Final Photoshoot

Practice Photoshoot

Our astrological signs aim to speak to the individual, although they are generalisations they supposedly reflect who we are or at least parts of us. This concept of personal reflection is what helped decide the setting for this series. I wanted my subjects to be in a natural scenario rather than a controlled one; I chose a window seat at a local coffee shop, as opposed to a studio. I believe this gave these people the space to be comfortably expressive, or natural.

During the practice shoot I spent some time figuring out the most aesthetically appropriate camera settings for daylight photos. Before heading out to the location I used the opportunity of a similar set up in my room – capturing a person in the natural light from a nearby window. At first the photos were far too dark, I took a few without a particular point of focus just to work out a suitable aperture to shutter speed ratio.

Digital Stills Project Ideas and Research

For my digital skills project the theme is 'Reflection'.

I have began to look into star signs, as people often look at their horoscopes as a reflection of themselves and try to pull some kind of meaning from it.

Andrew Lundwall

Research – Andrew Lundwall/Amy Friend

These fragmented portraits of people represent the human need to connect the dots of their own personhood, a self-defining process according to their assigned star constellations. As these images show constellations overlaying the fragmented faces. This connected with my theme of astrology and urged me focus on what horoscopes mean to the individual.

Amy Friend

Experimental Film Pitch

Our theme for our experimental films is 'Memory' and 'Reflection'

'Anonymous'

Synopsis

For my film I am going to use all the different documents people gather through their life, such as birth certificates, letters from school, drivers license, passport, deed to house, university application, CV etc. I am going to photocopy them, so that I can edit them and cut parts out as well as editing out any vital personal information such as full name, address and phone numbers. They will be montaged together on screen, and there may be specific words taken from the documents that seem interesting that flash across the whole screen.

I am intending to use different people as subjects, so that I get a broad variety of documents to use, and also planning on filming each person’s silhouette to overlay over the top of the segment their documents are in to promote the idea of anonymity, and how we are often seen as just paperwork by the government and they don’t see the people behind the documents.

Treatment

The film is going to tell the story's of a couple of different people, as I felt that just one person may not necessarily have a big range of documents personally, and this way I could have a broader choice to show.

I want the film to have a slightly psychedelic undertone to it, with interesting lights and patterns across the documents when they're filmed, to give a hint of the messy undertones of a persons life and how these papers that are supposed to represent our lives are a poor indicator to the reality of those peoples lives.

I also want to show a link to the people to whom the documents belong, so I'm going to film each of the participants with dramatic lighting behind then to create a silhouette, which I will then layer over the top of the section of the film with their documents in it. I will do this using 'redheads' from the lighting workshop I took part in, and positioning one behind the subject and that will be the only light on in the room, which will create a silhouette.

I intend to show my audience that people are more than the documents that represent them in files, and that every piece of identification and documentation has a past, and as systems get more updated and outdated we still remain just numbers and statistics and pieces of paper to the people who deal with organising everything.

The effect that I'm going to be attempt is that of some sort of montage, with the documents flashing up on the screen relatively quickly, and at the same time as some of the other documents if I get enough. If I don't I can always repeat some which would add some bulk to the piece.

The participants would ideally be relatively diverse in age and background etc. to make for a more interesting piece, so I will talk to family members and family friends about taking part, and also people at university. 

It would most likely be all filmed in a studio where I can control the lighting and and environment, but I will consider going outside for it if the weather is working in my favour and the light is suitable.

Migration Experimental Film

Migration

Short Experimental Film

Old Boots

This experimental film's theme was 'Time'. I decided to portray this by using a pair of old, worn-out boots and showing what they weather each day.
All the different stages the boots go through, the mud and pavements and grass represent different periods of time, and how while somethings remain the same, other things change. I used both man-made and natural environments to display this.
In my video I also wanted to experiment with different techniques used to show time in films, so I used several short timelapses and tried moving them around objects slowly as I did it to create almost a stop-motion effect. I also used freeze frames and slow motion, even speeding it up at one point. This was to help create the effect of the passage of time, and also to help develop my skills of portraying time in films.

What Is Experimental Film

Experimental cinema, also known as Avant Garde or Underground film is a type of filmmaking that contrasts with mainstream and commercial ways of filmmaking. Experimental films are characterised by often being quite abstract in how they're filmed and also lacking a linear narrative, which would normally be the norm.
Experimental film is often started by novice filmmakers, and is generally done through low budgets, sometimes being self financed.

Bill Viola is an experimental filmmaker. Through his work, he tries to illuminate some of the fundamental human experiences such as birth, death, anger, love, fear. He draws on his experiences as a child, often using elements such as water and fire to express things.

'One of the most important artists in the world today'

Adelaide Festival Director David Sefton on Bill Viola

A piece I found of his that I found very compelling was 'Martyrs'. 'Martyrs' was an installation in St. Paul's Cathedral, London. In some senses, for a piece of experimental film this is actually quite a traditional piece in comparison to some experimental films, in that it's done in a film studio and is set up like a multi-panel painting that you'd find in a church.

Ghent Alterpiece by Jan Van Eyke, 1432

'Martyrs' is made up of three men and one woman, each in their own frame and each represent one of the four elements - earth, air, fire and water. It's one of the most captivating things I've seen, with Viola aligning them alongside each other, and with parallels to the others 'stories'. 

It is simultaneously disturbing and fascinating to observe, and is very different to other works around. The two characters who end up hanging from the ceiling are the ones I find hardest to watch, simply because I think about just how uncomfortable the positions they're in are, especially under duress from the elements. Viola began his film with a certain stillness, and after a moment each individual is interrupted by one of the four elements - their torment begins. 

"As the work opens, four individuals are shown in stasis, a pause from their suffering. Gradually there is movement in each scene as an element of nature begins to disturb their stillness. Flames rain down, winds begin to lash, water cascades, and earth flies up. As the elements rage, each martyr’s resolve remains unchanged. In their most violent assault, the elements represent the darkest hour of the martyr’s passage through death into the light."

-Bill Viola

I was instantly drawn to Viola's work, as I feel he has captured something in his videos in his use of lighting and sound - or lack there of. He is called a 'pioneer of experimental film' and when you look into his work it is clear why. He uses his own life experiences to create a film people are inexplicably drawn to. The way he uses the light to silhouette a single figure in the centre frame, results in the focus being purely on them, and allowing the viewer to engage fully with the individual on the screen. I also think it's clever in the 'earth' frame, how he used a technique as simple as reversing earth being poured onto a man to create such an off putting scene, as though they are rising from the dead.

Not using sound in most of his films is an unusual thing, and creates an atmosphere of almost being underwater, or immersed in the world.
I would say that sound is one of the most important aspects in a film, and that remains true in Viola's work. I would say that in these films, 'silence' itself is a form of sound, and in this piece it definitely works very well.


Sources

Moura, G. (n/a). Experimental Film. Available: http://www.elementsofcinema.com/film_form/experimental-film.html. Last accessed 6th January 2016.

n/a. (2015). 'Rembrandt of the Video Age:' Bill Viola Explores the Elemental Wonder of his Childhood. Available: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/booksandarts/bill-viola/6261696. Last accessed 6th January 2016.

Fire Woman Teaser. (2014). Bill Viola au Grand Palais, Fire Woman. [Online Video]. 20 February. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0SlwUozc9o. [Accessed: 06 January 2016].

Cumming, L. (2014). Bill Viola, Martyrs Review - Let the Unbelievers Come. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/may/25/bill-viola-martyrs-review-let-the-unbelievers-come. Last accessed 7th January.

n/a. (2015). Bill Viola - Martyrs. Available: https://www.stpauls.co.uk/history-collections/history/bill-viola. Last accessed 7th January 2016.