Behind the screen

Since 2009, the Seine-Saint-Denis County Council has been backing “la Culture et l’Art au Collège (CAC)”. This project is based to a large extent on the presence in class for several weeks (40h) of an artist or scientist whose mission is to engage the students in a process of research and creation. 

 

Tutors: Nadine Wanono, Jacques Lombard/ anthropologists and filmmakers, Virginie Laffon/ anthropologist and videomaker, Joyce Sebag/ sociologist and filmmaker

Project manager: Anna Mezey

 

Objectives: 
We live in the midst of images from the cinema. Our heads are full the end product and yet we know very little about the way they are made. This project, designed by anthropologists particularly interested in imagery, invites the pupils to use filmmaking equipment and various technical and narrative procedures to find out for themselves how the film people create part of the world of images we live in.

Workshop: 
What do we see?
Introduction to the world of filmmaking and the people who work in it. Class discussion about images. The pupils viewed film footage in class. With the tutor they studied various ways of looking at them. What does an anthropologist see?

Survey
The class learned about the essential stages in filmmaking (division of labour before, during and after). They worked on a storyboard in class and together prepared a questionnaire for their fieldwork. They went into the field (film studio or film set) to observe, take notes, film and interview people, using the methods of observation used in anthropology.

Analysis
They pooled and analysed their impressions and the material they had collected to develop their own production.

Outcome:
Each class made a short film talking about their experience of the film world: ideas, interviews, comments. The films were put together and shown in the participating schools over the MICACO system. A DVD was also distributed in the schools.

Acknowledgements: Nicolas Frize, GMT production, Véronique Genest, Caroline Carpentier (PHANIE)

 

Outings (selection):
- GRAND REX CINEMA TO SEE A FILM ABOUT FILM MAKING AND AN INTERACTIVE VISIT BEHIND THE SCENES.
- LA FEMIS: GUIDED TOUR OF THE FILM SCHOOL WITH A TECHNICIAN, AN OPPORTUNITY TO MEET SOME OF THE STUDENTS AND WATCH A SHORT FILM.

Participating schools: 
- Class (3rd SEGPA), Collège Jacques Jorissen, Drancy
- Classes (4th and 5th SEGPA), Collège René Descartes, Tremblay-en-France
- Special class, Collège Pierre de Geyter, Saint-Denis

LE COURS DES CHOSES

Avec la période de confinement, les démarches initiées en collège ont connu quelques changements, également quelques aménagements et surprises. Le moment est venu de présenter ce qui a été finalisé par les élèves, les enseignants et les intervenants. Cet espace de diffusion rapporte nombre de témoignages visuels, sous des formats à la fois fixes et animés, et invite les visiteurs à une découverte différenciée : en cela par projet identifié ou d’une manière plus aléatoire.