i’ve been keen to add a post here for over a week now. i’m having such a good time with the projects i’m involved with that the small window of opportunity has been quite elusive, until now.
i’m making this film on a part time basis and as such feel happy that i’m making good use of the time in and around the mill.
over the previous 3 saturdays i’ve recorded footage of very diverse activities happening in the mill. i’ve also had some very serendipitous moments of which my favourite has been working with the volunteers of the model railway. before they begun neatly packaging the rolling stock i was invited to film with them the driver and guards eye view of the model railway. when we looked at the rushes the reactions were overwhelmingly positive. getting that close with a camera rewarded all the hard work as the level of detail in the model makes the footage compelling viewing.
to date the model railway has a 70 year history.
i’ve enjoyed the walks outside the mill. the surprising aspect has been the diversity of environment at an equal number of steps away from the mill.
i’ve nearly completed all the filming. i have a session this week and at this i hope to get the remaining internal footage i need. this will leave the last few external shots to be made. i have my fingers crossed for favourable wether.
my post production process is on going. i’ve been researching the final resolutions of the film and think i’m almost at a decision about this. editing the footage will lead me to the linking keywords and then it’ll be a case of going through all the compressing and assembling the film. when i say it quickly there’s not much left to do really.
i’ve found that filming internally at the mill has been easy because i’m known to the staff. i’ve chatted to them before beginning and they have been at ease when i’m filming. i’m looking forward to the final stages of the film where i link it all together.
i’m looking forward to when i can share the film with the staff of the museum as in making the film i’m seeing new aspects of the museum.
upon reflecting about my process so far i see that i’m evolving in the way i consider something. for this film i’m happy to stay with a wide aspect of the subject in so much as i’m not fixating on detail within the scene. this is quite an adaption to my thinking as i consider that previously i might well have been over focussed on detail believing that that was what was important. i see through this film project that sometimes detail can bog down something unnecessarily. i am getting a sense that in looking at a wider picture i leave space for curiosity to find the detail when more detail is needed to help further the interest. i am of course thinking here about the viewer of the film. am i learning how to manage my expectation of detail ?
when returning to a process i’ve not gone through for a while there are always moments of realisation about the subtleties i need to get back.
this morning was the realisation that i’d not synchronised the clocks on the two recorders i’m using on this project. not a big problem, i’ve managed to locate and sync up almost all the files from saturday. tiredness holding me back completing all the work this afternoon.
the work today has been to start the process to create edits from footage recorded and this in turn starts to inform what will make it into the film and what i still need to create. with a clear head i need to think again about the shooting schedule.
still no images to add to the blog as i’m focussed on producing the edits that will form some of the initial snu‘s of the film. in the non linear film world each scene is referred to as a small narrative unit or snu.
the workflow for this project has many stages, for my own reflection they are:
- planning / preparation
- filming
- syncing
- editting
- snu creation and compression
- non linear film design and editing.
there might well be more. as i get myself quickly up to speed these are the key points as i see them.
there is another event this weekend and i’m keeping a close eye on the weather as well as i need to film outdoors. my ideal day will be bright, dry and not too much wind.
from the footage i’ve worked with today i can start to see how the film will hold together and it’s feeling very exciting.
there’s not too much reflecting at this moment as there is still so much to do.
i’ve had a quick look at the rushes from yesterday, i’m pleased with the footage i have and the accompanying binaural sound recordings.
most unexpected occurrence was coming across tying a knot by elena brake, part of the uk young artist festival happening across derby this weekend.
this morning i did have a vague plan to film outside the mill, however learning about an event there today prompted me to reconsider as my intention was to film outside the mill on a quiet day.
a long walk this afternoon has helped me consider how to edit the footage of the model railway into a compelling account of how the model railway was as this running was the last time before being packed up ahead of the building work set to take place in 2017.
later today i’ll take myself and my equipment into the derby silk mill museum of making and begin the filming for the film commission i’m currently calling four six one.
it’s being produced by sue ball, one of the two collaborating producers working with the museum to produce works that inform the arts and heritage strategy for the museum of making.
in discussions with sue i learnt about the interest in the public spaces in and around the museum and potential uses for these. sue spoke of a notion of ‘mapping’ in some way and the consideration of digital content.
using my residency experience i initially threw around possible ideas and in the end decided they were a little complicated. i needed to work on something that is intrinsically a simple notion. i drew on the museum’s collection of bricks, walking and my interest in non linear films.
i shared with sue this link for non linear film made in 2012 :
http://andrewmartynsugars.me/and/k-film-media/rising-tell/
(please note this currently only works on flash enabled browsers.)
i kept my proposal simple and i’m so happy to say it was accepted.
for the project i’m going to be making binaural recordings, this has been of interest to me for sometime and this project has given me the space to work binaurally for the first time.
today i’ll be filming aspects of the model railway as it runs for the last time before being taken apart and stored in readiness for the building renovation work set to begin later next year.
