Roger Ing at the University of Regina

 

Oct 28, 1999

 

Film 200 in-class project

 

Roger Ing, a painter came to Canada from China in the 1950's and purchased the Utopia Café.  He became well known around Regina in the 80s through his paintings which he made and sold at his café, until its closure a few years ago. His paintings often followed the abstract expressionist model, but also included figures of cows, coke bottles, and iconic religious or celebrity images. He includes collage in much of his work.  His paintings were known as “Rogerisms”. At noon today, Roger Ing will be listening to a lecture by new visual arts faculty member David Garneau in UC 050.. Following that, he will speak for a few minutes with other attendees at that talk. At 1:15, Roger will be in UC 233 where he will paint and/or draw for the benefit of this class. We will have three groups, each with a high-8 video camera and a 60 minute tape, which will document Roger’s University visit and create a portrait of him.

 

Decide amongst your group who will do what roles. At the head of each tape, give a verbal description of who is in the group and who is doing what job. You may swap jobs within your group during the course of the class. Take opportunities to speak as a group and suggest shots or approaches amongst each other. Conserve your batteries! I do not expect you to shoot the entire tape.

 

Group 1 - Follow Roger Ing, capturing his works as they are created and the things he says. Roger likes to goof around in front of the camera but rarely speaks to it. Make sure to get close ups of him working.

 

Group 2 - Capture the mood of the event. Get wide shots, reaction shots, images of previous art work, the mood of the room and of the world outside the room (ie: does the weather or the events in the hallway affect the event as it transpires?). Pay close attention to the image - get some interesting visuals and compositions around the event.

 

Group 3 - Interview people who are in attendance. At the end of the presentation in 050, capture conversations (if any) between Roger and other people there. Determine a short list of questions to ask people while Roger is painting. Begin with asking if they were previously familiar with Roger and the Utopia Café. If so, they likely have a story about how they first met him or where they have his work hanging. Have a handful of questions for everyone. If you get someone really interesting, don’t be afraid to got for a few minutes with him/her. Pay attention to sound recording - have an external mic if possible or else stay close to your subject.

 

 

Label your tapes. I will collect them at the end of class. Have fun.