Reel Works Documentary Lab Launches!

Reel Works has kicked off our Documentary Lab for the 2022-2023 school year! The Documentary Lab is an intensive, 24-week after-school filmmaking workshop offered to high school students in NYC. 

Students are currently learning how to operate their DSLR camera, while also concepting their unique visions for their films. We are diving into the many styles of documentary filmmaking, and how to start framing shots for students’ A-Roll interview footage. Doc Lab students are gaining inspiration from films such as Black Panthers by Agnes Varda, The Length of Day by Laura Conway, Man With A Movie Camera by Dziga Vertov, and The Last Dance, a docuseries on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. 

Calli, a 14-year-old emerging filmmaker from Brooklyn, shared, “I had fun learning how to use the camera. It was very different from the camera that I have used before. Learning how to use the camera will definitely help me in the future.” 

The Doc Lab is a  free introductory course to documentary filmmaking, where students are paired 1:1 with a professional filmmaker mentor to plan, shoot, edit and present a short personal film about their lives and communities.

Each student will learn a unique set of technical skills while exploring different methods to be able to tell their stories in a unique way. Working with such a creative group of different personalities has resulted in strong and diverse storytelling.

In this year's Lab, we have students whose interests range from food culture, social justice, dance, fashion and self reflecting artistic storytelling. We can’t wait to hear what kind of stories they will share and highlight.