Texture, and Time: Cameraless Filmmaking on 16m

Catalog description

This hands-on studio course explores the expressive potential of 16mm film without the use of a camera. Through direct manipulation - drawing, scratching, painting, collaging, and dyeing - students create short experimental films that investigate texture, rhythm, and time as material. The course also examines the history and contemporary relevance of cameraless filmmaking, focusing on artists such as Len Lye, Stan Brakhage, Ja'Tovia Gary, and Jojo Yeldham (JoJo Editions), who use the medium as a site of abstraction, performance, and personal expression. Students will work individually and collaboratively to produce a final 16mm reel and digital transfer for projection at an end-of-quarter screening. The course encourages experimentation, cross-media exploration (including sound), and an embodied understanding of film as both image and object. By the end of the course, students will have developed a foundational understanding of 16mm film handling, including splicing and projection techniques. They will experiment with direct film manipulation and analog color processes to explore the tactile possibilities of the medium. Through critical discussion and creative practice, students will analyze the historical and contemporary relevance of material filmmaking, situating their work within broader experimental and artistic traditions. Each student will complete a short 16mm film loop and produce a digitized version suitable for screening or installation.