Tjepke Zijlstra (1968, The Netherlands) is a director for film, theatre and music. After his graduation in 1992 as an Audiovisual Designer he started as a director and editor working on several movies, documentaries and television programs. In 1994 he launched his own company in which he combined freelance commercial assignments with more artistic work. His ideas and edgy work seemed especially interesting for new formats and high-end movies. Combining contemporary ideas with new technology led to new ways of telling and visualizing narratives. His main interest and subjects for films has always been youth and adolescence. Around 2000 he was asked to develop and design some major productions. He won a major price for best youth program in 2002 and another nominee in 2004 but he lost his interest in television programs and directed several applied and recruiting youth films. In 2003 he was asked to develop a media course at Utrecht School of the Arts. Since that year he’s course leader and senior lecturer Digital Video Design. An invitation of the School of Theatre to realize a film with young upcoming actors led to Luim Film. Luim Film comprises a group of experienced and enthusiastic directors, photographers, designers, stylists, sound designers and editors, who, in addition to their other, more commercial jobs, continually strive to extend their artistic boundaries and meet new challenges. Under supervision of Tjepke Zijlstra they develop new ways of telling and visualising stories by marrying contemporary ideas and concepts with a variety of disciplines and new technology.
Yvonne Brouwers (1988, The Netherlands) is a student at the Utrecht School of the Arts and specializes in short mixed media productions. After high school she went to art school, studying to become an art teacher. Feeling too limited by the more classical forms of art, she changed schools to explore different kinds of media. The main focus of her work is combining analogue and digital techniques without being tied to one medium. She is interested in the fine line between autonomous works and applied design, visual experiments and the combination of audiovisual work with illustration, painting, sculpture and performance.
Thom Smeets (1987, The Netherlands) likes to think he was born with a natural curiousity about everything. A young dreamer, enjoyed drawing at an early age. In his early teens he picked up a guitar and formed a punkband. In that same period he discovered the powers of digital tools like Photoshop and Flash. Around the age of 18 he combined his love for music and graphics and became a freelance VJ and After Effects-geek. Then he decided that a proper education wouldn’t harm his future self. So he applied to the study “Digital Media Design” in 2009, hoping to add interactivity to his passions and workfield. Now, three years later, he runs Che Che Check, a small business specializing in interactive -art, -marketing and design, alongside his study at School of Arts, Utrecht. Thom is always looking to broaden his passions with innovations in music, art, science and all crossreferences in between.
In this two and a half day covering workshop we’ll explore the horizon of creative makership that stretches from narrative film up to interactive installations. What message do you want to communicate to what kind of audience? And how would you extrapolate a form-choice out of these answers, to design a coherent creative end product? With this gathered knowledge, participants will create a visual proof-of-concept.
