Capturing Creativity: A Glimpse Into Filmmaking Elective at GZAAT
April 23, 2024
Article by Natali Sulukhia
Edited by Sofi Asatiani
Source: GZAAT Gazette
As the GZAAT students’ progress in learning more about themselves and what they want to do in the future, they are given the power to assemble their school schedule for their senior year. Although some subjects like English, Georgian, and Inter-D, are mandatory for everyone, there are many additional electives and courses that the students can take according to their interests. Lika Asatiani, the school’s music teacher, is the instructor of the filmmaking class.
Filmmaking elective originated a long time ago and has been flourishing ever since. During the semester, the students enjoy learning about the process of filmmaking, and at the end of the course, they even get to create a film as a final project.
One of the seniors Mariana Chochia who chose the filmmaking elective this year says: “When I was a journalist in the school’s newspaper, I wrote an article about the GZAAT film. For that article, I had to interview Lika Asatiani, who directed the film and is also the teacher of the filmmaking class. During that interview, she told me all about her course, and her previous classes, which made me curious about the class. I already had some previous interest in film and filmmaking, but that interaction made me decide upon my then future elective.
As Lika Asatiani describes, the main goal of the elective is to simulate the entire process of real filming. Students enjoy making videos calling them ‘movies’. Films are made according to strict rules and we learn those very rules during this one-semester course. “I have worked in many different studios, can work in professional audio/video editing software and it is my great pleasure to share my experience and knowledge with students.”
As Nitsa Saakashvili, one of the members of the filmmaking elective says she loved the course, because not only did she learn the technical aspects of filmmaking but also developed other skills like creativity and teamwork. “Our every project was a collaborative work and it was important for us to listen to each other’s ideas and help each other to create our films.”
David Dolidze, a member of the filmmaking class, recounts that, over one semester, the class directed, wrote scripts, and filmed two short films. The first, titled "Valeri" is an interrogation story, while the second, named "Oedipus," narrates the tale of an immigrant student and professor. David describes the filming process as highly enjoyable, productive, and fun. He highlights an extremely fun incident during the filming of the second short film, where Demetre had to walk into the scene. Due to external noise, Demetre couldn't hear the call for action from inside, that's why they had to reshoot the scene at least 15 times. Despite the challenges, the bloopers made during these films became enjoyable for the class.
As Lika Mas describes, real filmmaking consists of three main stages: Pre-production (Generating an idea, developing a short story out of it, and then making a screenplay; Making storyboards, finding locations for shooting, choosing the crew - Director, Cameraman, Boom operator, Recordist,); Production (shooting itself) and Post-production (Professional video editing software - Final Cut Pro and/or Premiere Pro and for sound design - ProTools).
“After learning everything it should be obvious that not much time will be left for making a film from the beginning until the end. One semester is not enough for this, but we are shooting independent scenes from our script and every single shooting process always becomes unforgettable both for students and for me. They are fulfilling their job with enthusiasm
that the entire process of shooting gives me the greatest pleasure (not to say anything about what happens when choosing shots for editing.”
As Nitsa Putkaradze says, the process was very interesting. Students had different roles and would rotate those roles during lessons. Eventually, Nitsa had the opportunity to participate as a voice recorder, director, operator, file manager, and so on.
Mariana Chochia reflects on one of the heartfelt moments that she will remember forever. One standout moment was the Oscar awards ceremony held during the final class session, affectionately named L'Awards. Serving as a fitting conclusion of the course which provided the opportunity to reminisce about the funniest and most memorable moments shared by the class. Finally, students gave out awards in different categories that they came up with, which made them appreciate achievements, once again. Mariana hopes that this tradition will be upheld in classes to come.
Lika Asatiani explains that the concept of L'Awards (Lika awards) originated from the students, showcasing their initiative to create a memorable conclusion for the last class. "For all of us, this turned out to be a successful attempt, I liked the idea and plan to keep this tradition with the future generations of GZAAT students interested in filmmaking.”
