IDEA
Title: Guild Hauntings /or/ The Brick Wall
Format: Short Film/Creative-abstract Documentary/Historical Fiction
Proposed length: 3-5 Minutes
SYNOPSIS
Viewers are led from behind a wall next to the staircase in Storey Hall and up the stairs, almost as if they are experiencing a simulator ride. This will all be done in one long shot filmed in 50FPS. The camera will pause momentarily as it first shows the exposed brick wall. It will then slowly approach the wall while atmospheric noise increases in intensity. I would like to have some effects here to establish the desired mood – potentially smoke machine or flickering lights. Noise will continue to increase in volume and intensity until the camera hits the brick wall, upon which it will suddenly stop as the screen goes black. The image will transition into coming out from behind a door into the 1917 Guild Hall Commune (I will be filming this in the Junior School Hall at Ivanhoe Grammar). It will follow a member of the Women’s Political Association (VIDA GOLDSTEIN – former leader of the WPA) walking through the hall. As it follows her, it will turn to look at various parts of the commune: a kitchen, in which a man is boiling a kettle; a barber, in which a man is receiving a hair cut; a dining room, in which a number of men and women sit together; and a smoking room, in which a number of men and women sit smoking cigarettes. Again, this will all be taken in one long shot and in 50FPS, and there will be low, dream-like atmospheric music. The woman whom we are following will eventually exit the hall through the other side. As the camera follows her, it will slowly turn around and pan out to reveal the front of the building. As it pans out, a large painted sign hanging from the front will read: “WPA Guild Hall Commune: Support the Wharf Labourers – Say No to The Card System!”. As the camera continues to move backward and the sign is completely revealed, the image will begin to distort with black flashes and the music will change back to the same distorted sound from when the camera first went into the brick wall. Eventually, the black will be replaced by footage of the outside of current Storey Hall from Swanston Street, and the image will completely transition to this with the camera continuously drawing away. The screen will suddenly go black as the sound stops (as it does in my filming experiment).
WHY
I have a personal interest in humanitarianism and guild socialism as well as feminism, which led me to research this particular history of Building 16. I also want to create a short film, and I believe this concept/idea will be best executed in this medium. I have always been intrigued by moving camera and panning shots, and I want to emulate this in my own project.
CONCEPT
My concept relates directly to Creswell’s idea of “the hauntings of past inhabitation” (p. 7). He identifies graffiti inscriptions, stains or missing wall paint as examples of this. I believe the brick wall in Storey Hall contains such hauntings, as it is an anonymous space that has a history. I feel as though the wall has been preserved among the building’s reconstruction to remind us of this history.
INSPIRATION
Daniel Crooks An embroidery of voids 2013 commissioned for the Melbourne Now exhibition – tracks an endless path through Melbourne’s laneways – filmed in 50FPS and a continuous one-shot. My idea is very much inspired by this work.
An Embroidery of Voids / Daniel Crooks from Colossal on Vimeo.
Pinboard:
WORK SO FAR
–Researched information about the strike and the Guild Hall Commune:
Beanland, DG et. Al 1996, ‘Collection of articles on RMIT Storey Hall’, Transition, no. 51, pp. 3-40, viewed 11 March 2015, <http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=980201685;res=IELAPA>.
Purvis, J & Holton, S 2000, Votes for women, Routledge, London.
Smart, J 2008, ‘Respect not relief: feminism, guild socialism and the guild hall commune in Melbourne, 1917’, Labour History, no. 94, pp. 113-132
Summy, H, ‘Peace movements 1900 to 1960’, Women Australia, viewed 20 April 2015, <http://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/biogs/WLE0634b.htm>.
–Researched required equipment to achieve desired footage:
-Sony NX70 shooting in 1080P 50P (FPS)
-Handheld Steadicam Stabilizer
-Smoke machine
-List of props required:
-Old kettle
-Wooden table
-2 armchairs
-Costumes – 1917 dresses for women, old jeans and white t-shirts for men
-White sheet for painted sign hanging on Guild Hall
-Scissors for barber
-Organised to hire Hall on Sunday 17th May (Ivanhoe Grammar)
-Made test film for shooting in 50FPS and distorting audio:
00001 2 from George Downing on Vimeo.
-Test shoot – beginning of film + audio + colour grading:
Intro(Colour)small from George Downing on Vimeo.
PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
NEED HELP WITH
I will likely need help with colour grading my footage, as that is something I have not had much experience in. I will also need help with the actual production days – someone to operate the smoke machine, someone to help set up the Guild Hall etc.
SLIDES FROM PRESENTATION
These are all the slides from my presentation in class last week:
