Cameraless Film Workshop: Digging Up Surprises with Devon Damonte and Avida Jackson

Note: There is an ONLINE and IN-PERSON version of this workshop. This is the page for the IN-PERSON workshop. Link to virtual workshop.

PROGRAM PARTNERS: Henry Art Gallery and Interbay Cinema Society

ACCESS: This event is public. Online participation is limited to residents of Washington and Oregon.

ADMISSION: FREE!

What surprises happen when you scratch and draw on 16mm film then project it? What treasures do you uncover when you dig in the ground? How can you show your digging discoveries in the film you make?

This ArtVenture from Henry Art Gallery, in collaboration with Northwest Film Forum’s Children’s Film Festival and in partnership with Interbay Cinema Society, welcomes experimental filmmakers Devon Damonte and Avida Jackson in a fun, hands-on filmmaking experience with options to participate online or in person. With the theme of “digging up surprises,” participants will combine Japanese washi tape, Sharpie marker drawings on clear film, and scratching on black 16mm film leader (adult collaboration recommended) to create experimental animation movies. Washi tape is a richly patterned adhesive tape made from rice paper. It is also a handy material for creating abstract, cameraless animated movies on 16mm film leader, which interacts with the tape’s patterns and textures in magical ways when the film is projected. All materials will be provided; online participants will be mailed a kit (one per household), which will include two prepaid mailers to return the completed strips for processing. Online participants will test and experiment the first session, then send those in to see the results at the second session, refine techniques and make final footage to send. All film from the workshop participants, both in-person and online, will be spliced into a collaborative group film to be professionally transferred to digital format. The finished group film will then be available for download, and an online world premiere. 

Workshop is open to all ages, and cross-generational participation is encouraged. Any workshop participants younger than 15 should be accompanied by an adult co-animator. All in-person participants will be required to wear masks that cover both nose and mouth while in the building.

Funding for this ArtVentures workshop is provided by a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission (now also known as “ArtsWA”) and the National Endowment for the Arts.

WORKSHOP MATERIALS

Both in-person and remote participants (the latter mailed ahead) will be provided a toolkit with: clear 16mm film leader, MT washi tape, a few Sharpie markers, and a small magical stainless steel combination multi-scratching and serrated edge washi tearing tool. Participants may also try additional art supplies of your own; we’ll give some guidelines about what works best in an email the week before the event.

COVID-19 VACCINATION POLICY

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.

NWFF is adapting to evolving recommendations to protect the public from COVID-19. Read more about their COVID  policies here.

If you have questions about the workshop, you can email River Naylor at river@nwfilmforum.org.