My mission for this module were to continue to push my practice forward in interesting directions. Last year I experimented with developing video installation work that evolved from wanting to divert from my generally formulaic broadcast TV background into a more creative practice. My aim was to continue with this my only anchor being the desire to still keep narrative and character at the centre of my work but to really push the boundaries of these.
My full aims and objectives for the unit are all outlined below and my aim was to create a body of work, which address these. At the start I had grand plans and far too many ideas for the time consuming constraints of moving image work and a tight deadline. This led me to focus in a two main areas whilst keeping the other ideas for pieces on a back burner.
LINK TO SLIDE-SHARE PRESENTATION
My main idea and central focus was an installation piece “Amen Brother” exploring appropriation, interpretation, sampling and post-modern aspects of art but with a focus on music and sampling. At its core will be the Amen Break by the 60’s funk band The Winston’s. It is a six second, 4-bar drum solo performed by drummer "G. C." Coleman which has been sampled 2400 times to date. I wanted to highlight this unsung hero and tell his story and the impact his 6 seconds of genius in the world of music.
AMEN BROTHER FINAL from Jon Saward on Vimeo.
The second idea is for a documentary entitled “Anonymous” dictated by style first and then marrying this with a subject. This provided the opportunity to explore a wide range of techniques both visual and aural. I love the subversive idea of the documentary subject being anonymous and deconstructing the notions of documentary modes and formats. I thought subjects such as whistle blowers, criminals or those too shy to appear in front of camera could be potentially interesting subjects. The aim was to develop this in the background and almost use it to experiment with all of the above creating a portfolio of tests and trial pieces.
1: Investigate Factual Film-making Form, Fictional and Avant-Garde Film Hybrids
The Amen Brother piece I do consider to be a largely successful hybrid of all of the above. It is factual based and uses documentary techniques but deconstructs them to serve the content. It has graphical expository elements (the text) and the documentary staple of re-enactments. It also uses archive “fair usage” clips of the bands who have used the song, and also a spine and structure. However it also draws on fictional storytelling techniques with the enigmatic narrative structure leading the audience combined with a cinematic style. Finally the layering of imagery with GC Coleman’s silhouette containing the music video clips, although tied into and serving the concept and narrative, does reflect avant-garde and experimental film aesthetics.
My tests and experiments with a variety of styles and techniques for the Anonymous piece also led to developments in this area by increasing my skill set and technical ability. Investigating a variety of fictional works and title sequences for storytelling as well as style was also hugely advantageous. The main break through, was my research into experimental and avant-garde art and film. This not only inspired me, but also deepened my understanding, appreciation and contextual understanding of movements, pieces and artists working in these areas. I allowed me to draw upon such movements as appropriation and post-modernism, the work of artists such as Christian Marclay and Oskar Fischingger and techniques such as animation, visual effects and sound design in my own work to name but a few.
2: Explore Documentary Style and Create More Visually and Aurally Creative Films
I do feel I managed to experiment with poetic and performative documentary modes and style in my completed Amen piece and the Anonymous tests. I researched extensively a huge variety of styles, techniques and practitioners from film, photography, animation, title sequences, and sound design for Film and TV, galleries and on-line work. I then used these to develop my skill set creating animations, roto-scoped work, double exposure video, sophisticated green screen work and hugely progressed my understanding of sound. I also invested time and effort into learning Adobe After Effects, which opened many windows of creative opportunity.
However this was a real journey and I found it hard to marry style with content throughout but especially with Amen Brother. Breaking away from a collection of visual and aural elements and streamlining these to the bare creatively interesting essentials was something I really struggled with. However all of the Anonymous experiments did bare fruit as utilizing the techniques I had developed here in the Amen piece was a real revelation.
In the end the style had to serve the content and in Amen I feel I really achieved this and got really close to realizing this goal by stripping the components to their essentials. GC Coleman’s story and genius captured using his chromo-keyed silhouette as a stage for the music videos contextualizing the artists who had used his drum solo. This really worked both conceptually and visually, the music videos radiate but contained within him as without his drum solo they would not exist. The piece intrinsically links style and content working in perfect, (synchronized) harmony to deliver the message.
3: Push Possibilities of Character Based Factual Storytelling and Representation
The representation issue is something I am fascinated with in factual film and Werner Hetzogs “ecstatic truth” ideal that a deeper truth can be attained in the arts through “vision, style, and craft.” If nothing can be 100% truthfully represented why strive for it and why not instead explore the grey area in-between? I have continued to do this in my work developing different techniques and styles to tell the story rather that the usual GV’s and talking heads of much factual work.
My research and tests developed for Anonymous explore techniques that can be used the poetic mode of documentary. The Amen Brother piece takes artistic license with the re-enactment footage of and the creation of his character and the narrative. The subjective ideology of the piece celebrating GC Coleman combined the idea of appropriation and the appropriators being appropriated by the piece is my invention. However the truth is still in there even if it is my own “ecstatic truth” of the story.
The main points I learnt regarding construction, storytelling and creating an ideology were to keep it simple. Early on in the Amen piece I was simply trying too hard to do too much. Too many elements, ideas, ideologies, themes and messages were clouding the central concept of finally recognizing and celebrating GC Coleman. In all of this the core elements that I hold dear, narrative and character, simply got lost! Style, too many elements and the ideologies engulfing the piece. Only by going through this painful process though did I realize that clarity of message, less is more and focus on the preferred reading of the piece was what was needed. This and the reinstating of structure, a narrative and character which made the piece live and give it an emotional beating heart, as opposed to a preaching and confused message to the audience.
4: Utilize New Documentary Formats, Exhibition and Distribution
The Amen Brother piece has made real in-roads into fulfilling my aims and objectives that I set out joining the course a year ago in terms of format, mode, style and creativity, combining all the elements I wanted to experiment with. The finished piece in my opinion is a factual based gallery installation first and foremost and this is how it was presented to an audience. It evolved from a three screen installation to one screen but in the presentation of this I added the layers of representation through an old projection screen representing GC Coleman and digital projector representing the bands and technology used to appropriate his work. This mimics the work itself, GC Coleman’s silhouette a stage for the music video clips and the projection screen representing him a stage for the digital story being projected. Moving forward I have considered the possibilities of creating a performance piece with a live drummer. Also extending it to a whole room installation with additional projectors screening kinetic typography of the names of all 2400 songs that have sampled the Amen Break in the space complementing the piece created here. However I feel the piece has a much wider appeal and accessibility too.
Inspired by the young people I teach and their engagement with some of the more accessible and creative documentaries I have screened them I feel that they are and audience under-catered for or engaged in factual works. I feel this subliminally may have influenced me, and shaped Amen Brother. The subject matter, techniques and use of music video are of obvious appeal and the micro-doc length, (under five minutes) is great for the Youtube generation. I feel that it could exist very comfortably on-line or even as a viral and reach new audiences this way.
I also feel it is something that could be successful at documentary festivals or even find a broadcast audience. I am aware of a groundswell of experimental factual works and it is certainly worth exploring exhibition in this area too.
Moving Forward into the Future
My first aim is to promote Amen Brother and to try and get it to a wider audiences as outlined above. It is also the direction that I wish to continue to continue to explore as I feel this piece has come exceptionally close to being the interesting, stylistic, creative, factual pieces I want to be making. It also upheld in my opinion the Reithian values I was striving for of not only educating and informing but also entertaining.
The greatest revelation during the module though was how far and easy it was to stray from my own ideologies and interests. I am a filmmaker first and foremost with narrative and character followed by style the areas I love, but these too often got lost and needed finding again. Straying into fine art installation work was never my intention or an area I embrace as my natural home even though my work does blur these distinctions somewhat. I have been all too often been creating work with too much of an eye on what I feel the MA course wants rather than what the areas I want. To this end I want to also explore moving forward with fictional works and to return to character and narrative. This may be short films, or using the course to work on an animated, educational fictional piece I have been developing.
However to contradict this on the back burner I have also been working on a couple of other ideas that I want to explore further. One is a site-specific, multi screened, interactive documentary installation called Cinematique. This will involve a multitude of screens set up in a cinema each one a mini documentary talking head that the audience can go around and pick and choose which contributors they want to hear from. Also I have tentatively been looking into VR styles, formats and technologies and how to utilize these in my work.
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