Tim Cresswell’s ‘Place an Introduction’- Chapter 5

‘An important part of the creation of a sense of place is a focus on particular and selective aspects of history.’ I found this part about ‘Place and Memory’ to be largely reflective of our individual projects this semester. Initially I thought since we were sharing buildings that our media pieces would be similar or have the same feel and tone to them. But through hearing other people’s ideas and areas of focus, I found that they all reflect something quite different, and that the way we represented space was more reflective of our areas of focus, rather than the place as a whole. We each remembered the spaces a different way and took something different from them, and that is reflected in how we constructed our representations of the place.

Cresswell goes on to discuss what it means to represent place in a way where it can ‘contribute to the production and reproduction of memory,’ by bringing the past to the present. Again, I thought about how we used our research to inform our pieces, and how we reflected on a certain memory of history and tried to represent that. This was challenging as it required careful planning so I could capture the tone I wanted, and to make sure it was accurate to the space. Interestingly, our representations of the same place may be vastly different, as we researched different things and have different memories of the space which we represented. Cresswell states that ‘places have many memories and the question of which memories are promoted and which cease to be memories at all is a political question.’ It depends on our own experiences and memories formed though what we find important. As our own memories of the place make up our representations, our memories are what gets passed on to the viewers. Those who experience the space second-hand through media have the memory we present them with. This can also be connected to the idea of research, where our understanding of the space was largely based off of what resources were available to us and on record. I now understand how difficult it is to accurately represent a space without giving it an automatic bias toward a certain aspect or memory. In order to do this as accurately as possible, you need to spend a lot of time in the space across different days and times, and continually revisit it as you research the space. I found going to the building was even more engaging once I had an understanding of what it is I was experiencing.

Cresswell then talks about the role architecture has in creating place, noting that an architect has to be able to read an ‘accumulation of things to produce a good architecture that fits into the genus loci of a particular place.’ In this way, so much of the sense of place is informed by the architecture. As my piece was about the accumulation of architecture, I find this very relevant. The sense of space and history that I found in the building was largely due to the architecture, as that was what remained of the place’s memory. The term ‘romantic nostalgia’ is an interesting one, as it is idea of creating something nostalgic just because it is romanticised. Similar to the recent production of remastered vinyl, some architects attempt to create new buildings using traditional architecture. This is nostalgic and pretty, but the architecture doesn’t inform the place, and it loses its sense of place as the context is not accurately reflected in the architecture. It is disjointed. This is also a struggle when creating media about the subject, as it is easy to capture a space on film, but to capture the accurate feel of such historical places is more challenging. To transport audiences to a certain historical memory or place through a contemporary medium requires planning. Throughout my own process, I spent a long time considering what the most effective way to illustrate my view of the space was, and organised elements such as sound, colour, imagery etc. to do this effectively. This was difficult to do, even for an abstract 3 minute film; for a more comprehensive representation of a space, it would be much more consuming and detailed.

This contrast between the spaces we were working with and the medium used is also discussed in the Cresswell reading. The ‘boundary that separates online and offline worlds.’ Though both spaces are very defined and online space has its own sense of place, it is difficult to represent the architectural space through the online medium accurately. They are immersive in different ways, physically or mentally, and it is not always easy to communicate the place well through crossovers. The virtual tour of the building would feel distant if it was just a series of photos (our individual works should remedy this.) Something I have found through the semester, however, is that online space is just as real as offline space, and it is completely unique and different. The crossover between these worlds is challenging, and requires a lot of careful planning in order to create an effective piece utilising them both (a website and online video illustrating a historical space). But my understanding of space changed as I no longer view online space as a subspecies of offline space; where we can imitate things from ‘the real world.’ It is instead very defined and unique and needs to be catered to in a specific way. The ability to represent a space accurately needs to be approached very differently depending on the space the representation will occupy. Despite this, I found it highly engaging working through these issues for our own pieces, and have found there are so many vastly different ways to represent the same place through media. Online media allows us to explore new possibilities for representation and creativity.

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1.  Vestiges, 2:47

Follows the history of the architecture and the space building 20 occupies, as guided by the narration of Peter Elliott; the building’s architect. This is visualised through the construction of a large photo-collage within the Third Court.  Normal paced footage with the narration is broken up by time-lapsed, somewhat chaotic footage and sounds of the construction and destruction of elements in the collage. I chose to do this without musical accompaniment, so as to focus on the physical noises, as well as to reflect the silence and stillness of the space..

The purpose of this piece is to tell the story of the space in an original and experimental way. I attempted to capture the action of constructing, destroying, and covering up/ re-purposing through the collage, in order to reflect the way I saw the building’s development.

2. I worked on this project alone, thus I undertook each task myself with guidance from my tutor and guests. This project involved collecting images through photography and the State Library, editing them and creating a Photoshop composition, printing these layers accurately, and the physical construction itself. It also required me to locate an interviewee, and do a sound interview with them (Peter Elliott). This interview informed the collage construction, which I recorded by moving the camera around to many different angles throughout the construction, as well as recording clear sounds of construction to layer over this. Then, of course my most recent role was editing the piece.

3. I think I approached this project carefully and enthusiastically which allowed it to come together without any major problems. Technically, the recording of footage and sound went well, as I was familiar with the equipment, and I was able to source everything I wanted for the project early, including the physical resources and an interview with Peter Elliott, who was my first choice for a subject.

4. Some aspects were challenging, however. It took a while to get in contact with Peter Elliott, and I had to go through a 3rd party to get a contact for him. Printing the images was also difficult, as the files were enormous and wouldn’t send efficiently to the wireless printer I was using. This meant I had to save each tile of picture as a separate file so they were small enough to send. These issues were easily resolved, however. The only other thing I would do differently next time is to be more careful with my framing, as there were occasionally chairs or other items seen in my shots that I wasn’t able to crop out in editing. The process of filming would also go more efficiently if I had multiple cameras, instead of having to move the one camera around almost every shot.

5. The main issue I had was access to building 20, as I had specific shots in mind to work with my composition, but I was not always able to get them when I wanted as the spaces were being used. I figured out that the courtrooms were all generally available in the late morning and early afternoon, and the meetings usually happened later in the day. So I was able to schedule my shoots around this. I also found it difficult to contact Peter Elliott at first, as the contact email I had for him didn’t reply. I resolved this by continuing to look for other possible interviewees while I waited for responses, which organically led me to another contact email for Elliott. When I contacted the Architecture faculty at RMIT asking if they would be interested, I got a response with a more direct email address for Peter Elliott, to which he replied.

6. Reflecting on the semester, I have found I was able to get a better understanding of how space and place can be represented through media. The ability to explore a space and represent it in a totally immersive way is more challenging than I initially thought. But I think by combining multiple media elements and creating something more experimental, I was able to capture what I intended.

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Building 20: https://www.youvisit.com/tour/melbourneghosts/89521

Building 16: https://www.youvisit.com/tour/melbourneghosts/89473

1. Virtual Tour

A virtual walk-through of the buildings using photos and panoramas, with each students work embedded in an appropriate space. The idea explored is about enhanced space, and how the space is able to be experienced remotely, as well as our individual works being available in this virtual reality space.

2. My role was mostly in the pre-production stage. During brainstorming, I tested out various tour sites such as youvisit and pinterest using the photos I had already collected from my individual project, then reported back as to what worked and what didn’t. I also did initial gathering of information, such as gathering floor-plans and researching possible methods of production, to deduce whether they would be possible.

3. Once the method was decided on, it was easier to plan what needed to be done. The most difficult part of production was deciding on the best hosting method for the tour, and how it would be structured. Many websites had shortcomings, and/ or cost a lot of money. But once we found a good option, we were more productive. in the future, it would be beneficial to be more decisive, rather than hoping you will stumble across a better option. Being willing to adapt your initial idea is important in media making, and we were eventually able to settle on an idea that we were happy with, and that was completely do-able.

I managed to get a good fine cut done on Friday, which means I am ahead of schedule. I expected to only have a rough cut by then. It has really come together in the process. It was always the case that the editing is what makes this piece interesting. It is more abstract, and the way i ended up putting it together is having bursts of time-lapse, and breaking it up with pieces of the interview. So now, the most important part is the get the colour grading looking really nice, as I think getting attractive looking film is what is going to make all the actions stand out. Plus I think I have more leeway to do something more creative with this one, so if I go overboard with the filters it doesn’t matter too much. If all goes well, I should have ‘remnants’ finished by tomorrow, which reminded me; I was never fully content with the name remnants. It was good as a working title, but I am looking for something better to name the piece by tomorrow. I just think the word is too general, or maybe its too common and I want it to be more hipster sounding. Either way, I have consulted the thesaurus for a few ideas.

Vestige: I like this one, as it suggests the architecture is left over but the people that used it are gone and the building is more of an empty shell these days. It also suggests impermanence, right now the building is being used for something, but in the future the space will not be used in this way.

Motley: I was considering this as it communicates the idea of collage and layers, but I thought it was kind of insulting to the architects as it suggests the building is incongruous, which it isn’t.

Mélange: This word sounds and looks nice, and gets across the collage idea, but not so much the history idea.

At this point ‘Vestige’ or ‘Vestiges’ seems the best option. It communicates the idea of trace elements and remnants, but also the idea of history and loss of functionality and use.

I have been diligently documenting all aspects of the individual project, ‘remnants,’ that i forgot to write and reflect on the virtual tour that I have been working on. Admittedly, I recognise the bias I have toward the individual project, and have been spending much more time and effort thinking about that.

So far, I have mostly been involved in the pre-production of the virtual tour. Researching different avenues, gathering sources and testing potential hosting websites, creating prototypes on pinterest’s map feature and youvisit to get an idea of how each work and the possibilities of each.

I took a back seat during the production stage, but hopefully in Friday’s class I can assist more with the assembly and polishing of the product. I will also be organising the google cardboard for the presentation. I will probably have to do more research for this and will probably talk to Jake about it as he seems to have a better idea of how it works, what kind of phones would be required etc.

On Friday we had a guest freelance editor, Jeremy Bowtell, giving us a crash course of how to edit in adobe premiere. At the beginning of the session I didn’t think I was confident with premiere and editing because it had been a while since I had used it. But I realised all the things covered were things I already knew, and gave me more confidence in my ability to edit this piece. It was useful to get a refresher on the functions of premiere and how to set yourself up for an effective and efficient process. Organisation and making sure everything is in the right place before  you begin is vital, and i found it made the process go a lot quicker for me as well.

My piece relies on editing to a large extent, as the effective imagery and sounds will come from quick flashes of action and time lapse. I found the sounds were quite interesting as they were, sped up without the pitch affected, and I managed to get a really rough version of the bulk of the piece done. However I decided to supplement this with more consistent and repetitive sounds of cutting, ripping, gluing, crumpling etc to make it more cohesive and rhythmic. Almost like a musical piece. I will record these myself, though they are not difficult to source online if I require further sounds. Since I have a rough version of he imagery together, today I will begin editing the interview to see if it will work with the piece. Then I can alter them both together. The focus will be on the imagery and sounds of the construction, so the interview will be used minimally, if at all. Once this is together, I will have a rough cut. Then I can add in my recorded sounds and tighten up the edit. I hope to have an almost finished, relatively together piece by Friday the 29th.

Discovered a creepy decrepit building underground in the old justice district at RMIT. It was full of old documents, antiques and blacksmithing equipment. Usually that entire area is locked off, obviously nobody had been down there for a long time. I love finding things like this. #rmit #nofilter #butwhenthelightswereoffitwasthefreakiestplaceiveeverbeenin There was a huge armchair in the middle of the empty room pointed directly at the door when you enter. Going underground and pushing open an old door into pitch darkness, only to turn on a torch and see that was creepy af

A photo posted by Jackie Matthews (@jaquesii) on May 17, 2015 at 7:37am PDT

While i was setting up the camera for a shot yesterday, Cassie came in from outside and told me about this creepy dark room out there. She said she pushed the door open a little but it was pitch black so she left it. Curious, i went and had a look myself. Through a door in my courtroom, there was a space with an old holding room, but further outside, down a narrow overgrown stairway there was a set of large brown, rotten, wooden doors. They weren’t close-able, you could just push them open, so i did. It was pitch black, and pretty creepy. Especially knowing there was a huge concrete wall behind you so you can run away. I jokingly said ‘this is how you die in horror films,’ to be honest it was legitimately creepy and i didn’t know what to expect. I turned my phone torch on and pointed it around inside. I saw boxes full of old metallic objects and a really decrepit building. As i moved the light around there was a huge, tall green leather armchair. It was really structured, not plush at all, but it was by itself, pointed directly at the doorway i was standing in. I found that imagery really creepy, it was like someone was expecting me or someone to come through the door I encouraged Cassie to come down and look at it also. A bit freaked out, we went back up the stairs.
Once back in the courtroom, our tutor, Rachel, and Linh came in and we told them about it. Then we all went down together, this time turning the lights on. It was so interesting. 3 rooms Underground, underneath what would be the ‘L shaped courtyard,’ full of old antiques, documents and blacksmithing equipment. We spent a while looking through all the curiosities inside. I looked thought he files, and opened an old box to see that was inside. There was lubricant for guns and metal inside. And a huge anvil sat in the corner. The bricks were destroyed and there were holes in the wall and rust everywhere. The air was so thick with dust it smelled like a ceramics studio, but even stronger. If i knew it was there, i probably would’ve made my whole piece about it. I am always so taken by things like that, they excite me. What i would like to do, is do some of my own work based on it. Perhaps a series of paintings to capture the atmosphere.

It would be cool to go back down there if i get the chance, but i don’t know how often it is accessible. The only reason that area was open is because we got security to open the building for us. It looked like nobody had been down there for a long time, why would they. All the documents were even dated from the 90’s and earlier. I know there used to be blacksmithing courses at RMIT when that was a relevant trade, maybe it was left over from that? Who knows. But it is all so interesting to me.

Yesterday was the film shoot for ‘remnants’ (i still have to think of a better name for this…).  I began the day at 10am, bringing over equipment and setting up, and started shooting at about 11am. I was careful with all my set ups, my camera settings, everything i could think of. I even put the tripod on the big conference table more than once, thank god i didn’t scratch it. (In retrospect, if I had another camera that would’ve been a really interesting shot, me setting up the tripod on the table, looking down at the piece…) I think it all went smoothly. There were people coming in and out of my room, which i guess had been decided as the communal meeting place. I worked around this as best i could though, and it made for a less long and lonely shoot. I was very aware of my shots throughout the day so i don’t think anybody got in the back of any of them that i don’t know of. The shoot finished at about 4:30, but the collage remains at uni so if after looking at the footage i decide i need to collect more shots, i can.

I am keen to look through all the footage and put it onto the server, which i will probably do on Thursday. One thing i think i may need to do is get a H4n and gather some really clean sounds of paper wrinkling, being handled, cutting, glueing, scraping, ripping, etc. Maybe it came up well on camera, I will have to see, but I want the sounds to be really prominent and fill out the piece as I don’t really like the idea of music. I just don’t think it works with the space i am trying to represent which is old, timeless, quiet, empty, ghostly, etc. Something unexpected was because of how the glue dried on the paper, the large images were crinkled and curled. This was visible on camera and some of the crinkles reflected the light because of the glossy paper, but i honestly didn’t really mind. I liked how it added to the texture of the image and the sounds of the paper were more crisp and interesting. Hopefully the images still read well on the footage, but I liked the textured effect it gave, as opposed to if the images were just flat and pristine.

Though I haven’t had a chance to really sit down and think about this in depth, because the physical constructing has monopolised my time, I do have a bit of an idea of how i will approach the shoot today. Through the planning of the photos, i already had an idea in my head of how it would look and how i would create it. The difficult thing to work around will be continuity. In order to get varied shots next to each other, I will have to move the camera position between just about every shot. This is because the construction is a linear progression and i cant go back a step during it. It is like filming a performance.

My game plan for beginning the shoot will be to first get general establishing shots of the board and the room. Then the sky layer, and continuing on from there until I reach the end of the ‘supreme court’ composition, shifting the camera and angles as I go. While that is drying, I can get the other shots i wanted to break up the construction with. I have the idea to have close ups of cutting out paper, pouring glue, brushing it on paper, etc. For this reason I have left the ‘dome pillar’ element as separate print outs and will put it together on camera.  Once the collage is dry, I can do the ‘money shot’ as I call it. Which is ripping off the supreme court layer from the board. From there i will continue building the collage and shifting the camera as necessary.

After yesterdays hiccups in printing, I returned to uni today to print my images. Last night I spent some time manually tiling them, just so they were small enough and more manageable for the printer. I did this in Photoshop by just saving a grid of each layer in A4 sized squares. This also minimized the overall size of the files as the white space of each layer was discarded. There were 26 layers, and i ended up with 131 A4 jpeg images. This was much easier to print, although it still took some time to send them wirelessly to the printer and get them all printed out. It was a lot of paper, and took about an hour and a half to get it all printed properly.

I have been spending tonight cutting out the images and piecing them together, but this will probably take much longer than i anticipated. I have been using a ruler, a retractable paper knife, and a cork board to cut everything out (its actually an old science lab dissecting board. hardcore.) This equipment is making the process much quicker than if i was using scissors, however the sheer amount of paper to cut and past together is overwhelming. So i will be working on this tomorrow night also. Hopefully I can plan out a shot list or at least get a rough idea of what i need to include for the shoot also, as I want to know exactly what i need and what order would be most efficient.