This film is a beast to tame.
On the surface, the task is easy – link shots to make a simple animation. However I’ve been working on this on and off for 3 months now. Seven different cuts exist. I’m starting to feel film may not be for me!
Typically, breakthrough emerges from an unexpected direction. The Song of the Shirt, 1979, a 16mm 135 minute long black and white film directed by Sue Clayton and Jonathan Curling about the position of working women in the 1840’s. What’s key is less about content, more about the way it’s put together:
Grainy or pixelated footage
Simple content
Moving image inserting itself into static shots
Static shots sliding into film
Images scuttling in and out of view
No surety about how long a clip will remain in sight
Nor in which direction it will skulk off
I need some video footage – the first I’ve ever tried to shoot, still made with the mobile phone camera. I also need sound. I’m working on the final cut now.
Meanwhile, the correct title for this work still eludes me…
Strangely, this shot below is pretty much as the eye of the camera recorded it, although it looks more painting than photograph. Close inspection reveals a reflection from the train intruding in the top left hand corner.
