Several students and adults filed into the small Boston University College of Communication basement theater Friday night to catch accomplished filmmaker Chuck Workman screen two films and speak about the art of filmmaking.

Although he was scheduled to show his 1989 Oscar-winning short film Precious Images, a seven-minute montage of 420 one-second clips from famous old films, Workman instead showed a newer short film called Pieces of Silver. He said he preferred to show Pieces of Silver because he worried that the films he used in Precious Images were too old for a young audience to relate to.

After the short film, Workman spoke about the art of montage-and documentary-making, explaining the visual and content goals he had in mind when making The Source, an 88-minute documentary on the Beat Generation, which he showed after speaking.

Workman noted that much of the documentary was shot in nearby Lowell, which makes it interesting to show in Boston. He said he was “interested to see what this group will think of the film,” adding that most young people like his documentaries because they are “not that hard to watch, but they’re intelligent.”

After screening The Source, Workman answered enthusiastic questions from the audience and discussed his experiences with famous artists, including Johnny Depp and Michael Jackson.

Workman discussed some difficulties inherent in documentary-making: licensing issues, hard-to-get actors and low funding.

“For every single shot you saw, somebody had to write a letter to somebody,” he said. “Most of the stuff I’ve done takes a long, long time.”

Workman, who has made more than 100 films, spends about two months each year creating movie montages for the Oscars (he made five this year). He said his favorite themes from past Oscar years explored politics and comedy.

Although Workman said he loves his job, he said “it is hard work” because audiences are becoming more contemporary and impatient.

Lately, “there has been a change in what people want to see,” he said, noting that people today watch more television than movies and documentaries.

Workman compared television to junk food, and said “you want it, and you can have it,” but that a good movie is “more satisfying in the long run.”

Suffolk University undergraduate senior Megan Nimeura said she came to the screening because of a “general interest in film.”

Nimeura said although she had some prior knowledge of the Beat Generation on which The Source is based, she said “it’s nice to get to know more about it.”

Self-proclaimed “filmophile” Sam Dylan said he came to the event because of his interest in the Beat Generation.

“We were molded by these guys,” he said.

Workman is currently working on a documentary based on former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, and has shot some of the film on BU’s campus.