In class we have been examining the work of James Benning- it is evident in his films that his approach to noticing is driven by his intention to ‘actually look’. This is relevant to my own production, as I intend to create non-fiction work that is observant of reality.

Panse attributes this quality of his work to its evolving from an external structure rather than a preconceived idea (‘Land as Protagonist’, 66). By having a focus on the landscapes themselves, Benning demonstrates the relationships between nature, humans and machinery. In his interview with James Benning, Panse analyses Benning’s creative choices. One way in which Benning shows he views the sites as protagonists of their own is by listing the names of landscapes in the end credits of his films. He also encourages dropping subjective narrative in favour of looking at things, as it allows the filmmaker to focus on their environment.

An interesting point Benning makes is that the static camera allows for more focus on movement within the frame. By having a fixed viewpoint instead of shifting the camera, there is room for more attuned noticing of changes. New digital media is especially useful as it allows us to film complete stillness unlike film, as there no grain movement. He does this well in his scene from Ruhr, where a fixed camera documents cars as they pass within a tunnel. I would like to explore this in my work by including a number of static shots in addition to some mobile frames, to produce a more diverse representation of reality. I believe this will assist in creating an atmosphere of anticipation.

A quote I also particularly liked from the interview was his quote from Home Improvements [1985]: ‘Maybe nothing is true, except what’s out there and what’s out there is constantly changing’. I believe this best summarises his realistic approach to noticing with media.

For this assignment, I will be thinking about in particular how noticing can be used as a media practice. I aim to create an audiovisual piece that focuses on drawing attention to unseen qualities, and expand my knowledge on media production and nonfiction media. In class we have begun to explore how media can be used to linger, tune, wonder, encounter, vanish and prime. So far I am intrigued by the idea of media pieces that linger and tune into surroundings, and I would like to further delve into these concepts.

Lingering involves being present in one place, without the intent of going anywhere. It is somewhat voyeuristic, and I imagine it will involve observing people or events. If I choose this as a prompt I also feel that it will give me the opportunity to hover in one place, and create an atmosphere of anticipation in my work. Tuning is similar in that it has a sense of focus on certain stimuli. Work that tunes has the ability to shift between clarity and vagueness, or intensify something through focusing, blurring or magnifying the image. I like the idea of tuning because it plays with attention and closeness with certain places. I feel that both prompts involve a level of connectedness with a location and it would be interesting to demonstrate this relationship in my own work.

To begin developing my ideas, I am going to bring 4 pieces of media (2 inspiration pieces and 2 tests made by myself) that respond to two of the prompt words (lingering and tuning) for this assignment. I will also be paying close attention to equipment, framing, sound, location, duration, and camera movement as I complete these tests. I believe that by taking these restraints into consideration, I will be able to formulate an idea of a recipe for my audiovisual piece.