What a video to conclude this semester with. From the beginning of this semester I wanted to evolve as an artist, and I think this represents that transformation excellently. For screen project 1 I was focused on developing skill and familiarity with the tools at my disposal. While also further developing the glitch-punk noise aesthetic I am interested in. It resulted in something I am still proud of. I learnt that I should focus more on high contrast imagery and could use grainy low resolution imagery too my advantage. I was trying to break out of the vision of a typical editing process.

For Screen Project 2 I wanted to build upon the foundation I built in the first half of the semester. I figured that it would not be advantageous to continue practical development, but to instead broaden my horizons theoretically. I began research into what I now call ‘Reiteration Artists’, people who take things and combine them (or alter them) in order to not only increase the meaning present in their first form, but build upon and extrapolate it into a much larger and more powerful message. The decision to research this, in conjunction with the film makers, film theories, and concepts James introduced to us through out the semester was astonishingly helpful. I’ve always been aware of the Avant-Garde, but was never confident enough to delve into it creatively. I think for a first proper attempt I did a good job.

I factor I wanted to improve on with Screen Project 2 is  that I believe I was too reliant on chaotic imagery and violent movements. I think it is a cheap way to display horror (especially Cosmic-Horror). The greatest horror films don’t need this kind of movement language, The Shining, The Exorcist, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, The VVitch, and so on. I wanted to scale it back to a more pure and stream lined audio visual experience. I cited La Jetée as a major influence. La Jetée manages to create an incredibly captivating and engaging film though a great soundtrack and just still images. It is just masterful. I wanted to make my short film as still as possible, while also having a great underlying sound mix. This led me to do something I have never done before, I created the sound mix before the visuals. When I listen to music usually I have a visual reaction in my mind, seeing scenarios play out and creating stories to go along with the track. I didn’t want to use any form of music, and decided on mostly industrial and natural sounds. I planned to recycle materials I had used in other projects too, to keep inn theme with the concept of recycling.

The last few weeks I have sprouted a fascination for poetry. I think it may be due to some research on Tarkovsky I have been doing for a separate assessment. I found this reading of Ozymandias (by Percy Bysshe Shelley). I thought it was thematically relevant to the ideas of death, hell, and chaos I am portraying in the video. A major concept I realised was consistent with recycle created artwork is a critique of the world. It may not be obvious in all creations, but it can be seen. I believe this is a direct response to an over industrialised society overrun with rapid consumerism. I tried to employ some of that concept into my video.

I could go on for another thousand words about how Jean Epstein, Maya Deren, Bill Morrison, etc. were hugely influential in the creation of the video. But I think it is just best to say that the Studio as a whole, including the creative endeavours of other students, was hugely influential in its’ entirety on me as an artist.

The reaction I got from my friends and Peers was overwhelmingly positive, I haven’t gotten such a large response as I have with this video ever. It has definitely inspired me to continue down this path over the summer, and even start filming my own footage. I recently ordered a Canon 1014-xls to create with. I think this area of Punk-Glitch-Avant-Horror is something I can continue to build upon into something great.

After all the research and course work I feel I have a better and clearer idea of what I intend to create for this Screen Project. My research prompt was focused on recycling and reiteration in art. I think another was to describe it is a memetic evolution of ideas. I think to display what I’ve learnt from this I will be taking bits and pieces from a variety of works I’ve made and combine them into the one project. This won’t be the entirety of it, but more so a way to give it another layer of depth. For the base film I will be taking heavy inspiration the films we’ve watched in class, and those I’ve seen in my personal viewings. La Jetée I will cite specifically when saying this. I want to still delve into Comic-Horror as theme, but it will be more so through the subtext. I think the distortions I made last project looked pretty cool, but the depth they lent to the overarching work was very shallow. I’m seeking to make something with meaning, which generate an emotive reaction from the audience this time. Rather than ‘oh that looks cool’. I’ll still employ similar techniques editing though.

Essentially I am going for something more simple, but more effective. I want a more pure simple experience. rather than just visuals that barely connect together. I m going to focus more heavily on the sound design too, which I feel was lacking in the last project. I have an idea I want to explore, more so an emotion I want people to feel. similar to what Jean Epstein does with his work.

Another favourite of mine from this semester is ‘La Jetée’. Immediately I recognised it as what would have been the inspiration for ’12 Monkeys’. The thing I really love about this film is the fact that it was made using only photographs and a great sound design. It is so unique to what we usually experience with cinema. Erratic shots and violent movement is slowly becoming more and more prevalent in films. I don’t have anything against it if it is used in the right context, but it is being used to disguise unimaginative ideas. I said during my presentation that it is a lot harder to make something still, than it is to make something that is rapidly moving. This can be applied to a variety of contexts and interpretations. Like Contemporary Horror over-using jump scares, Action films over-use of shaky cams, etc. La Jetée uses images, yet conveys an amazing sense of inertia and movement. I really do like how understated and minimalistic it is. The stuff I make is always very erratic and too busy in frame. I think I’m going to take some inspiration from this with Screen Project 2.

This is Science-Fiction at its’ best. A must see.

10/10

 

In roughly a week it will have been seven months I’ve spent in lockdown, with only one weekend in June away from my home with friends. I think after all this has gone away everyone will be irrevocably changed. When I was younger I was very introverted, but the last few years I’ve spent more and more time with friends, so this has been almost meditative to live through. Reflecting on how these two sides of my life have evolved over the years. I’ve found that I think more about the decisions I make now, recently one of these being to almost entirely cut the amount of stuff I post on Social Media. Something I would not have done if I hadn’t had the time to think about it in Lockdown, and would have been very out of character in previous years.

All the things above have also lead me down a thought path on what I want to be seen as artistically. It was only a few years ago when I started my last degree on a whim that I just wanted to make movies because that’s what I enjoyed as my hobby. Now I see it as something more, a way for me to express myself artistically. That being said there are still things I want to make for fun, but there is large general shift in my intentions. Poetry is what comes to mind when gestating on all these things. I’ve sprouted an interest in poetry, I think film can be considered poetry in a sense. As it is more focused on showing things to an audience to think about, rather than telling them what to think. With Screen Project two I’m going to create it in a way that shows rather than tells. Toning down on the busyness of my development to here. I want it to be simple, yet still hold the same tone as the last project, hopefully superseding it in some respects.

I think I might just be burned out, but I still want to make things. Hopefully it turns out well.

Currently I create short films through the digital medium, I plan to venture out into film; but those will be digitised too. I create these because I want to experiment as an artist and push my boundaries creatively, specifically through how each video is created. Using a variety of tools and techniques in various editing software. I do this to learn and discover new ways to portray visuals. another reason

I create these videos is to make people feel, I am creating something more akin to an experience. I believe the most important part of narrative is to get people to feel emotions for whatever they are seeing. I started this with heavy punk and glitch art influences, but in its’ current form it is more purposeful distortion. I have a high contrast aesthetic I am pursuing, with a filtered glitch look. I don’t think my style is overly unique, there are definitely similarities in other work on the internet. But it is an expression of me, which makes it unique.

 

/DRAFT/

I watched Charlie Kaufman’s latest film this week and it was one of the scariest experiences I’ve had watching a movie. The film is listed as a Drama, but it’s other descriptor ‘horror’ is far more accurate. I can barely begin to describe the film. It is one of the most existentially driven narratives I’ve witnessed. It is both unexplainable to me, yet so simple to digest. The only word that comes to my mind is Nightmare.

I’ve stated in earlier posts that a massive interest to me is Cosmic-Horror, despite not being defined, this I feel is beyond a perfect example of it. MY current understanding and definition personal definition of cosmic horror would be ‘the fear of the unknowable’. Which is essentially what it is, to fear what is beyond us. ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ deals with the themes of death, forgetting one’s self, claustrophobia, inevitability, emotional pain, and fear. I could list more, but these are the most relevant. And it is executed so masterfully. My biggest praise of the film is the slowness. I mentioned in my presentation that it’s easier to make something fast and erratic, than it is to slow; to really let the audience absorb and project. This felt so slow, but I love it for it. IT really gave me time to think about what was going on and project it not only onto what was happening on screen, but onto my own life. Kaufman really is a master. I think has been so educational to me, it really gives me a set definition for what I am aiming for with my next video. To take new risks. I very, very rarely get spooked like this, there’s always a layer of subjectivity. Yet this pierced my soul.

10 / 10