What is the studio investigating/exploring? How is it doing this?

The ‘On the Frame’ studio is exploring how the cinematic frame works – what can it do? How does it do it? This involves looking at the elements which allow the frame to work or visually communicate not only narrative but mood, point of view, how the frame is able to be presented and experienced. What are the affordances of the frame, and how do they work to create the whole entity that is ‘the frame’?

This studio allows you to ask a lot of questions and constantly question and explore what the frame does and is trying to do. There is a fairly good balance between theory and practise which allows you to do so. Through weekly readings, seeing theories reflected in the films screened each week, class discussions of how these elements work, and then finally attempting to emulate or create the elements of the frame previously seen throughout the semester.

The studio is not just the theoretical acceptance of how different elements of the frame produce certain effects, but instead a kind of exploration of these elements – questioning them, exploring them and sometimes emulating or recreating them yourself. In this way, there is a real balance between theoretical and technical knowledge which lends itself to understanding the many different facets of the frame.

What did you discover in terms of your current/future professional practice?

I discovered how although there are convention which are key to communicating   the frame visually – nothing is fixed. There are a number of different ways to question conventions, remix them, even mould them together. However there is no fixed ideas that are absolute – especially concerning anything media related.

One of the most important things I learnt was that it is okay, and at times quite necessary, to change and re think your ideas and not be stubborn about staying to one vision. That idea or vision is not necessarily the most effective, or there might be more room to develop it. Whatever the case, I discovered how collaborating and gaining feedback is really crucial to being able to change or alter your ideas and begin to think about things you may not have considered before on your own.

This studio also taught me to take ideas and inspiration from other’s work – i.e., the film screenings each week – but also to question how the director/cinematographer created that effect – could I emulate this or what I do it differently? Did it work or would something else work better? In this way I discovered how to not just take different ideas or visions but expand upon or completely reconfigure them and make them my own.

What about this studio would you recommend to potential future students?

I might recommend being open to learning as much as possible rather than entering with pre conceived ideas about the frame and it’s typical conventions. Of course, using this knowledge it good, but there is also a lot to learn from challenging and adding to that knowledge. I would also suggest when completing the final project, if choosing the option to curate a different set of clips – to attempt to bring as many of your ideas as possible to the constructing the frame and to consider really carefully what you want to create. However – be open to serendipitous moments where you realise what you can do with the frame that you didn’t think you could. Experiment as much as possible, essentially.

I would also say be ready for a lot of theoretical knowledge which is likely to enhance a lot of your technical and practical understanding of the frame and all of it’s different facets.