Frankham’s dissertation entitled A Poetic Approach to Documentary (2013) looks at many ways that nonfiction filmmaking relates to poetry. It discusses the rhetorical impacts of aesthetic choices in documentary filmmaking that move beyond realist approaches to representation. Using the technique of defamiliarization in order to renew perception and to spark within the audience a reimagining of how they notice and how to break free from preconceived connections.
Specifically relevant to my exploration into light and environment is Chapter 4 Complexity, Flux and webs of connection. In this part of the dissertation, Frankham discusses how an “openness of form” can facilitate moments of pause and contemplation. Allowing moments for the audience to contemplate will be integral to my project, as I am hoping to invite the spectator(s) to wonder about the formal function of each space. The video themselves will be void of diegetic visual elements to the function of the spaces themselves, but I’m hoping to allude to this via non diegetic sounds and audio accompaniments to the pieces edited into the film in post production to subtly lead the audience down the path of asking where they are. What is making that sound, where is it coming from, why am I hearing this? etc. By keeping the visual elements of the short films simple (static shots, no movement extraneous to the lights) I can allow the audience to contemplate these more abstract notions of space and function while continually maintaining their focus on the and the movement of the light sources without being overwhelmed.
Reference
Frankham, B, 2013. A Poetic Approach to Documentary: discomfort of form, rhetorical strategies and aesthetic experience. Sydney: University of Technology.