Through the generosity of Harlan (PhD ’74) and Rima Strauss, the Cinema Studies Department is the recipient of an endowment that brings successful industry filmmakers and emerging talents to campus annually to interact closely with students. The fund provides the resources for a filmmaker to engage in a two-week university residency, during which the filmmaker will be involved in a variety of campus activities including teaching workshops, mentoring students, and participating in public conversations.

This major gift offers our students a unique and potentially transformative opportunity to engage with highly successful practicing filmmakers as well as help raise the visibility of Cinema Studies on campus and around the country. Cinema Studies extends its heartfelt thanks to Harlan and Rima Strauss for their generous support.

“The Harlan J. Strauss Visiting Professor and Filmmaker Fund provides students with a rare opportunity to engage emerging and innovative filmmakers from across the industry. Harlan and Rima have provided Cinema Studies–and UO at large–with an important, two-week community experience that is especially meaningful for our campus.” 

— Priscilla Peña Ovalle
Associate Professor of Cinema Studies

Coursework

Prior classes in the Strauss Visiting Filmmaker Series have included:

The Art of Directing:

This class focuses on the building blocks to develop a narrative director’s voice. Students explore how to create compelling characters and use the power of cinematic language to affect audiences. An award-winning filmmaker will guest teach four classes, sharing their approach to directing and providing feedback on a specific film exercise. We will view and discuss films that have influenced their work, investigate narrative tools and aesthetics, and critique classmates’ work as a way to integrate theory into practice. By the end, students will be empowered to generate strategies to create personal, original films. Instructor approval required to register.

The Art of Producing:

This class examines the ways in which a producer serves as an essential force behind a film by shaping creative decisions, logistics, and methods of finance. In this course, an award-winning producer guest teaches four classes, sharing their approach to film producing with students. Through practical projects and an analysis of their body of work, students learn how to transform a project from script to screen, support a director’s vision, and utilize different funding models. In the end, this course seeks to empower students to produce their own projects and create more ethical and collaborative production communities.

The Art of Music Video:

This class explores the creative process of making music videos and examines how a filmmaker’s vision/concept goes from treatment to final product. In this course, an active music video practitioner will guest teach four classes and share their approach to the art form. We will analyze our guest practitioner’s body of work and complete filmmaking projects that teach students techniques in the art of music video production. By the end of the class, students will learn how to: transform an idea into a written treatment and pitch; work with musicians/record labels; deal with legal logistics of production; use cameras/lenses and other creative tools efficiently and effectively; understand techniques for post-production (including primary and secondary color correction); and make music videos (independently and in teams). By developing techniques and analyzing music videos form and functions, students will be empowered to express their creative voice through this medium.