Author: sherwin1

Further to my blog post about the ‘joining hands’ article, I always had the idea of using hands as a metaphor in the back of my head throughout the various versions of my project. Another interesting installation, this time at the MOMA, NY, made me think about these ideas again.

Reanimation, a film installation by Joan Jonas, shows someone spreading ink about on a table, only showing their hands as the shot is very close up. I think hands also portray a sense of anonymity, making the viewer more able to put themselves in the subjects position; this would be ideal for my film which has personal stories of people at its centre and empathy is important in the response I’m after.

Being at the MOMA consolidated that I also wanted my final film to be situated in a gallery, potentially in a separate, dark room or just headphones to be available.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

JONAS, J. (2013) Reanimation [Installation]. MOMA, New York. 13th November 2017.

In November, I went on the New York trip. Visiting galleries and exhibitions gave me great inspiration for this project, helping me to develop the ideas I was working with. One particular exhibit that has had influence upon my project is Weed Killer (pictures below), a film installation by artist Patrick Staff that was at the New Museum in an exhibition called ‘Trigger: gender as a tool and a weapon’. It explores gender in society, whilst also exploring sexuality, being transgender and cancer treatment.

I really liked the format of the film; it was 17 minutes long and whilst usually I probably wouldn’t watch an entire film whilst in an art gallery, I stayed throughout as the dialogue was so compelling. I found it really interesting how the artist had subtly linked imagery, such as hair, with gender perception, but edited it to become almost unrecognisable. The film also made me realise I wanted to focus my film on a narrative created by personal experiences; I started interviewing people for my film following this trip.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

STAFF, P. (2017) Weed Killer [Installation] New Museum, New York. 15th November 2017.

One article that inspired me to think less literally about my ideas was ‘joining hands’ (shown below) in Oh Comely. The article depicts scans of people’s hands, accompanied with captions about how they use them in their daily lives. Statements such as ‘I use my hands at every stage of making’ and ‘my left-hand fingertips are calloused from pressing down on strings’ allude to each individual’s lifestyle and jobs.

I think that using hands as a metaphor is an interesting way to portray, in a subtle way, meaning behind issues that I am exploring in my film. Issues such as gender perception and violence can be considered controversial and thus, emphasising messages through showing hands as both violent and passive objects could be one way to get people to reconsider their preconceptions about this topic.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

GOGERTY, C. (2017) ‘Joining hands’, Oh Comely, Issue No. 37, p. 70-73.

http://moonlight.movie

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072HQPBF8

I recently watched Moonlight, the Academy Award Winner for best picture. It has instantly become one of my favourite films. The cinematography was exceptional, really adding to the atmosphere of the story. The storytelling itself was beautiful, creating an emotionally compelling piece for the entire film. I never got bored.

It summed up the complexities of life so well. It follows the main character, Chiron, as he grows up, discovering who he is whilst surrounded by drugs, poverty and many other complex situations.

Stephen Galloway, a writer for the Hollywood reporter said,

“Its story may be sprinkled with drug dealers and addicts. But its message is clear: The world is richer and deeper and more complex than we ever imagined, and even its most troubled characters — just like us — are looking for love.”

In a more general sense, I think it shows how film can help people go some way to understanding other people’s situations. I want to try and make people actually feel something when they watch my film. This is something Moonlight did so well and I’m very inspired by it because of this.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Moonlight. (2016) Film. Directed by Barry Jenkins. USA: A24.

GALLOWAY, S. (2016) Why ‘Moonlight’ Matters. Available at: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/why-moonlight-matters-949028 [Accessed 20th October 2017]

 

 

‘Life in a day’ is a collaborative film by Ridley and Tony Scott. They asked people to submit video footage of their lives and answer some simple questions. All the footage was filmed on the same day: 24th of July, 2010. 4,500 hours of footage was sent to them, from people living in 192 countries.

Due to this vast coverage of so many different cultures, I think the film truly encapsulates what humanity is. Ranging from people having breakfast, to farmers milking sheep, to extraterrestrial activity, to Elvis impersonators, to fears about life, the film captures the mundane to the extraordinary. Simply, I think it shows what it is like to be alive.

In my 1 minute film, I also want to sum up, albeit in a much shorter format than ‘Life in a day’, what it means to be human. I want to show the differences and similarities of people’s lives. I think this film is a good starting point to thinking about how to do this in an interesting way. One person’s experience isn’t enough to demonstrate humanity’s experience as a whole. Using multiple people in my film could be a way to portray the idea of ‘what it means to be human’.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Life in a day. (2011) Film. Directed by Kevin Macdonald. UK: Scott Free Productions.