Author: noahhodgson

Once again I’ve really enjoyed returning to the work of other people in this studio. Every time I’ve been given this task for reflection I’ve found such a vast array of different approaches to observational writing, and at this late stage of semester the variety seems to have only increased. In particular this time I really enjoyed Mia T’s observation using https://www.window-swap.com/. While it’s not strictly speaking within the confines of the rule set we were initially given for observations (in that its not something directly observable in our own environments), I do think it’s a really great place to take this experiment and it makes for a rather distinctive and engaging read. I had no idea that this website even existed so this observation served as a really great introduction and I’ve since really enjoyed flicking through the different window views that are on it. This observation and most of the others posted after the mid-semester break all seem to showcase just how far everyone has progressed with their writing since the first batch of observations. There definitely is an increased spirit of experimentation in this latest batch and I think it has really served to elevate everyone’s work. Looking back at the very first observations on the google doc, there certainly are some great ones there really early on, but as a broad statement, I’d say that each batch has gotten progressively more interesting and less formulaic for me. In a way I think that the restrictions imposed by the pandemic have been a blessing in disguise where this class is concerned. As everyone (and myself included) has slowly run out of ideas as the semester progressed I think it has forced all of us to be more creative and more experimental in our approach not just to the actual writing but to subject matter too. In a way I feel like it’s a bit of a shame the class is coming to an end so soon as I can only see each person’s writing continuing to improve and diversify even further were we to continue on.

This week the clip we watched in class that really stood out to me was the one titled ‘Documenteur’, which I thought was a really interesting almost sort of ‘people-watching’ film (if that term makes sense). The clip essentially features this sort of disconnected monologue which describes both the external appearance of certain things and in particular facial expressions (at the beginning of the clip anyway) as well as what one could presume is a characters internal machinations. Despite the way the voiceover progresses through this very poetic sort of sequence, it was actually the very opening shot which intrigued me the most. This sort of idea of filming a person’s facial expression and giving it an accompanying voiceover of what might be going on in their head is one that I’d actually really like to see explored further. In this case I don’t think this is something I would experiment with personally, but I think it’d be really interesting to see someone else in the class take an idea like this and run with it for their final assignment. Of course showing an image of someone’s face while an monologuing voiceover explains what they’re thinking at the time, is a bit of a trope in the cinema world, I think approaching it from an external perspective – in that it could be an outside observer making up what that person’s story or thoughts could be based on their outward appearance, could be a really interesting short film to watch and it would certainly be within the spirit of this class. It’s rather surprising to me actually that there doesn’t seem to be anyone doing any ‘people watching’ for their observations (at least judging by the shared observations), considering just how rich a topic it could be for exploration – though I do think this could in large part be attributed to the lockdown. I’d almost be interested to see what comes out of this class the next time it’s run (presuming that happens post-COVID), just to see how much more actual people factor into the class’s observations. For me personally I think even if there were loads of people out and about I probably wouldn’t be writing about them – there’s just something that feels a little off putting about that whole idea, even more so than say street photography for instance. But nonetheless that doesn’t stop me thinking about the filmic potential of it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Hznnz-tSyMR4u3s63Yrl6rFiX1LVQZ1/view?usp=sharing

Another clip (or rather clips) we watched in class this week that I really got a lot out of was ‘Powers’. In this case we were provided with two versions of the same film, one seemingly made as a sort of proof of concept and the other being the apparent final product. Interestingly though, and as much of the class including Robin seemed to agree with, I actually found the preliminary version to be far more interesting somehow. It’s hard to explain exactly why this is – I think it’s probably a bit of everything compounding together really. For me the first version already works so well, to the point that it’s almost as if the more refined alternative becomes somewhat redundant. Further than that though, I think there’s something to be said about the sort of lofi quality of the original and the way in which it makes the film somewhat more idiosyncratic. The original almost feels like the sort of ancient video you would stumble upon randomly during a YouTube binge and probably really enjoy, whereas the second version feels kind of dated despite looking more modern – maybe it’s the fact that its presentation is akin to something I might have been shown in a primary school science class.

Despite all these comparisons and discussion over which version is better though, I think the real lesson I took away from watching these two alternate versions of the same idea, was really that having a smaller budget and fewer resources should not be seen as a limitation on creativity – in fact as I think these videos show, sometimes when you have more limitations you are forced to be more creative to work around them. This of course is especially relevant in the present, as it’s perhaps one of the more difficult times right now to be attempting to make any kind of film. But looking at the original version of this film is almost inspiring to me in a way, and it’s also somewhat of a wakeup call – because what it proves is that we shouldn’t be looking at the limitations imposed on us at the moment as a restriction on creativity, as in actual fact it’s very likely that the films we’re going to make for this final assignment could not, or at the very least would not have been made the same way were these restrictions not in place, therefore resulting in what I hope will be some very individualistic pieces of work.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kFHxP3LfZ0iH3EGiv6HFur3090ba16mz/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zpm-tk7E8tpsrOCdi33ADHpIb9N4jAK0/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LlpFkKSPPhR1b2-RGJN7KK7XR11to4i-/view?usp=sharing

One of the clips we watched in this week’s classes titled ‘Rain’ really stood out to me as being quite exceptional given just how simple it is. To be quite honest I have absolutely no idea the context of this clip – I don’t know if there’s more to it, I don’t know who made it or where it’s from (I’m sure Robin said but as a few days have passed now I’ve entirely forgotten), but something about it just really stands out to me. I think in a way it’s the simplicity of it that really works for me. It follows a very simple theme – that being images of rain, but somehow I just find it so captivating. The combination of the music choice and this sort of measured montage of melancholy-tinged images of rain is just so enchanting to me, I really could watch it for hours. Funnily enough it reminded me of a video I stumbled onto on YouTube the other day, which was literally just someone walking around a neighbourhood in Boston, in the rain, for a full hour. That video too carried almost the same sort of vibe, sure they’re both in the rain, but beyond that there’s a certain stillness in them that I really appreciate and that I feel is sorely under represented tonality in today’s television and cinema. In many ways I think this sort of aesthetic and tonality is something I may wish to emulate in my own work for the upcoming assignment – I really do think there’s something here worth exploring deeper, so whether it be for this class or just for my own enjoyment I may just get my camera out and have a go at creating a similar kind of film in the future.

From a perfectly square rockbed stands a small tree sapling, swaying and gyrating as the wind passes through its leaves. It’s home is not a place that appears overly conducive to life such as this. With rocks that range from lightly tanned brown to hues of grey, the sapling is the only hint of life amongst a sea of the inanimate. The sapling, its leaves a dull green with hints of red, stands proudly in its place. Though young it may be, one day its magnificent limbs may provide shelter from the harsh afternoon sun that pierces my bedroom window.

Observation 7:

Translating Observation | Observation 7 | Noah Hodgson

Observation 8:

Translating Observation | Observation 8 | Noah Hodgson

Observation 9:

Translating Observation | Observation 9 | Noah Hodgson

Observation 10:

Translating Observation | Observation 10 | Noah Hodgson

Observation 11:

Translating Observation | Observation 11 | Noah Hodgson

Observation 12:

Translating Observation | Observation 12 | Noah Hodgson

Reflection 4:

Translating Observation | Reflection 4 | Noah Hodgson

Reflection 5:

Translating Observation | Reflection 5 | Noah Hodgson

Reflection 6:

Translating Observation | Reflection 6 | Noah Hodgson

Practical Task Reflection:

Translating Observation | Practical Task Reflection | Noah Hodgson

Once again I have really enjoyed the practical component of this assignment. Robin set me the challenge of blending the voiceover of one of my observations (observation 1 was chosen for this element) with the visuals of one or more other separate observations. This concept was one I hadn’t really even thought of as a possibility before Robin suggested it, but it immediately got me really excited for the possibilities. So essentially for the last couple weeks I’ve made a point of getting my camera out everytime I wrote an observation down and just grabbing a bunch of random clips that sort of fit the mood in which I was writing at the time. As a result the real challenge of this exercise became the editing process, as I ended up with a whole bunch of disparate footage that by definition didn’t fit exactly with the voiceover I had recorded. It was quite difficult actually to use what I had filmed to fit tonally with what I had written in my first observation – which I probably made more difficult for myself by choosing not to get any ‘pickup’ shots if I found gaps in my coverage, as I felt this would somewhat defeat the purpose of the challenge Robin had set me. I tried to fit the images together in a way that made sense to me, which essentially ended up being not in the order that I shot them, but rather in order of what time of day they were filmed (regardless of what day they were filmed on). What this was intended to create was a sort of subjective beginning and end so that even if the video wasn’t portraying a conventional narrative it at least didn’t seem to appear out of nowhere and then leave without resolution. I also appreciate the sort of symmetrical nature of the beginning and end – something I actually hadn’t considered at the time of filming.

I’m not sure how I feel about the finished product. I really quite like each shot individually for their own unique qualities and I feel like despite the rapidly changing subject matter of each shot, they do all fit tonally. The part I’m not so sure about however, is whether they really work together to tell a cohesive story, or indeed whether they even bring a new meaning to the words being spoken. I think that they certainly convey the tonality I was going for with that first observation, in that regard they are a match. But being a biased viewer, I can’t really tell how effective the images are when paired with the audio. I think it works – but I won’t be surprised if others disagree. Once again I’m genuinely interested to hear Robin’s feedback on this practical exercise. Perhaps I’ve missed the mark this time, but equally I may have stumbled onto something at least mildly interesting – who knows.

Having (almost) reached the end of assignment 2, I’m definitely recognising a sort of recurring theme throughout many of my observations – that being a focus on space and feeling and the link between the two. I would describe many of my observations as being externally focused but internally motivated. By this I mean that it is generally the feeling that a space provokes that leads me to write about it, or otherwise I write about the space I’m in whilst I’m feeling some kind of way, drawing links between the two as I go. I certainly have a tendency to couple observations of the space around me together with my thoughts more broadly at the time of writing. Whether or not this makes for compelling writing – I can’t really say, but the last three weeks I’ve definitely made a concerted effort to recognise these tendencies and to try to cultivate them into something worth reading. A big part of this has been trying to get more specific and more granular with the observations I make, thereby hopefully making them more evocative. 

Robin’s feedback from my first assignment also suggested my writing could benefit from being a little more open ended. This was honestly something I hadn’t even considered in my first six observations, but I’ve again tried really hard to work on this for this second batch of observations. Rather than being very black and white with my descriptions of space and feel, I’ve attempted to bring out how I’m feeling within the description of the space itself. My hope is that these adjustments have resulted in a stronger batch of observations, even if they still are largely in the same sort of tonality and style as those that preceded them. Going forward I’m really hoping to continue to develop and continue along this path I’m on. In particular I’m really hoping to improve my expressive capabilities – something I’m sure has the potential for far reaching positive impacts on my life and work, should I be successful.

It’s certainly an interesting read going through the rest of the classes favourite observations, particularly looking at how each of us have adjusted to, embraced or circumvented the restrictions imposed on us by COVID. Without a doubt the situation we’ve found ourselves in makes the task of finding something new to write about twice weekly seem a little overbearing at times – so it’s somewhat refreshing and inspiring to see such a variety of writing from the rest of the studio members. Each of us seems to have found our own ways of working through the restrictions and in doing so there seems to be a great variety in tonality and voicing in everyone’s pieces. Some have opted as I have for observing the space around them, others their families and pets, and many the strangers they come across. I suspect once this class is complete, the body of work we’ve created could end up being a really interesting documentation of this abundantly strange time that we’re living through.

Despite all this though, I’ve personally really felt the weight of trying to work around the lock down restrictions. Going into this second batch of observations I definitely felt like I was running short on ideas for observations, but as of yet I’ve managed to scrape by I think. Although looking forward once again to the next batch, I’m once again uncertain of where I’ll find inspiration this time – though I’m sure it’ll come somehow. If anything these restrictions have forced me and likely everyone else to be more creative and more minimal in our approach to observational writing. I’d even argue that by removing the possibility for any kind of grand sweeping observations of society and human activity, it may be forcing us to get really to the core of what these observations are supposed to be about, or at least what I think this class is about – which is noticing, observing and appreciating our surroundings and the people that occupy them.

I found exercise two to be a fun little project. Up to this point I wasn’t totally sure what the practical component of this class was going to look like exactly, so it was both enjoyable and informative to begin to experiment with the visual side of the observational work we’ve been doing up to this point. For mine and Tessa’s project we opted to work off of my fifth observation, as we felt it gave us some interesting options for visuals and as Tessa isn’t currently in lockdown, giving her the visual side of the project seemed to make the most sense.

Overall I was pretty happy with our finished video and I feel like we did a really good job of bringing together both of our ideas of what it could be together into one finished product. We ended up with a fairly simple video which opted to try and capture the mood, rather than be a pure visual documentation of the words being spoken. In terms of creating an effective and relevant visual companion for the written work, I think we did a pretty good job. The visuals of course are nothing remarkable but I think they are at the very least effective in creating this sort of dark atmosphere that the writing is talking about.

I definitely got a lot out of exercise two, especially considering how simple a project it was all things considered. Perhaps most importantly completing this video has really got me thinking about the possibilities for our future forays into video, and has really given me a sort of framework to work from going forward. As discussed with Robin, I really want to continue to explore this concept of capturing mood with visuals so it’s definitely been a helpful experience to begin doing that here.