Kevin Swann

Honors in Film Studies

Major: Film Studies

Supervisor: Sue Richardson, Film Studies

Innovation: The Filmmaker’s Greatest Tool

The short film Vincent was constructed around a fight scene. Its purpose was to test my abilities as a film innovator. The film consists of a sword fight between two unknown individuals. It was produced, directed, financed, and edited by myself. Jeffrey Swann, Gus Aretakis, and I constructed both the devices used to move the camera and all of the props and costumes seen on screen. The film was developed under a strict set of limitations. No more than six hundred dollars was to be spent; any device used to move the camera had to be built by myself; I had to make all costumes and props; last only natural lighting could be used. The goal was to create restrictions where, in order to achieve a certain aesthetic, only the camera itself could be manipulated. Therefore, the film is centered less on the story being told than on the action taking place. The thesis accompanying this project is both a critique of my own film and a review of past innovators who have changed the face of cinema. The filmmakers discussed in my thesis developed new methods of piecing the image together, manipulating how the camera received the image, and invented new devices to change the movement of the camera. This project is both an overview of the technical innovation in cinema and a discussion about how I may one day fit into the tradition of film innovators.