Harry Stone's Soft Choreography Blog

Collected a lot of footage of trees, dirt tracks and and wetlands covered in ducks. These would be perfect for the essay film, say we were to separate the words from the images.

We’ll be doing a podcast like structure for the essay film, first reading out the Legend of La Gargouille and discussing it in relation to history, stories and the origin of Gargoyles. La Gargouille is essentially the myth where it is claimed Gargoyles received their inspiration; the mounted head of a dragon that inspired an architect who went on to make a career in carving stone statues. There’s more to it than that, but you’ll see in the final product. I think it’s an interesting topic, since we’re attempting to capture a fantasy lore, we’re telling real life lore that has been moulded into fantasy over the years. It is the nature of humans and storytelling: to make situations and origins way more exciting than they actually are.

I don’t know what else to say other than… gotta get back to work. Only a few days before it’s ready and I can’t wait to see it.

This week involved a bit of filming. As the poem film will be geared towards the recreation of a dream, we figured that inconsistency between each of our households may actually be beneficial, and not hinder us like previously thought. So me dressing as an old man and yelling gibberish into the camera will fit perfectly!

 

…Yes, I… actually did that.

 

But the part I find particularly weird is that we are each using our pets as actors for the titular Jabberwock from the poem. This can contribute to the idea of dreams blowing up ordinary things into something of the world of the fantastical, or simply cover for our lack of freedom and budget.

Sorry that it’s been a while. I was afraid that I’d forget to post every week, and forget I did. But I’m here now so let’s see what I have to say.

The group assignment was something I was simultaneously looking forward to and dreading. They can be a great way to engage me in a course’s content and hear another’s perspective, and the thought of making films was really exciting. But group projects can be stressful and difficult to manage at the worst of times, communication problems are possible, work division can be cumbersome, and also… making films… in Covid times… how?!

As of writing, I feel a little more comfortable in this task. Our group has put together collective visions for both films, one a recreation of dream using Lewis Carroll’s ‘Jabberwocky’ as a textual basis, the other a visual essay on gargoyles and potentially the legend of La Gargouille. I will talk more of these on my next post. But I’ve got to say that I’m looking forward to putting these together.

When I began this course in Soft Choreography, it is safe to say I was a little nervous. I wasn’t sure if I or it were the right fit for one another. I wasn’t sure if it was what I wanted to do, or if it could help what I wanted to do. Six weeks later and it has given me an entirely new perspective on creative writing, and new ways I can approach and consider my own.

Last week’s Film Essay task proved that there can be significant creative freedom in approaching the form. Most prominent to me were the techniques in essay film to tell a story through structure and visuals. Structure implies a hook, a narrative thread, and a payoff. These devices are usually incorporated in fiction, yet can be applied in non-fictional essay films to engage an audience not just intellectually, but by satisfaction of the senses and a story coming together. Additionally, I learned that a lack of dissonance between script and visuals encourages more insight and participation on the audience’s part, piecing together the words with the symbolic meaning of the images.

The Poem Film task showed how I may use film to make sense of poetry. I have never actively sought out poetry or considered myself a poet. I can count on one hand how many poems have moved me to my core, and on one finger how many poems I’ve written that were actually half decent. So being able to examine a poem through the lens of filmmaking relieved the tension I feel around the subject. I could plant my own feelings and my humour into a piece that appears deceptively detached from me. In a way, the very art of the poem film is an example of soft choreography, since the audience may have autonomy in how they portray a poem through the visual medium.

I guess I should say that my intention throughout this course was to find ways I could tell a clear narrative through forms of soft choreography and non-representational theory. I proposed these thoughts in my presentation, and wrote up a piece of my own (albeit, one that didn’t end up adhering to NRT at all, just an excuse to write nautical language). I think then I was still floundering, and maybe I still am. But linking the theories to a film I enjoyed, ‘The Lighthouse’, allowed me to step in to the subject with a little more openness. Of course, old habits die hard. I’ve always been one to provide a clear point to stories I write. Maybe not stories with only one clear moral, I’m not a fan of those, but ones that inevitably invite discussion. And I do think that audience discussion is an important aspect to soft choreography.

So finally, to the answer the question I presented myself in week 1: “How do I intend to share ideas through work I write in the future?” I can’t say I’ve found a single answer for that, but I do know one thing. Whatever I write, an essay, a play or a film; I will ask what I can do to bring down the barrier between the narrative and the audience. That is to say, how will they become an integral part of the experience?

I want to write a story. A story with characters whose lives are affected by an audience being there. A fictional world that lives knowing it only exists with an audience being there. And prompt the audience to question what being there even means. I guess we’ll see what the next six weeks bring. But the things I’ve learned and been inspired by in this subject, I will be taking long into my career as a writer.

That is all.

Thank you.

On studying the film essay form, I was interested in how a story can be conveyed separately between visuals and voice. That is to say, the voice relays one narrative, and the visuals imbue it with a new meaning.

What we’re used to as audiences (or at least I am) are films where sound matches the visuals, resulting in formal and straightforward narratives. The poetry there lies in subtext indicated by words and actions. But in this form we can create our own subtext pictorially, demanding a different kind of attention from viewers; for them to piece together the story themselves rather than have it shown to them clearly.

For the content of the voice over  itself, I’ve always wanted to explore ideas of nurturing the moment, living by kairos time in a chronos world, the childlike wonder we tend to forget. The images felt connected to these thoughts in a way, so I pieced together the beginnings of a story I’m writing about a character I believe embodies them. I dare say this may be a method I use in the future to reconcile my preferred experience of character investment and adhering to forms of representational theory and soft choreography. Just because I may bring primary focus to objects such as the body or the landscape and the language doesn’t mean I can’t weave through a story I feel passionate about.

I don’t want to keep you too long because you probably already saw the video and are very busy. But if you haven’t seen it, that will do the rest of the explaining. And if you’re not busy, then please enjoy the peace for a while. It’s beautiful.

Poem: ‘A November’ By John Ashbery

For my video, I wanted to provide an interpretation of some of the hidden values in the poem. It is not necessarily grounded in the truth of what Ashbery is saying, rather a foothold for my own understanding of the words.

So strangely, the video ended up being a fake a calendar commercial. “What?” You say. “Why a calendar commercial?” Well, let me tell you.

Approaching this task I found the way the words resonated with me seemed to form a pattern of meaning. The lost library made me think about the books that lie on my shelf I will probably never have time to read. “Next years list of things” sounds to me like a whole lot of multitasking, “places left unplanted” sounds I missed a few important things, but I’m so busy there just “isn’t room” to fit the quiet moments I can enjoy a cup of coffee and read. Moreover, this mysterious friend who doesn’t “understand anything” is probably an incorporeal nagging pressure to steer me away from going at my own pace. So what would I need to balance all this time? A calendar.

There used to be a trend in certain videos where a vague poem would be read over meditative cinematography, and right at the end it turns out to be a commercial for something completely unrelated, like beer or cars. This poem stood out to me because it made me consider that poetry and art can be appropriated for capitalist means, and I figured its words would most suit a calendar commercial.

This was fun to put together and made me chuckle a little making it. It’s not a roaring comedic take on the poem, but it is a nice experiment in how far words can be taken from their initial intention (or lack of intention) in Soft Choreography.

The presentations definitely helped me understand just how much there is to discuss around these concepts, there really can’t be a single interpretation pinned down to one of them.

I loved how everyone took the topics and provided their own perspective, and made their own creative contribution in short films. I admit I was initially disappointed in myself for not getting familiar with some editing software, but I’m a writer at heart more than a filmmaker. Regardless, I thought the insights and work put on the slides were great, and provided good examples to help clarify what these theories have to do with my own practice.

I appreciated Monique mentioning Beckett’s ‘Waiting For Godot’. It’s a play I’ve been fond of for a long time, and one of the few that got me into play writing. I realise now, that non-representational writing has had an influence on me since before I knew what it was.

I hope that my presentation was able to engage some of the class’ thoughts the way the class engaged mine. The topics are very subjective, with so many twisting, contradictory and personal aspects, but that’s the point. I’m very excited to see what else we can discover in this course.

My Presentation:

Non-Representational Theory Theories

Photo by Raimund Linke, Photodisc Collection, via Getty Images <https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/emperor-penguins-aptenodytes-forsteri-protecting-royalty-free-image/940475912>

 

Representational:

A penguin chick, nestled between its parent’s legs, the parent stooped over their child. Two other penguins stand on either side of the parent. Surrounding them is an icy surface, and more penguins out of focus in the background.

 

Non-Representational:

Three tall, protective penguins gather in a row, in watch of their vessel, their chick. The mother, bent, vulnerable and nurturing protects the babe nibbling at her feet. The adjacent two wear a farsighted gaze in watch of the unknown. Life is precious, but lost without guards, a fool without elders, a fixed form without growth. A featherless, precious thing has no way to go, thus it is on the wisdom of the old to show them how to swim. In a cold, rugged land, a desert of ice and snow, a small hatchling may be a burden on life, but the sole excuse for it.

 

Reflection:

This is all very new to me. As someone who mostly enjoys playwriting and screenwriting, I am often very literal in my descriptions. I’d even go as far as to say I am rather blunt. Yet any story needs strong subtext to keep it interesting, a philosophical position, or symbols that allow the audience to draw their own conclusions. I have done this in essay form in the past, but that rarely allowed me to construct a new creative piece without having to justify my interpretations. Making this was rather fun as a result. I could take any position I wanted and didn’t have to structure it as debate or conjecture. I could tell my own story, and I guess that is where non-representational writing succeeds. The audience has creative control.

 

Examples of Non-Representational Theory:

I can’t say I know too many examples of non-representational theory. I normally go for auteur driven films, books, TV shows. In a big way, this theory links back to what was discussed of the Soft Choreography concept. The text is ultimately shaped by the audience’s perception of it, not necessarily by the author’s intentions. So I guess the films I could consider a form of non-representation would be various silent films from the classic era.

 

A particular film I can think of is Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. Though I haven’t seen it all in a single sitting, the film encapsulates a dark fantastical world that prods the audience to think. The abstract, nightmarish imagery takes focus over a pointed story, and the reveal of it all being the dreams of a madman presents to the audience a sense of mystery around what the film is actually saying. 

 

Another more recent example (if you could call the 90s recent), is David Lynch’s Lost Highway. The film follows a disjointed narrative, with vague dialogue, and no explanation for what is occurring. Thus, the film continues to invite theories on what actually happened, why the story seemed to change halfway through then change back again at the end. Though many could argue the film lacked a proper narrative structure, it is because of this very thing that the text is so open to interpretation.

 

If I am to be honest, I do not particularly enjoy abstract films. I prefer stories that have a sense of purpose in themselves, characters to latch onto, events and plots to excite or move me. While I do want a story to invite discussion, I do not want an entire piece to feel alien. However, I can appreciate where non-representational art succeeds, and why people love making and viewing it. It has the potential to alienate us, yes, but also engage us in the creation of a work that representational art cannot.

From the looks of things, this course is more than just a subject combining film, essay and poetry. Here, we examine how we use language within these forms to communicate ideas and observations on a deeper level and uncover a new understanding. At least, that is how see it now. I’m aware that I’m in my first week, many concepts and words to describe concepts currently escape me. I can write reflectively but not in such a considered manner to what’s expected. A strong reflection, as described in Moon’s handbook, is a piece that can consider the perspectives of others as well as the impact on the self, what led the self to making certain decisions or acting in a particular way, and overall what lesson can be taken out of the experience. There are nuances to situations we often overlook as humans in favour of “being right”. I think it is important we take a measured approach to making conclusions.

The idea that interests me most are the definitions of “Hard” and “Soft” Choreography. The latter differentiates from the majority of auteur creations, in that its presentation is up to the audience. Art forms like improv, pantomime, even video games could be considered soft choreography, as they rely on an audience to actively participate to fully experience. It made me think about the changing nature between audiences and texts. The internet and the rise of fandom has given way to a sense of ownership in certain pieces of media, creation of fan art, fan fiction, theories, headcanon. Though works that generate such large followings are predominantly hard choreography constructed by a single auteur,  audiences assume, interpret and discover new things even from unchanging texts. In that regard, hard choreography is not rigidly set as the same experience for everybody, every time. It may not be soft choreography, it may not be open to chance encounters, but it is shaped by an audience observing it.

Of course, this is my first post. I am still wrapping my head around these ideas, and finding a way to structure my thoughts. This post is probably longer than ought to, so I’ll leave it with a question to myself. How do I intend to share ideas through work I write in the future?