Lately, I’ve spent a lot of time shooting nature-related content and making ambient music. My recent experiments have consisted of filming parklands, clouds, and different sources of light, while accompanying these images with mostly ambient music that I have created.

I keep coming back to this approach and am therefore leaning towards creating an audio/visual project that explores my relationship with nature. Audio and Visual because to me they are both of equal importance; I don’t want the audio playing a supporting role to the visual, and vice-versa.

Visually, I would shoot and edit footage of a particular place; forests, parklands, and waterfalls are all under consideration, while the audio would be the ambient/new age music that I have been creating. The result is something I am calling a collage; and at the moment I’m leaning towards creating 3/4 4 minute collages. I feel this is achievable, however, this could easily change if I find the idea itself becomes redundant.

I’m interested in lo-fi media, and would like this to be the aesthetic of the project. For the visual side, I would like to shoot with something that achieves a vintage look. For my experiments I have been using my iPhone, but I have come to the realisation that the picture is too clean for what I want. I am likely going to use a camcorder. For the audio side, I would manipulate the overall sound to try and replicate the quality of a cassette, which is something I naturally do whenever I make music. I am choosing this form as to me, nature-related footage and ambient/new age music go hand in hand.

I’m thinking of this project as my way of investigating why I am drawn to nature. I think about film in terms of possibilities, and want to explore the potential of cinema. I’m still wrestling with how to do this project in a way that could be more formally interesting, without being contrived or a distraction.

The main inspiration for this has been my own experiments with audio and shooting. I tend to visit parks whenever I am within close proximity, and always voice record on my iPhone to capture any sounds that I could end up sampling; the wind, birds chirping, a gentle stream. I also like to shoot natural-related footage, my rule is that if it captures my attention, it is worth documenting, and I will follow this approach for this project.

Other influences have been The Art Of Landscape, a VHS series from Readers Digest during the late 80’s to early 90’s that follows a similar approach I’m taking, though their content isn’t necessarily limited to nature and often uses classical music to accompany the imagery. Sounds Of Nature – a new age cassette series from the early 90’s has also influenced the way I think about mood in this context.

During the experiment stage, I came to realise that I am very drawn to nature; its imagery, sounds, mood and atmosphere. I’m hoping this project will be an honest account of my relationship with it.

I’m leaning towards filming an audio/visual collage. Audio/Visual because they are both of equal importance, rather than the music accompanying the footage or the footage accompanying the music.

The exact location I haven’t decided, though it will definitely be a place of nature. Forests, parklands, waterfalls are all under consideration. The music will be the ambient/new age music I have been creating. To me, nature-related footage and ambient/new age music go hand in hand.

I’m interested in lo-fi media, and would like this to be the aesthetic of the collage. For the visual side, I would like to shoot with something that achieves a vintage look. This would likely be a camcorder. For the audio side, I would manipulate the overall sound to try and replicate the quality of a cassette, though I naturally try to achieve this sound whenever I make something.

I’m not sure whether it will be one collage, or a series of collages. I feel like many different collages are achievable. Maybe 4/5 that add up to 20 minutes total. Maybe that’s ambitious.

The inspiration for this has been my own experiments with audio and shooting. I tend to visit parks whenever I am within close proximity, and always voice record on my iPhone to capture any sounds that I could end up sampling; the wind, birds chirping, a gentle stream. I also like to shoot footage; it excites me, I could watch a montage of a waterfalls for hours.

Since purchasing the new iPhone 7 a few weeks ago, I’ve been spending a lot of time filming anything that catches my eye. I want to make use of this footage, and thought that I’d create a series of experiments where I would edit footage and use music that I’ve created that I feel accompanies the image well.

Experiment_1 (on Google Drive folder)
Yes, Darebin Parklands again. I keep returning here and would not at all be surprised if it is involved (one way or another) in my final project. I shot the footage about 3 weeks ago but only came to editing it a few days ago. Each clip is slowed down from anywhere between 50-75%. This was to recreate the nature VHS videos I watch. This isn’t necessarily the approach I will end up taking, but I thought I would try it. I don’t think slow-motion works very well with an iPhone (also I didn’t export it in HD so it would export faster), maybe I’ll try it again using a camcorder (if I can find one), or something else that achieves a vintage aesthetic. I do, however, like the use of cross dissolving cutting; it makes the work more atmospheric. The music is an ambient track I created a few weeks ago, I’ve been meaning to use it for something, and it’s certainly a candidate for the final product.

Experiment_2 (on Google Drive folder)
The first image was taken in my housemates room. I thought the light shining from the trees into the room was spectacular, and therefore was worth seconds of filming. A few days later I found a similar light shining through the window in my bathroom and also shot that. There is no meaning behind the image; as I stated, the criteria for being shot with my phone is if it catches my attention. The music I used was just a few chords I recorded, though to me, it sounds like the word ‘glow’.

More than anything, when I create my own ambient music, or play a new age cassette at home, I find myself being able to visualise a world, an experience, that is born as a result of the sounds. This is really why I’m leaning towards this project; answering the question of how can I turn my imagination into a film?

I’ve been reflecting on this idea, and decided to watch some films for inspiration.
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Philippe Garrel is one of my idols. I’ve watched a lot of his films, those from the 2000’s being my favourites (Frontier Of The Dawn, A Burning Hot Summer, Jealousy, In The Shadow Of Women), but I have never watched any of his really early stuff. I found The Inner Scar on YouTube last week and watched it.

“A collage of dreams. Garrel made a name for himself with this film as a new Jean Vigo. With Nico (Velvet Underground). A poetic and painterly film that has been described as ‘a collage of dreams’. The film was shot without a script, but Garrel had already thought up the eventual title (‘the scar inside’). This title was an obsession for him, every shot had to be an expression of ‘the scar inside’. Apart from Garrel himself and actor Pierre Clementi, Garrel’s former partner Nico, member of the legendary Velvet Underground, played a role in the film.”

The fact that Garrel made this when he was 23 is mind-boggling; it was one of the most pure cinematic experiences I have had. Like many of Garrel’s other works, the content itself is quite simple. However, it’s Garrel’s formal qualities, his inventiveness, that elevates it to something quite spectacular. I could watch this forever.

What I realised when watching this film was that I should listen to myself more. I feel like over the course of the semester I’ve been making work that feels personal, but I’m still not at a stage I’m happy with. As Paul has said, and as Garrel has shown, you don’t need a big idea to make something great.

I think I’m closing in on an idea that will keep me occupied for the remainder of the semester. I’m thinking of investigating ambient music in film, but with the aim of creating an audio visual experience.

I’ve been making a lot of ambient music lately. I think what I find so appealing about is how relaxing it is. It can also create powerful a mood; dreamy, lush, icy, all moods I have felt I’ve established through my own body of work.

More than anything, when I create my own ambient music, or play a new age cassette at home, I find myself being able to visualise a world, an experience, that is born as a result of the sounds. This is really why I’m leaning towards this project; answering the question of how can I turn my imagination into a film?

If I am to follow through with this idea, I need to make a decision. Do I make the music, listen to it, and try to create the visual experience in my mind to a film, to accompany it, or do I want to create a visual experience and make music to accompany it?