Three Lessons (How to shoot a gun) is an essay film that examines the reproduction and naturalization of gun culture by following a young woman as she travels across the United States to learn how to operate a firearm from three men of different backgrounds and ideological points of view. The video forestalls discussion of the Second Amendment in favor of examining gun culture in relation to history, identity/identification, and the reproduction of ideologies. The montage of instructional footage, interviews of the participants discussing their history and experiences with firearms, found footage, and animation underscores the gaps and contradictions that arise between individual experiences and uses these dissonances to identify the underlying political, economic and social forces shaping them. As the video shifts between these individual experiences and larger determining forces the realization that these customs of gun ownership are not given but historically practiced becomes apparent and the capacity for change more evident.

 

HD Video with Sound. 36:00 minutes. 2019

Photography/Sound/Editing by Stephen Sewell

Sound Editing/Mastering by Simon Grenier-Poirier

Produced and Directed by Stephen Sewell in collaboration with Youree Choi