Continuing to gather material for our Project Brief 4 documentary, now under the working title Flow, Haylee, myself, and now Ruby have begun to compile and brainstorm some formal frameworks from which to work off.

Specifically, we have assigned different roles and tasks to each group member in order to more efficiently gather the necessary material while maintaining a consistent and collaborative dynamic. For example, while all three of us have compiled a list of two interview candidates and approved each other’s choice (in line with our desire for a diverse representation of subjects), each of us will separately record the footage. Such a point is slightly risky as despite using the same gear (zoom H4n), depending on the room the candidate is interviewed in as well as the interviewer’s technological proficiency, some of the audio quality may vary. However, we weighed these factors in the decision making process and agreed that in having a familiar interviewer, our subjects might be more emotionally comfortable in sharing specific anecdotes and personal experiences that would otherwise not be in a high-pressure or unfamiliar interviewing situation.

Additionally, I have taken on the role of gathering found footage of natural phenomena and other timelapse sequences. This was decided upon as I have been the group member responsible for suggesting the aesthetic approach of projecting imagery onto an underwear. This stylistic decision, while still in its early stages, appeal to me as a) I have a projector and am familiar with using it in experimental video art and b) I liked the idea of creating a new canvas within the screen itself. Chiefly, by filming a projected sequence of imagery on an underwear, we create the metaphorical association of the site where period occurs (between one’s legs) with the visually striking imagery of natural paradigms (such as tides and flowers blooming and decaying).

It felt justified to further employ a pair of underwear as the canvas; as just as one’s period is an acute moment in the menstrual cycle, so too is it just another part of people’s identity. For example, just as people with their periods don’t wear sanitary pads or tampons all month, so too do tides rise and fall; but the beach doesn’t simply dry up. Evidently also, the silhouette of an underwear is quite striking as it is unique in its shape, and has the ability to signify bodies without necessarily needing to be worn. This is important in the context of our documentary approach as we did not want to focus on embodying the experience of a period through forthright representations of people.

This is largely because we do not have the time or scope to necessarily involve the number of lived experiences that would be necessary in a holistic understanding of the subject matter. For example, we are limited by the interview candidates available to us and as a result, do not want to create a singular or definitive image of what a person who has a period looks like. Indeed, this is the very discourse we are attempting to deconstruct. Further yet, in not providing the images of our interview candidates we reiterate the impossibility of knowing who has their period from those who don’t – a critical choice which reinforces our motivation to challenge the essentialist tendencies surrounding the discourse, marketing, and general social assumption of female bodies and gender identity.

Finally, Ruby has been tasked with filming the footage of fruits. This is largely attributed to the fact that she has a camera and was keen on experimenting over the weekend with various fruits. Hence, in employing imagery akin to that of a vagina such as the pomegranate and the papaya, the formal justification behind Ruby’s footage will be to further associate the experience of mensuration with the daily happenings of plants; as fruits are after all, their reproductive organs. Additionally, it enables us to “show” the bodily function without delving into a literal representation; something we decided to move from as a result of both the formal constraints of the brief as well as the implications (i.e. not being able to screen this publicly as well as the difficulty in finding such footage with the necessary consent; both factors which present more ethical issues than they do help illustrate our argument).

Consequently, the next week will be spent compiling our individual tasks together in class in the beginning stages of drafting a formal composition for Flow.