Cinema Unbound: The Creative Worlds of Powell & Pressburger
Filming in technicolour: film workshop for all
Take part in a fun, practical workshop looking at the world through the colour-saturated lens of Powell and Pressburger. Hosted by filmmaker, artist and London Film School lecturer, Rebecca E Marshall.
Director: you!
Cast includes: N/A
Please note this event takes place at Hastings Contemporary gallery - book for the workshop on its website.
This interactive workshop will be an introduction to colour and framing in filmmaking inspired by the work of classic filmmaking duo Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
Participants will learn about the visual language of the classic film ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ (also screening with us on Sunday 5 November at 11am - free cuppa and biscuits with your ticket!) to explore themes of colour and framing before experimenting with their own 're-seeing' the colours of their own daily life.
The film’s world is made of scarlet lipstick, golden light, blushing rhododendrons, pink roses and blue skies, while its Heaven is sparse and monochrome. Scenes flow seamlessly between darkness and light, dreamlike images gleam like jewels.
In the workshop’s discussion, participants will explore the experiences of Peter, the protagonist; his near-death experience and the heavenly intervention given by the film. They will look at his changed perception of the colours of his environments (the film’s technicolour treatment of life on Earth) and will respond as filmmakers experimenting in ‘re-seeing’ the colours of their own daily life to make their own images on their mobile phones.
Participants will generate their own film clips of colourful daily life on their mobile phones generating footage that will then form material for a live 10 minute VJ montage of images that will be screened at The Electric Palace Cinema on Sunday November 19th by way of contrast with the monochrome 'I Know Where I'm Going' also by Powell and Pressburger.
"Listen to all the noises in the air” says the narrator at the start of the film. The 10-minute screening will offer the cinema audience a momentary portal into the daily lives of the workshop participants, gloriously saturated by a Powell and Pressburger treatment of colour and framing. Tickets to the live event and film screening are included in the price of the workshop.
No previous filming experience necessary, just an ability to film with your phone!
The workshop is open to all ages, from 15 up and up and up! It takes place at Hastings Contemporary from 2.30pm until 5pm. Book quickly as only 10 places available.
All tickets £25 (which includes gallery entry, the afternoon workshop and a film screening of I Know Where I'm Going! at the Electric Palace on Sunday 19 November, which also includes a live introduction from Sight and Sound film critic, Pamela Hutchinson).
About Rebecca E Marshall
Rebecca E Marshall is a filmmaker who programmed The Electric Palace Cinema for 20 years. She is a Doctor of Philosophy in film by practice. She is a visiting lecturer at The London Film School, and runs workshops on filming as a tool for creative thinking.
About Cinema Unbound: Powell and Pressburger season
Cinema Unbound: The Creative Worlds of Powell and Pressburger is a major UK-wide celebration of one the greatest and most enduring filmmaking partnerships: Michael Powell (1905-1990) and Emeric Pressburger (1902-1988). Bold, subversive and iconoclastic, challenging and changing the visual language of film, their passionate collaborative artistic vision, spanning 24 films together between 1939 and 1972, is a vital part of the fabric of British cinema history.
Startlingly innovative, Powell and Pressburger’s work continues to inspire creatives and increasingly connect with international audiences.
Hastings Contemporary and The Electric Palace cinema are proud to be part of this UK wide celebration programming a mix of screenings, events and workshops this autumn, bringing their work and their influence on modern filmmakers to new audiences.
Screening as part of Cinema Unbound: The Creative Worlds of Powell + Pressburger, a UK-wide film season supported by National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network.
bfi.org.uk/powell-and-pressburger
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- Book a ticket to a screening.
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- Play our piano before a screening and see the film for free!
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Thank you.
