By Cameron Weston
THE secrets of the silver screen will be revealed at this year’s Williamstown Festival, in a series of workshops run by industry professionals.
Festival director Fleur Arnold said the workshops were a first for the festival, and were a good fit for the vibrant local arts scene.
“The speakers have a wealth of knowledge and these workshops really are a great opportunity for people to see the inside world of film and to understand more about how films are made.”
Nassiem Valamanesh from Open Channel will be taking a workshop on cinematography, the art of capturing the moving image on film.
Mr Valamanesh, a Victorian College of the Arts graduate, has worked as a camera operator and assistant on short films in Melbourne. His short film “This Being Human”, was screened during last year’s festival.
He said the workshops would appeal to all lovers of cinema, not just hardcore film buffs and the films studied would be international films from many different eras, not just the latest Hollywood blockbuster.
“I’m going to be looking at examples of films from around the world, looking at the concepts behind the visual part of the film, how they’ve been shot.
“I will look at how styles have changed over the years, and what you can do with a camera.”
Mr Valamanesh said that a big part of the workshop would be to encourage people to “think visually”, as cinematographers and directors automatically do when approaching a new project.
He said there were many variables that needed to be resolved for a finished film to be successful, aspects that would be covered in the workshops.
“What sort of things you need to take into consideration when someone hands you a camera and says, ‘Start filming this’?
“Film is a great form of expression because it involves so many other art forms like performance, painting, lighting, music, editing and writing.
“There is a whole mix of things that come together when a film is made,” Mr Valamanesh said.
“If there is an idea you want to put out there, film is a fantastic medium to use.”
The film production workshops at the Williamstown Festival will be held at Customs House, Williamstown, on Sunday, 25 March, from 11:00am to 6:00pm.
For more information telephone the festival office on 9397 1352.
