Workshops
Daily instructor-led intensive sessions.
Directing Actors
Working with different types of actors - non-professional to psychological realist, children to adult, and abstract styles - in pre-production and on-set to bring out a collaborative performance.
Virtual Reality
Creating a VR piece, from concept to post. What kind of stories work best? How to build a team? Do I need modelers, VFX artists, programmers? How much will it cost? Who funds this stuff? Jumping in, we will look at over a dozen examples onsite, where we will have an Oculus Quest II and HTC Vive.
Mise-en-scène
Using light, color, wardrobe, hair & makeup, composition, art direction, aspect ratio, and acting styles to tell a story.
Advanced Blocking & Complex Coverage
How location, and movement of characters or camera can change the dynamics of a scene. Using eyelines, the axis, and other advanced film grammar to accentuate details and beats within a scene.
Self Producing
How to make your film. At all costs. [Can’t stop, won’t stop!]
Exercises & Activities
Individual creativity and group collaboration.
Exquisite Corpse Filmmaking
A 15 minute film, which will include a one minute segment directed and edited by each participant. This method, invented by the Surrealists, collectively assembles a group of short pieces of writing or images into a single work of art. Creating our own tradition, the film will be screened on the last evening of the retreat.
Pitching
Over the course of the retreat, participants will learn the art of the pitch. Neal and Mika will pitch past or future projects. Some participants might try their hand at a no-pressure group pitch as well!
Screening & Discussions
We’ll screen at least one film every night. Our discussions will range from Q&As with the filmmakers themselves, to why we’ve found these films to be inspiring and exciting, to how they’re relevant to the workshops. And also just for fun: a "winner chooses the film" foosball tournament and a morning Movies & Mimosas day!
Daily Meditation Sessions
Using meditation to unlock creativity, connect to your unconscious, and improve your intuition.
Previz
The art of imagining a project before it exists.
Rough Stuff: Raw Footage, and What No One Else Sees
Using actual footage, participants will look at the rough footage, including mistakes, surprises, and happy accidents, that no one else sees of a finished film. A great way to see what is actually shot and how it’s manipulated.
Guest Filmmakers
Award-winning filmmakers will bring their unique perspectives on creativity, production and festivals.
Agnieszka Smoczyńska
Warsaw, Poland
Agnieszka Smoczyńska is an internationally recognized director and screenwriter.
In 2015, she made her debut with The Lure in which she experimented with musical and horror film genres. The film brought her dozens of awards around the world, including Montreal, Porto, Chicago, San Francisco, Sitges and at the Sundance Film Festival, where she received the Special Award for "unique vision and design." The Lure was released via the prestigious Criterion Collection and Janus Film in the USA.
Her second film Fugue was invited to the prestigious competition La Semaine de la Critique at the 71st Cannes IFF and won several statuettes around the world. Now Smoczyńska is currently working on her English-language debut, Silent Twins, starring Letitia Wright and Tamara Lawrence, for which Focus Features has acquired worldwide rights.
We are thrilled to have Agnieszka Smoczyńska as a guest at Wandering Cinema. We really love the unique energy and unsettling tension in her work, not to mention the bold creativity she embraces. Her films are feverish in the best way possible - the type of movie that remains in your brain as much for the plot, direction, and performances, as for some enigmatic texture and vibe that only the best directors can inject!
Ali Vatansever
Istanbul, Turkey
Ali Vatansever was born in 1981 in Istanbul, Turkey. He studied industrial design at Istanbul Technical University and film production at Istanbul Bilgi University and Rochester Institute of Technology. He is now teaching Film Production and VR in Media and Visual Arts Dept. at Koc University.
Ali directed two feature dramas. His latest film Saf premiered at the Toronto Int'l Film Festival in September 2018 and has been awarded at many film festivals. He is the co-founder of Terminal Film.
Ali brings a unique perspective on cinematic structure, which is quite evident in the bold approach to Saf. His films are socially aware and concerned, but they're also delicate and dramatic.
We really appreciate Ali's work with actors: it's a collaborative approach, but one with a firm vision. The results of that inspiring technique are what elevates Saf. And of course, Ali's fun and generous energy infuses all of his films and Q&As.Ali is one of the script mentors at M2 Film Lab and VR mentor at KARMA Extended Realities Lab, where he co-hosts speculative design workshops that address real world solutions using cinematic storytelling tools.
