Embracing technology time.
Take two simple, mundane pieces of footage and see what happens when you start to play with them, chop them up, reverse bits, layer them and use effects that work with the footage not just for the effect.
The supplied footage of a building site at first didn't necessarily inspire but as soon as I managed to understand some of the capabilities of the software I could see how something potentially dull and uninteresting could come to life.
After managing to get to grasp with the software to the level I wanted to be I could go back to my films that I had recorded from Great Yarmouth and edit things to a much smoother degree. I have yet to go and play even further but have been filming things that interest me with the view to going back to the computer room to do some more editing.
During Year 0 we looked at the work of Bill Viola. Working from the beginnings of video art Viola is probably the best known and acclaimed artist in his field. Viola has grown up with and created his work alongside the development of video. His pieces are very theatrical, often with actors performing dramatic roles and becoming immersed (sometimes literally) in the work.
“Video and I grew up together,” he says. “As the equipment improved over the years, I was able to see some of my pieces finally shown the way that I had envisioned them. And new tools, especially projectors and flat screens, gave me new inspiration, and constantly expanded my palette.” [<u>https://www.forbes.com/sites/yjeanmundelsalle/2015/01/01/american-video-artist-bill-viola-has-been-reinventing-reality-for-the-past-40-years/#27964b854805][1]</u>
In this piece of work the projected film is over seven metres high, the details becoming highly exaggerated even if the movements of the figure do not. They are slow and deliberate as in many of Viola's pieces. The flow of the liquid and the changes of the colour of the liquid signifying the birth of the earth. The projection is in slow motion and reversed giving the viewer even more of an opportunity to analyse the reactions of the figure. This was all shot in one take to allow the viewer to take everything in without being subjected to different crops and points of view.
“Water is such an amazing element,” he discloses. “It represents everything you could possibly think of. Water gives life and takes it away. It’s also reflection, refraction.”
- [<u>https://www.forbes.com/sites/yjeanmundelsalle/2015/01/01/american-video-artist-bill-viola-has-been-reinventing-reality-for-the-past-40-years/#27964b854805][1]</u>
[1]: https://www.forbes.com/sites/yjeanmundelsalle/2015/01/01/american-video-artist-bill-viola-has-been-reinventing-reality-for-the-past-40-years/#27964b854805
I have re-visited this task after filming a short piece during the Independent Study week. I didn't know what I wanted to do with the primary source material at the time but thought it could be turned into something interesting.
With this version I took the original footage and reversed it, slowed it right down and after playing with layers decided just to use the one but to change the colour. I wasn't sure what colours would work, I wanted to move away from colours you associate with water and as I looked at making it more yellow it felt as it it was move of a molten liquid than water, especially with the speed slowed down. I also added an effect that makes it twist slightly as it bubbles, this just adds to the molten bubbling feeling.
I also created a further piece where I layered the film and changed the colours to see how it might work. I became quite graphical, the nature of the layering and experimentation ld me down this path. As the image was square the layers also were square and overlaid it became very structured.
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