Here are the links for the completed Experimental film and audio for my Experimental Portfolio
Audio - Sense Of Space Completed
https://soundcloud.com/user-610057065/sense-of-space-completed
Film - Experimental Film (Tom's Edit)
https://vimeo.com/195802272
Thursday, 15 December 2016
Experimental Portfolio Presentation
Experimental Portfolio Presentation
Ballet Mecanique - A Non-Linear Pure Abstract Film
Ballet Mecanique - Fernand Leger (1924)
Ballet Mecanique is an incredibly influential piece of abstract film created to
contrast a conventional ballet, but by using inanimate objects and machinery as
opposed to the beautiful natural flow of a human dancing. The film would easily
fit into a non-linear category, having no conventional structure; the narrative
is almost non-existent, instead replaced by abstract images, and using editing
and inventive camera techniques to portray the imagery of dancing and movement.
There is no real beginning, middle and end, instead, similar to a painting, it
just exists to be marvelled at without any real understanding of what is going
on. Bordwell and Thompson attempt to explain that Ballet Mecanique has nine
segments to it, almost giving it structure, but follow up on this explanation
by saying "With these expectations set up in the short introductory
section, the film goes on to vary its sections." The film's
"sections" are constantly shifting in tone, imagery and themes which
create this incoherent structure. Therefore, this film could also fit into the
category of pure abstract, it's inventive use of sound, mixed with its use of
imagery, and without a true narrative makes it more abstract than coherent.
This decision at the time it was made was not uncommon, a more experimental
view of film making was far more acceptable, people trying to break the
boundaries of film making and see what it was capable of. However, while
initially exciting for a director or producer, these ideas and stylistic
decisions can confuse an audience. This is likely more true of a modern
audience as opposed to a contemporary audience. A modern audience has certain
expectations, a coherent narrative, understandable visuals and clear sound,
which this film lacks greatly. It would be difficult to release a film such as
Ballet Mecanique to the audience, as a film such as this would likely bore or
confuse a modern viewer. Had the film maker decided to create a coherent
narrative and make it less abstract and yet include the creation of an
unnatural ballet, then the effect on the audience would differ drastically. However,
for the time this was not the case for a lot of films. Films were more
experimental, and those that had narrative, such as 'Metropolis' (1927) remained
very abstract and often incoherent, deciding to convey a theme or message
through more abstract imagery than a narrative.
Ballet Mecanique is an incredibly influential piece of abstract film created to
contrast a conventional ballet, but by using inanimate objects and machinery as
opposed to the beautiful natural flow of a human dancing. The film would easily
fit into a non-linear category, having no conventional structure; the narrative
is almost non-existent, instead replaced by abstract images, and using editing
and inventive camera techniques to portray the imagery of dancing and movement.
There is no real beginning, middle and end, instead, similar to a painting, it
just exists to be marvelled at without any real understanding of what is going
on. Bordwell and Thompson attempt to explain that Ballet Mecanique has nine
segments to it, almost giving it structure, but follow up on this explanation
by saying "With these expectations set up in the short introductory
section, the film goes on to vary its sections." The film's
"sections" are constantly shifting in tone, imagery and themes which
create this incoherent structure. Therefore, this film could also fit into the
category of pure abstract, it's inventive use of sound, mixed with its use of
imagery, and without a true narrative makes it more abstract than coherent.
This decision at the time it was made was not uncommon, a more experimental
view of film making was far more acceptable, people trying to break the
boundaries of film making and see what it was capable of. However, while
initially exciting for a director or producer, these ideas and stylistic
decisions can confuse an audience. This is likely more true of a modern
audience as opposed to a contemporary audience. A modern audience has certain
expectations, a coherent narrative, understandable visuals and clear sound,
which this film lacks greatly. It would be difficult to release a film such as
Ballet Mecanique to the audience, as a film such as this would likely bore or
confuse a modern viewer. Had the film maker decided to create a coherent
narrative and make it less abstract and yet include the creation of an
unnatural ballet, then the effect on the audience would differ drastically. However,
for the time this was not the case for a lot of films. Films were more
experimental, and those that had narrative, such as 'Metropolis' (1927) remained
very abstract and often incoherent, deciding to convey a theme or message
through more abstract imagery than a narrative. Audio Logs and List
List of sounds recorded by Tom Wilson and Amy Smith for the Experimental Audio Project:
- Electric buzzing of light
- Washing dishes
- Crying
- Elvis song
- Supermarket trolley
- Supermarket beeping
- Gas cooker
- Microwave
- Kettle
- Footsteps
- Ambient People
- Dripping water
- Hairdryer
These sounds were all recorded using:
- H5 Zoom
- Audio Technica AT8015 Rifle Microphone
These sounds were recorded in the following locations:
- Barnsley
- Sheffield
- Sheffield Hallam University
These sounds were recorded over several weeks, and recorded by both myself and Amy independently of each other and then discussed and agreed upon once collected. This, we felt, was the best strategy as it ensured that we had all the recordings done quicker, and left time to improve upon them if we felt it was necessary.
Wednesday, 14 December 2016
Inspirations
Below are six paintings or pictures that inspired the style of film that I had visioned before we began filming:
These two paintings were done by Rene Magritte who's art was being displayed in a museum in Belgium. I was, since I saw these pieces of art, greatly inspired, not only by the surreal nature of the content of the art, but also in some cases the simplicity. The painting on the right reads "This is not a pipe" when a pipe is being clearly shown. This sort of obscurity and almost random nature of his art has inspired me and a lot of my own work. I was not sure how to incoporate that, but I always like to keep it in mind when making a film. I was more inspired by his vivid use of colours, for instance in the painting on the right, and also the simplicity of the art work, yet full of colour and beauty. This would be more applicable to the more "Lynchian" side of our film, in the latter half, which all of the following images are related to. I was more interested in this aspect as I am more familiar with David Lynch and many other surrealist directors, as opposed to British New Wave whom Richard Ayoade is my only reference point.
Although most of my influences came from artwork, one Japanese photographer has been an inspiration since I saw his art work in 2016 in an exhibition in France. Daido Moriyama's work is so varied in style, but his photo's in colour are incredible, full of life and detail and often very surreal. A lot of his work is outdoors, capturing the life of passersby and Japan itself. However, this picture in particular interested me as it is very isolated and specific. This allowed me to think more about the "Sense of Space" notion behind our work, as well as a potential shot for the bathroom scene we had planned.
This is a comic book cover for a comic named "The Vision". I bought this purely with the intention of keeping the cover. It stood out immediately as the right balance between the British New Wave housewife we had planned and the surrealist David Lynch like elements. The mixture between the boring task of cleaning up and the dead bloody body being the thing she's tidying is what initially caught my eye. It is a reference point whenever I consider the film's production and also a very beautifully drawn image which blends lots of vivid colours with a dull background, imagery perfectly suitable for our film.
The following two pictures, one
from Satoshi Kon's 'Paprika' (2006) (the right) and the other Salvador Dali's 'Metamorphosis of Narcissus' (the left) are perfect examples of the crowded painting-like cinematography that I wanted for the film. I always envisioned a film which used similar cinematography to that of Stanley Kubrick's 'Barry Lyndon' (1975) but with the art style and madness of Salvador Dali's more surrealist work. I have always enjoyed the animation of Satoshi Kon, and his experimental film Paprika has some beautiful imagery similar to Dali, which also encaptualtes this painting-like cinematography. Once again, these are two reference points when shooting the film.
Not only was I inspired by these six images but by a range of short and feature length films, some which links are provided below:
Maya Deren: Meshes Of The Afternoon - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSY0TA-ttMA&t=3s
Salvador Dali: Impressions De La Haute Mongolie - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEIMY4wBi8
David Lynch: Rabbits - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxKPBLjHAEA&t=852s
David Lynch: Steps - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc-nZbhN_Dw
Luis Bunuel: Un Chien Andalou - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7xTjeLG5SM
Andrei Tarkovsky: The Violin And The Steamroller - http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3jgeo9
Jonathan Glazer - Under The Skin
These two paintings were done by Rene Magritte who's art was being displayed in a museum in Belgium. I was, since I saw these pieces of art, greatly inspired, not only by the surreal nature of the content of the art, but also in some cases the simplicity. The painting on the right reads "This is not a pipe" when a pipe is being clearly shown. This sort of obscurity and almost random nature of his art has inspired me and a lot of my own work. I was not sure how to incoporate that, but I always like to keep it in mind when making a film. I was more inspired by his vivid use of colours, for instance in the painting on the right, and also the simplicity of the art work, yet full of colour and beauty. This would be more applicable to the more "Lynchian" side of our film, in the latter half, which all of the following images are related to. I was more interested in this aspect as I am more familiar with David Lynch and many other surrealist directors, as opposed to British New Wave whom Richard Ayoade is my only reference point.
The following two pictures, onefrom Satoshi Kon's 'Paprika' (2006) (the right) and the other Salvador Dali's 'Metamorphosis of Narcissus' (the left) are perfect examples of the crowded painting-like cinematography that I wanted for the film. I always envisioned a film which used similar cinematography to that of Stanley Kubrick's 'Barry Lyndon' (1975) but with the art style and madness of Salvador Dali's more surrealist work. I have always enjoyed the animation of Satoshi Kon, and his experimental film Paprika has some beautiful imagery similar to Dali, which also encaptualtes this painting-like cinematography. Once again, these are two reference points when shooting the film.
Not only was I inspired by these six images but by a range of short and feature length films, some which links are provided below:
Maya Deren: Meshes Of The Afternoon - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSY0TA-ttMA&t=3s
Salvador Dali: Impressions De La Haute Mongolie - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEIMY4wBi8
David Lynch: Rabbits - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxKPBLjHAEA&t=852s
David Lynch: Steps - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc-nZbhN_Dw
Luis Bunuel: Un Chien Andalou - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7xTjeLG5SM
Andrei Tarkovsky: The Violin And The Steamroller - http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3jgeo9
Jonathan Glazer - Under The Skin
Sunday, 11 December 2016
Film Progress
Film Progress
Throughout our filming progress we have encountered various issues that we have begun to overcome. Most of these were technical such as on the day of the shoot we had poor lighting and we needed to re shoot the entire sequence of shots we had gathered. However, the shots we had gathered we treated as test footage which we will base our end product on. Other issues were being ill or being unable to shoot. We quickly began to manage our time and completed the audio project (being very pleased with it) and are starting to re shoot. We still feel very confident and passionate about the project and constantly update each other on our individual progress and both give as much input into the projects as we can.
Throughout our filming progress we have encountered various issues that we have begun to overcome. Most of these were technical such as on the day of the shoot we had poor lighting and we needed to re shoot the entire sequence of shots we had gathered. However, the shots we had gathered we treated as test footage which we will base our end product on. Other issues were being ill or being unable to shoot. We quickly began to manage our time and completed the audio project (being very pleased with it) and are starting to re shoot. We still feel very confident and passionate about the project and constantly update each other on our individual progress and both give as much input into the projects as we can.
Below is the test footage that we got, some of it was shot together in Amy's house, the other was shot in Aldi in Sheffield with the help of my friend Will who lent us his GoPro. Experimenting with new unfamiliar technology was important to us in our film as we wanted to break away from our comfort zone. The GoPro enabled us to get some interesting shots and the supermarket we filmed in gave us some interesting lighting giving the shots a dream like feel. (Before filming we asked permission from the staff in Aldi to film, including the member of staff who kindly agreed to scan our GoPro for one of the shots). We won't necessarily use all or any of the footage we got, but we are trying to experiment as much as possible as we believe this is the core aspect of the film making we are undertaking.
Here is the link to the test footage for our film:
https://vimeo.com/194695513
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