I’m leaning towards filming an audio/visual collage. Audio/Visual because they are both of equal importance, rather than the music accompanying the footage or the footage accompanying the music.

The exact location I haven’t decided, though it will definitely be a place of nature. Forests, parklands, waterfalls are all under consideration. The music will be the ambient/new age music I have been creating. To me, nature-related footage and ambient/new age music go hand in hand.

I’m interested in lo-fi media, and would like this to be the aesthetic of the collage. For the visual side, I would like to shoot with something that achieves a vintage look. This would likely be a camcorder. For the audio side, I would manipulate the overall sound to try and replicate the quality of a cassette, though I naturally try to achieve this sound whenever I make something.

I’m not sure whether it will be one collage, or a series of collages. I feel like many different collages are achievable. Maybe 4/5 that add up to 20 minutes total. Maybe that’s ambitious.

The inspiration for this has been my own experiments with audio and shooting. I tend to visit parks whenever I am within close proximity, and always voice record on my iPhone to capture any sounds that I could end up sampling; the wind, birds chirping, a gentle stream. I also like to shoot footage; it excites me, I could watch a montage of a waterfalls for hours.

Since purchasing the new iPhone 7 a few weeks ago, I’ve been spending a lot of time filming anything that catches my eye. I want to make use of this footage, and thought that I’d create a series of experiments where I would edit footage and use music that I’ve created that I feel accompanies the image well.

Experiment_1 (on Google Drive folder)
Yes, Darebin Parklands again. I keep returning here and would not at all be surprised if it is involved (one way or another) in my final project. I shot the footage about 3 weeks ago but only came to editing it a few days ago. Each clip is slowed down from anywhere between 50-75%. This was to recreate the nature VHS videos I watch. This isn’t necessarily the approach I will end up taking, but I thought I would try it. I don’t think slow-motion works very well with an iPhone (also I didn’t export it in HD so it would export faster), maybe I’ll try it again using a camcorder (if I can find one), or something else that achieves a vintage aesthetic. I do, however, like the use of cross dissolving cutting; it makes the work more atmospheric. The music is an ambient track I created a few weeks ago, I’ve been meaning to use it for something, and it’s certainly a candidate for the final product.

Experiment_2 (on Google Drive folder)
The first image was taken in my housemates room. I thought the light shining from the trees into the room was spectacular, and therefore was worth seconds of filming. A few days later I found a similar light shining through the window in my bathroom and also shot that. There is no meaning behind the image; as I stated, the criteria for being shot with my phone is if it catches my attention. The music I used was just a few chords I recorded, though to me, it sounds like the word ‘glow’.

More than anything, when I create my own ambient music, or play a new age cassette at home, I find myself being able to visualise a world, an experience, that is born as a result of the sounds. This is really why I’m leaning towards this project; answering the question of how can I turn my imagination into a film?

I’ve been reflecting on this idea, and decided to watch some films for inspiration.
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Philippe Garrel is one of my idols. I’ve watched a lot of his films, those from the 2000’s being my favourites (Frontier Of The Dawn, A Burning Hot Summer, Jealousy, In The Shadow Of Women), but I have never watched any of his really early stuff. I found The Inner Scar on YouTube last week and watched it.

“A collage of dreams. Garrel made a name for himself with this film as a new Jean Vigo. With Nico (Velvet Underground). A poetic and painterly film that has been described as ‘a collage of dreams’. The film was shot without a script, but Garrel had already thought up the eventual title (‘the scar inside’). This title was an obsession for him, every shot had to be an expression of ‘the scar inside’. Apart from Garrel himself and actor Pierre Clementi, Garrel’s former partner Nico, member of the legendary Velvet Underground, played a role in the film.”

The fact that Garrel made this when he was 23 is mind-boggling; it was one of the most pure cinematic experiences I have had. Like many of Garrel’s other works, the content itself is quite simple. However, it’s Garrel’s formal qualities, his inventiveness, that elevates it to something quite spectacular. I could watch this forever.

What I realised when watching this film was that I should listen to myself more. I feel like over the course of the semester I’ve been making work that feels personal, but I’m still not at a stage I’m happy with. As Paul has said, and as Garrel has shown, you don’t need a big idea to make something great.

I think I’m closing in on an idea that will keep me occupied for the remainder of the semester. I’m thinking of investigating ambient music in film, but with the aim of creating an audio visual experience.

I’ve been making a lot of ambient music lately. I think what I find so appealing about is how relaxing it is. It can also create powerful a mood; dreamy, lush, icy, all moods I have felt I’ve established through my own body of work.

More than anything, when I create my own ambient music, or play a new age cassette at home, I find myself being able to visualise a world, an experience, that is born as a result of the sounds. This is really why I’m leaning towards this project; answering the question of how can I turn my imagination into a film?

If I am to follow through with this idea, I need to make a decision. Do I make the music, listen to it, and try to create the visual experience in my mind to a film, to accompany it, or do I want to create a visual experience and make music to accompany it?

I decided that my expertise video would be about the process of beatmaking. I don’t proclaim to be an expert at it, but it’s something that I have self-taught myself to do and am passionate about.

Firstly, let me make my own distinction between beatmaking and making music. I do both, but to me beatmaking is more about sampling, chopping, distorting; essentially manipulating the components of sound. This is while also having the drum beat as the focus; it’s more about rhythm. That’s not to say that this isn’t making music, it is. But to me, the idea of making music is more technical and the focus is on the melody.

The process of anything is always something I’ve found interesting, more-so after reflecting on Paul’s idea that filmmaking is about learning about filmmaking. After all, it’s the process of any artistic endeavour that I find most enjoyable, even more than the end result.

I spent some time at home messing around with the audio from the original audio exercise. I cut up some different sounds and worked with them until they resembled different percussive sounds; kick, snare, clap, cymbal amongst others. I tried to order them in a way so they were in time and had some kind of rhythmic value. The end result wasn’t great, but it was fun to toy around.

I decided that this would be my film idea; essentially deconstructing the process of beatmaking. After shooting footage that I knew wouldn’t directly relate to my idea, I thought about the ways I could incorporate the footage and still make my point. I thought about the process of beatmaking and film editing. To me, they both share the same language of order, in terms of using the components. I decided I would use the track of the (unfinished (no work is ever finished)) beat, as well as one image, representative of the finished product. The image would be cut up through editing and ordered in a way that represents the process of making a beat; repetition, changing length & speed, basically just manipulation. All this unfolds while hearing the raw components of the sound in the background. I don’t judge this as a finished product, because it’s not about that.

I think the result of this idea isn’t as focussed as I hoped it would be. I think my hesitation with the whole ‘expertise’ idea meant that I grabbed onto the first idea that was worth my consideration. I’m not disappointed, deconstruction is something I’ve wanted to explore, but the visual half of the idea could have been more interesting.

Audio Exercise
After toying around with the audio equipment in class, Michael, Reza and I went off to record some sounds. I had some experience with audio, but not in a very technical way. I record ambient sounds all the time on my phone using Voice Memos. I don’t care about the quality, the more lo-fi the better. The ones I deem worthy are often sampled into music that I make. It took some time to get a basic understanding of the equipment in class; in fact I’m still not sure if I know what I’m *really* doing.

As I’m so accustomed to recording lo-fi, I didn’t even consider the quality of the recording when doing the exercise. This is a problem; diegetic film sound is not the same as music, and therefore should not be treated as such. I wasn’t sure what my ‘expertise’ was, and I knew that I wouldn’t decide during class time, so I aimed to record as many different sounds as possible to be safe.

We ended up recording sounds such as:
– Poking a stick through a box
– Running a stick down a metal staircase
– Leaves rustling
– The conversations of us 3

I decided that that night, I would sample the sounds in Logic and try and make something with them. And I did. I opted for a rhythmic repetitive beat rather than trying to add music to it. It came out okay, but my appreciation for the possibilities of sampling was enhanced.

Audio & Visual Exercise
In the days between the two exercises, I decided that my expertise video would be about the process of beatmaking. I hadn’t visualised it, and I hoped this exercise would help me do so.

Cheyenne and Arfi joined Michael, Reza and I. We shot the following:
– Reza knocking at a door (twice)
– Michael walking through a bush
– Reza doing some kind of flip
– Tradies marching at some union protest

The shoot was fine, no problems on the set, but I knew the content of the footage was not something that would relate to my idea. So I needed to figure out a way of how I could use this in an interesting and true way for my idea.

Over 2015 & 2016, I would often go to the cinema (at least) once a week. This same period coincided with my development in understanding my personal taste in film. Towards the end of 2015, I looked back at all the films I saw that were released that year. I realised that there were very few I loved (Inherent Vice, Queen Of Earth, Inside Out), a couple that I enjoyed (Bridge Of Spies, Loin Des Hommes, Spectre, Mistress America), and an overwhelming majority that I didn’t like. I don’t hate watching bad films as much as others, I find that there is always value in watching something. However, the financial cost was becoming a burden. Despite this, I decided to follow the same approach in 2016 and visit the cinema as much as I could. Why? Because there is no other experience that I prefer than appreciating a great film on a big screen. I thought that for every Still Alice, one day I would get a Clouds Of Sils Maria; the risk seemed to be worth it. I was wrong.

2016 was a terrible year for film, I would argue even worse than 2015. I saw over 80 films (mostly in cinemas), and enjoyed probably 20 of them. As Samuel L Jackson says in Snakes On A Plane, “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!”. Towards the end of 2016, I stopped going at my rate of once a week, and went at about once a month. This period, however, gave birth to one of the most rewarding cinematic experiences I have had. I started buying movies on VHS.

VHS movies are usually found at Op-Shops for no more than $1-2. Despite this world of streaming-everything, I prefer VHS to Netflix for a few reasons:
1) I’ve always preferred Media in a physical form.
2) I find the act of going to an op-shop, not knowing what they have and purchasing something based on my instinct thrilling.
3) Netflix’s catalogue is inundated with new films. Old films are much better (obviously).
4) I prefer the VHS aesthetic.

Shopping around for movies on VHS has provided me with memorable cinematic experiences. These include John Woo’s Face Off, the 1932 original of The Mummy, Bill Forsyth’s Local Hero, as well as the hilarious 1997 so-bad-it’s-good Anaconda, which features Ice-Cube, Owen Wilson, Jennifer Lopez and Jon Voight as an insane Paraguayan explorer who may or may-not have a fetish for anacondas. Variety is key. And while not a film, I have also developed a deep love for Nature documentaries (Art Of Landscape, Natural Treasures Of The World (amongst others)).

My departure from cinema-going to VHS watching has given me an opportunity to see films I would have never usually seen, and is now my go-to for when I want to watch something.

Collateral (2004) – dir. Michael Mann
Second viewing of what is now one of my favourite films. Mann is one of the few directors working in the action genre who know how to properly set-up a scene, and let the action play out in a pure cinematic way. The atmospheric overhead shots make LA feel more like a character than a setting. The digital photography brings a sense of realism and urgency. By the end of the film, the characters are so wonderfully developed, despite it playing out over one night. Easily Tom Cruise’s best performance.

Kicking and Screaming (1995) – dir. Noah Baumbach
Finally got around to watching this after finding it for $2 at Greensborough savers a few months ago. While there were moments that felt like Baumbach was still finding his feet, it’s a solid and impressive first feature nonetheless. I wish Josh Hamilton were in more films.

Every Man For Himself (1980) – dir. Jean-Luc Godard
Besides Vivre Sa Vie, I haven’t been exposed to any of Godard’s films, so watching this felt like quite a leap. At first, the slow-motion shots felt quite gimmicky. But as the film developed, I was fully immersed in them. Could easily be dismissed as misogynistic, but that seems like a misreading. I found its perversity refreshing, and the score was incredible. I actually enjoyed the film most when I embraced how esoteric it was; it allowed me to focus on how the shots were composed (which were beautiful). The opening sequence and the bike-riding a standout. Need to re-watch.

The Piano Teacher (2001) – dir. Michael Haneke
So very intense. After seeing Elle (and loving it), I didn’t think Isabelle Huppert could take a character further. I was wrong. One of the the moodiest films I have seen; cold and miserablist, but not in an obnoxious way. I loved it. My first viewing of a Haneke film, and definitely won’t be my last.

My ‘abstract’ film is something I’ve been thinking of making for a very long time. For a while now, I’ve been inspired by ‘The Art Of Landscape’, a UK TV series that ran from 1989-1990. Each episode has about 5 to 10 4-8 minute segments that show the beauty of the natural world (mountains, penguins, forests, etc), usually in dreamy montage. Each segment is accompanied by either ambient or classical music. It’s referred to as an “Audio/Visual collage”. I have 3/4 of them on VHS and watch them quite regularly; they are very therapeutic.

I didn’t want to replicate the series; sometimes it can get quite tedious. Instead, I just wanted to explore the idea of observing nature’s beauty, and I feel I achieved this in a way that was honest and true to form.

I decided to shoot at Darebin Parklands, a place I frequent to relax. I shot about 20 minutes of footage on my iPhone, ranging from establishing shots to tracking shots. I decided I would use the shots that I found most interesting for the final cut, rather than trying to create a narrative.

Lately, I’ve been making a lot of ambient/new age music. I’ve always been drawn to the idea of using my own compositions for my films; it feels more personal and honest. This is another reason why I have been meaning to make this particular project. The composition I created for this film was made on Logic. The music itself was made with Logic instruments (synths, drum machines), and I recorded the ambient water sounds that is used in the background at the parklands.

I like it, but I’m not totally convinced it works.