Bringing Dogme Back, This Time In Southampton - 27 East

Arts & Living

Arts & Living / 1348330

Bringing Dogme Back, This Time In Southampton

icon 5 Photos
Brian Bailey loads wood into his fireplace in Sag Harbor.

Brian Bailey loads wood into his fireplace in Sag Harbor.

A painting is evaluated by Terry Wallace of the Wallace Gallery. BY ERIN MCKINLEY

A painting is evaluated by Terry Wallace of the Wallace Gallery. BY ERIN MCKINLEY

A painting is evaluated by Terry Wallace of the Wallace Gallery. BY ERIN MCKINLEY

A painting is evaluated by Terry Wallace of the Wallace Gallery. BY ERIN MCKINLEY

authorAlexa Gorman on Dec 9, 2014

Some lights. One camera. Natural action.

Those are the simplified rules of the Dogme ’95 avant-garde filmmaking movement, launched almost two decades ago by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg. The participants vowed to create films based on traditional values—story, acting and theme—and shun special effects, taking power away from the corporate studios and handing it back to the artists.

The movement officially died in 2005. But it has been reawakened.

This week, digital filmmaking graduate students at Stony Brook Southampton are shooting their course’s culmination—seven interlocking short films in the Dogme style—led by associate professor Magdalene Brandeis and Lenny Crooks, one of the early collaborators of the Dogme ’95 movement and, currently, a development consultant for Killer Films.

“We wanted to get rid of the plot-driven approach,” Ms. Brandeis said on Sunday afternoon, taking a break from the shoot on campus. “We wanted to emphasize storytelling, as opposed to the gadgets and gizmos of modern movie-making.”

Shot with one camera, sans tripod, a single microphone and natural light, the completed 50-minute project will be without the “tricks” of the editing process, Mr. Crooks explained on set, including artificial light, re-recorded audio, transitions and even makeup.

The key to a successful Dogme work, he said, is the creation of authentic characters—no superficial action, car chases, or gratuitous killing allowed. “The characters, if they are strong enough and believable enough,” Mr. Crooks said, “will tell the story.”

This particular story, however, remains a mystery. The only clues are the title, “How to Write A Killer Résumé,” and a basic plotline: seven misfits from present-day Southampton are brought together once a week for a résumé-writing class.

“I don’t want to corral this story line into one direction,” Mr. Crooks said, “because it could have gone in seven different directions.”

The program’s seven students created each of the film’s characters for a previous project, Ms. Brandeis explained, before pairing up to write two of the final seven episodes that will be shot consecutively over the course of a week. Each student will direct one episode with 10 hours to shoot.

Melissa Bank, author of “The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing,” and Patricia Marx, staff writer for The New Yorker, also contributed to the project by co-writing the first and last episodes, respectively, alongside the students.

“All that mattered was that each pairing evolved the story,” Mr. Crooks said of the student collaboration. “Even if it wasn’t a narrative arc, it would still be an interesting sequence of events.”

This isn’t the first time the MFA program has attempted this sort of endeavor. Last year, the “20/20/20 Project” featured 20 filmmakers making 20 movies in 20 days. It was only natural for the idea to evolve and expand, Ms. Brandeis said.

“I was thrilled to know [Mr. Crooks] had experience with the [Dogme] movement,” Ms. Brandeis said. “We knew we had to give this a try.”

Mr. Crooks, who worked in Denmark during the Dogme movement, said the style of the 20/20/20 Project reminded him of the challenges and demands presented to the creators and those involved in the era of Dogme. Taking away the gimmicks and flashing lights actually allows the artists to be more creative and focus on the heart of the work—its characters—while removing the ability to string together the action artificially, like many modern Hollywood films do.

“The idea that things are happening naturally in those movies is simply not true,” he continued. “There are so many things that have been manipulated and reworked to make you think that it’s natural.”

You May Also Like:

Tripoli Gallery's 20th Annual Thanksgiving Collective

“There’s always another party” — Lisa de Kooning (1956 - 2012) The 20th Annual Thanksgiving ... 22 Nov 2024 by Staff Writer

A Trio of Tenors Sing a Celtic Christmas

The Suffolk will kick off the holiday season by presenting Celtic music kings The Irish ... by Staff Writer

Enjoy 'A Swingin' Christmas' With Louis Prima Jr.

Louis Prima Jr. and The Witnesses are a boisterous, horn-driven, 10-piece New Orleans-style band known ... by Staff Writer

Three December Workshops at Women’s Art Center of the Hamptons

Women’s Art Center of the Hamptons (WACH) in Bridgehampton will host a trio of December ... by Staff Writer

David Geiser Exhibition at LTV Studios

A special exhibition and sale featuring the captivating works of the late artist David Geiser ... 21 Nov 2024 by Staff Writer

Christmas Movies Have Returned to The Suffolk

Christmas classic movies are back at The Suffolk this December with fun for the whole ... by Staff Writer

Capote's Christmas Short Stories on Stage

Center Stage at Southampton Arts Center continues its Long Island premiere staged readings of Truman Capote’s holiday short stories with “One Christmas” and “A Christmas Memory” over Thanksgiving weekend. Performances of “One Christmas” and “A Christmas Memory” will be offered Friday, November 29, at 2 p.m., Saturday, November 30, at 2 p.m. (before the annual Southampton Village Christmas parade) and 7 p.m., and Sunday, December 1, at 2 p.m. The staged readings began with Capote’s “The Thanksgiving Visitor” which was presented at SAC from November 15 to 17. “The response to ‘The Thanksgiving Visitor’ was more than we could have ... by Staff Writer

Sag Harbor Cinema and Hamptons Doc Fest Present ‘Mistress Dispeller’

Sag Harbor Cinema will host a special screening of Elizabeth Lo’s 2024 documentary “Mistress Dispeller” ... by Staff Writer

Take a 'Fantastic Voyage' to The White Room Gallery

The White Room Gallery will present “Fantastic Voyage,” an exhibition featuring Mital Patel, an internationally ... by Staff Writer

In 'A Streetcar Named Desire' Terrible Beauty Finds a Home in New Orleans

Maybe it’s the time in which they were written, or perhaps it speaks to a ... 20 Nov 2024 by Annette Hinkle