Course Info: HACU-0263

With the ascendency of today's smartphone technologies, the quality and reliability of the photographed image and recorded sound are equal to if not superior to many digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras. This course will provide an opportunity for students to make a variety of films in the dramatic narrative, documentary, or experimental traditions primarily utilizing their smartphones or in combination with related analogue and digital technologies. In turn, we will also explore the interface between the still and moving image so readily available with these portable, in-your-pocket recorders as well as creating what some refer to as a "new notion of the cinematic." With screening and reading recommendations obtained from international colleagues who subscribe to the Visible Evidence List Serve, we presented a variety of films made over the past decade that utilize some form of a smartphone. We were able to Skype with Luca Lancise, Peter Snowden and Boris Gerrets, three European filmmakers who discussed their respective working methodologies and the poetics of cinema utilized in their projects. Students were required to respond in writing to each week's screening/reading, attend class on a regular basis, participate in class discussions, and complete either a short midterm and final project or produce one, semester-long project.