Tracks – I have come to really appreciate the level of ‘entrancement’ and of sophistication that using moving shots, using tracks can give a piece of work.
I was always too scared to do this, too. I am so pleased that I did. It’s not that hard.
In the final edit, I even made extended tracks – using two sets pieced together for an extra long shot. This wasn’t as smooth as I’d hoped, but it was good to try. I think that I am much more comfortable with the camera too after shooting this. Having a solid plan for shots (and having Seonaid’s opinion on them too) made it easy to achieve what we wanted. It is even more encouraging when sticking to the plan provides solid results that we’re happy with too, which it did in this case.

 

I’m so happy we waited and shot in the Design Hub, it gives the space a reallysurreal feeling. I’m really happy that we got to work in the space. It was definitely worth the push. The imagery, and interacting with the space itself gave the investigation another layer of depth with which to interact. Being in the space is amazing. The layout and the high ceilings make you feel like you are in a different world. It would be really fun to play with evoking emotions in that space (and the conventions one could use or abandon to do that).

It would have been ideal to have someone in charge of sound but unfortunately we didn’t have that luxury this time around. All the same I think that it’s important to note that I do value it and I think a soundscape created especially for that space (with the electronic hum, and an echoing of footsteps and slight echo on voice) would have added that extra dimension and brought the piece together in a more cohesive way.
I do like the raw-ness of the piece. I have come to appreciate what can be found in the rough,  and unrefined investigations. I think that there is character, and perhaps room for interpretation in the raw. Maybe that is not conducive to great work, but it reflects my thoughts and my attitude towards the investigations. No work is totally finished, and I do not want it to be that way as there are always possibilities to explore – new ways to read and understand things. It leaves room for comment, room for improvement (and room for my instability to call anything finished, to totally walk away from things).
The space, the empty space. the white walls, echoing Red Desert, seem unfinished too. The conversation alludes to unfinished business but the actions are finite.
I wanted to play with ellipsis. To play with reading between the lines, and to play with the emotion that could come from the empty.

 

Working with Seonaid was really great. We were able to work off each other and really get what we want out of the shoot. We spent a great deal of time talking through concept and style and visual material and we did fight for the space to film in. I don’t think that this could have worked out the way it did (so well) had we not been so close and followed each others work (and life) so closely. Knowing someone -closely, as a good friend – meant that we were able to play off each other and get what we wanted and get what we need from the shoot. It allowed us to take time, to shoot those waiting shots and extend the takes enough to allow for nuanced moments to come into existence. Which is something we wanted and something we discussed throughout the planning stage.

Ideally, I would have preferred to use people who were not in the course. Ella and Jim were great. And Ella’s walk is something fantastic and transfixing (I think that overall, I have become truly captivated by people walking in heels). But, being media students, they were great to work with, and they were helpful when we had a small (tiny) crew. Performance (as in character and dialogue) was not key here, motion and space were more important. But these things are always interlinked and perhaps providing a backstory for the two characters would have resulted in a deeper performance. Perhaps not, these things don’t often make a difference. Their movement was what we wanted to investigate and that is what we did.
Within that space we made them appear large and small. They hold a connection, but at the same time they are distanced from one another.

I feel that with this shoot I succeeded in using the camera as an alternate viewpoint – a totally different way of seeing (as Brackage would suggest). It was great to see that come to light. Through discussion, planning and preparation, I (we) have been able to create something that I am happy with.

 

An OFFTRACK experiment.
While we used tracks in the final edit, the concrete floor gave room for some experimental work. This compilation shows the shots that I tried just with the dolly on the smooth floor. In future I would like to tray and shoot a whole scene with the camera on the concrete – moving through. It is reminiscent of that fashionable circular movement we see in film today. But here, with the longer lens, I think it evokes an eerie feeling – it distorts the image, not in a totally voyeuristic way, but in a way that makes the viewer feel uncomfortable. The camera has taken on it’s own “way of seeing”, this movement, this image, is not something that we see with our own two eyes. It is created artificially. It is it’s own WALK and the framing is its own entity.