After our discussion with Robin, the road to making this film no longer seemed so simple. However, this was positive, though we may not have thought so last week. It means that now the film is a challenge and an actual investigation, rather than something that we just follow an instruction manual to piece together.

We took to the streets on Monday’s class to begin shooting something, anything. We shot cars, trees, litter, whatever grabbed our attention. It was completely impromptu and we only used my DSLR from home, but whether or not we use the material I think is besides the point. By going out and shooting we were thinking about the sorts of elements we could introduce and discussing what the film could look like, which I think at this stage is really important because this is such an abstract film. This was the first opportunity I’ve had to properly chat to Lydia and Penelope, about the film and as friends, which has been really valuable because I know that they are passionate people who resonate with the film’s investigation. Their own interpretations of what the concept of “living in the moment” means to them have informed my own view and I imagine that the finished product will be something completely different to what I originally envisaged.

While this was a good exercise in getting the ball rolling, we felt that having and recording a discussion on Wednesday would be a good idea so that we could begin to refine the idea a little bit. The discussion we ended up having veered off on somewhat therapeutic tangents, and while it was a worthwhile conversation, the material wasn’t recorded properly. This conversation felt like an extension from our work on Monday: although we don’t have much tangible material to show for it, it is chipping away at the project in a subtle way. By communicating as we have been, I feel that eventually we’ll be able to record material independently that will represent our individual perspectives while retaining the common ground formed in these discussions.

Robin pointed out that while these conversations are good, we need to be collecting more material. This is true and my main concern at this point. I hope that this week’s worth of conversations has been enough to get us in the headspace to begin collecting material. I think the next step will be to have footage of at least one or two participants so that we can begin to work with the aesthetic and structure.