Description

The international summer school “Archive-based Filmmaking: The James Forsher Archive in the Classroom” aims to train students in national and international MA and MEd programs in archive-based film-making in order to enable them to utilize these skills as future teachers or in other creative employments. It is a transdisciplinary project, spanning the disciplines of American studies, didactics, history, film and media studies.

As the summer school can be completed as part of (not only but also) the teacher’s training program, it will be especially valuable for future high school teachers, who will gain low-threshold, archive-based film production competences and be able to effectively use them in school (for example for project-based lessons in the subjects of English, history, geography, or arts). Ever since the widespread usage of smartphones and easily understandable film production software, these kinds of projects are possible in schools, however the corresponding curricula at the university have not yet offered any such training. In compliance with the University’s aim of educating future teachers on the changing dynamics of the media landscape and its implications in the classroom, students will engage with filmic material from a theoretical as well as practical perspective (see also the University's "Entwicklungsplan").

By reading literature in preparation of the overall topic and individual project subjects, critical engagement with audiovisual archives will be fostered. Furthermore, students will have the opportunity to listen to talks and engage in critical discussions with experts of the field, such as James Forsher (former professor of Communication Studies and owner of the Jim Forsher archive), Alexandra Ganser (Professor of American Studies), Julia Hüttner (Professor of Didactics in English), Rainer M. Köppl (Professor of Film and Media Studies), Kurt Langbein (Filmmaker/Producer), Fred Schreiber (Filmmaker and Screenwriter) and Renée von Paschen (Translator/Synchronization) as well as Skype lectures by various experts in filmmaking from the United States (Caroline Kirschner, Victoria Sampson, Stephen Sheppard). Students will work on mini-film projects in small groups in a workshop environment, which will not only teach them practical filmmaking skills but will also make it possible for them to engage with the topic of film archiving. The workshops will be assisted by senior and junior faculty (Kora Schuster (camera and editing), Petra Ladinigg (screenwriting), and Eva Schörgenhuber (content conception)). There will be five groups working on the following topics:

As methodological reflection in the analysis of the rapidly changing communication culture of the digital age is increasingly important, the program also includes reflective analytical follow-up work. As is also incorporated in the university’s plan for the future, “the resulting social, political as well as aesthetic dimensions of this dynamic (…) are a central research task” (100). Hence, the main focus will be "on the questions of mediality, multimodality and digital media" (ibid.)