Last night I went to see one of my favourite bands, Walk The Moon in concert. Whilst I was waiting in line and cramped between a sea of bodies in the venue, I took note of Paul’s advice to be interested in my surroundings and did a lot of noticing of this particular atmosphere. This sparked some ideas to help out with the places/atmospheres aspect of my investigation for Film 3.
The band were playing at a bar and music venue in Brunswick, which is a suburb that has a particular association with the hipster culture of denim jacket and man bun clad twenty-somethings. As my friend and I waited in line, I had a strong awareness of the vibe surrounding the environment. The dark warehouse-like building, minimalistic metallic decorations, rustic furnishings and warm coloured candle lighting all contributed to the mood. The place, was dotted with sounds of vibrant characters and relaxed chatter. It was such an ordinary occasion, just another Thursday night, yet I could see so many details and moments that made it interesting and much more than another mundane inner city bar. Thinking about it from a Film 3 perspective, I thought about capturing the environment through the various sights and sounds I observed, and the various ways I could present the scene on film. I thought about how I could layer the ambient noise verses focusing on a particular conversation, and the angles and shots I could use to capture the atmosphere of the location. I really like this idea of focusing on specific elements and making beauty out of the mundane.
Another thing I thought could be interesting to think about as a brainstorming exercise, although I wouldn’t be able to actually shoot it, was the actual concert. Music is great tool for unifying people and although everyone standing before the stage were strangers and vastly different types of people, for the hour that the band was playing, they were all unified by a collective experience of the same music. I thought that I would be interesting to try and capture the raw energy of a concert scene – the sea of bodies crammed in a small space, the energy of the music, and everyone singing and dancing to the same lyrics. There’s some sort of out of body feeling about forgetting everything else and just screaming along to the same song in the midst of a large group of people, and I think this could be really interesting to see on film. There are countless sonic and visual options to explore – the beat of the drums vs. the beat of someone’s heart; switching between one person’s intimate experience to the connection between the band and the entire crowd; the loud music and ever changing lighting…all this would both be a filmmaker’s dream and nightmare to capture.
Although this particular example isn’t what I will film for my final product, thinking about what gives a place its ambiance was a good exercise.
