Main idea: To ultimately construct a short film (in the minutes), composed of a sequence of high quality and considered shots, addressing how we interpret and engage with space and its context. Along this same line of thought, the chosen location attempts to underscore this idea of how two places – that are seemingly so disparate in appearance and spiritual significance – can intersect and interact with one another. How, then, can this central ‘theme’ be further dissected to investigate the more tangible and practical side of film construction?
Location: The location at which the shoot will take place is the Heavenly Queen Temple in Footscray. Despite conforming to the quintessential aesthetic make-up of a Chinese Buddhist place of worship, the beautiful temple is set upon the backdrop of Melbourne suburbia which is particularly industrial. There is a train line towards the back of the temple which, of course, has graffiti at its base.
While this location might offer the perfect centrepiece to investigate how one’s construct of ‘space’ can be interwoven into another on a literal level, it also provides the opportunity to potentially draw upon greater metaphor and meaning.
The temple is built in honour of the Heavenly Queen, whose “legends is also part of the traditional Chinese culture and has continued unabatedly for more than one thousand years.” It’s therefore fitting that a religious figure – being a female – is idealised in a place such as Melbourne, which is generally regarded as being such a forward-thinking and progressive place.
Process: From this point onwards, I aim to dismantle the varying elements of this final piece and perfect those individual elements one by one. This therefore involves identifying what cinematic elements I aim to focus on – being camera movement, composition, light and sound – and experiment accordingly.
In the following weeks I’ll therefore be making a series of shots, looking at things like…..
How we can illustrate and capture movement through tall patches of grass;
How we can capture a cross-hibernation of the traditional and the modern;
How we can best capture and record natural light, especially in open places;
How we can incorporate different sounds to support the image, and
So forth.
