Genre: Experimental Film
Length: 4:00
Synopsis: Four different explorations of responses and interpretations to art with minimal context.
Concept:
We wanted to explore the sense of separation and disconnection we might be feeling in these times in a creative way. So we created an experiment where we would not see or hear each other's work until the final moment. We were intrigued by the idea of responding and interpreting art through very minimal description or context.
Firstly, we chose an overall theme of Inside/Outside. We wanted to explore the freedoms and limitations of being inside or outside. Perhaps to see how we currently both perceive limitation and freedom during lockdown.
Each of us would create a 1 minute video piece and 1 minute audio piece. We would then describe each piece with only four words.
The other person would then respond to the words and create appropriate audio or video.
The files would then be synced without seeing/hearing them, into a 4 minute work split into 4 chapters. The order of the chapters was chosen randomly by flipping a coin.
Chapter Three
Breathing - Sounds - Interior - Exterior
Video by Andy Sowerby / Audio by Charles Prest
Video: Taking the words interior and exterior as a starting point my aim was to create images that looked like exterior landscapes within my home. Choosing to make it slow paced with slow transitional fades to mimic a quiet, calm breath. - Andy Sowerby
Audio: Recording sounds from interior and exterior things I’ve been using during lockdown, I looked at trying to create something that sounded both earthy and mechanical. Some of the sounds collected were different squeaky doors in my house, house keys as percussion and a bus engine. - Charles Prest
Chapter Four
Noises - Voices - Beats - Bleeps
Video by Charles Prest / Audio by Andy Sowerby
Video: Only having Andy’s four words to work with was interesting in trying to figure out what his thought process might be. The word “Noises” lead to a stop motion collage of loud objects cut in a rhythmic way that hopefully fit Andy’s audio piece. - Charles Prest
Audio: I created a rhythmic electronic beat combined with a collage of recordings I had taken from my phone over the past year or two, on buses, trains and in cafes and so on. The idea was to present the rhythms and the hustle and bustle of daily routines, which have now been disrupted into stillness. - Andy Sowerby
Chapter One
Houseplant - Microscopic - Psychedelic - Morphing
Video by Charles Prest / Audio by Andy Sowerby
Video: Being interested in scale and perception, this was an experiment to try and make a small interior object look massive. I took low angle closeup footage of a houseplant in my living room and blended it with the soil and roots of a large tree at the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill. - Charles Prest
Audio: Taking Charles’s words as inspiration I began with a recording of a houseplant’s leaves rustling, then the piece builds additional layers of rustling to mimic a microscopic world. Alongside this I wanted to create a sound world that was mysterious and dramatic, using recordings of acoustic and bowed electric guitar. - Andy Sowerby
Chapter Two
Breathing - Thinking - Fast - Slow
Video by Andy Sowerby / Audio by Charles Prest
Video: Using a combination of abstract footage and material gathered from my phone camera I wanted a tension between a calm inner world and a frenetic outerworld by creating a counterpoint between the fast and slow pace edit of the sections. I was intrigued to see how Charles’s audio might fit, as the editing is quite varied so this might open up interesting random synchronisation opportunities. - Andy Sowerby
Audio: Taking Andy’s words literally, I looked at stretching and compressing melodies and beats at random to give a sense of irregular breathing, using sounds collected from both inside and outside. - Charles Prest