I ventured to Max’s once again with the EX3 and before I did anything else I set the camera up. We placed a ZOOM in front of the bass amp and I had him sit where he was comfortable playing. The spot was good and I think I exposed the image fairly well, the light on his face is gentle and there is a healthy amount of shadow as he looks down at the bass guitar, which to me is a nice visual metaphor for his engrossment in the instrument.

I filmed him playing for about 2 or 3 minutes. It appeared to me that he managed to inhabit the focused state I was looking for within the first 20 seconds, which made the process really interesting and quite intense to be a part of. There is something particularly intrusive about filming someone focused on improvised instrumentation. The musician is exposed in that moment and cannot hide behind confidence in a composition. He was only listening to himself. With this in mind, I think the best footage I shot was a CU of his face. It clearly represents his relationship with what he is doing, the sort of concentration and expression that will only appear on his face when engaged in this specific act of improvisation. I think that the CU is effective and communicates the message of the film – I plan to continue these shots for future participants and will urge Penelope and Lydia to do the same.

After Max finished playing we set up the ZOOM recorder and began our interview. It began as a casual chat about some of the work he’s been doing for his photography subject and how he finds the relationship between himself in that role and the subjects he is shooting, and how to achieve the purest possible material. This was a neat starting point to talk about the prevalent themes in my film. The conversation was quite lengthy at roughly 40 minutes, the most in-depth discussion focusing on the process to accepting and being yourself, which Max felt is the most essential stepping stone to being able to engage with the present moment. It was an interesting approach to the topic as he deconstructed what it means to be yourself, speaking primarily about the people that you surround yourself with, the conversations that you have, the habits that you form and the environments/mental spaces that you inhabit. These are all factors that he felt have a significant impact on your ability to be comfortable with who you naturally are, which in turn significantly affects your ability to ‘live in the moment’.

I feel that I collected some really strong material and am glad to have finally gotten the ball rolling. While the discussion with Max was great and insightful, I feel that I may have let the interview go on for too long as it will be a lot to sift through and cut. Having lots of material is far better than having none though so not complaining.