Open source documentary - sudo-discuss

16 Jan 2014

Hello sudo-ers

Let me introduce myself, although some of you know me already. My name is
Noémie, I'm French - among other things.

I discovered sudo-room last September. It was the first time I set foot in
a hackerspace, and it kind of blew my mind. At sudo room, I discovered the
concept of open source, a concept I didn't really know till then. That,
together with a lot of really great encounters and conversations, kind of
changed things for me, and made me realize that even in what I do in life
(films), I can do things completely differently. Up to now the film
industry has been very hierarchical, in many different ways, and it always
made me uncomfortable. Only recently did I understand that if I sense that
something’s not fair, I can actually do something about it. That was an
empowering realization.

So I've been playing with the idea of making an open source documentary
film at/about sudo room. Before I go any further, I would just like to say
that I saw you're trying to agree on a sort of chart about the conditions
under which you'd be willing to have people film at sudo room, and it all
seems very reasonable to me.

I'd like to expose you my idea, for you to tell me what you think, and
also, if anyone among you would like to participate. I’m hoping that (at
least some of) the ones who will be in the film will also participate in
the making of the film. The project would probably be scattered over a few
months, so that it doesn't feel heavy, but also so that there is time to
develop a genuine narrative, and to follow one or a few projects that could
constitute the backbone of a story.

The question I've been fiddling with is the following: how to make it open
source? And beyond just putting the footage under CC license and leaving it
available somewhere on the internet, how to make it an exciting experiment,
an opportunity to create new processes in film making that are non
hierarchical and more participative? To me the question is also a pragmatic
one: how can this participative process allow to create compelling films
with a vision, films that people actually want to watch, beyond the open
source community?

The idea is to develop a sort of github for editing movies in a
collaborative way, so that as the film is being shot and made, there is a
tool online that allows to do things together:
- rate, annotate, underline the footage or parts of it, organize it

- upload videos, music, etc.

- edit sequences.

- fork the project to create a different timeline and a different movie.

This tool would be free of access and available not only to the people
involved in the project but to anyone, and hopefully will generate a cool
community of users who want to be empowered film viewers *and* makers. To
me it's the continuation of genius director Chris Marker's work with the
Medvedkin Groups in the 60's. * (see below if you want to know more about
it!).

I've been talking about the possibility of building this tool with a really
great and talented hacker that some of you know, Robert M Ochshorn.  He's
already made some great advancement on the future of video (two works of
his:  http://interlace.videovortex9.net also check
http://montageinterdit.net) and he'd be excited to continue with this
project. I’m excited too actually! I think it could change the whole idea
of how to make films, and what it is to be a spectator, and what is a truly
participative movie... So I’m offering to do an experiment, and I think
sudo room would definitely be the best place to do it, not only because of
all places, it is the one where I would want to experiment in a fun way.
Also because I envision a really good, touching, fun and awakening movie...
 hopefully more than one movie!! I hope that after the 1.0 movie is
released, it is only the beginning of an adventure consisting in hacking
the movie. Making a different version of it, maybe more than one.

I'll be in Oakland starting from February and I'm thinking of spending some
time at sudo - probably for other projects as well. I'd like to take this
time to think of how to do it, what story (ies) to tell, talk about the
project to whomever among you is interested in participating in it, and see
more concretely how it could be done in a participative way, but also with
a vision, and a unity, so that it actually has a reach.

I wrote this email today because I’d like everyone to know about it, and
open a discussion that I hope will mostly take place in real life when I’ll
be here in February rather than on this email list, although I would be
happy to already get some feedback, questions, advice or ideas that you
think are relevant at this stage…

Thank you!

A bientôt :)

Noémie

* Chris Marker went to film the factory strikes in Besancon; and when he
showed his film to the workers, they said that he’s completely incompetent,
that it does not represent their point of view at all, that this director
from Paris is just like the bosses that exploit them. Chris Marker agreed
that the film was filmed from his point of view, and created with the
workers the Medevkin groups. He shared with them the material, the means
and the knowhow to create their own movies, and helped them to re-edit his
own footage. Some of the films of the Medvedkin groups are amazing.

-- 
Noémie Serfaty
108 rue du Faubourg du Temple
75011 Paris
Tel: 06 27 76 88 84
Tel: 01 71 50 51 82
noemieserfaty(a)gmail.com