Garage an introduction

Garage is not about one manifesto.Garage is a call for manifestos, in the form of the moving image.

What does all this mean in practice?

Garage might be defined using various key-words. Atelier. Studio. Workshop. Or drawing on its French roots, where the original word meant Gathering and Shelter, to name but a few. In practice, it's a specific branch within the MUBI site that exists to curate and showcase media created by emerging filmmakers.

Garage operates as a subsite, a satellite to the main MUBI cinematheque. Members can suggest, debate and create ideas for their own future projects in Garage forum (or by messaging this account— Garage), and also add subsidiary content useful for the filmmakers taking part (by posting links to films, clips, cuts, information, or simply by asking questions and giving feedback).

MAIN PAGE

The main Garage site has a top promotional spot which is used to spotlight whatever Garage producers feel is a priority case for promotion. Underneath this are the latest films uploaded across Garage, updating live as new work appears. The latest posts from the Garage forum are there also.

PROJECTS

This page is divided into block sections. Each block contains an image and link to more information on a Garage project. Clicking through will take you to an information page, and underneath you can find all films uploaded to this project uniquely.

FILMS

This is simply a list of all films uploaded to Garage. Anyone who uploads a film to Garage will also have that information displayed on their homepage, in a section marked FILMS IN THE MUBI GARAGE.

UPLOADING

Uploading takes place currently via Vimeo. All contributors to Garage must have a Vimeo account. A filmmaker creates, uploads to Vimeo, and then embeds their film in Garage by filling in a few details, uploading a still and giving their Vimeo film url number.

LOGO OR NOT LOGO

Some future Garage projects (see projects in development for more details) may demand that Garage logo be placed before the films runs to mark it as an exclusive MUBI/Garage film. For now, the opening projects do not ask this. In the future, Garage production logo will be made available for download via Vimeo or another mechanism, in multiple formats from hi-res to ntsc basic.

OTHER FILE TRANSFER

Soundfiles, artwork, photos and textfiles are relatively easy to transfer online, email being the most obvious.

THE QUESTION OF SCREENWRITING

There is currently no mechanism for Screenwriters to collaborate effectively (in quiet) on MUBI. Nonetheless, screenwriters have always asked to take part in collaborative exercises onsite. So we are working on it.

GROUPS, BADGES AND LISTS

Groups are important because they develop two core skills in filmmaking: collaboration and unity. They also allow beginners with strong ideas to have enough back up around them to push those ideas to a reality, working as a collective, sharing the burden of work and promotion. You are encouraged to form mini-collectives and post your ongoing work in a Garage forum.

Lists
We are going to be encouraging use of the LISTS function onsite to curate films that have relevance to Garage projects. A prime example of this would be the project Art By Chance which is partially dependent on he building of a canon of experimental filmmaking from which contributors can gain perspective and draw inspiration. We will also be using the mechanism to test for good curators as potentials to sit in on future screening room judging panels.

FORUM ACTIVITIES

Garage forum is being developed to cover different kinds of debate more applicable to the life and work of people involved in making films than those simply watching and commenting upon them. These include, but are not limited to-

1. A technical lexicon: an open source debate about tactics with commonly available technology to help improve on basic cinematography and camerawork, editing and sound design.

2. Studies of specific films and filmmakers, shot by shot analysis of specfic scenes of interest, wider education on the art and roles of more neglected roles and departments in film production, from cinematographers to gaffers, from script advisors through to executive producers.

3. Specific curation and canon building work following non-typical themes or threads: for example, the gathering of all first films by world class directors, the collation of all experimental work on 16mm or shot with a specific film stock. This information cross-references (as does everything in the Garage) projects and debates ongoing.

4. Filmmakers opening threads on work in progress, using specific threads to post Vimeo cuts, trailers, behind the scenes documentary supplements and stills from film productions ongoing or in development. The forum then becomes a second place to discover more about the work going on on the main Garage site.

5. A list of all film festivals and screening opportunities, with exact submission format requirements and contact information. We also encourage film festivals to post in Garage

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If you have questions, please contact us at this MUBI account Garage or

To submit a film now, go to Garage and click on GARAGE SUBMISSIONS.