Cha Update

I'm getting on much better with the film, Cha, now, and although the process is quite slow, I'm feeling much more confident with the way it's turning out.

I've been working on Foley recently, getting all the sounds needed for the film, and I'm now in the process of editing the sound with pro-tools. I'm just worried about not getting it finished in time before I move to Bristol, as I want to take in a copy to David and Kathy at the Essence of Tea.

The Foley recording was really fun, getting inventive with whatever we could find around the flat, deciding what sounded closest to what was happening on screen and then making the subtlest sounds with a microphone pointed at the objects. I'd love to do it again.

Cha

I'm currently working on a short experimental film called 'Cha' which follows the process of a Chinese tea ceremony. I've done the filming and have been editing for a while but it's getting very difficult, I don't think I'm much of an experimental editor.

The filming went a lot differently than I'd planned and so it's turning out quite differently to how I'd imagined in my head, but I'm improvising with what I've got and it might be okay.

I'm trying to use editing to create the effect that a lot of Chinese tea has on the drinker, especially during the ceremony, so therefore a lot of repetition, and experimenting with speeds and direction of play. the sound will be very important too, but I feel we may have to re-record some of the sound as a lot of seaguls, children and cars can be heard from the street outside

Cha was filmed in 'The Essence of Tea' http://www.essenceoftea.co.uk/ owned by a lovely couple in Falmouth - a tea shop I can't stop going to for their teas and vegetarian sushi.

Long time no write...

I have finished my installation, almost. I exhibited it in the TV studio at university and it seemed to be a success. it was really helpful getting the participants to answer a few questions on camera - partly for my documentation video as part of the hand in, but it also helped me understand what I should change, what went well etc. I was very happy with the outcome, with just a couple of things I have to change, but it was an overall enjoyable experience.

The installation will be back up again during the Pixel-8 film festival in the poly, where it will be exhibited for all three days, which is good to hear. It will also possibly be part of the final year 'summer show'. I don't know much about this though - I don't think it's film related.

Slovakia was absolutely amazing. what a beautiful place. I really enjoyed my time there with my good friend Katarina. we climbed the mountains for three days, sharing a wood cabin with a large group of partying Slovaks, but they were friendly enough- very welcoming! The mountains were like something out of a film, but even better! they were snow covered and beautiful and just unbelievable, and we saw a bear print on the last day!! I'm definitely going there again some day soon.

Update/Slovakia

I haven't posted on here in a while so thought I should update what I'm doing.
I've been really busy lately, and will be very busy over the next couple of months, helping out with other peoples' short narrative films, and working on my own installation. I've done most of the filming for it now, and feel quite happy with how everything has turned out. in Mid-February I'll be briefly going back to Bradford to collect the tent I need the frame for to build the installation space.

In other news, I'm very excited about a potential plan to go to Slovakia with Katarina Complova for a week in late April to help out with filming there. We will be filming in the mountains near her house, and I'm very excited. The only obstacle at the moment is my job. hopefully they'll let me have the time off - I only work once a week so would only be taking 1 day off.

Finally, nearly finished with redrafting my dissertation, I feel like I'm at the point where I'm fairly happy with it, not overwhelmed, but I think that would be difficult considering how long I've been working on it. hand in is on 25th March.

Update

I finally exported the film, An Air Of... as it had been too long unedited. I'd tried to shoot some more footage but due to certain circumstances it didn't get added to the edit. I think what I have is okay though.

I have been shooting footage for my installation which is looking really good, I still have more footage to shoot and editing to do but I'm getting a start on that. I feels much more real now I have something to look at.

The Zone (Working Title)

Updates on the new upcoming project.
The viewer will be sitting or lying alone in a tent (Only one person allowed in at a time - allowing the experience to be much more personal) The tent will be kitted out with cushions, duvets, sleepng bags making it as comfortable as possible. The tent will also be isolated from anybody else, so one person venturing into the room and experiencing the whole thing alone may in itself be a stray from the viewer's comfort zone.
The films will begin once the person enters the tent, or it will be on a continuous loop. The images surrounding the viewer will transport them into different tight, close spaces in which they may feel happy and comfortable, or claustrophobic, testing the individual's boundaries, and the general line between comfort and claustrophobia.

The idea was inspired by the original concept for Brendan Monroe's interactive sculpture, 'Borborygmi', a stomach like space made of pink and red cushions which makes the sounds of the inside of a person's stomach when you touch or interact with the walls of the space. I was inspired by the statement that Monroe said of the sculpture, that some people found that they felt comforted by the womb-like structure, and others felt claustrophobic in it.


A micro-project that I will begin on the side soon is using a super 8 camera to film a recurring dream that I had about a year ago, I always wanted to film it as the images were so vivid in my mind, and I think soon may be the time.

Installation Idea

For my third year project I have to write three proposals for ideas to do over the course of the year. The film I am most keen on is a 'camera-less film' project, painting on film, creating a synaesthetic piece of filmmaking, in which I will assign certain colours to different instruments in a certain piece of music, and make these colours move in synchrony with the music, producing, in the end, a visual and colourful representation of the song.
However, the time that is given to make this project will not be enough for what I intend, and I don't want to sacrifice the quality of the piece, so I will save this idea for after graduation, something to do in my free time.

The idea I will be persuing is to create an installation in which one or two people will sit in a small space made of four projection screens as walls, and for images to be surrounding the viewer. The images projected will be testing the boundaries of the viewer, as I am trying to display the varied and changable line between comfort and claustrophobia. The images will start by filmically placing the viewer in a common comfort zone - for example wrapped in a duvet or in between light sheets, with images changing gradually and becoming more intense and less comfortable, presenting images that viewers may find claustrophobic. An interactive element to this installation will allow viewers at any time to take the film backwards if they become too claustrophobic, and the images would become gradually more comforting and sensitive.

I have become more excited and inspired about this over time, and look forward to starting the project.