FactFilmPoem Final Piece

Yay! It's done!

I'm very happy with the final cut, although every time I watch it I feel another thing I want to nitpick. That's fun for the first hour - not so much after that. 

I enjoyed this project a lot more than I thought I would, it was kind of like making a collage but with moving image - super fun.

My video is all about contrapposto, described in the Encylopaedia Brittanica as:

"Contrapposto, (Italian: “opposite”), in the visual arts, a sculptural scheme, originated by the ancient Greeks, in which the standing human figure is poised such that the weight rests on one leg (called the engaged leg), freeing the other leg, which is bent at the knee. With the weight shift, the hips, shoulders, and head tilt, suggesting relaxation with the subtle internal organic movement that denotes life." 

I wanted to play with the ideas of movement vs. stillness, expressive vs. stoic, classical vs. archaic. I reference old documentaries in terms of colour and ~ironic~ font choice. My background music comes from Drake's Hotline Bling, it's got a great rhythm to it - it's the kind of thing that makes me want to dance which is why I chose it. I got my images from research into contrapposto sculpture, then my moving images from clips of films I like. (Funny Face, Breathless, Moonrise Kingdom, Fred Astaire dancing, Pulp Fiction, Magical Mystery Tour) They're from a similar time period, or reference that period, so have a nice aesthetic that brings them all together.

I found that the video research I did was really useful, and fed into the final piece, particularly the Arrangements series by Jin Angdoo. The editing between arrangements is very simple, but timed with the music making it have a bigger impact. In Bill Viola's Inner Passage, I love the use of the black border and so utilised it in my own piece. It makes each video collage stand as an individual but also gives a sense of continuity - like frames on photos. It also help give dynamics, no black border for loud bit (TWIST) and larger borders for the quieter ending. Super helpful!

The feedback day was really invaluable, not only with the feedback I got but watching everybody else's videos was really interesting and useful. It allowed a degree of separation between me and the baby (the video) so I could look at it more critically without feeling bad about it. Some of the ideas other people used I pinched too, like finishing with just audio playing was really effective. For me it stops my video feeling too abrupt, which was a part of the feedback.

These are some of the changes I've made since the draft:

• I adjusted the volume, making it louder after the drop at 'and a'. It's much more dramatic now! 
• I made the text into a sentence (more of less): 'Contrapposto: organic dynamic movement. It's a .... *John Travolta* ... and a TWIST. It's a counterpoint.'
• I changed the colour of the twist text, I think the yellow is just a bit stronger and more striking. I trialled pink, red, and yellow (and alternating between the three - but that was fit inducing) and it was the best.
• I cleaned up the pacing and made it a snappier, making sure clips start on. the. beat. like. this. Makes a huge different!
• I moved Jean Seburg around, she appears twice now. The second time she does this really curious hand movement that we discussed in the crit, it makes the second clip a bit weird, a bit different. (A twist geddit)
• I added Audrey Hepburn to the end again, but much smaller and reversed. The curtain goes down on her, signalling the end of the film.

I decided against adding a voice over, it might have been fun if I had the right person to do it but sadly Bill Murray is not available. Ultimately I like the audio as it is. 

FactFilmPoem Draft!

That's my draft right there. Yesterday I got some really great feedback on it, overall people really seemed to enjoy it:

• Split screen works well!
• The font is good - kind of ugly and ironic. Have a look at Mel Brook's High Anxiety for more great yellow fonts. The yellow and red fonts seem to work best!
• Last frame is a bit weird to end on - do you need it? It's a bit of a breather but feels like too much of a comedown after the rest of the film. Maybe it needs something afterwards. They were kind of shocked it ended there. Some suggested moving it to the beginning although they really liked the opening shot! There's an interesting hand action she does that you could use in a repeat, so it makes more sense as a counterpoint.
• The text throughout should form more of a sentence so it makes more of a thread through the film. Play with the text a bit more - have it flash on and off or something.
• Twist section needs to be a bit more impactful!
• Maybe to bulk it up you could play some sections (Audrey Hepburn for example) backwards - like the counterpoint clip.
• The silent sections are good!
• Could somebody be doing a voiceover? 'Contrapposto' in Tom Waits voice, imagine!

I'm now going to work on these and come back with a final piece! (or maybe a couple of drafts then a final piece.)

Video Research

Ralph Steiner Mechanical Principles

What I really like about this is how the closely cropped images of machinery break up the screen creating areas of movement and contrasting areas of stillness, for example 2.37 + 3.41. I think being in black and white definitely adds to that effect, and also gives a continuity to the film despite the variety of forms. The way this has been shot gives recognisable images a new meaning, some become almost anthropomorphic - particularly at 5.02, with the machine picking up and dropping the weight. The pace is largissimo, generous and leisurely. The string score makes the slow + smooth movements weirdly hypnotising.

Bill Viola: Inner Passage

The use of a tall frame in this film is very striking, it's claustrophobic - I associate it with iPhone filming, found footage + home videos. But it also suggests emptiness, particularly with the shots that book end this film of the figure in the desert. They also enhance the story telling, scenes of dryness contrasting with an overall theme of water. It's quite nightmare-like in parts, lots of different images but all very haze and dreamlike. The water featured is both violent and calm. The quick shots are SO arresting when followed by the still lake, the use of slow cross fades helps with this effect.

A Brief History of John Baldessari

This is John Baldessari's documentary.

It's fantastic! So funny! It mimics that kind of old fashioned documentary, Jacque Cousteau type films. The contrast of ~serious~ artistic analysis with 'These are John Baldessari's push pins.' The score is dramatic and the text follows so wonderfully. I love that John Baldessari is present throughout. The repetition of his name is really funny and something I want to do with ~contrapposto~ they're so good sounding!

This is just a beginning! More to follow ~