Day 15- Moving Image , more on Shooting and Editing and variables we can 'play' with

 

Another Camera-Person at work 
On Friday it was day 2 of the  'Moving Image' and although we focused on shooting and editing we were also able to find out a little  about a renowned practitioner  Sam Taylor Wood who has a history of creating waves with her works which include those of 'Lookalikes' .


The piece that Dr Pete alerted us to (and showed us some of) was The Last Century (2005) and he also provided a resource for us to use (UbuWeb) .

The Last Century which we watched some of was a thought provoking staged  recreation where the central conceit we were invited to be a part of was that we were looking at a 'Freeze Frame' which was actually made up of people being as still as they could (rather than made via the use of technical wizardry).

It confronts the staging used in moving image and reminds us of the Director's influence and the artificial nature of film which calls for us to suspend belief.   

Like Steve McQueen Sam Taylor Wood has also made mainstream film but her artistry was clear in what we looked at here.

The item we watched had a static camera and no sound - the muted colour and restrained lighting evoked Dutch Golden art of  the 17th Century (examples that spring to mind are Vermeer & Van Dyck).

For me the effect is clear but the viewing only offers questions - I am reminded that for early photography supports were needed for models in portraits as long exposures were required. 

The work also reminds me about finance as it is clear that high production values were used on the piece.

Shooting & Editing


We spent much of the day shooting material, I chose to visit Tate Modern for some external shots and also The British Library - the exercise reminded me that travel was time consuming even in a small area of London. I had some instruction from people at Tate who told me I shouldn't 'film' there (external doors) - the Tripod meant that my purpose was clear.
A detail from 'The British Library'


My plan was to have a sequence that drew parallels between The British Library as an establishment and the work 'The British Library'  (2014) by Yinka Shonibare   that I and some 'footage' from taken during a recent visit to Tate Modern on a small Canon camera. 

On return we worked on our individual projects and I had a structure - I may consider adding audio to enhance a 'narrative' - it was illuminating to see the work of others in the group who had very different ideas that they explored.

For the next session I will come with fresh eyes and possibly some further material.

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