dance?

 I realised today that it was exactly a month ago, on February 7th, that Chloe & I met up for a coffee and she told me about her idea and I got so excited I pretty much jumped at the opportunity of being the producer (and I'm really! not! that! good! at! producing!). 

 We've been so incredibly busy developing and perfecting the idea that I haven't had any time to sit back and write a post, so this might be more of an overlook than a detailed look into every aspect of the development. As soon as Chloe told me her idea of 'almost touches', I thought of this beautiful music video and then & there decided I wanted to be a part of it because I straight-up felt really passionately about the theme & thoughts behind the project. I listened to Andrea Gibson speak the 'Orlando' poem and I think it was such a strong starting point for a film.

 Dancers: 

We had a few little meet-ups before study week but I wouldn't say we really started working on it until Chloe wrote up the first Synopsis & Treatment. From that, I submitted multiple ads for female dancers on various platforms that Rachel had suggested. Arts Jobs was possibly the easiest one and we heard back within a week, although the dancer was from Kent & after calculating the travel expenses we realised we couldn't afford it. I had a lot of difficulty posting on LondonDance as they wouldn't let you manually submit an ad - instead you have to email the editor. However, I never heard back (not once, from my four emails!), so I'm not sure what happened.

We got a bit desperate at this point so I put out an ad on Farnham Freshers and a lovely person forwarded it to someone they knew at London Contemporary Dance School. I also posted it on the University of Surrey page (as they have a specific Theatre & Dance section) but had no response. I made a little poster and forwarded it to Nina (as she said she had dancer contacts), Victor (because he's lovely and offered to help) and people Rachel's friend Jo suggested. Victor actually managed to find someone, just as we heard back from one of the people Jo suggested.

As this is an LGBTQ+ dance film, Chloe felt very passionately about getting actual gay dancers to perform so even though we still haven't made a decision, it's likely we might go for a dancer named Rachel & a partner of her choice as they would both have a similar dance style and both be part of the LGBTQ+ community. I'm currently waiting for more details from Rachel, but prior to this I made an online poll just to get expense details whilst also giving any possible applicants a choice to tell us their sexuality if they felt comfortable (as from the start we wanted a mostly LGBT crew).

Crew & Production: 

I don't quite know how it happened but we managed to recruit students from all three years of our course! Anne suggested Chloe ask two first years and they both agreed to help out in 2nd Camera Assistant/Continuity and Production Assistant roles. I asked Emily, Jack, Grace and Alice for help with Camera, Sound and Light and they were all happy to assist, and later on Alex got on board as Gaffer assistant. So that's a crew of nine people which Chloe & I are so excited about!

At the same time I've been trying my best to keep up with everyone's details and fill out our production pack. We've got two Risk Assessments, one for two days of B32 and one for a day at the weekend shooting bedroom shots within a house (with less crew than studio!). Actually, we might need to update the Risk Assessment as after our induction with David today he suggested we book an EasyRig and use mirrors for our 'flashing lights' so now there's extra cautions we might need to take if we end up using this equipment. 

Overall I did most of the paperwork but Chloe added a detailed camera shot-list to the Call Sheet and a rough moodboard + storyboard which came in handy when talking to David. I think we've also realised that a lot of the time on the first day needs to be spent figuring out the final choreography because we need to see what the dancers bring to the shoot.

Oh look, everything's so tidy!

 Funding: 

 This has been a journey. I thought second year would be a good time to see how fundraising works + we wanted to make this dance film as good as possible. So we've done so much! 

 We made a video & published an Indiegogo page. This was a massive step outside of our comfort zone. We had to write up an actual script and somehow looking at camera is a VERY stressful experience. 

 (Thanks to those who actually donated, it made our days! There's still five days left as of today.) 

 I made endless illustrations & animations. I included two in the Indiegogo video, but here's the still illustrations I made on Adobe. 

Oh, and then I thought it was a good idea to get people's attention by making a little moving image piece which was INSANE, I spent half a day staring at my screen trying to doodle an actually good image (which is so hard without a tablet), only to have to paint it in, save it, redraw it, repaint it, save it, redraw it, repaint it and save it, put it together and export it as a shot video. Yes, it only had three frames but honestly I overestimated how long it would take me before my eyes started drying up.

And then we're baking this Sunday and doing a bake sale on Monday to hopefully raise some more money (we really want to be able to pay the dancers as they're most likely going to come from London & spend two long days in the studio). 

 I think that's probably it so far, but I have most definitely forgotten to mention something. 

 I'm super excited for the actual shoot because hearing Chloe talk about her vision has been really wonderful and I hope that with the crew & some funds available she can make it as amazing as she wants to. I hope I can take part in the actual shoot too, as now that Pre-Production is almost done & we have a Production Assistant, I'd like to explore some of the camera skills I've been too busy to focus on this year. (and maybe I can even catch up with some Fields & Frames work in April... hopefully...)

And to finish off, here's a collection of really interesting dance videos I watched whilst in pre-production:

chapter 1.2 - all the decisions

Phew! I feel like I haven't slept in weeks! Maps & Networks has been a journey. This link takes you into the adventure that was my idea merging into a project between myself, Emily, Brodie and Kylan who all had very lovely ideas of their own that were linked together by what we wanted to look into and achieve. It also has all of my previous blogs in relation to Maps & Networks.

Despite some setbacks, some uncertainties, a very overwhelming start - boy oh boy am I glad we joined into a group. Despite being very tiresome, it was definitely the least stressful project in a while and I enjoyed 99.9% of it.

The 0.1% was me taking on the role of the Student Producer. If there's one thing I've always been mortally scared of, it's producing. Don't get me wrong, I like knowing what's going on, scheduling things, researching and so on, but for some reason as soon as I opened the good old Production Pack, my mind went blank.

Thankfully Kylan, Emily and I did most of the paperwork together in the time frame of one evening in Caffe Nero (this included location notifications, three separate risk assessments, a project outline and treatment, equipment list and a shooting schedule/plan). We based our three risk assessments off our original risk assessment that Brodie & I made a few days prior to that.

I then had to tweak it a few times over the next two days before it was good enough to be printed off but I can honestly say that I faced my fear (named Risk Assessment) and honestly, it wasn't that bad! I definitely learned a thing or two. After weeks of uncertainty, it was good to know that our project was going to be made and we knew what we needed to do and when.

Here's a lovely photo of us from that evening (Alex represents Kylan in this photo):

Next Kylan and I went to see Julie, booked out a bunch of equipment (we got too excited & got equipment we weren't a hundred percent sure of... this came back to bite us) for the following weekend, as well as the studio, and then it was time to breathe for a little bit.

Camera gear:
GH4 with Prime Lens Kit, Steadicam, C Stand for balancing, Tripod

Audio gear:
Zoom F8 (headphones), Pearls x2 (with leads), Two mic tripods

Lighting gear for studio:
Arri lights (300?), Extension Lead

I used the free time during the other group's studio shoot to go location scouting (perks of being the only person of Group A in your Maps & Networks group). This was actually a really good idea as it definitely helped me picture what I wanted as a DOP a little better. I noted down some places I liked and some shots I could imagine in my head already (as we didn't have a 'storyboard').

One of the visual things that inspired me was a photo I did in the summer for the summer project:

And here's some photos from that lonely walk I did:

 

part one of studio shoot: production designer

The Role of a Production Designer:

They are the Head of the Art department and thereby the person responsible for the visual look of the production and the choices made. They work with the Director, Producer and Director of Photography to select the best style to tell the story.

In our Art Department I'm the production designer, Anike is the set dresser and Grace is the wardrobe/make-up artist. As part of our first three studio shoot group meetings the concept of the story kept changing so we were unable to come up with much in terms of a look, so the three of us decided to meet up to discuss the possible look based off the outline of an idea.

First, we researched the photo and Gregory Crewdson's inspiration - David Lynch.

So after this I created a mood board to portray the sort of atmosphere I wished out set to convey in relevance to the story-line of an unusual family in a dystopian type of location.

I also mainly focused on the sofa as I felt within the image it was the most eye-catching piece of furniture and the careless/carefree way the girl lay was very much what inspired most of our ideas.

It's very much the starting days for our studio shoot and without a script and communication it's very hard to come up with much in terms of what the director and dop will want to see.

The next step would be reading through a draft of a script to visualise the story so that I get a better understanding of how the story will unfold.

As it happens at the moment myself, the director and the set dresser have all taken on the role of writing up a broader version of the story line from the previous script-writing team just so we could present a more detailed plot to our group tomorrow.

Based off this I have also created a rough set design and along with Anike and Grace we have come up with a rough list of possible props/wardrobe within a budget of £100 or less that we hope to pursue with the producer.


The list of things I have to do as a Production Designer:

• Envision the look and layout of the set based off the script
• Fulfil the requirements to portray the wanted atmosphere
• Brief the look of the characters
• Communicate this information to the DOP, Director and Producer for approval
• Forward these plans to Anike for budgeting with Producer
• Forward wardrobe/make-up related research to Grace

chapter 0 - belongings & the first look

'Individual contributors were selected and approached with the simple request to provide the artists with an object that had a special story or memory attached. They were asked to record that story, yet not reveal it. The artists used the loaned objects as muse and stimulation for their writing to unfold, creating new narrative potential. The artists publication contains photographs of the belongings and the writings they inspired.'


- Belongings by Lucy May Schofield and Sylvia Waltering

◾ the self illusion by bruce hood - what exactly is 'you'?

◾ what if our belongings own us? when there's too much or they're too precious and we never have that sense of nakedness because we always have something that's ours. who are the people who don't have anything? is it refreshing to have nothing?

◾ do they speak about who we are or are they merely objects? 

◾ does location affect meaning of objects?

◾ objectified memories and ambiguity of belongings

Richard Mosse - The Enclave

'The Enclave, 2012–13, is a visceral and moving work by Irish artist Richard Mosse filmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Commissioned for the Irish representation at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013, The Enclave is an immersive six-screen video art installation.'

 IDEA of what I want to achieve: 

 Description:  

An exploration of individuals and their identities through objectified (objectify [verb] - express something abstract in a concrete form) memories to shape a metaphorical and authentic blueprint of people.

The source would be an invite to people to bring in an object of importance or value and vague explanation of their choice. Outcome would be an audio-visual piece using speakers and projection.

 Context:  

I think foremost this work relates back to individuality, self-discovery and self-awareness that has previously been present in most of my written work, i.e. poetry. I’m interested in drawing a visual sketch that portrays the human nature, in questioning ‘US’ as both a large group and individuals that make it.

I believe this work will also push my VFX skills as it requires a lengthy and time-consuming use of After Effect, as inspired by the Pujottelua video. I also hope to pursue this idea further in terms of contextuality as I find using belongings to explore a person to be a very intriguing and obscure subject.

In terms of output I have thoroughly enjoyed Richard Mosse and the way the audience can walk around his projections, thereby almost becoming a part of the piece. 

 Skills:  

I am currently looking into the use of an infinity table within a studio to capture photographs of items to use for the project. To do this I will require the assistance of students who could volunteer to bring in items as specified in a post I will put up online, as well as provide me with a vague explanation of their meaning behind the items.

Furthermore, this piece will push my creative skills as it requires research into the relationship of audio and visuals within a piece that is meant to almost hypnotise the viewer. For the outcome it would be important to have a speaker and projector as I will edit the sound to have specific bass levels and for the video to have a certain level of contrast against a white wall.

 Audience:  

The work itself is meant to question how we view each other and ourselves, and whether our identities can be stripped until all that’s left is our belongings that tell a story of who we were as people. I hope that this piece hypnotises the viewer until they look away and question why they were looking at such a variety of objects, and whether it ever meant anything, unaware of the depth of the story behind each individual piece that will fade in this large project.

I have found that the vibrations of a speaker would push the atmosphere of the piece and the projector would involve the audience in a physical way, hence the certain chose for the technical portrayal of the outcome. 

chapter 0 - map of your head

Despite the very unusual and seemingly insensitive title, this short film tackles a dysfunctional family using non-standard documentary/experimental media techniques - it tries to get inside the late father's head by looking at his belongings and possessions, as well as conversations with the family.

The unique approach to stop-motion that seems to relate to the soundtrack is very enchanting, and the mixture of film sources used is both somewhat overwhelming and extremely intriguing. 

I feel like this is an interesting approach to 'getting inside someone's head'.

However, I am looking for a less 'short film' kind of outcome and more of a visual representation of a journey through.

With that in mind, here are questions I'm trying to answer:

1. Who's head am I trying to get inside?

2. How do I do this? How do I draw a map of someone's head?

3. Why is this important? How can it impact/change the viewer?

4. What format is this going to be in?

(Currently am leaning towards an After Effects project with minimum sound (but still present).

However I should probably explore the idea of both visual and melodic journey.)

The style of this short experimental film is amazing and I'm at a loss of words to explain how it's been done. To me it represents a thin wall between two worlds where if you look from a certain angle you can actually see through that layer.

Here are some After Effects experiments I've done, such as smooth zoom and 360 footage turn. I've just done these to get more comfortable with using VFX.

chaper 0 - infinite zooms & antisocialism

i decided to dive into the experiments for maps & networks even before i've quite sorted out the 'whats' and 'ifs'. earlier in the summer i found this video in the staff picks on vimeo and it blew my mind. it was gorgeous, rhythmic and to me looked like a cave into someone's mind. the director was inspired by one of the musicians and artists in the band, jan anderzén. the colours and patterns create a lovely flow that feels almost mesmerizing. 

''Once I zoomed infinitely into a single pixel and felt a path open, leading to the source of an unnamed nutriment.''

so then, obsessed as i was with the colours and the 'cutouts', i decided to make a test project using some photographs (macro photographs of oil/milk/ink and pressed flowers on tracing paper against natural light + quick shots of sunflowers), photoshop and after effects. this involved cutting out a lot of flowers on photoshop and using the camera tool in after effects, which might at first seem obvious and easy but is actually one of the most difficult tools because if you divert your attention for a second, you're most likely going to mess something up.. which i did multiple times.

i love after effects and i think this kind of a zooming in effect is actually brilliant. it creates a path of a sort, metaphorically, and allows one to look inside by pulling them deeper and deeper.

it's fascinating, and whilst i didn't really resonate with most of orlan's work, the one idea that i did enjoy was that the human body and mind should be explored before we get stuck in the bigger picture of online sites and maps of the world. throughout history we've only learnt the tiniest bit of what makes us human, and isn't that crazy? on that note, this following video is also exceptional:

What do we say we’re interested in? What are we actually interested in? In the intimacy of our smartphone or computer, we secretly tell Google what we’d like to know about.
By fetching most looked up words from Google search and Google news in real time, and by bringing them to the public space through visual and sonic signals, visual artist Romain Tardy proposes to the visitors an involuntary self-portrait of our contemporary networked society.

and last but not least, i'm aware music videos are usually frowned upon as they are made for the mainstream/general audience but i found the particular style and ideas of this imagery to be really good at portraying with only the slightest indication the atmosphere of anti-social behaviour. i thought it was wonderful how much attention went into building up this strange character who observed faceless others - their necks, their skin, their legs - and was also alone whilst in crowded spaces.