photo album

While thinking of ways to make my idea more easily understandable, I came across a photo album chronicling to early days of my parents' relationship. I then decided that a photo album would be a good way of contextualising a narrative series of images , doctored in the same way as I intended for my hippocampus idea, only now would be a tale of more sustained memory loss under conditions like Alzheimer's or dementia.

I took a series of family photo style images though only a few were successful so I used some older photos to show a younger subject.

After a series of failed attempts at photoshopping photo album style portraits, I decided to physically alter old photo album photos of my father and me as a baby. I wanted to illustrate blocks of memory being lost so literally cut out blocks of the image and had them filtering away . I tested a few different ways of altering the image further, with bubbling by holding a lighter underneath etc . I settled on scraping away parts of the face with a blade .

I added words from the point of view of the per) suffering from memory loss ,questioning who the occupants of the photo are. To further understanding of the context of the photos.

I think my project is somewhat lacking in something , it didn't quite articulate the ideas as eeffectively as. i hoped.

To improve it I should have spent more time in the photography stage making the images look more polished, I had s small window to stage a photo with my real time dad and the staging of the photo of a much younger couple( hiding the face to hide the fact its not a younger dad).  I would have liked to have implimented the cutting out in a slicker manner also.

Photography - memories, The Hippocampus

The Hippocampus is important in the formation of new memories about experienced events (autobiographical memory) & novel events (memories that can be explicitly verbalised, these include memory for facts in addition to episodic memory)

If the Hippocampus was taken out of your brain right now, you would be stuck in time and memories of new experiences which would rapidly fade away. The hippocampus functions to create a seamless story of self.

'A photo is information about past light that we can perceive in present light'

Photography- Memories

REFERENCE BACK by Philip Larkin

That was a pretty one, I heard you call
From the unsatisfactory hall
To the unsatisfactory room where I
Played record after record, idly,
Wasting my time at home, that you
Looked so much forward to.

Oliver’s Riverside Blues, it was. And now
I shall, I suppose, always remember how
The flock of notes those antique negroes blew
Out of Chicago air into
A huge remembering pre-electric horn
The year after I was born
Three decades later made this sudden bridge
From your unsatisfactory age
To my unsatisfactory prime.

Truly, though our element is time,
We are not suited to the long perspectives
Open at each instant of our lives.
They link us to our losses: worse,
They show us what we have as it once was,
Blindingly undiminished, just as though
By acting differently, we could have kept it so.

The last paragraph is particularly poignant and can be linked to photography, and how many people would view photographs sadly, particularly family photos where many of the people may be dead. 

'They link us to our losses; worse , They show us what we have as it once was.' 

Photographs are essentially a still memory, but more than that; they evoke emotions of a time lost never to truly be relived except in the mostly unsatisfactory tomes of our memory.

I take a rather macabre view on memories, preferring instead to live in the present. Although memories can be a reminder of what shaped us and made us who we are today, they can also be shackles, fettering us to the past.

Despite this view, having no photographs of your life at all would be worse than the emotion one can feel looking at the past.

Humans tend to alter our own memories, we like the smudge the past, diminishing the bad so they become less painful and somehow the good times take on a golden light. We focus so heavily on those times sometimes that they become immaculate and somewhat better than they actually were. While this can still happen with photographs, as a photo is a reminder, a starting point from which we fill in the gaps with our memory; if your memory is skewed, so might the photo take on a different meaning.

However a photo can act as an anchoring point, a reminder of how things actually were , and sometimes rid us of the illusions of our own altered memories.

http://www.theguardian.com/news/reality-check/2013/dec/10/does-taking-photographs-ruin-your-memory

Photography - reasearch

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2013/05/08/that-tree-a-photo-a-day-by-mark-hirsch/6021/

A year in the life of a tree.

touches on my seasonal photo idea. one photo taken every day over the course of the year, each photo is a different composition, some photos aren't as good as others but the ones that are good are really nice.

http://eirikso.com/2011/01/04/one-year-in-one-image/

A DSLR set up in a forest in oslo, taking a photo every half hour , then using a script source from the internet, the photographer then choose 4880 images from during the day, the photographer took a slice of each image in progression (in chronological order from january to december) and fused them into one montage.

Character Bios

Character Bios

          

Name: Death

Age: God knows, no literally only God would know

Physical Description: Typically seen as a skeleton in a giant robe, also seen as being in a suit. Wears something pale to show horseman. 

Quirks: Monotone voice

Personality strengths/weaknesses: Prudence, pride, humble, powerful, calm

Skills: Immense power, deadly touch

Goals: To end the lives of people who are destined to die then and there

Name: Famine

Age: Too old for you love

Physical Description: Well fed, healthy person who doesn't appear to age. Wears casual clothing to blend and something black to show horsemen. 

Quirks: The joy of killing people by spreading famine across the land

Personality strengths/weaknesses: Resilience, some sort of fairness, smug bastard, greed, brutality, twisted

Skills: Being able to affect prices and crops meaning people starve

Goals: To cause starvation to those who may or may not deserve it

Name: War

Age: Way too old and should die already

Physical Description: Built up body to show strength, looks like someone who could take charge. Wears something red to represent horseman. 

Quirks: Interested in war, has quite a demanding voice, believes all humans are 'filth'

Personality strengths/weaknesses: Assertiveness, anger, arrogance, bias, deceitfulness, mercilessness

Skills: Being able to turn people against each other and start wars with just a snap of his fingers

Goal: To make all 'filthy' people turn against each other and cause death throughout

Name: Pestilence

Age: Older than life itself

Physical Description: Appearance of illness and death. Plagued with diseases. Wearing something white to show horseman

Quirks: Has every disease wrapped up in the palm of their hand

Personality strengths/weaknesses: Self-awareness, perceptiveness, knowledge, manipulative, rashness, twisted 

Skills: The ability to infect anyone with anything at anytime

Goals: To kill with the use of diseases

Reflections Production Pack (sort of)

Synopsis

The four horsemen have been unleashed on the Earth to be the harbingers of the Apocalypse, but at first they are too weak to inhabit their true forms. Thus meaning possess the bodies of a mortal to feed off the souls of humans, only until they are strong enough to truly be free. This short film shows how each horseman would act in the same scenario, possessing the body of one of two friends and turning on said friend to strengthen their corrupted souls. Each scene will run for 1-3 minutes of improvised dialogue and action, telling the tale in reverse chronological order with differing approaches to the same outcome.

Treatment

Scene 1 – Famine

•          The body of the un-possessed friend lies in a pool of regurgitated food.
•          The eyes of the friend bulge as they vomit up their stomach content until there’s nothing left and they die (effectively of starvation).
•          The friend backs away from Famine as it approaches, hand out stretched to use his/her power of the friend.
•          The friend looks on as Famine explains his/her true nature
•          The friend questions Famine on his odd behavior
•          The friend and Famine are walking through the Wood/Park area
•          Famine meets up with the friend
•          The Host touches a occult symbol on a tree and becomes possessed by Famine

Scene 2 – Pestilence

•          The body of the friend lies dead already surrounded by flies, a maggot crawls on their face
•          The friend scratches at their skin and can be heard describing how they’re rotting away/feel ill/diseased
•          The friend backs away from Pestilence as it approaches him hand outstretched to curse them
•          The friend listens as Pestilence explains who he is
•          The friend questions pestilence’s behavior
•          The friend and pestilence walk through the wood/park area
•         Pestilence meets up with the friend
•          The Host touches a occult symbol on a tree and becomes possessed by Pestilence

Scene 3 – War

•           Parts of the friends body is on the floor covered in blood
•          The friend can be heard screaming as blood/gore sprays across the grass
•          The friend runs from War
•          The friend listens as war explains who he is and his intention to kill the friend
•          The friend apprehensively questions War’s violent behavior/attitude
•          The walk through the park area
•          They meet in the park
•          The Host touches a occult symbol on a tree and becomes possessed by War

Scene 4 – Death

•          The body of the friend lays dead, eyes staring vacantly with the body already extremely pale
•          Death touches the friend who instantly goes limp and drops death
•          Death approaches the friend one finger extended as the friend backs away
•          The friend listens as Death coldly imparts who he is
•          The friend questions Death’s demeanor/behavior
•          The friend and Death walk through the park/wood
•          They meet in the park
•          The Host touches a occult symbol on a tree and becomes possessed by Death

         Camera Style

      Shot types – will be primarily MS + CU/ECU, the shot plan is impossible to produce as the camera movements will be improvised/semi blocked on the day in the style of irreversible. This is basically unsteady/hectic at first to be synonymous with the action of the shots and to impart feelings of unease and desperation to the viewer. And with a smoother but creepier style which will hopefully impress a sense of dread/apprehension to the viewer towards the end (chronological beginning) of the scenes.

       Props

•         Canned vegetable soup/vomit
•          Fake blood
•          Pale foundation makeup
•          Fake prosthetics  

      The scene will run looped on a split-screen, with only one scenes audio playing at a time. Which scene is playing will become obvious as the action matches the sound and should draw the viewer’s attention. The split-screen allows the viewer to see the convergence/divergence of the scenes and to easily recognize the similarities and differences in the way each character/actor improvises and reacts in the scenario.

   

      Lighting

      Natural light will be used in the park, with colour correction afterwards to achieve the desired look.

Film Stills, Stylistic Impression/ Vignette examples

Short Impressionistic shots that give a strong, vigourously stylistic impression of a character, setting or scenario

Film Idea Development

Going off my previous post about my film idea and my tutorial with Leah, I have decided to alter my idea to have the same scenario playing out but with different actors inhabiting the role of the protagonist.

I want to fuse the two approaches of the improvisational directors i previously mentioned, working individually with the actors before hand to develop their character based off of a common backstory/bio (allowing the actors a certain amount of freedom in the way in which they interpret this to give variety in the scenes. Also developing the character with the actor in Leigh's style will allow for the actor to give a more honest/authentic performance (i want to avoid the typical drama class improvised bullshit)) and giving them a basic idea of where i want the scene to go.

How it gets there will be loosely discussed and implemented with a certain level of freedom, it will also be based on how the actors interpret the information they're given. I will step in to give direction where necessary to ensure the improvisation doesn't diverge too much from the desired outcome.

I will attempt to keep to a minimum the number of actors the protagonist will interact with to limit the potential for divergence from the base concept and desired outcome. These actors will need to be briefed and given character development/bios that are more extensive even than the protagonist as they need to be able to adjust their reaction to the improvisation of the main character in such a way as to steer the protagonist towards the desired outcome.

Idea Development, Improvisation Directors

Mike Leigh 

Leigh's process of making film is uniquely unconventional, rather than writing a script initially (or working off someone else's script) he starts his process with a basic premise, which he develops by working one-to-one with each actor. He improvises dialogue and character traits with the actor (usually basing the characters off someone the actors know for a more authentic and personal performance) and researches "anything and everything that will fill out the authenticity of the character" over a period of sometimes months before writing a shooting script, a bare scenario. This is followed by more 'real rehersal' on location, on the shoot, before the script is finalised.

"I'll set up an improvisation..I'll analyse and discuss it...we'll do another, and it'll...refine and refine..until the actions and dialogue are fully integrated. Then we shoot it"  - Mike Leigh on Mike Leigh

This improvisational process appeals to me and my idea as i would prefer taking a more methodical/scientific approach to my work, an approach that is semi-synonymous with my research and content.

Some of Leigh's more noteworthy works are Abigail's Party (1977) , An improvisational play for theatre and television (which was voted no.11 in the BFI's Poll of the 100 greatest British television programmes), and Secret's and Lies (1996) which was awarded the Palme D'or at Cannes (Another film with largely improvised dialogue, with Leigh aiding the character development)

John Cassavetes

Cassavetes was a pioneer for Improvisational and Indie film in American cinema.

The manner in which Cassavetes employed improvisation is often misunderstood, the large majority of his films being fully scripted. While dialogue and actions were scripted, delivery was not.

Cassavetes' Directing style was vastly different from the director run sets of Hollywood's big budget productions, often employing his friends as cast and crew, filming over long periods of time at the weekends or when funding was available.

"I think you have to define what improvisation does - not what it is. Improvisation to me means that there is a characteristic spontaneity in the work which makes it appear to have not been planned. I write a very tight script, and from there on in I allow the actors to interpret it the way they wish. But once they choose their way, then I'm extremely disciplined and they must also be extremely disciplined about their own interpretations. There's a difference between ad-libbing and improvising and a difference between not knowing what to do and just saying something. I believe in improvising on the basis of the written word, and not on undisciplined creativity" -John Cassavetes on improvisation

Film Idea

My idea for the film is based heavily on my research into vignettes. I would like to fuse the Psychological premise for vignettes with that of the Literary Vignette. The use of the moving image medium for the vignette will allow a better insight into a persons mindset by placing them into the situation itself and recording their reaction.

The film would be made up of a series of scenes in which the protagonist is placed into a scenario with minimal information about the scene, but provided with a back story and bio for their character and will be asked to improvise a reaction to the events of the scene. This will happen several times, but each time the characters in the scene will act differently or cause a series of different events to see how the protagonist reacts, thus giving an insight into the protagonist's psyche.

Alternatively, the scenario and people in the scenario will act the same each time, with the protagonist being provided with several different back stories to see how different characters react to the same scenario. (or the protagonist will be played by different people each time to give a wider, more accurate range of reactions)

I was thinking the narrative form of each scene could play out in reverse chronological order, for example, showing the consequences of the protagonists reaction first, and then the reaction itself, then the catalyst for the reaction, and finally the protagonists entrance. (Not particularly relevant but a challenging editing style and a homage to the unconventional narrative forms I have researched)

The scenes will be short and concise( as a nod to Slacker and the Literary Vignette) with minimal dialogue. Information will be provided through significant symbolic shots, close up reaction shots, and motifs.

Vignettes

Vignettes in Literature (As demonstrated in Slacker (Dir. Linklater, 1991) ) are a short impressionistic scene that focuses on one brief moment to give a trenchant (vigorous in expression or style) impression about a character, idea, setting or object. (A blog could be argued to demonstrate a form of vignettes)

However upon looking into Vignettes more i became enthralled by the idea of vignettes in Psychology and Sociology. Vignettes in Psychological/Sociological experiments present a hypothetical situation to which research participants respond , thereby revealing their perceptions, values, social norms or impressions of an event.

These forms of vignettes are used extensively to demonstrate/teach management and teaching styles ( for example )

Vignettes allow for 'controlled studies of mental processes'. Vignettes are used for processes that are impossible or highly difficult to study through more traditional/classic experiements.

However the process of someone reading a scenario and then responding has a lot of drawbacks/pitfalls as the person is not truly experiencing the scenario, hence why i struck upon the idea of using them in film to provide a much more genuine reaction.

Slacker/ Non Linear Vignettes

While investigating different narrative forms I came across Richard Linklater's 1991 film Slacker.

Slacker has a unique narrative form, which is seemingly plot less, following a series of various bohemian/burnt out characters in a single day. The film never focuses on one character for more than a few minutes. Slacker gives a unique insight into the lives of these kinds of people in the college town of Austin, Texas and almost acts as a cautionary tale at times.

Upon investigating the film more, i saw that the films narrative structure had several times been described as as series of Non Linear Vignettes. Vignette being a term i had not encountered before i decided to investigate further.

Reflections ; Unconventional Narrative Form; Reverse Narrative

The first narrative structure that came to mind when reading the brief was the reverse narrative, this form is very interesting to me and is one i have only seen done succesfully on a handful of occasions.

The most well known/ commercially successful film to use this narrative form is undoubtedly Momento (Dir. Nolan, 2000). Momento is split into two different narrative sequences, the first; a series of black and white scenes that are shown in chronological order and the second; a series of scenes in colour shown in reverse order. The sequences represent the different forms of the protagonists memory (or lack there of) and converge at the end to show one common, complete narrative.

Another film that uses the reverse narrative form (and in my eyes uses it most thoroughly and to the best effect) is Irreversible (Dir, Noe. 2002). The film shows the events of a night out in Paris in reverse order (even going so far as to have the end credits roll UP the screen at the beginning of the film) revealing shocking plot points as the film progresses (an excellent film but not for the weak stomached >.<)

Another film worth mentioning that uses this form is 5x2 (Dir. Ozon, 2004) which splits its narrative form into five episodes in reverse chronology.

Reflections: Photography Instillation Idea

While watching the short documentary piece by Paul Sermon about the use of the space in the coal mine showers (A Body Of Water), I began to think of how I might use an environment to display the photography project.

I actually decided upon how i would like to display my work before landing on a concept, in fact the idea for the display led to my idea for the concept.

While watching A Body of Water and the Echo piece, i liked the idea of the viewer moving about and experiencing the piece , feeling that a more immersive experience would stay with the viewer longer and make a larger impact (a sentiment similarly expressed in the YoHo piece). As such i decided that my photos would be in the centre of the space (whatever that might be) and displayed in a manner which would allow the viewer to move about or to stay in one spot and still be able to view the whole thing. Too this end I thought to display my five photos on the faces of a cube that is suspended in the middle of the room on a chain or rope that spins the cube around.

From the above idea and the research i had been doing for Image Factory, I decided that each of the our vertical faces would display an image that in some way denotes each of the four seasons and the bottom face that of death. I felt this was fitting for the square that moves in a circle, as i felt that it represented the way that we humans attempt to make everything clear cut and definable by manageable arbitrary integers, like the four seasons , which in reality aren't clear cut and run into each other (this is denoted by the turning of the cube, which also represents the constant progression/changing of the season). While the image seperate from these four, underneath, will be one of death as that is the only escape from the turning of the seasons (on Earth that is).

However upon thinking on the doc's i began to like the idea of projection more and more, thinking that if the images where in fact projected out from the faces of the cube into the exhibition space, it would make for a more immersive experience, and also would be synonymous with the way in which humans force our perception of the universe onto others through communal understanding. We don't truly know whether the person sitting next to us is seeing the same thing as us, yes they would be seeing the same visual light being emitted, but there is no way of knowing for sure if their brain perceives it the same way you do.

Our understanding of the physical universe being what it is we know that in reality we are 99.9 percent empty space, being made up of electrons and the forces of the universe holding them together, and the human brain instinctively fills in the gaps. So how do i know that my green is your green.

Upon thinking further on the idea, i felt that a hellish image would be better for the bottom face than one of purely death, the two concepts are synonymous in my catholic/jesuit upbringing/force feeding. also the idea that hell is below us works well with the image being projected onto the floor. This projection will be in stark comparison to those on the outer faces, those i decided would be photo montages, as this is a more interesting way of showing all the facets of a season rather than like just falling leaves for autumn etc. I also thought that in addition to the hellish image i would include some coloured LED lights underneath that will add emphasis to the image and also help to create a sense of vertigo and unease as the viewer looks at the swirling image.

I would also ideally like to include sound in the exhibition, creating a general atmos track for each image that will all play together creating a cacophony of sound.