A hands-on four-week workshop exploring experimental filmmaking through writing, image-making, sound, and intuitive expression. Through film screenings, discussion, creative exercises, and hands-on production, participants will develop an idea from concept to production, experimenting with cinematic form and learning the fundamentals of planning, cinematography, and sound.

Bring an idea, fragment of writing, image, video clip, or simply a question you want to explore. You’re welcome to register solo or with collaborators, and teams are encouraged to use the workshop as a structured container to develop an idea with creative accountability, support, and dedicated time to play and create.

Please note: This workshop focuses on ideation, writing, conception, pre-production, cinematography, and sound, culminating in the creation of a short experimental film or a body of footage ready to edit. Basic editing concepts will be introduced, but editing is not a focus of this workshop. Participants interested in taking their footage through post-production are encouraged to register for the accompanying editing workshop.

Materials

Smartphones or basic cameras; notebooks; headphones; optional pre-existing writing, photos, or video clips; laptops with simple editing software (optional); access to County Library’s recording and editing studio.

Self-Directed Studio Time

Participants are encouraged to use the time between workshops for self-directed creation: shooting footage, writing, collecting ambient sound, recording voiceover, and/or editing.

Art supply fee - Please note that the cost of supplies is not included in the course fee; this amount depends on the course, and will be automatically added to your total. If this cost is prohibitive for you, please contact Sarah at [email protected] before registering to make alternative arrangements.

Offline registration - We prefer to take payment and registration through this form, but if you are not comfortable with this option and it is more than 2 weeks before the course begins, please check the "Offline" box in the Billing Information section below. We will contact you with alternative payment options. Payment must be received at least one week before the course begins.  

Processing fee - This covers transaction and ticketing fees. We've decided to use Regfox, the most affordable ticketing platform we could find, which will collectively save our participants over $1000 in processing fees per year.

Policies and Waivers - We've included these as part of the registration process (thank you for your patience!) to save some paperwork on your end and get straight to creating when we are in person!