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With the will to empower new generations of creatives to be more confident within their careers in media, whether it be in film, photography, or cultural and artistic production, the 180 Media Lab, occurred during the last days of November, with a whole week dedicated to sharing knowledge on how to navigate the creative and cultural field, and as a space for artistic reflection through exhibits and screenings.
From creative methodologies, to how to get funding for your project, 180 Media Lab had workshops and talks, both online and at Canal 180’s headquarters tailored to both young creatives and experienced specialists.
As we are so overwhelmed by a routine where the distinction between real life and online has become so blurred, it’s important to try to understand our own roles as creators and consumers of content, finding the best way to promote ourselves in such a noisy and competitive world, and to create and embrace a bolder version of ourselves in the media. We need to draw inspiration from the past in order to embrace the future and adapt to the present.
In culture we communicate emotions, senses, feelings and knowledge. How shall we transfer those elements into messages, channels and images? And how can we benefit from finding the methodology behind releasing content, how each platform works, and the power of video and audience targeting? These were some of the questions we tried to answer and explore during the workshops.
180 MEDIA LAB — NEW IDEAS FOR OLD FORMATS
“
In communication,
we often forget to look back.
I believe that moving forward
very fast isn't good
when you lose the context
of what you're doing.
”
— Georgia Taglietti, 180 Media Lab guest
WORKSHOPS
Art, Film, Music and how to talk about it — by Georgia Taglietti
A workshop about how to learn from past models of communication and adapt them to the new channels. Cultural communication goes beyond marketing, algorithms and targets.
Compelling transmedia in an inclusive world — by Loreto Quijada
Aimed at indie creatives who want to produce their own transmedia projects, this workshop offered practical information and techniques for developing a strong concept, finding the right technology for it, and defining holistic strategies for successful financing.
Content creation for social media — by Ana Viotti
In this workshop, we paid a special attention to content creation, the methodology behind releasing content, how each platform works, and the power of video and audience targeting.
TALKS
Do Black Boys Look Blue? — by Jesualdo Lopes
"Do Black Boys Look Blue?" initiated a vital dialogue on media representation of Black men and the need for genuine spaces for discussions on mental health, gender, and more without conforming to stereotypes.
Anarchitecture: dialogues about a place — by Fahr 021.3
Starting from the term coined in the 1970s by a group of young artists who would go on to mark future generations in art and architecture, FAHR proposed a dialogue about practice as an informal process of multidimensional place-making and how a space can serve as a field for reflection and the transmission of new ideas.
The world of live music for a digital audience — by state51 Conspiracy
The state51 Conspiracy is a completely independent music company. With a unique creative environment dedicated to a music-loving audience, state51 works with record labels and artists on physical distribution, digital distribution, marketing, rights management and monetization. In this talk they address how live music adapts to a digital audience.
Identifying the shapes of ideas: Exploring intuition in developing your video concepts — by Adam Willis
This conversation explored the processes by which we tap into ideation and honing our impulses within the creative process of filmmaking. It was also discussed how do ideas come to us, from where and in what form and how can we cultivate a good practice for recognizing and cultivating them
We also had the opportunity to do some exhibitions and screenings, some at our new home in Miguel Bombarda, others at Cinema Batalha, and to the collaborate with Porto-Post-Doc. This gave us the opportunity to congratulate the past, with the film of Nicholas Bouchez, to discover the freezing frames and stories behind some films, and to contemplate the art residing in the depths of the oceans.
EXHIBITIONS
Sirens
Sirens is a triptych of short films where we witnessed an encounter between a dancer and three creatures from the deep-sea. The music and performer’s movements offer the audience a portal for connection. The Sirens are part of artist Emma Critchley’s ongoing investigative project Soundings, which explores how film, sound and dance might be used to connect us with the deep ocean and bring to light the pressing issue of deep-sea mining.
C for Coffee Installation
A 7-episode series of free and unbridled conversations between filmmakers about cinema around a coffee table. Featuring Ute Aurand, Valérie Masadian, Gurcan Keltek, Ben Rivers, Carlos Casas and Ana Vaz, Gerard Ortin, and much more… The episodes played in loop in an installation at Cinema Batalha Cafe.
Freezing Frames exhibition
Freezing Frames invited directors to revisit their films through specific frames, by challenging them to share some stories that refer to these images. In this exhibition, there was a projector screening in loop Freezing Frames episodes dedicated to the films "A Metamorfose dos Pássaros" by Catarina Vasconcelos, "Lobo e Cão" by Cláudia Varejão, "My Mexican Bretzel" by Nuria Giménez and "Mamá, Mamá, Mamá" by Sol Berruezo Pichón-Rivière. The exhibition also showed a selection of the frames the directors talked about in their episodes.
We also had some screenings, both in TV and in real life!
Cinema Novo: Nada para ver Aqui (2022)
In-person and television screening of the winning film in the 2022 edition Porto/Post/Doc's Cinema Novo, a competition supported by Canal180. Directed by Nicolas Bouchez
TV Special Programming
It was a week of programming showcasing a variety of content produced and curated by Canal180. From the flagship content 180 ID, which portrays artists from the most varied areas, to conversations about cinema between film directors with C for Coffee, to music and what's behind the creation of a music video, with Director ID.
We also had the opportunity to collaborate with some artists, that participated in workshops and talks, which gave us the chance to cover a lot of ground during the week: from how to communicate cultural and artistic projects, how to secure funding for your project, to where do ideas come from and how do we explore them, among many other rich themes and topics.
ANA VIOTTI as had an extensive career of documenting concerts and festivals worldwide as well as music video-making and artist photography. Ana has honed the craft of social media content creation, becoming adept at creating a compelling online presence both for herself and for her clients, making her an ideal mentor for how to make engaging content consistently and construct a strong digital identity.
LORETO QUIJADA is a filmmaker with 20 years of experience. She has extensively explored how different formats and mediums can mix in innovative ways, becoming adept at creating strong, memorable experiences.
GEORGIA TAGLIETTI has 25+ years as Communications and Digital Director of Sonar Festival, she gained legendary status in the field, effectively becoming a driving force in European culture and playing a key role in several other projects and cultural initiatives. Georgia is one of those people who are always ahead of the curve, consistently pushing the envelope to create highly successful cultural projects and brands.
FAHR 021.3 are an experimental and creative place seeking to rethink and redefine space through the disciplines of art and architecture. They received international recognition for a series of projects.
JESUALDO LOPES is a Lisbon-born multidisciplinary artist based in London, whose journey has led him to become a versatile force in the realms of film, events, and community activism.
STATE51 CONSPIRACY is a completely independent, one-stop music company that believes in the power of being different and have made a uniquely creative environment for people who love music as much as they do. They run a record label, and the award-winning state51 creative team operates across product design, video production and graphic design.
ADAM WILLIS is someone who has a knack for converting wild, sometimes bizarre ideas into incredibly memorable films. He has crafted music videos for some highly-resounding names, such as King Krule, Wolfmother and Steve Mason, among many others. Willis' directorial work is strikingly unique, succesfully capturing a nostalgic, lo-fi, unusual aesthetic.
EMMA CRITCHLEY is an artist who uses a combination of photography, film, sound and installation to continually explore the human relationship with the underwater environment as a political, philosophical and environmental space.
This article was written by Beatriz Borges and Vítor Serra.
featuring 180 Media Lab: Aftermovie directed by Lourenço Ribeiro.
filmed by Lourenço Ribeiro and Rafael Rodrigues.
180 Media Lab was produced by Canal180 in partnership with Porto/Post/Doc.
Published on December 2023.
