Northwest Film Center
Encyclopedia
The Northwest Film Center (NWFC) is a regional
media arts resource and service organization based in Portland
, Oregon
, United States
that was founded to encourage the study, appreciation, and utilization of film. The center provides a variety of film and video exhibition, education and information programs primarily directed to the residents of Oregon, Washington, Idaho
, Montana
and Alaska
.
in 1978.
Sponsors of the center include the National Endowment for the Arts
, Oregon Arts Commission
, Oregon Cultural Trust
, Washington State Arts Commission, Regional Arts & Culture Council
, The Ted R. Gamble Film Endowment, The Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust, The Paul G. Allen Foundation for the Arts
, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
, and the Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission.
, Marylhurst University
, and the Pacific Northwest College of Art
.
The core program contains about 20 classes covering fundamentals of video, film, sound, lighting, editing, screenwriting, post production, animation, stop motion and other aspects. Classes are also available to members of the public who satisfy prerequisites. Classes begin three times per year. Most classes are one day a week and have sections either in the afternoon or at night, and usually last about 13 weeks.There are also several certificate-based curricula equivalent to a degree in fine arts which take two to four years to complete.
There are three levels of the certificate program. All require the same four core classes: Art of Filmmaking (using 8 mm film), Digital Video Editing (with final cut pro), Shooting Digital Video, and Sound Recording and Post. A final project is required for each level, which is made over a two term period (in the winter and the summer) in a class called advanced production and advanced editing. The final projects are shown at the Portland Art Museum Whitsell Auditorium in the Fall.
One elective class is required for level 1, and two elective classes are required for levels 2 and 3. Level 2 requires three additional classes -- Narrative Traditions, Documentary Forms & Visions, and Experimental Film & Video. Level 3 adds a requirement for a class on 16 mm. In addition, 10 - 12 hours of workshop time is required for level 1, 15 - 20 hours of workshop time required for level 2, and 20+ hours of workshop time required for level 3. Workshops are short classes lasting an afternoon or an entire day offered periodically throughout the year, often by visiting filmmakers. As all of the classes have sections in the evenings, it is possible to complete the certificate program while working fulltime.
The school's 36 instructors are mostly working filmmakers with several hundred years total experience.
The film center rents a wide range of filmmaking equipment to students, artists, and for commercial use. Preference is to the school's students. It has standard video, super 8
, and 16 mm film
equipment, along with a full range of sound capture, lighting, electrical
supplies.
Past judges of the Northwest Filmmakers' Festival (previously known as the Northwest Film and Video Festival) have included Gus Van Sant
, Matt Groening
, Todd Haynes
, Christine Vachon
, Bill Plympton
, Dan Ireland
, Karen Cooper of Filmforum, B. Ruby Rich
, Amy Taubin
, J. Hoberman
, and John Cooper, Sundance Film Festival
and Outfest
programmer.
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
media arts resource and service organization based in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
that was founded to encourage the study, appreciation, and utilization of film. The center provides a variety of film and video exhibition, education and information programs primarily directed to the residents of Oregon, Washington, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
and Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
.
History
The center was founded as the Northwest Film Study Center in 1971, and incorporated into the Portland Art MuseumPortland Art Museum
The Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon, United States, was founded in 1892, making it the oldest art museum on the West Coast and seventh oldest in the United States. Upon completion of the most recent renovations, the Portland Art Museum became one of the twenty-five largest art museums in...
in 1978.
Sponsors of the center include the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, Oregon Arts Commission
Oregon Arts Commission
The Oregon Arts Commission is a governor-appointed body of nine commissioners who allocate grants for artists based in the U.S. state of Oregon. It receives the bulk of its funding through the National Endowment for the Arts, the state, and the Oregon Cultural Trust.-History:Established in 1967,...
, Oregon Cultural Trust
Oregon Cultural Trust
Oregon Cultural Trust is a cultural promotion and preservation organization in the U.S. state of Oregon. It provides grants and funding to arts, humanities, and heritage organizations to stabilize and expand....
, Washington State Arts Commission, Regional Arts & Culture Council
Regional Arts & Culture Council
The Regional Arts & Culture Council is an agency that oversees arts activity throughout the Portland metropolitan area in Oregon, United States. It was established as an independent 501 nonprofit organization in 1995, replacing a bureau that had been shared by the City of Portland and Multnomah...
, The Ted R. Gamble Film Endowment, The Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust, The Paul G. Allen Foundation for the Arts
Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates...
, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
, and the Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission.
Education
The Center offers college credit in association with Portland State UniversityPortland State University
Portland State University is a public state urban university located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1946, it has the largest overall enrollment of any university in the state of Oregon, including undergraduate and graduate students. It is also the only public university in...
, Marylhurst University
Marylhurst University
Marylhurst University is a private Catholic liberal arts university located in Marylhurst, Oregon, United States, nine miles south of Portland on the Willamette River. It is among the oldest collegiate degree-granting institutions in Oregon, awarding its first degree in 1897...
, and the Pacific Northwest College of Art
Pacific Northwest College of Art
The Pacific Northwest College of Art is a private fine art and design college in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Established in 1910, the art school grants bachelor of fine arts degrees and master of fine arts degrees and has an enrollment of about 550 students...
.
The core program contains about 20 classes covering fundamentals of video, film, sound, lighting, editing, screenwriting, post production, animation, stop motion and other aspects. Classes are also available to members of the public who satisfy prerequisites. Classes begin three times per year. Most classes are one day a week and have sections either in the afternoon or at night, and usually last about 13 weeks.There are also several certificate-based curricula equivalent to a degree in fine arts which take two to four years to complete.
There are three levels of the certificate program. All require the same four core classes: Art of Filmmaking (using 8 mm film), Digital Video Editing (with final cut pro), Shooting Digital Video, and Sound Recording and Post. A final project is required for each level, which is made over a two term period (in the winter and the summer) in a class called advanced production and advanced editing. The final projects are shown at the Portland Art Museum Whitsell Auditorium in the Fall.
One elective class is required for level 1, and two elective classes are required for levels 2 and 3. Level 2 requires three additional classes -- Narrative Traditions, Documentary Forms & Visions, and Experimental Film & Video. Level 3 adds a requirement for a class on 16 mm. In addition, 10 - 12 hours of workshop time is required for level 1, 15 - 20 hours of workshop time required for level 2, and 20+ hours of workshop time required for level 3. Workshops are short classes lasting an afternoon or an entire day offered periodically throughout the year, often by visiting filmmakers. As all of the classes have sections in the evenings, it is possible to complete the certificate program while working fulltime.
The school's 36 instructors are mostly working filmmakers with several hundred years total experience.
The film center rents a wide range of filmmaking equipment to students, artists, and for commercial use. Preference is to the school's students. It has standard video, super 8
Super 8 mm film
Super 8 mm film is a motion picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement of the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format....
, and 16 mm film
16 mm film
16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...
equipment, along with a full range of sound capture, lighting, electrical
Gaffer (filmmaking)
A gaffer in the motion picture industry and on a television crew is an electrician that can be head of the electrical department, responsible for the execution of the lighting plan for a production. Gaffer, outside of the motion picture industry, is a traditional British English word for an older...
supplies.
Events
Events at the NWFC include the Portland International Film Festival, the Northwest Filmmakers' Festival, Reel Music Film Festival, Portland Jewish Film Festival and the Young People's Film Festival.Past judges of the Northwest Filmmakers' Festival (previously known as the Northwest Film and Video Festival) have included Gus Van Sant
Gus Van Sant
Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...
, Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
, Todd Haynes
Todd Haynes
Todd Haynes is an American independent film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his feature films Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, Poison, Velvet Goldmine, Safe, and the Academy Award-nominated Far from Heaven and I'm Not There.- Style and themes :The writes that "Haynes is...
, Christine Vachon
Christine Vachon
Christine Vachon is an American film producer active in the American independent film sector and daughter of noted photographer John Vachon....
, Bill Plympton
Bill Plympton
William "Bill" Calvin Plympton is an American animator, former cartoonist, director, screenwriter and producer best known for his 1987 Academy Award-nominated animated short Your Face. and his series of shorts Guard Dog, Guide Dog, Hot Dog and Horn Dog.- Biography :Bill Plympton was born in...
, Dan Ireland
Dan Ireland
Dan Ireland is a film director, producer and co-founder of the Seattle International Film Festival.-Filmography:*Living Proof *Jolene *Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont *Passionada...
, Karen Cooper of Filmforum, B. Ruby Rich
B. Ruby Rich
B. Ruby Rich is an American scholar, critic of independent, Latin American, documentary and gay films, and a professor of Film & Digital Media and Social Documentation also known as "SocDoc" at UC Santa Cruz. She has also taught documentary film and queer studies during spring semesters at UC...
, Amy Taubin
Amy Taubin
Amy Taubin is an American film critic. She is a contributing editor for two prominent film magazines, the British Sight & Sound and the American Film Comment...
, J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
James Lewis Hoberman , also known as J. Hoberman, is an American film critic. He is currently the senior film critic for The Village Voice, a post he has held since 1988.-Education:...
, and John Cooper, Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and Outfest
Outfest
Outfest is an LGBT-oriented film showcase and festival in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1982 as the "Gay and Lesbian Media Festival and Conference", the name was changed to Outfest in 1994.-Programs:...
programmer.
External links
- Northwest Film Center (official website)