On a cool Monday night at the Zebulon in Frogtown, a man dressed in a Jason Voorhees T-shirt walks onto a purple-lit stage and stands next to a drum kit. Audience members, sitting in neat rows and sipping cocktails, applaud enthusiastically.
They then look up at a bright projection screen. Some grab their pens, ready to take notes.
“In film, three elements can move: the objects, the camera itself, and the audience's point of attention,” Drew McClellan tells the crowd before showing an example on the projector screen. The clip is a memorable scene from Jordan Peele's 2017 film, “Get Out,” when the protagonist (Daniel Kaluuya) goes out for a smoke late at night and sees the gardener running toward him, toward the camera and the viewer, before abruptly changing direction at the last second.
During his talk, McClellan screened several film clips to illustrate key points.
(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)
“Someone running full speed with perfect track form, you can't tell me that's not scary,” McClellan says, laughing with the audience.
McClellan is an adjunct professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and chair of the cinematic arts department at the Los Angeles County High School of the Arts (LACHSA). He will present two of the seven central visual components of cinema (tone and movement) as part of Lectures on Tap, a series of events that turns bars and neighborhood venues into makeshift classrooms. Attendees hear thought-provoking talks from experts on a wide variety of topics, including Taylor Swift's use of storytelling in her music, how artificial intelligence technology is being used to detect cardiovascular disease, the psychology of deception, and the search for alien megastructures, all in a fun, low-stakes environment. And rest assured: no ratings are given. It's a formula that has been working.
“I looked for these tickets,” says Noa Kretchmer, 30, who has attended multiple Lectures on Tap events since their Los Angeles debut in August. “They sell out in less than an hour.”
Wife and husband duo Felecia and Ty Freely came up with Lectures on Tap last summer after moving to New York City, where Ty was studying psychology at Columbia University. Hungry to find a community of people who were as “nerdy” as they were, they decided to create a relaxed space where people could enjoy interesting lectures normally reserved for university conference rooms and conferences.
Founders Felecia and Ty Freely pose for a photo with Drew McClellan (center) after their presentation.
(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)
“At the end of each conference, people always come up to us and [say] “I hated college when I was in it, but now that I'm out of it, I would love to attend a conference and have access to these experts without having to feel pressured to get a good grade,” says Felecia, who creates “smart content” on social media, such as explaining the phenomenon of eyes-closed viewing.
Lectures on Tap, which also hosts events in San Francisco, Boston and Chicago, is the latest version of gatherings that combine alcoholic beverages with academic talks. Other similar events include Profs and Pints, which launched in 2017 in Washington, DC, and Nerd Nite, which came to Los Angeles in 2011 and is held at a brewery in Glendale. At a time when the federal government is moving closer to dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, AI is impacting people's ability to think critically, attention spans are shrinking, and literacy rates are declining, events like Lectures on Tap are becoming more than just a place to learn about a new and interesting topic.
“I think people are passionate about keeping intellectualism alive, especially in this day and age that demonizes it,” Felecia says. “We're in an era where people don't trust experts, so everyone who still does wants to be in a room with their people.”
“And there are a lot of them,” Ty adds. “It's actually alive and well, although it may not be common.”
“In a strange way, this is a kind of counterculture,” Felecia chimes in.
Wensu Ng introduces the speaker of the evening.
(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)
During his presentation, McClellan broke down key film concepts in layman's terms for a diverse audience, made up mostly of film lovers and people who were simply interested in the topic. (Though there were some writers in the crowd, too.) To illustrate his points, he played several movie clips, including the 1931 version of “Frankenstein” and Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s “28 Weeks Later,” both of which made several people in the audience, myself included, jump in fear.
“That's how you scare people,” he said while explaining why seeing an illuminated character staring into an abyss of darkness is shocking.
While some users like to attend Lectures on Tap events for specific topics they find interesting, others say they would attend regardless of the topic.
“I felt very comfortable and I loved the social aspect,” says Andrew Guerrero, 26, between sips of wine. “It felt more like a community vibe, but at the same time I miss learning.”
Attendees mingle at the bar.
(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)
And he adds: “I can absorb [the information] more because they do not pressure me to retain it and that is why, in fact, I retain it.”
After weeks of trying to get tickets, which cost $35, Ieva Vizgirdaite brought her fiancé, Drake Garber, to the event to celebrate his birthday.
“I didn't go to college, so I have no prior lecturing experience,” says Garber, 29, adding that he is interested in film production and is a “huge horror fan.” But the fact that “I can sit down and learn about something I love to do over a pint? It's amazing.”
The relaxed atmosphere allows speakers to let their guard down as well.
“I get to play with certain elements that I may not have used in the classroom,” says McClellan, who cracked jokes throughout his presentation. “It's definitely more relaxed and by surrounding yourself with people who have been drinking, they will ask more questions and different types of questions.”
“It's like mixing education with applesauce, mixing it with beer,” says Drew McClellan.
(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)
Once the talk is over, the bar staff quickly clears the rows of chairs and clears the stage for the next concert. Several Lectures on Tap attendees, including the founders, transition to the backyard to socialize. McClellan stays afterward to answer more questions over drinks.
“This is a non-traditional environment to enjoy but also learn at the same time,” he says. “It's like mixing education with applesauce, mixing it with beer.”
