Sweding! (Research)

 Pre-Research:

In my Media Studies class, we were all task to create a Swede within the next few weeks in our chosen groups. In truth, I had never heard of the term “swede” or “sweding” before. My best guess was: a Swedish person (which is true in some cases!). Nonetheless, in film production, it has a completely different meaning. Without understanding the concept, I wouldn’t be able to plan this project effectively.

The Concept of Sweding:

A swede is an ultra low-budget, short recreation of a famous film/scene/trailer using household items (little to no budget) and a lot of creativity. Where does it originate from? The term was first coined/introduced in the 2008 movie Be Kind Rewind. In that film, the characters must recreate videos after accidentally wiping all of it. To explain why it looks so different and why it was slightly more expensive, they claimed the film was "sweded," aka, imported from Sweden. This has since led to "Swede Fest" film festivals, where people are able to showcase their own sweded films.

Here is the link to the official Swede Fest website! -> https://swedefest.com/

Below is a clip from Be Kind Rewind explaining what a Swede is:

It’s Importance!

Sweding is important in studying film since it teaches the basic fundamentals of filmmaking/visual storytelling in an oversimplified way. It encourages people to rely on creativity and innovation over expensive equipment. It helps students understand how professional films are able to create emotion and meaning with what they have, and apply this to their work.