[Frameworks] Handmade Film Institute Events 2015

[Robert Schaller]

Pacific Northwest Film Camp
June 20 - 28, 2015

Spend a week on beautiful Orcas Island, WA investigating celluloid film as a physical medium, learning to make your own emulsion, exploring various hand-processing techniques, and pushing the creative and aesthetic limits of the   handmade filmmaking process from start to finish. Our home base is located right at the water's edge - and whether you choose to camp in the great outdoors or take advantage of limited indoor accommodations in the lodge, the setting will provide an inspirational backdrop for an intensive immersion in all aspects of filmmaking. The week will also include a filmmaking excursion to uninhabited Sucia Island, designated as a Washington State Park. We will share gourmet meals al fresco featuring the Handmade Film Institute's legendary vegan cuisine. All materials are provided, and participants will have access to conventional and underwater filmmaking equipment, as well as darkroom and printing facilities.


The Handmade Filmmaking Camp
July 18 - 26, 2016

Now in its twelfth year, this is the Handmade Film Institute's foundational workshop. We spend a week at 8200 feet in the Rocky Mountains engaged in a comprehensive investigation of film as a physical medium. As film artists, we will delve into a detailed exploration of celluloid film stocks and development processes with an eye to unlocking and expanding their potential as artistic media. Choose your own spot to pitch a tent in the beautiful forests and meadows surrounding the house, and get ready for a focused, introspective and inspirational week. The week includes a filmmaking excursion to the Indian Peaks Wilderness, one of Colorado's most scenic preserves located at the Continental Divide.  

Workshop participants will have access 24/7 to full darkroom and printing facilities, and all materials and film stocks are provided. Past participants rave about the gourmet vegan meals and the sense of creative community that is nurtured during mealtime conversations. If you're after a transformative experience through a thorough, intensive, lab-based study of the film medium, this is the workshop for you.


The Wilderness Film Expedition
August 1 - 16, 2015

New this year, we will extend this unique backcountry expedition into a full two-week immersion devoted to producing a complete 16mm "Mountain Symphony" film that we will shoot, process, edit and premiere in the wilderness.  We will explore zero-emissions filmmaking in this remote and beautiful setting not just in its technical dimension, but in its aesthetic dimension as well. We will be staying long enough that our artistic senses and creative decisions can themselves become permeated by the wilderness, and thus the visions that we create on location reflect our presence there both in subject and in how we think about the subject. As in past years, we transport an entire simplified handmade filmmaking apparatus on our backs, carrying the necessary chemistry, film stocks, cameras, editing tools and projection equipment up to our campsite at 10,500 feet. Once established, the base camp becomes a filmmaking studio en plein air - the streams hydrate our chemistry, the sun dries our film, and the darkness of the night provides the limitless darkroom in which we work. Frequent climbs, day hikes, and opportunities for quiet reflection will offer unlimited opportunity to think, capture footage, push your limits, and explore this little-known magnificent area of Colorado.