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ByHolliMoncrieff For the Free Press Feed your mind and body with the latest offering from McNally Robinson's Community Classroom. The Prairie Fiction Lovers Dinner and a Novel Night is set to begin this fall. Hosted by Bruce Sarbit, the Saturday evening discussion series will revolve around a different novel each time. In the private, cherry-panelled setting of the com- munity classroom, you will feast on a four-course din- ner from Chef de Cuisine Karen Nielsen of Prairie Ink Restaurant & Bakery that is tailored specifically to the evening's literary selection. "It will be very much like a book club—a book club meets a foodie gathering," says Barb King, Manager of CommunityPrograms."It'sunlikeanythingelseoffered in Winnipeg." The first Dinner and a Novel Night will be held on Sat., Oct. 19 from 6 until 9 pm. The evening's discussionwillcentrearoundthebookRepublicofLove by Carol Shields. Sarbit will get the conversation started and walk you through the themes and imagery of the novel and suggests that participants familiarize themselves with the featured novel prior to the evening, though it's not necessary to bring the book with you. Pre-registration is required. The cost for the evening is $50, liquor and novel not included. The McNally Robinson Community Classroom began offering up unique learning opportunities in 2012. "The purpose of the classroom is to provide personal enrichment opportunities. We experiment with a lot of different ideas and concepts," King says. "Many of our ideas come from book launches. The community class- room enables topics to be discussed at great length." Local musician JP Hoe will return with a variety of his popular ukulele classes this fall, including a build- your-own-ukulele workshop, Contemporary Uke 201, and Back in the Uke SSR, which will teach participants how to play Beatles songs on a ukulele. "We're letting our educators teach their real passion, which allows them to take a topic they've always been interested in and run with it," says King. "It's been an enormous hit. Almost all of our classes tend to sell out." The community classroom also offers a number of nature workshops and presentations that have proven to be extremely popular. Biologist and world owl expert Dr. James Duncan will provide a rare chance to get Up Close & Personal with Manitoba Owls. Using a variety of media, personal owl impressions, owl parts, pellets and Nemo (a live male long-eared owl), Duncan will introduce you to the mysterious lives of these nocturnal creatures. Partial proceeds from his presentation go to support owl conversation and research in Manitoba. Simone Hébert Allard, author of Manitoba Butterflies: A Field Guide, will be presenting Manitoba Butterflies 101 – Monarchs and More, in September. This work- shop is for anyone who loves nature and who is look- ing for a new challenge. You'll become acquainted with butterfly families and their unique characteristics, caterpillar food plants and tips on butterfly gardening. Dr. Peter Markesteyn, former provincial coroner, will teach a class called Murder Dissected: The Role of the Coroner in Suspicious Death Investigations, in late September. In this class Markesteyn will explain the five ques- tions all coroners and investigators try to solve after a mysterious death, while exploring the various tech- niques used to answer these questions. The Community Classroom is also welcoming back Cendrine Marrouat, a freelance journalist/reviewer/ blogger/author originally from France, to run another series of social media workshops. These will include Introduction to Social Media and Social Media Strat- egies for Entrepreneurs. "Those classes are extremely popular. Everybody really enjoys her classes. She's an excellent teacher," says King. The Community Classroom has dozens of other courses and workshops on every topic from history and ethics to career planning and health. "This is an opportunity to bring people together who are interested in a lifelong love of learning," King says. "You meet like-minded people who are interested in the same topics and end up making new friends in the process. It's a really comfortable classroom and it's a small environment—the maximum number of students we can take for any class is 32." King publicizes classes as soon as they are con- firmed. The Community Classroom has two seasons or terms—from September until December and then January until May. To find out more or to register, please see their website at mcnallyrobinson.com/home/browse/ category/1670/.❙ Gain Perspective LearnaboutCMU's RedekopSchoolofBusiness cmu.ca Bachelor of Business Administration (4-yr. & co-op option) Bachelor of Arts (3- and 4-yr.) Enrol for Fall 2013 u.ca elor of Business Administration & co-op option) elor of Arts and 4-yr.) for Fall 2013 ResearchReport: Co-op CANADIANMENNONITEUNIVERSITY OCTOBER7,2013WORKSHOP LATE LIFE HOARDING ThisfirstofitskindworkshopinCanada isbeingpresentedbyDr.Michael Tompkins,AssistantClinicalProfessor attheUniversityofCalifornia, Berkeley. This daylong training presents the essential features of compulsive hoarding and will provide service providers, family members, community groups, clients and all participants with the skills and knowledge needed to respond to situations of hoarding. For more information, please call 204-956-6440 or visit www.ageopportunity.mb.ca REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN Offering Programs in Business, Healthcare and Technology 204-775-8175 www.herzing.ca/winnipeg Offering Programs in Business, EarnYourDiploma In One Year Or Less By Holli Moncrieff For the Free Press S een any good movies lately? Whether you're feeling inspired or frustrated by the latest releases from Hollywood, the Winnipeg Film Group can help you bring your own stories to life. "The Winnipeg Film Group is an artist- run, non-profit centre. We're here to help independent filmmakers. Independent film- makers have complete control over the films they make," explains Ivan Hughes, Produc- tion Centre director for the Winnipeg Film Group. "We have workshops throughout the year—fall, spring, winter and summer." Winnipeg has a strong community of independent filmmakers. Many have won significant awards for their work and had their films shown in international festivals. Next year will be the 40th anniversary of the Winnipeg Film Group. "I have been amazed by the strength and numbers of the film community here—how busy and talented they are," Hughes says. If you have no prior experience in film, consider the Introduction to the Film Industry workshop, which explores various roles in the film industry. The Winnipeg Film Group often runs a series of basic workshops on camera, cinematography, direction, production and editing. These workshops can be taken as a series or individually. A film is doomed to fail without a good story, says Hughes. "We offer a lot of screenwriting workshops. We always stress screenwriting workshops as a great place to start because the key element of a good film is a good story," he says. "It doesn't matter how good your camera is if you don't have a good story. If you don't have a good story, you're not going to have a good film." The Winnipeg Film Group regularly holds beginner courses in screenwriting and they will be offering a class in advanced screen- writing in October. The course, 'Advanced Screenwriting: revising your feature-length script', will help writers make their screen- plays more compelling and more likely to attract high-calibre ac- tors. This course is suited for people who have already finished a screenplay and who have prior experience writing for film. Advanced Screenwriting will help students improve their writing through a series of targeted rewriting exercises. Participants must bring a completed (or mostly completed) first-draft screenplay that they will revise throughout the class. Participants will read each other's work, share ideas and offer feedback. The workshop is held in six evening classes over three months. The Winnipeg Film Group will also be holding a Feature Film workshop in the fall. They are dedicated to keeping their classes accessible and affordable, Hughes says. "Our courses are all over the map. We do some teen workshops— high school kids who are just itching to get into the industry. On the other end of the spectrum, we have retirees and a lot of people who have worked in the industry their whole lives but who want to explore a different part of it," says Hughes. "You meet all these different people from all these different paths who have the common goal of making their own film. It's a great way to make new friends—people end up working on each other's films." The Winnipeg Film Group keeps its classes small so students get the full benefit of the instructors' time and attention. A typical class will take on 10 to 12 students, and many of the editing classes are much smaller. "Some of the editing workshops we keep to five people. Our students get a lot of one-to-one instruction," Hughes adds. "People get real hands-on experience here. Film is tactile. You don't get an appreciation for the real thing unless you touch it and have an understanding of where film has come from." Experienced film industry professionals teach all courses, he says. "We've got feature film directors and scriptwriters teaching what they've learned in the trenches." While the Winnipeg Film Group prides itself in keeping up with the latest technology, they have not forgotten the history of filmmaking. Remembering where film started is important, says Hughes. "We just finished a 16-millimetre workshop where people shot with old Bolex cameras. We still have the old technology available here. We know how to process film by hand, but we also have the latest editing technology," he says. "We even have a 4K camera— it's the best camera available in the industry right now." More information on Winnipeg Film Group courses is available on their website at winnipegfilmgroup.com/training.aspx. ❙ FILMGROUP HELPSREALIZE SCREEN DREAMS ction and te red ea Gr to art to ent the Pr peg ho er un av an fes sary en he s sa nce m rol G o du tely? d or eases Group to life. rtist- help t film- e films Produc- g Film hout the er." unity of ave won and had festivals. ry of the ength and here—how says. e in film, m Industry oles in the Group often on camera, ction and Ivan Hughes from the Winnipeg Film Group uses an antique Steenbeck editing table to edit old movie film. The Winnipeg Film Group offers many different types of Workshops available to the public. PhotobyDarcyFinleyfortheWinnipegFreePress SINK YOUR TEETH INTO LEARNING, MCNALLYROBINSONSTYLE Students take part in an animation class at McNally Robinson by painting backgrounds to be used in an animated stop-motion video. Photo by Darcy Finley for the Winnipeg Free Press WinnipegAdultEducationCentre S I N C E 1 9 6 8 • Grade 12 Mature Student Diploma-High School Credits • Upgrade for College or University • Prep. courses leading to Grade 12 credit courses • Adult Literacy and English as an Additional Language 204-947-1674 www.wsd1.org/waec WINNIPEGFREEPRESS,SATURDAYAUGUST3,2013 7