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tags: anna
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# Slavic 193 Learning Lab Workshop (October 5, 2022)

In this workshop, students from Slavic 193: Introduction to Russian and Soviet Film had chance to think about their creative final projects, engage in film-making, work with film analysis, and try out some of the tools, techniques, and ways of thinking that doing a creative final project might entail.

In groups of three or four, the students rotated through three stations, stopping at each for about 10 minutes.

### Station 1, inspired by *The Cameraman’s Revenge*
In the first station, students worked on stop-motion as a team. They were encouraged to think of a very simple plot and to implement it using small figurines, customizable backgrounds, and the in-studio green screen. Students reflected upon the amount of labor and planning involved, and how it would have been different over a century ago!

Two examples of their work:




### Station 2
The second station was focused around cinematic effects. Students discussed how early Soviet cinema was affected by the possibilities of film at the time, and how the tools and techniques lead to interesting developments in both form and content, especially in terms of kinotriuki, or cinematic effects. To think through this, and to explore the possibilities of doing an "updated" Soviet-cinematic final project, students made TikToks that used the language and dynamics of the platform, as shown here:

[Google Drive folder of student TikToks](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1R7-91Bdj0BH11__wxcSUVC2ANTattWGV?usp=sharing)

They reflected on how making these TikToks made them consider and reconsider the constraints and possibilities allowed by Russian and Soviet cinema in the period they were learning about.

Using the in-studio cameras, students also made their own shots inspired by the famous kino-glaz shot from Vertov's *Man with a Movie Camera* and the Kuleshov effect. After a discussion of montage theory and the choices behind overlaying two images, they took some shots:

Vertov's image:

Student images:




### Station three
In the third station, students focused on performing and presenting film analysis. They looked at film strips from *The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks* and discussed frame-by-frame analysis as a way of dissecting scenes and analyzing film. Then, they learned about and practiced making multimedia essays about film.

### After the workshop

The students, their TF (Joanna Burdzel), and Anna met in the classroom to discuss major takeaways from the workshop. They reflected upon the process of film-making, noting both how intentional their plans had to be, but also how new ideas came to them as they worked, especially due to the affordances and constraints of the tools and techniques they used. They reflected upon the new possibilities that a creative project would give them. Many of them were excited about the possibility of a creative project, especially if they were to receive further support. As such, Anna plans to hold office hours in the Learning Lab! They also discussed the possibilities for sharing this work, and Anna suggested a mini-film festival at the end of the semester.