Time was our main constraint which meant we could not wallow in the fun stuff - getting mucky in doing and thinking. We had to make quick decisions and constantly (and almost literally) be ahead of ourselves. The sun only goes down once a day after all and we had decided to mostly work with the facades of the buildings in the evenings (when the projections are visible). It's been rather fast and furious - though we did get into the good habit of stopping for a meal at sunset (a beautiful time of day to be eating outdoors overlooking the docks).
Today I have gone back to the sheet of paper with the twelve boxes and done some thinking about all the things people have said over the past few weeks and have come up with a little bit more of a plan (I inch closer to the goal).
The below list is something I hope you might comment on from your own perspective. For those who were here, please let me know if there are holes or things you think should be included (or not).
- Voiceover of how I came to be working with archival materials. A 'story' illustrated by slides of prior works.
- Voiceover - Introduction to the PNG Work. Text to be transcribed and edited from my explanation of the project to Mia Halton. Unsure about what visual material I should use here.
- Example of process. Simon has suggested I put the following together to demonstrate the process. This may work with a voiceover which includes point 4. a) Hayley Bahr being introduced to the 'stuck' score; b) Adelina enacting a more complex score in Jo Harrison's studio (with projections); c) Both Adelina and Hayley enacting scores within a projection environment on the grass.
- Voiceover explanation of what improvisation is in this context and why it is important.
- Example of a group score highlighting how we can use these methods to work with historic buildings and film footage. Video footage from both Thursday and Saturday nights will be used. There are a few strong examples. This footage could also be combined with point 6.
- Where to from here - an explanation of how the research will proceed and why a research process is necessary.
Hey Mich, from the outside (inside); gut response is that doco idea is fab but whoa...way too much in there for 5mins of vision. VO once or twice MAX but most important to build a world, a feeling, a direction of where your work might actually land. I would feature best footage first, get the punters in and then hit them with the history/future of process together with archival/PNG research. Leave prior work slides til end if still time or if relevant.
ReplyDeleteYeah Jo, I think I probably agree about it being too huge. Still logging footage. Refine refine refine...
ReplyDeleteI do feel the need to frame it as a demonstration of process, rather than examples of 'work' though.
Finally got to sign in - needed tobe logged in to my gmail first, then it finally managed to get past step 4, then had to go through the porocess of creating my own blog, then revisited the page and I was logged in, so here is the email I sent you ..
ReplyDeletebut I am too loquatious so google said go away you talk too much (4096 chars is the limit)
When I spoke at length about the great visual material we had already shot I was thinking that you had the material to show how each element in the research process has its own place, each one adding to the feeling and meaning gleaned from your scores and the content of the place, film, whatever the performers bring with them, many histories layered and worked. All culminating in the varied and beautiful images captured on the lawn with three projectors playing on the bodies and the environment/architecture of that space. The interplay of space, film, bodies and framing - all relating to the score and the steps we had captured along the way, plus some other contextualising material shot since - could all be made clear with a sequence of shots, perhaps with a voice-over all the way if the actual audio on the footage is as bad as you say.
ReplyDeleteThe end result won't be a documentary of this week, but rather should be something more like teaching about, illuminating, the process, or simply arguing for the efficacy of this process in creating structure, links, beautiful imagery etc related to the material put in - the ideas, the scores you propose, the life experience and histories the others bring, the connections within the material you have chosen, the careful preparation in the lead-up creating the right space in the most general sense.
The choice of bunnies and stuck is perfect for illustrating all this, it has resulted in research resulting very quickly in a number of interpretations of something quite abstract and almost content-free. This is just what you planned, it is your process quite separate from the particular material of the show you wish to create. But the results are beautiful, complex and striking on a visual and emotional level.
The sequence I am thinking of ....
ReplyDeleteall working towards the lawn stuff, which would appear maybe 3/4 of the way through the sequence.
the stages leading up to this, where elements are realised in isolation ...
... Haley on the lawn, doing her first score, which is very much part of the lawn scene
... Adelina in the studio, working with a single projection outside of the architectural setting
... the projections you shot recently from the street
... Adelina on the first shoot, with the feet and weight part of stuck she kept going into the lawn scene
... perhaps something of the south wall shoot we did the first night
... the close-up of the image in the hands, which leads into the body-skin stuff and more detailed shots on the lawn
... something, not sure which now, from the score shot in the colonnades before the lawn shoot - pick up some things where there is an ingredient which develops in the lawn
... there was some nice booted foot work that adelina did
the practical process stuff ...
... something of adelina briefing Haley with the score
... another score delivery, by you, one of the starts of the sessions
... a couple of different debriefs - probably the one sitting on the floor in the colonnades, plus others ... this stuff is quick, good to keep contextualising it as process driven, don't use the audio, but rather use it as a base for voice-over stuff
... teaching about the projectors
... a couple of longer shots of the shoots - this is needed because I see most of the interesting images could be quite close-up
... this would include the shot where Maitland did his shout, there is a sense of looking, attention, several people in a whole environment, and I hope there is a sense of response at the moment of the shout.
There is more than enough to get a good sequence from the above, and I am sure there is a couple of things I have left out
but there is also stuff to make use of in other ways, that may make that sequence, simply because it didn't lead toward something on the lawn, but is all the same very worthwhile ...
... Haley doing the drawing on the window
... crouching over the projector with sand and the mirror nearby
... several of the other images in the colonnade
... maybe the slater images could be used - something about the closeup exmination of the feet, and the bare feet on lawn ... but its a longish bow to draw and it is probably more suited to a different compilation another day.
... I think there is something usable with Maitland going in and out of the colonnades, but maybe it doesn't work so well???
I am sure there is lots more that could be used that I don't remember just now or that I didn't see the value in. Don't try to get everything this week - just a rough cut of the main sequence above.