Research question: To explore the idea of performance in film through the use of the long take.

This semester in my media studio has been an incredibly interesting one. To be honest, six weeks ago, I really didn’t think that I would be able to figure out a research question that would allow me to push myself mentally and creatively. I finally came to the conclusion that I wanted to explore the nature of performance through the use of long takes in cinema. This came about after I became conciously aware of a number of scenes that I found to be incredibly inspiring and captivating to look at. Scenes that, in their perfect execution of the long take, allow the audience to focus their undivided attention on these bits of cinema magic.

In the class presentation that we had earlier on in the semester, the scenes that I used as examples that would help to shape my research project were the following:

Somewhere (Sofia Coppola, 2015)

Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)

Initially, I chose these scenes as inspiration for my project as I thought that the way that they execute the long shot to convey information and aesthetics was something that satiated the creative drive within me. After my presentation in front of Robin and our panel of guest creatives, I was made aware that all of my chosen scenes were performances. It hit me that what I was subconciously attracted to within these scenes was the performance aspect: the relationship between the performer and the viewer, through the use of the long take. This relates back to my initial idea of the audience interpreting information through long takes. Film is a performance. A film’s audience, like the audience watching a performer, interprets an individual sense of meaning from the performance at hand. I wanted to explore this by crafting my own performances and recording them. The results were a bit skewed. I’m a bit disappointed because I genuinely wanted to create a perfect harmony between my ideas and the execution of my project, but my creative motivation peaked a bit too early. The evolution of my ideas stopped dead in its tracks and I think I recorded some rather sloppy and safe little pieces of film.

My first draft was a performance piece of my friend Joe dancing. I wanted to convey a performance that was jubilant in nature. I did it all on my iPhone so i’m well aware of its technical shortcomings. The auto-focus is so bad on the iPhone, especially in low light situations and it really shows in the draft. I worked on remedying this for future drafts.

My second little piece was a recording of my friend Angie air-drumming to Evanescence’s ‘Bring Me To Life’. I wanted to create something that was still a bit rough and a progression of ideas, but something that was a little bit more ‘perfected’ in the way of technicalities such as focus and something that really conveyed the idea of the long take a bit more definitively. By this stage, I was starting to pay a bit more attention to the coverage within my shot. I wanted the scene to look mildly pleasing in terms of framing.

My final performance piece is of my friend Tess playing her piano accordion. I hired a semi-professional video camera from the tech guys at RMIT for this one, as I wanted it to have a nice mastered sheen to it, in terms of video quality as well as sound quality. This one proved to be a bit difficult as Tess was a bit rusty in terms of her piano accordion playing, so to get a long take of her playing it for longer than 40 seconds was really tough. Anyway – she still did great. I liked the way that I covered this piece, I really gave it a crack in trying to frame her well and in ways that really encapsulated the dark, resonating performance that accompanies the sound of a piano accordion. My editing definitely let this shot down. There different cuts of Tess’ playing are SO poorly edited… I tried to the sound to sync between all the shots as smoothly but it was so hard because we couldn’t get a shot with continuous music for longer than 45 seconds. It’s a bit frustrating but I feel like I definitely worked with what I had.

All in all, the thing about this project that shatters me is my lack of enthusiasm for it. When i’m one hundred percent invested in a creative project, I give it my all. I think my problem with this was that I just wasn’t confident enough to really feel what I was doing. It’s a shame because it’s such a good idea for a project, I just wish I gave it a lot more thought and put more hard work into it.

I’ve recut my project to give y’all an idea of what I set out to create:

 

 

Throughout the semester, my relationship with the idea of collaboration has been quite an interesting one. There have definitely been ups and downs throughout the semester. Any problems that i’ve ever had with working as a group, throughout my whole life and especially at uni, has been centered around the idea of creativity.

The group exercises that we undertook as a group were ones that I feel like I got lost in a bit. I find it hard to voice my own ideas and concerns within a group of like-minded individuals all working on the same project. I also kind of let my ideas slide in these sort of exercises as I prioritised them in relation to my own personal projects. The final research assignment is a good example, as these were the types of assignments where my own personal ideas were the driving force for the completion of these projects. Everyone that I worked with on this assignment were willing to help me strive for success and were great in working me into their busy schedules. As my project was performance based, I know that I had to outsource my friends from outside of uni to help me out, as I was familiar with their talents and how that would help with what I was achieving.

I think in hindsight, the only thing that I wish I did more was offer myself to help other people. I think as my stress levels rose to complete my own assignment, I kind of went into my own shell and reserved my energy for myself and my subjects, as opposed to my peers.

All in all, I think collaboration is a double edged sword. It works well in some cases, depending on who you’re working with, but at the same time it can also be detrimental to your own creative vision and workload.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5UHNyK5k4QhdmYwaXJYaDJYU1E

This link here is the final clip that I will be filming for my research assignment based off the long shot in relation to performance. The video depicts my friend Tess, in a state of boredom who stands, picks up her piano accordion and begins to play it.

The whole point of this project was to convey the performance whilst utilising long shots to portray a sense of emotion oozing from within my subject. I think that in this clip I have portrayed that. I was able capture the essence of Tess’ performative abilities whilst also covering it in a way that I sourced from the films that inspire me (save for the part where Tess stands up from the couch and walks to the desk with the lamp, I think that shot sucks).

The thing that I think differentiates this piece of work from my other shoots is the equipment used and the amount of effort and thought that I put into it. I think it really shows. I used a professional movie camera to film this (forgive me, i’ve forgotten what it is called but its the smaller version of the cameras that we use in class). All in all, i’ve really enjoyed filming all of the clips for this project. A fun and thought provoking studio indeed.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5UHNyK5k4QhT0VRdU9ObVFpRFk

Here is the link to my second little clip that I made to support my idea of the long shot in relation to performance within cinema. Compared to my first little piece of film that I created for this project, I think this one really encompasses the notion of the long shot a lot more. The shot of Angie drumming away while Evanescence’s ‘Bring Me To Life’ plays is all shot in one take which, I think, allows the audience to absorb the performance a lot more thoroughly than if it was all shot in different successions. This is one of the highlights of this portion of my project. The long shot is quite daunting to film as it needs to be inviting enough so that the audience feels compelled to watch it without losing interest.

I purposely didn’t really focus too much on the framing or general decoupage for this clip as I really wanted to save that for my final piece of filming, which i’m planning on getting done tomorrow! I’m really gonna think of framing and general placement of my subject to really encapsulate the crescendo of my project. It will be along the same vein as my first two videos but will really feel a lot more ‘complete’ and less of a draft. I’m going to go into uni and hire a camera to make it view a lot more professionally and to really put the technical skills that I learnt this semester to good use.

For my final research assignment, i’m studying the the long shot in relation to performance and how these types of shots are able to capture the emotional impact of the performance.

A couple of nights ago I found this video on the net that I find truly inspiring.

What I find super inspiring about it, other than the subject material, was how something so seemingly simple can have such contextual connotations and emit such a powerful emotional message within the simple cut shots between all the different residents of Brooklyn. Technically, it isn’t something i’d like to emulate (there are no long shots) but I still find it as being something that is stirring my creativity. After my talk with Robin today, i’ve decided that I really need to hone in on the long shot aspect of performance. I need to evolve my ideas and make sure that there isn’t a disjunction between the ideas bubbling around in my head and the execution of my project.

Hopefully this weekend i’m going to film the next part of my project. Compared to my last one, hopefully it comes across as bit more ‘professional’. Screen direction is so important and I need to really focus on that and convey my ideas in a succinct manner.

 

Upon my random trawling of the internet, I stumbled upon an interview with director Claire Denis, famously responsible for Chocolat (1988) which went on to win the coveted Palme d’Or prize at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival.

(Link to the interview here: http://sensesofcinema.com/2009/conversations-on-film/claire-denis-interview/)

The part of the interview that really intrigued me was when Claire Denis explained “I thought if the camera were shaky, it would make their life shaky” in reference to one of her scenes. This is interesting to me as it shows that her coverage directly correlates with the emotional impact that she intends to convey within her scene. In relation to the performance scenes that I have assembled as part of my inspiration, this is exactly what I hope to achieve in my own work. Whilst the short little clip is a brief idea of what I hope to achieve aesthetically in my upcoming works, I want to find a way to connote an emotional representation or even just express a certain emotion through a specific type of aspect of performance.

This scene taken from David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (2001) has always inspired me in terms of its sheer simplicity and beauty. So much emotion is expressed through the singing performance, combined with the long shots and the acting. A deep melancholic ache really rings from this scene. David Lynch is a true master and capturing these dark feelings within his creations. I really want to express a sense of me in this project. Just need to find out how…

Today was the day that I presented my individual research proposal. Admittedly, I was incredibly nervous to present it for no apparent reason other than it’s always a bit intimidating speaking in front of a group of people.

I decided to present on a mode of cinema that I am incredibly interested in, which is the long take, in the context within a scene that contributes to a widespread belief or sense of meaning (mostly within the drama genre).

These were the examples I presented!

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What interests me about the long take is how much of a directors’ essence is present in it. The choices that the director makes to create the shot is really interesting and something that I think ties in nicely with the notion of decoupage. The decoupage, in my opinion, for a long take is hard to map out, as you’re including more information and depth of character in a single take. It becomes important to understand your strengths as a director to harness your vision.

In my Mulholland Drive (2001) example, you can really feel David Lynch in the scene. His characteristics are evident of his personal touch on the decoupage of the shot. It is photographic in nature, the rich colours and sparcity of space really reference one of his influences, Michelangelo Antonioni, a true master of decoupage.

In my Somewhere (2007) example, the part about the long take that really hits home is the intense character development that is portrayed throughout the scene, but more importantly within the takes. I really like the thematic connotations that the audience is invited to envelop during the long take.

In going forwards with this project, i’m yet to formulate a definite final ‘end’ goal or final project, but I think I want it to be a short of some sort. I’m going to mood board examples of long takes in the form of blog posts, which will include the different characteristics and sources of inspiration that I pull from these long takes that ‘speak’ to me. I also have a keen interest in screen tests, which in turn, is just a long take. I want to screen test different people and locations and allow them to formulate this project!