Assignment two gave me a greater understanding of the inner workings of the Living Museum of the West. I delved deeper into the archives and collaborated with my class mates in order to create a triad of videos that we believe uniquely represents the museum and the ways in which we have perceived its value.
I was particularly inspired by a short film shown to us in class, in relation to our short film, called ‘Symmetry’. I was inspired by this short film due to its simplistic visuals and the way in which it resonated meaning without a word being spoken. I wasn’t sure how yet, but this would be the inspiration and foundation for the piece that I produced.
Through the production of these videos I discovered the importance of having a clear and concise plan. After collaborating with my group partners we each assigned videos to one another, I chose the montage video. I chose this style of video because through exploring the museum the week before, finding historical photographs of people in various scenarios, I had a few ideas floating around in my mind of how I could make this video. On the shoot day, I gathered a few of the photos that spoke to me most. The common denominator was that they were of people; they ranged from group shots to candids to portraits. Some were official work portraits, others were of a dinner party, all were in black and white – denoting the time (decades ago). What is fascinating about these photos is that all of them did not have descriptions accompanying them, therefore their time, place and meaning was all a complete mystery; yet that is to be said of many artefacts in the Living Museum of the West.
My idea was to assemble a collage on the ground of the photos I had found, edit it together as if there had been no pauses and then close up on the individual photos in a montage sequence. I found a large photo of what appears to be farmers on their break and then proceeded to artistically frame a mixture of other photographs around the base photo. One photo had no relevance to another, except for the fact that they are all people of the past. The overarching notion that I wanted to impress upon the viewer is that although these people are unknown to us, they are lost in the past; they are still retained through the medium of photography. Through physically placing these photos of unknown people next to one another, you are reinvigorating their memory.
In the film, over the top you can hear my voice reciting the poem ‘People’ by Jean Toomer, an African American poet and novelist. I had been aware of this poem for a while, due to a keen fascination with people and the ways that they can be represented and perceived. My reasoning for reciting this poem was due the realisation that the premise was not being conveyed the way in which I wanted it to, the photos being placed together was not getting my point across. That is when the poem came in, it goes like this:
To those fixed on white,
White is white,
To those fixed on black,
It is the same,
And red is red,
Yellow, yellow—
Surely there are such sights
In the many-coloured world,
Or in the mind.
The strange thing is that
These people never see themselves
Or you, or me.
Are they not in their minds?
Are we not in the world?
This is a curious blindness
For those that are colour blind.
What queer beliefs
That men who believe in sights
Disbelieve in seers.
O people, if you but used
Your other eyes
You would see beings.
The reason why I chose this poem in particular was because it so eloquently says what I am was trying to physically emote in the video. The curiosity of people, the sadness of hindsight and the ways in which we forget to stop and appreciate life. For me, it is the last stanza which summarises the point I was attempting to make, that we are all beings.
I used my phone to record the audio, although in hindsight I wish I had used a more sophisticated recording device in order to achieve a cleaner sound. In the process of editing I realised that the length of the poem was too short for the pace of the video. I attempted to cut up the track and place it evenly along the video sequence, but it seemed jaunted and frustrating to watch. So, I simply restated the line “Surely there are such sights; In the many-coloured world; Or in the mind.” later on. In my opinion my placement fit the style of the poem well and still worked with the flow of the poem.
The set up
I believe the idea was executed successfully in terms of technical set up. The white balance was in order, as was the framing and focus. I shot on the Sony x70, a compact camera that shoots footage effectively. The set up also included a tripod, which was essential in creating a clean and sturdy frame. If I had not been able to keep the camera in one position my idea would have simply failed. In my opinion I believe that the execution of my idea was good, yet stylistically I would have liked for it to have been cleaner. My original idea was to pin the photos to the wall, but I was warned against that due to fear of ripping them. I would also have like to have controlled the lighting so that it was not obvious when there was a cut in post-production. Yet, I believe the choice of photos to be intriguing as is the close-up montage, as you can see the detail in people’s faces. In hindsight, I realise that working more collaboratively in production and post-production would have made the process easier.
This assignment has cemented my plan for my future work focus of the studio. As previously mentioned, my piece will be a photographic exploration of the history of the museum and its volunteers.
