Month: May 2017

🔨

Project Update 2

 

 

 

 

As it turns out, I have developed a bad cold and chest infection, and have had to postpone interviews for my project. Consequently, as my subjects are rather far away and relatively difficult to get in contact with, I have decided that I will have to switch the subject of my documentary to something closer to home. Doing this will make organising interviews more manageable and time efficient.

Switching gears meant finding a new subject for my film, as I still hoped to create a documentary. As such, I revisited my initial portrait documentary for the course in hopes of being able to draw out an idea from those discussed in my first project. This proved successful, and I settled upon exploring the idea that had most intrigued and excited me when writing the essay for my previous film. Whilst researching the mechanisation of industry and craft, I discovered that, ‘in the late 19th Century, there was a great revival of traditional crafts, which came as a direct response to the increased mechanisation of production generated by the Industrial Revolution, and the subsequent alienation of the labour force, as well as the mass-manufactured products to which it gave rise.’ I compared this information to the great revival of traditional crafts that I was noticing around me and I realised that this was coming in response to the great commercialism and push to purchase of the 1990s and early 2000s and that, as in the late 19^th Century, we were now in the midst of a similar revolt. Upon reviewing this, I decided to make this realisation the basis for my project’s new direction. I have decided to create a documentary looking into this topic, asking different young modern craftspeople just why they have chosen to return to traditional crafts. I have many different ideas in mind, as Melbourne seems to be a mecca for traditional craft revival, however have settled upon interviewing three people: a traditional men’s barber, a potter, and a bespoke shoemaker, with a microbrewer and a handcrafting jeweller as backups.

 

I aim to ask what these craftspeople believe is the reason behind the return to traditional craftsmanship and handmade goods, and if such goods are beginning to take precedence over mass-manufactured items. I aim to investigate why the clients themselves enjoy handmade crafts and are willing to pay more for them – perhaps the personable nature that breeds human interaction, or perhaps the higher quality of handmade goods. I also want to discover just why these people, who are often university educated, have decided to pursue careers that take them away from what is now the traditional job market, to instead return to creating things, interacting with people, and doing physical, involved work. Is it the modern economy? Is it the product of the current job market? Is it a pushback against modern technology, or are they reinventing old crafts, incorporating new technology to enhance it? What is it that drives this return to traditional skills, craft, and physical labour? This is the topic that I am to investigate and document in the new direction for my film.

 

References

Luckman, S 2013, The Aura Of The Analogue In A Digital Age: Women’s Crafts, Creative Markets And Home-Based Labour After Etsy, Cultural Studies Review, vol. 19, no. 1, p. 249-270, Melbourne University Publishing.

 

McCracken, D 2017, Young men reinventing the tradition of trades, Weekend Australian, AUS.

🍂

Project Update 1

 

For this final assignment I’m hoping to create a documentary film. An idea that has been on my mind since the beginning of the year has been that of modern witches. There was a witch shop down the street from me that just recently moved, so there is evident interest in the field. I am interested in looking into the practice of witchcraft in the modern day and how it has evolved over time, and perhaps changed with evolving technologies. The project will furthermore be looking at representation, and how media both shapes and documents the popular representation of particular societal groups over time. In doing this, I could potentially incorporate archival and found footage, or compare it to popular fictitious depictions from the highly stylised films of the 1920s and 1970s, and documentary interpretations seen in films such as Häxan (1922, mockumentary), and The Power of the Witch (1971), by incorporating similar shooting styles and compositions, subtly referencing the depiction of witches throughout history whilst creating this new representation, documenting witches as they are today.

 

In this project, I would also like to incorporate the use of an old DV camera, which would be intercut throughout the film, to highlight particular elements; tools of the trade etc. Using this would both create visually interesting punctuation throughout the film, but furthermore could evoke imagery of modern fictitious representations of witches on film and the horror genre with which it is commonly associated, as found footage is a popular trope of the modern horror genre, as evidenced in the popular Blair Witch Project franchise.

 

In finding witches for the project, I had a few specifications. I wanted to create a film with multiple perspectives; one that wasn’t just a portrait of a person, but rather offered insight into a broader topic and offered a wider representation by interviewing multiple people for the project. I was hoping for three people, preferably three who had practised together, as it would be great to film them performing a ritual in a group. I furthermore wished to ground the film in a specific area. I would then be able to get beautiful shots of the town and these would provide a good way of pacing the film. Use of scenic shots in this way can be seen in the 2015 horror film The Witch.

 

In my research on the topic, I discovered that many witches were drawn to the Dandenong Ranges and the surrounding area. As such, this is where I began looking for witches to contact, as it would be a good area in which to ground my film, and I could furthermore capture some cinematic shots of the woods, which directly relate to the craft and could provide the magical / witchy feel that I was hoping to create throughout this film.

 

I contacted a few people to gauge interest in being in the documentary. I accidentally contacted a group of spiritualists, who do not in fact practice witchcraft, but just talk to the dead instead, and also managed to, more successfully, get in contact with a seventh generation witch who lives near the Dandenong Ranges and owns a successful witch shop in the area. Intrigued by the idea of passing down such a craft through generations, I decided she would be the best subject for this film, and as it turns out she is happy to be in it. Coincidentally, she also has two daughters which may also feature in the film and provide the alternate perspectives I am hoping for.