Village Gamer

Ottawa – The Canadian Screen Training Centre proudly presents the 29th Annual Summer Institute of Film and Television (SIFT) in Ottawa from May 26-31. With the increasing overlap between film, television and other forms of media, the CSTC is excited to put greater focus on the digital world at SIFT 2009. Choose from 20 workshops in new media, screenwriting, directing, producing, documentary, acting, camera/lighting and editing. Workshops are offered at various levels and taught by top industry professionals.

Workshop Samples: (please see the SIFT web site for the full schedule)

Production Crafts – Camera & Lighting with Karl Roeder

Using the language of light, the director of photography creates the mood and depth that supports the director’s vision of a film or television production. An accomplished director of photography will provide a solid foundation in the fundamentals of lighting for the camera. Then, working hands-on with camera and lighting equipment, participants will delve into the creative and technical processes of the DOP, and walk away with the ability to bring new life – or light – to any production.

Writing for Video Games

Screenwriters and gamers alike will discover the intricate level of storytelling that goes into creating a virtual world. Under the guidance of Richard Cooper (former Creative Director, Artech
Studios), you will learn both the creative and business sides of an industry that brought you Super Mario Bros, Grand Theft Auto, and the Legend of Zelda. Participants will learn how writers are integrated into the video game design process, the challenges of bringing story and character into a game, the role of game narratives in an increasingly technologically-driven industry, and receive feedback on their own game ideas.

Participatory and Interventionist Media

Documentary filmmaker Katerina Cizek (Webby and Canadian New Media Award Recipient) leads this workshop on building media projects with partners that aim to change worldviews, lives and policies. Areas of focus include understanding audiences and communities, telling local stories with universal appeal, and creative financing and outreach.

Included in your SIFT registration is admission to our Feature Session, Your Digital Future with Neil Sieling. This special SIFT session will look at what the digital future means and what it will (or does) look like, with particular attention to cross-platform productions that connect film, video, the web, mobile, interactive TV, and other platforms. The presentation will take a visual/verbal tour of exciting new models in sustainable cross-platform media production and delivery to audiences, thereby opening up an expanding array of stimulating new possibilities for your thinking and for your work.

Neil Sieling is the New Media Fellow at the Washington, DC-based Center for Social Media. He was also the Executive Producer for the digitally animated documentary works “Figures of Speech” in 1999 by Bob Sabiston and Tommy Pallotta (Co-Creators of “Waking Life” and “A Scanner Darkly”).