Bryce Berger, Derek Rose and Spencer Flannery team up to deliver ‘Barbara Ingram School For The Arts’, a presentation film about the school bearing the same name. While constituting good advertising for the school, the film also has some consistent documentary features.
‘Barbara Ingram School For The Arts’ is put together out of short interviews with instructors and students and some selective footage, carefully chosen, from around the ‘campus’. What the film strikes by is its dynamism and academic feel. All the interviewed characters have a certain kind of erudition attached to themselves, emerging from their elevated use of language and distinct ideas and perception over art. ‘Education’ looks like a notion that feels comfortable in the environment presented by the three directors.
Art ‘portrays’ itself as nonjudgemental and binding people together at Barbara Ingram School. This first way of perceiving the field in which they teach (by the tutors and instructors of the academy) shows the deep sensitivities and dedication of the people running the place and cast a substantial feel of professional knowledge and qualification over the institution. Other ways in which the three directors make the school look skilful in shaping talents and making students get the best out of their artistic abilities is by subtly referring to a historical evolution of the idea and concept of art as well as by pointing out to the way students feel about it: art is a liberation, a form of expressing oneself, it has the power to make one feel spiritually fulfilled and rewarded.
As indicated in this short presentation film, art is also a way of leaving prejudices behind. It has the nature to make groups coagulate – certain ethnic groups are easily identified across history by the artistic characteristics of the objects they left behind. Art is in conclusion strongly connected to personal and collective identity.
‘Barbara Ingram School For The Arts’ is the perfect example of a well made presentation film. It is concise and for a 5 minutes long film it retains comprehensive information covering a lot of important aspects from among those that would stir the interests of student groups. It has the power to aim very precisely at the type of students that are passionate about art and are looking forward to exploring and cultivating this side of theirs in order to help them evolve at a personal level before anything else. This places the institution on a very wide ‘map’ – from those who want to practice a certain kind of art for a living to especially those who are looking to only explore and harness their artistic mastery. The editing is vigorous and energic, the testimonies succinct and varied, cinematography looks good and the film doesn’t bore, keeping things to the point. We can barely find anything not to like about it.
A very enjoyable short documentary film (which will serve as a good example for filmmakers producing presentation films as well).
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