Research Question: Observations of the natural world.

From the very beginning of the semester, I had a very clear idea of what I was interested in investigating, and a very vague idea of how I would ultimately approach it.

I’m very fortunate to have Darebin Parklands within close proximity to me. Its remoteness, diverse features and peaceful nature are all qualities I welcome. It is a place where I can (temporarily) escape from my work life and gain clarity on ideas that need considered thought. It was here that I shot my early experiments; ducks gliding on water, trees gently moving from the wind, the rhythmic motions of a creek; anything that grabbed my attention. There was a time when I was intent on shooting a narrative-based film for no other reason than to have something to show. My early experiments weren’t anything great but provided me with fulfilment and purpose.

Over the course of the first half of the semester, I continued shooting my experiments in natural settings. At the same time, I was making a lot of ambient music that came from the same place of desire and impulse. I would often Voice Record the places I would visit and use the sample in the tracks I was creating. I would use the music in the films I was making as I felt they accompanied it well thematically and stylistically. This overall approach was something I kept coming back to and ultimately informed my thinking as to how I would approach the rest of the semester.

My original plan was to shoot footage in different natural settings; waterfalls, forests, parklands, etc. and create a montage/collage of each place. I would also use my music over each collage. The purpose of the project was to explore my relationship with nature. I did some experiments but something didn’t feel right. It wasn’t until I read Paul’s abstract from The River Project: A poetics of Eco-Critical Film-Making that I came to the realisation that the approach of my project: shooting, editing, using music; manipulation was actually imposing on a natural setting that I ultimately wanted to present in its most primitive form. It was this passage that was responsible for changing my approach:

As we try to make meaning of the connections of our lives and world through film, Rust and Monani (2013) note that, ‘cinema is a form of negotiation, a mediation that is itself ecologically placed as it consumes the entangled world around it, and in turn, is itself consumed.’ This influence is evident in complex, poetic ways, and appears to revolve around the manner in which the films listen to the landscape, rather than seeking to impose themselves upon it – exhibiting a certain kind of humility.
– Passage from The River Project: A poetics of Eco-Critical Film-Making, Paul Ritchard, LAND DIALOGUES: Interdisciplinary research in dialogue with land, FUSION JOURNAL ISSUE 10

How could I use cinema to frame to natural world, without imposing upon it but still work in a way that was honest and personal? I decided that I would shoot the natural world in roughly 30 second shots, collate them and present them as brief episodic observations. No editing or correcting, just the shots taken as they were.

What I would shoot was dependant on one rule: if it captures my attention, it is, at the very least, worth documenting. I decided my way of further personalising this idea, and the broader project, was by shooting on an iPhone 7. Shooting on an iPhone places the observations within a D.I.Y context; our phones are always with us and they are now the most common accessory used to document everyday life. Instead of borrowing an EX3, planning where I was to shoot, where from, what focal length to use, etc, simply taking out my iPhone to shoot something gives the work an element of spontaneity and removes any contrivances that could possibly distract from the project’s purpose.

Camera movement was dependant on the setting. For most of my shots, the camera was static to allow the viewer to fully absorb the content in the frame. I wanted to eliminate any distractions that camera movement usually creates. There were, however, a few shots that used camera movement, though it was in the project’s spirit of acting upon instinct.

I shot about 40 or so observations on my iPhone 7. These included Parklands, clouds, rivers, trees, ducks, creeks, trains, waterfalls, mountains, fire, and the bush. After a while, I felt that I had done my idea of ‘if it captures my attention, it’s worth documenting’ justice. I could keep going with my current approach, though to me the work would become diluted. I wanted to try something new.

Throughout the semester, I toyed with the idea of changing my aesthetic. I respond to lo-fi media, especially the VHS aesthetic; I find it more personal and interesting than getting a clean, crisp shot from an expensive camera (not suggesting that’s bad, nor that it can’t excite me, rather my preference). I also thought about shooting on a Go Pro, but it felt too gimicky and contrived. Instead of focussing on what I would shoot and build around that, I decided that I would shoot on a Camcorder and think deeply about what I could record. I was also still making music and collecting field recordings, and thought about how I could involve this in my work. After much deliberation, I adjusted my approach to work around a planned idea. I would shoot multiple shots of a setting on a Camcorder, impose my vision through camera movement and editing, and use my music to accompany the vision.

I spent a few days at my friend’s shack in Colac. I walked around the bush and filmed it, though it was too similar to my old approach of working on impulse and not planning what to shoot. I knew The Otways had a plethora of waterfalls to choose from, and I decided that would be the subject of my shoot. I went to Hopetoun Falls (Beech Forest) and shot with my editing ideas dictating what choices I made with the camera. Despite the forced nature of the idea, I enjoyed working from this approach as it made me think deeper about assembling footage. I created a song that sampled the sound of the waterfall, and I feel it fits in with the aesthetic I was working with.

I had many voice recordings of all the places I shot. I wanted to use them for something, and felt it was appropriate to incorporate them into my project as they reflected the core theme of observation. I decided to create an audio album of 30 second cuts, each of a natural setting I shot footage at.

The idea of collaboration never entered my mind. This was a deeply personal project; it was about investigating and understanding why I’m drawn to nature. The shots, the music and the ideas were all developed by my own aesthetic choices. I am very pleased that I was able to create a body of work that felt like a true representation of myself, and more importantly, one that provided me with great fulfilment and meaning.

The last few weeks I have been trying to figure out my aesthetic and its purpose. I have continued with my usual habit of shooting anything that captures my attention, but I never really thought about how I could assemble the footage it in a cohesive way.

I spent too much time trying to find meaning in the shots, which was time wasted. The project is about being drawn to nature, and the images are observations that deal with that idea. That’s it. It is the form in which I create that is the primary focus.

In the last few weeks I have watched plenty of experimental films from Jean-Luc Godard, James Benning, and Ben Russell. I treated them as ways of influencing my thinking, rather than inspiring it. This was a problem. I got so bogged-down on trying to replicate their aesthetic rather than let it wash over me. It is only in the last few days that I have come up with something the feels more personal.

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.
———-
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?

I decided that my expertise video would be about the process of beatmaking. I don’t proclaim to be an expert at it, but it’s something that I have self-taught myself to do and am passionate about.

Firstly, let me make my own distinction between beatmaking and making music. I do both, but to me beatmaking is more about sampling, chopping, distorting; essentially manipulating the components of sound. This is while also having the drum beat as the focus; it’s more about rhythm. That’s not to say that this isn’t making music, it is. But to me, the idea of making music is more technical and the focus is on the melody.

The process of anything is always something I’ve found interesting, more-so after reflecting on Paul’s idea that filmmaking is about learning about filmmaking. After all, it’s the process of any artistic endeavour that I find most enjoyable, even more than the end result.

I spent some time at home messing around with the audio from the original audio exercise. I cut up some different sounds and worked with them until they resembled different percussive sounds; kick, snare, clap, cymbal amongst others. I tried to order them in a way so they were in time and had some kind of rhythmic value. The end result wasn’t great, but it was fun to toy around.

I decided that this would be my film idea; essentially deconstructing the process of beatmaking. After shooting footage that I knew wouldn’t directly relate to my idea, I thought about the ways I could incorporate the footage and still make my point. I thought about the process of beatmaking and film editing. To me, they both share the same language of order, in terms of using the components. I decided I would use the track of the (unfinished (no work is ever finished)) beat, as well as one image, representative of the finished product. The image would be cut up through editing and ordered in a way that represents the process of making a beat; repetition, changing length & speed, basically just manipulation. All this unfolds while hearing the raw components of the sound in the background. I don’t judge this as a finished product, because it’s not about that.

I think the result of this idea isn’t as focussed as I hoped it would be. I think my hesitation with the whole ‘expertise’ idea meant that I grabbed onto the first idea that was worth my consideration. I’m not disappointed, deconstruction is something I’ve wanted to explore, but the visual half of the idea could have been more interesting.

Audio Exercise
After toying around with the audio equipment in class, Michael, Reza and I went off to record some sounds. I had some experience with audio, but not in a very technical way. I record ambient sounds all the time on my phone using Voice Memos. I don’t care about the quality, the more lo-fi the better. The ones I deem worthy are often sampled into music that I make. It took some time to get a basic understanding of the equipment in class; in fact I’m still not sure if I know what I’m *really* doing.

As I’m so accustomed to recording lo-fi, I didn’t even consider the quality of the recording when doing the exercise. This is a problem; diegetic film sound is not the same as music, and therefore should not be treated as such. I wasn’t sure what my ‘expertise’ was, and I knew that I wouldn’t decide during class time, so I aimed to record as many different sounds as possible to be safe.

We ended up recording sounds such as:
– Poking a stick through a box
– Running a stick down a metal staircase
– Leaves rustling
– The conversations of us 3

I decided that that night, I would sample the sounds in Logic and try and make something with them. And I did. I opted for a rhythmic repetitive beat rather than trying to add music to it. It came out okay, but my appreciation for the possibilities of sampling was enhanced.

Audio & Visual Exercise
In the days between the two exercises, I decided that my expertise video would be about the process of beatmaking. I hadn’t visualised it, and I hoped this exercise would help me do so.

Cheyenne and Arfi joined Michael, Reza and I. We shot the following:
– Reza knocking at a door (twice)
– Michael walking through a bush
– Reza doing some kind of flip
– Tradies marching at some union protest

The shoot was fine, no problems on the set, but I knew the content of the footage was not something that would relate to my idea. So I needed to figure out a way of how I could use this in an interesting and true way for my idea.

Over 2015 & 2016, I would often go to the cinema (at least) once a week. This same period coincided with my development in understanding my personal taste in film. Towards the end of 2015, I looked back at all the films I saw that were released that year. I realised that there were very few I loved (Inherent Vice, Queen Of Earth, Inside Out), a couple that I enjoyed (Bridge Of Spies, Loin Des Hommes, Spectre, Mistress America), and an overwhelming majority that I didn’t like. I don’t hate watching bad films as much as others, I find that there is always value in watching something. However, the financial cost was becoming a burden. Despite this, I decided to follow the same approach in 2016 and visit the cinema as much as I could. Why? Because there is no other experience that I prefer than appreciating a great film on a big screen. I thought that for every Still Alice, one day I would get a Clouds Of Sils Maria; the risk seemed to be worth it. I was wrong.

2016 was a terrible year for film, I would argue even worse than 2015. I saw over 80 films (mostly in cinemas), and enjoyed probably 20 of them. As Samuel L Jackson says in Snakes On A Plane, “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!”. Towards the end of 2016, I stopped going at my rate of once a week, and went at about once a month. This period, however, gave birth to one of the most rewarding cinematic experiences I have had. I started buying movies on VHS.

VHS movies are usually found at Op-Shops for no more than $1-2. Despite this world of streaming-everything, I prefer VHS to Netflix for a few reasons:
1) I’ve always preferred Media in a physical form.
2) I find the act of going to an op-shop, not knowing what they have and purchasing something based on my instinct thrilling.
3) Netflix’s catalogue is inundated with new films. Old films are much better (obviously).
4) I prefer the VHS aesthetic.

Shopping around for movies on VHS has provided me with memorable cinematic experiences. These include John Woo’s Face Off, the 1932 original of The Mummy, Bill Forsyth’s Local Hero, as well as the hilarious 1997 so-bad-it’s-good Anaconda, which features Ice-Cube, Owen Wilson, Jennifer Lopez and Jon Voight as an insane Paraguayan explorer who may or may-not have a fetish for anacondas. Variety is key. And while not a film, I have also developed a deep love for Nature documentaries (Art Of Landscape, Natural Treasures Of The World (amongst others)).

My departure from cinema-going to VHS watching has given me an opportunity to see films I would have never usually seen, and is now my go-to for when I want to watch something.