Classmates´ feedback.
This is the link to the week´s final piece: https://vimeo.com/184838002
I received useful opinions from my classmates about the methodology in which I put all fragments together, they considered that the music was appropiate. I showed all sorts of gestures, and , although I tried to make them look similar, they were variable. I used a neutral music in the whole editing. My classmate considered that music links the sequence and does not allow the public to isolate in a single sensation, but to contemplate the range of expressions shown.
Some other also considered that the shots unified the film, as I only portrayed the faces, and the backgrounds are unfocused. By no doubt the public knew it was a collection of gestures, although the interpretations of the work were not the same. Some people found it sad, some others calm and even funny.
The film opens with a rethoric question: "Where are you hiding?" . The text comes from my attempt to give a vague, interpretative starting point. I wanted people not only to see the faces, but to question about the meaning and usefulness behind shooting gestures. To me , listening to music on public spaces is an alternative of isolation. To forget what surrounds you and feel safe in a known refugee.
My intention was to make a film that lowered the rythm of art. To create two minutes in which people could just stare at something usual, in order to recognize the uniqueness of each person. The friends I recorded listened the music that made them the most emotional. What does the gestures tell us about their personalities. How much people express their feelings? and specifically, how much do they hide them?
At the end my classmates told me that I could develop more this project, to continue recollecting gestures and see where does this research guides me to. I consider that I had to edit in a day, and I could have done more interesting work on edition. I want to push this idea forward, probably adding more elements and playing more with language.
Changing ideals.
A friend of mine took a course on Montage in Film. At the end she mentioned that the meaning of any films can be totally made by the single use of proper editing, no matter how the shots were taken. I disagree to the extent that I consider that shts are essential as they are the prime material to work with. However her point of view was appealing as she highlighted the importance and scope of editing as a potential resource of creativity.
The gestures I recorded are not mine, but I identify with some of them. The expectator who looks at the video only get to see some seconds from the large amount of time I recorded people. What the audience interpret on the video is highly define by the gestures I decided to show. Somehow, people´s interpretations start from the previous editor´s interpretation. My friend may have probably wanted to express that, with a proper montage, you can express a message, without the need of images that directly support your statement. From this point, it is possible to make a video about melancholia by using scenes of smoke and lightning, like Ed Atkins´ "Delivery of the following recipient failed permanently".
When I worked on the Collection Project, I realized that I already had collected many people´s gestures. Over the time I´v been thinking on the reasons that pushed me to do so. It´s probably because I feel alone since I moved to London, and I want to preserve the little decent talks I have with people. Although it sounds bitter, what is the outcome of photography but to try to preserve ephemeral moments? Experiences that passes through time also die through it.
After thinking of what didn´t convinced me from the Collection Project, I came to realize that I denied myself the chance of actually portraying a personal part of me, which is my sadness. Now I want to work on the possibilities of solitude. I heard a friend talking on his feelings when moving to London. He mentioned that the feeling of living by his own could be seen both as the reaching of freedom or the isolation.
After I defined that I wanted to work with the idea of the dichotomy of freedom and solitude, I started looking for visual symbols that reflected this sensation . I wanted to be metaphorical, even to work with the contradiction. I took some photos of my friends as they walked. I was on the back , isolated from the group. Sometimes I make videos of people staring at paintings on museums. I only recort them from the back, as I don´t want them to notice. I consider that it´s an isolated method of interacting with people.
Sometimes it´s common to feel alone in empty places, but I find more appealing the idea of isolation within a crowd. The massive amount of information in public places, the fast movement of people in rush hour. What would we do if someone jus stopped on their way to the underground and sat on the floor?
Overwhelmed by the amount of information I read everyday.
Overwhelmed by the amount of people I talk to everyday
Overwhelmed by how little I know these people.
How do I release this solitude.
By embracing it.
How do I freed myself from this noise that surrounds this city?
By enclosing , isolating.
Isolation both as curse as healing.
Final Video: On Solitude.
This is the link for "On Isolation" final piece: https://vimeo.com/187502046
I wanted to experiment with the idea of depicting messages with unconventional imagery. To talk about the sense of isolation using shots of social events, sounds of conversations.
The possibilities of editing in terms of linking images with no immediate relation, in order to form a new meaning once they work on a time relation of continuity.
The tension of now showing it all. On keeping a sense of mistery.
The doubts of what the film is actually about. To leave a space for interrogation and free interpretation.
The subtle representation of gestures. The awareness of the personality behind those behaviors.