Overall, I was pretty happy with the showcase for our studio. Not many people outside the class showed up, but I assume it’s because it was at 10:30 and for no other reason at all. Watching everyone’s manifestos was simultaneously entertaining and interesting, mainly due to seeing what everyone’s different takes on the canon were, as well as what their manifestos ended up becoming. Our group was the only ‘satirical’ take on the manifesto, making it stand out from the others more in my opinion; many other groups decided to take it seriously and directly address the canon, and it was very interesting seeing the groups’ different takes on it. 

I thought that Isabel, Roisin, and Shaun’s had very interesting ideas, taking the form of the canon’s past, present and future, akin to A Christmas Story, delving deeper into how the canon originated, how it is functioning now, and what they would like for it to resemble in the future. Segmenting their manifesto like this allowed them to really explore the topic fully, almost creating 3 entirely separate manifestos, yet, when combined, formed something that was coherent and had running themes and similar ideologies throughout. I also quite liked their incorporation of film titles, specifically in their ‘present’ section; it felt like a pretty unique idea that takes films and moulds it into parts of a statement against the majority of them. Their future segment, felt the most like a proper manifesto (however one could define a ‘proper’ manifesto) in the sense that it was a person dictating to the audience what the canon should look like, without any regard for how it would get to that point, or a proper solution from point a to point b. Having segmented parts allowed a more ‘manifesto’ segment like that be connected to more grounded segments like the past (and to some extent, the present), but framed it in a way that it somehow all tied together and made a singular point about the canon, which is something that I found myself really enjoying as it progressed. 

I was also quite intrigued by Jade, Antony, and Finn’s manifesto, both in its form as well as its content. I liked how there was almost no spoken dialogue, with many of the main points and ideas given to the audience through both coloured and white text on the screen. It set that specific manifesto out from the others, and was a nice choice in my opinion. Their manifesto also included a montage of the Vertigo zoom in other films, showing how it’s been copied over and over again, which I think really sold the main crux of their manifesto; that the canon has a problem with originality. Simply showing us how that single shot had been reiterated so many times throughout film history lent very well to the point they were making, and was a really powerful and easy to understand way of doing so. The final section, where they dictate what the canon should represent, was also done really well, with the montage of words dictating what the canon should represent sounding like a very compressed version of a manifesto, stating to the audience how something should be done.

Another studio that I watched was The Video Essay, which delved into the processes of making a video essay, with a final assignment of creating one themselves. Damian’s one was one that stood out to me, with its slick editing and clear structure when talking about the body of Nathan Fielder’s work. Another element of his video essay that I appreciated was his personal anecdote used in the video. It was a nice element that really personalised him, making Damian seem more ‘real’ in a sense, going from faceless video creator to a person made of flesh and blood with his own experiences, and I think that using it really helped him drive his point across by associating it to something that more people can relate to. Using these strategies really helped ‘create’ his video essay, giving it a clear introduction, conclusion, and main point to the whole video, and something that I really enjoyed.

Shene’s video essay about Studio Ghibli films and nostalgia was also something that stood out to me, whether it was because of its construction and techniques or simply the subject matter I still don’t know. I did like the comparisons to other animated films, comparing them in this way and then analysing them made me think about both films being compared in a completely different light. Having text only, instead of speaking to the camera, was also a unique touch, but one that allowed me to replay the footage and help me properly understand some of the more wordy elements of the video essay.

All in all, both studios and projects in those studios did help me understand the point of the studios more in-depth, and watching them definitely left me with something to take away and learn. 

Manifesto:

How to Make the Greatest Film of All Time.mp4 from Media Factory on Vimeo.

Reflection:

Overall, I’m really happy with how our manifesto turned out. We managed to get it all done in a pretty reasonable amount of time, with enough class time to make any major changes and go over the final manifesto to make sure that everyone was happy with it. 

We were put together, not because of any specific element we brought up in our manifesto statements, but just because of a ‘general hatred and style’ against the canon at large, so we were essentially the leftovers. At first, I was worried that meant that Liv, Ben, and I wouldn’t gel based on our opinions on the canon, but after getting to know the rest of my team I must say that it was the right choice to group us this way. We were surprisingly all on the same page, and our thoughts towards the canon were surprisingly similar. 

When working as a collective, I think that an element of success was that original planning stage, and the fact that we all had similar feelings toward the canon. It made the process of working together and figuring out exactly what we wanted to say on the canon much easier than if we weren’t, since we weren’t constantly butting heads on what to include and what to cut out. A problem in the collaborative phase, however, was the editing phase of the video. The video could only be edited on one computer, meaning that one person had to edit the thing before sending it off to the others. While we did go over the work-in-progress version in class, taking the time to go over it while it was being edited might have helped the overall timeline of completion when finalising the product. However, this might not have been feasible, due to the amount of time it would take to edit the manifesto, and the (lack of) power in our laptops. 

In terms of thinking creatively and the overall production, I think that giving us such a blank slate to work with was both a positive and negative. By grouping us based on general distaste of the canon, not specific elements of it like other groups, it let us run rampant with the number of possibilities that we were allowed to pursue, letting us choose exactly what element of the canon we wanted to revolt against in our manifesto. However, by being so non-specific, it did add an extra step for us in the planning stage; it meant that we had to actually decide what we wanted to say in our final piece. We decided to elaborate on the fact that we think the canon is stuck in the past, and should embrace more elements of the present in its formation, but it did take some time to finally figure out what we wanted to say about the canon in particular, rather than just a gung-ho revolt against its entirety. 

The rest of the production did go relatively smoothly, we ended up creating a ‘mocking how to infomercial video’ on how to make the greatest film of all time; one that would dictate to the audience what we thought the problems with the canon were by elaborating on how hard it is for anyone — besides a tiny minority of filmmakers — to get on that list. We split up the scriptwriting; we each handled a few sections then brought them together and made sure they all carried the same themes and feel that we all wanted, and that no single part felt out of place with any other part of the script. We also decided we wanted to film in Studio A, to give it a more professional and authoritative look to sell the premise even further. However, the studio was only able to be booked either quite early in the timeline to completion, or the day before it was due. Our group ended up booking the earlier session, and I think that actually ended up making things run smoother overall; it meant we had to get the script done and the bulk of the project done earlier, giving us a lot more time to refine and work on the final piece compared to if we had decided otherwise, and I think that our final manifesto is greater because of it. 

Insights that the work gave me about the canon include just how old the films accepted into them are; when discussing the ‘greatest films of all time’, I expected more films from not just the 21st century, but also the 80s and 90s, however many of the films on the list stem from the 40s to 50s. While yes, I understand to a degree that a film must withstand the test of time to be accepted into the canon, so that its wider ramifications can truly be seen, it truly stunned me how antiquated the list was, mostly focusing on films early history and using films that creates many modern techniques to justify itself. I also learned quite a lot in terms of actually creating a manifesto — the most interesting part in my opinion was the fact that usually did not have to provide a solution to what they were arguing against, and were essentially a highly vitriolic and emotive piece talking about something that someone didn’t like. 

When it comes to the manifesto itself — I’m really happy with it. It pretty much covers all that we wanted to cover, it looks slick and well edited, while adding that signature manifesto flair composed of highly emotive shouting while not really saying anything at all. Viv’s acting was superb; it really helped sell the farce of a semi-legitimate instructional video at the start, and the fact that it was a full blown unhinged manifesto by the end of it. The extra time that we had really helped flesh out the final product, and the advice given about sound and adding a soundbite really helped elevate the manifesto to make it more believable in the end. I hope that it engages audiences throughout, particularly hooking them in at the very beginning and then surprising them as it progresses into full lunacy, and I hope they enjoy it and can follow along properly with the slow descent into madness. 

I think that it communicates a key element of the studio in the fact that it addresses how old and antiquated the film canon is; we really wanted to highlight the fact that (for the most part) only old, white men from a bygone era are on the list, with many newer styles, modes, and talent in regards to filmmaking in the last 30 years being completely ignored. Hopefully this is communicated properly through the steps of the manifesto: going over exactly how to get on the list demonstrates exactly how hard it is to get on the list in the modern day. I also hope that the fact that a very specific type of critic dictates the canon is also communicated well to the audience, which was another part of the studio that I think really struck a chord with us. 

While I’m really happy with how it is currently, if I were to keep working on this and screen it again, I’d probably want to turn it into a full manifesto at the end. Not just screaming at a camera, but fully emulating actual manifestos, such as all the ones Cate Blanchet recited, having Viv repeat the same lines over and over again, similarly to how Damian and Sabrina’s group last year ended theirs. I feel like that would be the icing on the cake, and truly turn the latter half of the video into a manifesto. I’d also like to try and stretch out the first half a little more, we really wanted to take the advice given to us during our pitch to keep it as straight-faced and serious as possible, but couldn’t find a way to, because Step 1 was one of our favourite gags, and the indicator that this video is satirical, yet is only the first step. We added ‘the fundamentals’ at the very beginning and tried to keep that more serious, but if I were refining the manifesto further, I’d like to try and stretch that out, and make it more serious and corny, adding intentionally cheesy and humorous lines to reel the audiences into a false sense of security before hitting them with the satirical parts. 

Overall I’m super happy with the final manifesto that our group created, as well as our work over the semester in general. Learning about the canon (and all of its strengths and flaws) was really interesting; discovering the ins, outs, and theoreticals when it comes to the ‘greatest movie of all time’ was one of the more fun and interesting things I’ve done this semester, and I’m really happy to have taken all the information learned and to have turned it into a manifesto revolting against all of it.