Bring into Focus:
Attention & the Camera in Film

April 29th - May 13th, 2024

What is the relationship between attention and the camera in filmmaking? Could the camera be said to be imitating the movement of human attention? What are film’s tools for choreographing the viewer’s attention — and to what end?

In this workshop / seminar course, we’ll investigate the way attention sits at the heart of cinematic storytelling. We’ll discuss framing, shot duration, lighting, editing, and more, in order to deepen our understanding of how the medium works. Then we’ll explore what the tools of filmmaking can reveal to us about the nature of attention itself.

To aid us in our inquiry, we’ll watch groundbreaking films like RaMell Ross’s documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening (USA, documentary, 2018), Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France, drama, 2019), and David Lowery’s A Ghost Story (USA, drama, 2017). Over the course of three weeks, we’ll produce short film exercises that draw upon our theoretical discussions. No equipment or prior filmmaking is required.

Taught by filmmaker, writer and Sundance Fellow Alyssa Loh.