“Documentary at Piraeus Street”

How can we transform an idea into a documentary script? How can we choose our heros? How can we select the reality scenes that are going to be presented in our work? What about the sound and how can we use it creatively?

All these questions are going to be examined by a director with great teaching experience in film’s matters –Maria Leonida– in a three-month workshop. The workshop is going to end in a multifaceted documentary directed by the participants and the main topic of the documentary is going to be inspired by Piraeus Street!

Our tools: the practical exercise, the references to the history of the documentary and its masterpieces, the contact with experienced documentary directors that are going to be invited during the workshop.

Topic
Piraeus Street: the street that runs Tavros is always bustling. We are going to experiment with all these things that will attract our attention. Our gaze will examine the narrow streets in front of the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation and we will attempt to articulate our story. Which is the identity of Piraeus Street and how it has been changed during the ten last years?

Goals
–    the use of audiovisual material for narrating a story
–    the built of skills for observing reality
–    the improvement of cinematography skills
–    the attention to the cinematic sound
–    the exercise of directing through editing

Sessions

1st Session
Introduction to the workshop: the gaze through the photographic lens.

2nd Session
Case Study (Piraeus Street). Experimenting through shooting, object observation and sound. The main body of the script per group.

3rd Session
Why cinema is a special art and how editing contributes to its unique nature? The Grammar of the cinematic language.

4th Session
The principles of cinematography and sound. Which are the secrets in shooting a documentary? Exercise in cinema verite.

5th Session
The various ways of editing. How the same scenes can be edited in different ways.

6th Session
Script plan and organizing of shooting.

7th Session
Shooting. The selection of the material. Comments on improvement.

8th Session
Editing: music, sound and titles.

9th Session
Shooting and Editing: friends or foe?

10th Session
Before Finishing: Editing and Mixing.

11th Session
Screening and improvement of the film.

12th Session
Presentation of the film. Evaluation.

Instructors
Maria Leonida, Documentary Director.
www.marialeonida.com
www.Karposontheweb.org

Giorgos Didymiotis, Director-Film-Editor.