The aim of Anxious Art is to discuss the connection between mental health and art from three individual artists’ experiences. We did not have a bias that we wanted to portray, rather we have let three artists, who suffer from mental health issues, explain what mental health and art mean to them and whether or not they believe it is connected and how one impacts another. In saying this, we wanted the artists to remain anonymous. We still wanted the audience to be able to connect with the artists visually, so we had decided that they could do so by seeing their artwork. Besides this, I had the intention of portraying the feeling of anxiety and unease through the editing of the audio and visuals together.
Personally, I am very pleased with how the editing of the film turned out, as it has really enhanced this feeling of ‘anxiety’, which was my predominate intent. This anxiousness is prominent within the first 2/3 of the film, where the three artists discuss their mental health issues and how it has impacted them, their art and vice versa. The overlay of sounds and off-beat jump-cuts work together to portray a feeling of unease, in which the artists are discussing in their interviews. I am particularly content with the editing of audio within this piece, as it very strongly builds on this feeling of anxiousness, while not being too overbearing that the audience doesn’t listen to what the subjects have to say. It also creates an atmosphere in which the audience are able to relate and empathise with.
In saying that, we did need to work on pre-organising shots and camera operating. In this project I was strongly disappointed with the uninspired shots. It shows how unprepared we were for filming through the repetition of shots and shots that don’t suit certain sections. I believe that this film could be so greatly improved through having taken the time to get more aesthetic visuals.
Despite this, I strongly believe that we have achieved all of these objectives, as each artist overtly has a different experience with mental health and art that they discuss, all-the-while the overlaying and build up of the soundscape paired with intensely cut visuals has worked to create this feeling of anxiousness among the audience.
