For the duration of the semester I have been less worried about marks and having an end goal in mind and more concerned with this methodology of continual practice and expansion of skills. Just by keeping up a routine of filming and editing almost daily, I have noticed my workflow quicken as I familiarise myself with all the tools I have access to (my camera and editing equipment). While majority of what I’m doing is pushing the capabilities of the editing studios beyond their normal reach, I truly am gaining a better understanding of filmmaking – even if I am focusing primarily on abstractions and imagery. Another huge benefit of this semester has been creating a library of footage that continues to grow on my hard drive. Some of this footage has been used across different projects/experiments and will probably be used for many more. I have found that reworking and repurposing material and concepts has a place in my work. Take this little snippet for example:
Yes yes it is from Gabriel Strachan on Vimeo.
The mosaic effect has been layered on top of a piece of footage used in my Braille investigations. I have repurposed the footage by adding this effect and manipulating some of the blurred parameters. It looks very different to the original piece of footage and creates a lot more movement which to me is quite engaging. This snippet has been taken from a project I am working on with Sam of Potatoheadz. It is one of his songs that he has given me free reign with to basically do what I want. I continue to show him bits and pieces along the way and he revealed that the glitchy direction in which I am heading is something he is excited about. Although he is solely responsible for the audio and I am solely responsible for the visuals, it is definitely a collaborative effort. I am working with the auditory elements Sam has provided to help direct my work.
– Gabe