9th April- 1st Filming day//reflections//documentation 'How Text Lives'
1st filming day
Today was our first planned filming day to work collaboratively on the short silent film for the exhibition. We met at university to use the equipment and daylight studio. We used a large spotlight and began with a black background. Holly is first and foremost leading this section and is the director as well as camera operator. The text that I produced is what is being spoken creating the visual, Hannah is the figure within the film adding her performative and personal take on the text as well as the planned shots. Within the film holly is focusing on areas of the face that move while you speak; be that obviously or subtlety. With the black background we found that Hannah looked very gauntly and unhealthy. This was instantly decided against due to that not being our aim within the work. The text is the main figure and Hannah is a facilitator, therefore we did not want to be portraying/implying any other themes or commentary. We took a few test shots with the black background then switched to the white wall.
The white background was very obviously paper so we chose to move the set back to the wall. This very plain filming technique is intended to draw as much attention to the small personalities of the movements happening on the face. Further the white contrast enables Hannah's skin to not have that gaunt, haunted quality. Her reading of the text is in a hopeful, informative manner. I do not wish the viewer to feel there is an air of sickness or lack of life within her. It is the re-ignition of life that is our main aim. More test shots were taken however we struggled with certain shots such as the eyes. For this we have planned to film again on Monday so hannah has time to learn the text. Due to her having to read it today we were not able to focus still and centrally on her eyes, for the shot to be most effective, her looking directly down the camera, she will need to know the text well and read it as she keeps her eyes blinkered onto the camera. However, today was effective in knowing how these shots can come to life. Holly will edit these together into a first draft tester film and then again on Monday we will finish the remaining filming. This allows Holly a further two weeks to edit the work and add her own personality and artistic intricacies. This is how this film has moved from her planning to our collective collaborative effort. The conversations, interactions and changes made together today and that will be made in the next section remove any singular authorship that could have been attributed. In my studio practice I have been working on the filming of an editing process of government documents. Therefore I have been considering the ways in which film can be used progressively. Film as a material is interesting as I often think of its accessibility. The way it can be sent and viewed without any physical contact or interaction. This therefore makes it a very widely accessible entity. It also can be shown in settings that are very far detached from the white gallery space. The entrance of a film into a home is in some ways intrusive but in another way overtly political and active. The same way information is spread for things such as protests. The introduction of this into the home and instant space of majority of people is important. These are more broad reflections on film as a material and something I am still considering/researching. I think working collaboratively with an experienced film maker will open up new realisations for myself and allow me to hopefully conclude more about how 'materiality' and exhibition can add strongly to radical social commentary.
Reflections/documentation
'How Text Lives' collaboration
The white background was very obviously paper so we chose to move the set back to the wall. This very plain filming technique is intended to draw as much attention to the small personalities of the movements happening on the face. Further the white contrast enables Hannah's skin to not have that gaunt, haunted quality. Her reading of the text is in a hopeful, informative manner. I do not wish the viewer to feel there is an air of sickness or lack of life within her. It is the re-ignition of life that is our main aim. More test shots were taken however we struggled with certain shots such as the eyes. For this we have planned to film again on Monday so hannah has time to learn the text. Due to her having to read it today we were not able to focus still and centrally on her eyes, for the shot to be most effective, her looking directly down the camera, she will need to know the text well and read it as she keeps her eyes blinkered onto the camera. However, today was effective in knowing how these shots can come to life. Holly will edit these together into a first draft tester film and then again on Monday we will finish the remaining filming. This allows Holly a further two weeks to edit the work and add her own personality and artistic intricacies. This is how this film has moved from her planning to our collective collaborative effort. The conversations, interactions and changes made together today and that will be made in the next section remove any singular authorship that could have been attributed. In my studio practice I have been working on the filming of an editing process of government documents. Therefore I have been considering the ways in which film can be used progressively. Film as a material is interesting as I often think of its accessibility. The way it can be sent and viewed without any physical contact or interaction. This therefore makes it a very widely accessible entity. It also can be shown in settings that are very far detached from the white gallery space. The entrance of a film into a home is in some ways intrusive but in another way overtly political and active. The same way information is spread for things such as protests. The introduction of this into the home and instant space of majority of people is important. These are more broad reflections on film as a material and something I am still considering/researching. I think working collaboratively with an experienced film maker will open up new realisations for myself and allow me to hopefully conclude more about how 'materiality' and exhibition can add strongly to radical social commentary.
Comments
Post a Comment