Film-TV 2 : Week 1
In 200 words or less please outline your goals, desires – what you want to get out of this semester. You will review this later in the course. Many will rethink this dramatically by the end of the course – this is a good thing.
My goals and desires for this semester will be similar to what I wrote for Film-TV 1 at the beginning of the year. I still want to be more involved in the technical aspects of filmmaking and editing to challenge myself. The idea of not being strictly assigned to one role within the documentary making process appeals to me and I am excited to see how different it can be to making a drama.
When studying documentary in Cinema Studies last year I was really inspired by the screenings and learning how different documentaries can be. I hadn’t previously considered poetic or essay documentaries, so I look forward to what comes out of the research period.
In this week’s lecture, scenes from Scott Ruo’s ‘Four Images’, Brian Hill’s ‘Drinking for England’ and Chantal Akerman’s ‘D’Est’ were screened. Choose one of these, and consider, in a single paragraph, what might have intrigued, interested, displeased or repelled you.
I watched ‘Drinking for England’ by Brian Hill on YouTube, and I was mostly intrigued by the natural flow of information and dialogue coming from the participants. The poetry sections were also unexpected in a documentary genre film, but work well within the ‘culture’ of the British bar setting.
The only aspects that displeased and repelled me were the late 80s hairstyles haha! And I am not a huge fan of overlaying footage on top of one another, as some of the drinking scenes have been edited.
Listen to the first 10 minutes of Glenn Gould’s radio documentary, “The Idea of North”. Record your impressions in a paragraph or two.
The Idea of North seems to compile multiple personal experiences and perspectives about one subject. The different voices and points of view act almost as streams of consciousness, flowing in and out of volume/focus and always changing dominance. The sounds in the background add to the atmosphere using bells, gusts of wind, train running on the tracks, and murmurs from the crowd.
Listen to the audio you recorded in Tute #1. Here. Write a paragraph or two about your recording from a technical and/or “poetic” perspective. Consider:
What these sounds evoke for you. What associations they have. Do any of your recordings suggest images? What might they be? Do any of your recordings suggest the possibility of other recordings?
Recording 1: Distant with not a lot of ambient sound. Voices are echoed and the voice heard through the speaker is automated and robotic. The human conversation is happening further away and adds to the eerie or distant feeling. For me, this suggests a sterile and white environment.
Recording 2: This recording has many different layers of changing music coming in and out of audio ‘focus’, and many different voices and languages can be heard. There is also mechanical noises such as a coffee machine. There is a busy and ‘bustling’ atmosphere conveyed, which was our aim as we were recording in the cafeteria. Moving the directional mic around helped to change the focus of sounds.
Recording 3: Pool tables and human conversation and interaction dominates this piece. Movement of pool balls and people opening doors flows throughout, and I get a relaxed, youthful emotive response. The music in background, and laughter and reaction to the environment makes it come ‘alive’ and I get a real sense of being there. This soundscape might have some kind of narrative to it and could suggest the possibility of other recordings.
