- Venue
- Screen Room
- Location
- East Midlands
SCREEN TEST
@ Screen Room
Friday 26th March 2010, 2pm
Screen Test, a showing of video work produced by degree students at Nottingham Trent University was very well organised by Jennifer Ross. The venue Screen Room, the world’s smallest cinema, kindly agreed to hire the venue free of charge for this event. The event was a successful and intimate viewing of some up and coming talent, showcasing highly developed camera and editing skills. On arrival, all visitors were supplied with a printed colour pamphlet, in which each artist had written a brief description of their work. The work was well discussed with the group afterwards. The general consensus of the work was that there was a particularly high standard of skill to produce the footage, and the contextual depth well developed.
Professional intros and Jen’s careful consideration of the sequence of the work, starting with a really upbeat and colourful work of her own, to some deeply disturbing violence and S&M by Carl Cutting.
Jennifer Ross
Edit of actuality
“Well see, you don’t just use your mind to say the Alphabet, you have to put your whole body into it”, says Big Bird from Sesame Street in the second scene. The abundance of bright yellow and the nostalgic collection of found footage ranging from black and white scenes of looking into the mirror, questioning what is actual fact; “Do you know what you look like to others?” Visually well put together, each piece of found footage pieced together harmoniously, mono then red balloons. Interesting contextual comments at the end of the clips, just enough to raise questions for the viewer.
Claire Harris
Passing moment
Stunning opening scene, camera looking into a quiet, bleak, cold, white room, through what looks like a wooden serving hatch. The window frame close-up, representing the deterioration of what is most likely the woman’s mental or physical health. Sat motionless, wrapped in a white quilt cover. Her hands still, crossed over, grasping each end of the cover, the only movements from her breathing. The wrinkles on her knuckles exaggerate the aging of this empty soul, followed by the yellowing toe nails on her bare feet. A pristine aerial shot of the feet sinking into virgin snow, the camera follows bare footprints, further towards the horizon of white, then a gentle cross dissolve of the woman disappearing near the top of the hill. Without sound or words, but the simplicity and crispness of the room and the close up’s of the woman in her pyjamas supplied enough fuel to fire the imagination of the viewer. Claire’s Steady, strong, sweeping seamless motion of the camera gave a highly polished finish. I really enjoyed this and the atmospheric qualities came across exceptionally well.
Aphids
Written and directed by Simon Dymond
“He fucked this poor sucker to death. Then he vomits over the body”. I am already sick of the visual ugliness of this scene, with its crass and vulgar intro. I soon perk up with the line “The only thing you can write is your own fucking obituary”; this is a more positive start for me. The narrative continues “Searching for inspiration, real and simple, questions of what is real”. The shot is a fast focus into black and white photograph, which is an effective tool into defining the layering of the story. A sepia/orange toned chase, this for me was where the work starts to become quite professional. The film kindly offers a detailed definition of its title during the scene at the house “Need to understand the aphid. Asexual, carbon copy of itself inside its own body. Marked by the situations it falls in”.
The character John visually is extremely strong, especially the close up of his eyes, followed later by his face alongside a drip, this extremely professional, the background music fits well too. Everything in nature, is a story, within a story, within a story. Contextually, this narrative is clear, concise and communicated effectively through a broad range of filming and editing techniques.
Northern Cunt
Carl Cutting
Brave step of utilising the most vulgar word in the English dictionary by my standards, it definitely gives the title some substance, without a doubt.
Excessive swearing, mock-gangster beatings and emotional violence which mimic the bullying or peer pressure at University. This work graphically begins to show the torture of a “fucking northern cunt” in the basement of his own student house. This man is beaten with a cane on the back of the calves, for the absence of “northern big man tattoos. Or is it actually about the politics associated with the selection process into Universities, and the North/South educational divide? I think bringing the cane into the torture ritual confuses the issue from fighting to a more sadistic context; I wander if this is the intention, relating to the canings once used by School headmasters?
Tyne Rider
Thomas Darby
Big Dick Productions
Blue electric voltage zapping on dash board blatantly takes the piss out of our 1980’s Hoff mobile, as does the hillbilly re-working of the theme tune. This green jalopy sets out to get his owner from A to B, driving like the Stig, cornering and smashing through piles of boxes in a comical action hero / stuntman way. The manic and awkward chase through the woods continues into a very clumsy and naïve fight, which forces us to question what really made the Michael Knight such a hit back then. The emphasis on dodgy sound really does make a mockery of big boys toys and phoney fighting.
Jo-Anna Whitehead
Time Well Spent
White background, multiple Etch-a-sketch lines developing into still image of the water feature in the Old Market Square, Nottingham. A style almost like stop-motion, very quiet and ambiguous, the camera takes on a robotic, inquisitive trek around the city. I particularly liked the subtlety of a heart beat which was just enough sound to keep the mysteriousness of the work alive, the hint of trance maybe suggests a surreal drug-induced state of mind, the end speeds up into what could be the end of a chase. I can’t help think it’s a piss take of the DaVinci code.
Claire McCann
Love by numbers
Begins with a cartoon-like illustration of a typical couple on their wedding day, the voiceover of a woman begins to tell the story an anonymous man, who has now been happily married for more than 30 years. He explains that as his wife has gone off sex, he is considering using a prostitute. Doctor is giving a detailed account of statistics as to what other people would do instead. This work was based upon the Guardian’s book which is published by Dr Luisa Dillner, title as above. I admire the way that this artist is reflecting upon how this book uses statistics to back up the relationship advice, even in the most desperate of circumstances. Visually, the bright pink neon’s and vivid citrus colours brighten up and refresh a very taboo subject.
Gavin Frankcom
Ditchling Beacon
Time: Noon
Date: March 28th 2008
Location: Ditchling Beacon
The location is the third-highest point on the South Downs in South-East England.
Stark white sky, dark grey landscape, a pixelated figure walks down the hill and into the foreground of the picture. Another male appears; they both have similar dress and are covered in white bandages around their heads, they begin fighting with breadsticks and dancing, in time with the music. This obscure scene seemed to entertain the audience; I was left puzzled and unsure what was happening.
Miguel Gutirrez
The Concept of state
Ultimate Fighting Championships, military machine gun type sounds at more bpm than rounds per minute. Political figures, all glowing brightly like the explosives used at war. I can’t help but think that the video editing effect was killed too during this work, but it kind of worked, in an obvious and annihilating way. Sharp jabs to those recognisable figures in the clips work well with the upbeat sound. Is this a stab at the conflicting countries in an arcade game type fashion here? The overkill with the Rocky style lighting effects balanced the flashes symbolism, well for me.
Overall, the venue hosted a great collection of varied and interesting video by a group of students at Nottingham Trent University.
Contact details of those involved:
Screen Room www.screenroom.co.uk
Jennifer Ross www.jennifer-ross.co.uk
Claire McCann http://cargocollective.com/nafftastic
Clare Harris www.harris-media.co.uk
