen-sink camp!)
About Paul:
Pronouns: he/him
Although he’s worn a closet’s worth of hats at the Forum in the past decade or so, this workshop is only the second that Paul has led. Think of him as a source for suggestions, someone to bounce ideas off of, or an elementary school art teacher rather than a filmmaker, because that’s how he’ll be running this workshop.
NWFF staff bio:
Paul was introduced to Northwest Film Forum in 2011 as a Children’s Film Festival Seattle intern, and became a seasonal assistant and contractor for the festival. In 2016 he joined the Forum as Saelyx Finna’s Programs Assistant, and now spends his days keeping the website and newsletter current, as well as providing support to Programming, Marketing, and Facilities as needed. When out of the office, he is a video artist and the Communications Manager and Audiovisual Technician for Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound.
