studio. day 1.
Here's my creation for the day. I used the video camera's framing to define my performance space and the result was very interesting to play with. It was so exciting to go "off stage" because I was still dancing, but was also off camera. It's a great way to think of the performance space.
What do you think? About performance space or what I made?
Constructive comments welcome from friends and strangers alike! Thanks for watching.
Music by Explosions In The Sky. Remix by Paper Chase. Temporary Residence records.
What do you think? About performance space or what I made?
Constructive comments welcome from friends and strangers alike! Thanks for watching.
Music by Explosions In The Sky. Remix by Paper Chase. Temporary Residence records.
posted by e m p @ 5:48 PM
3 Comments:
I have a comment for myself (I'm allowed to do that, aren't I?): There a level of melodramatic tension that kinda makes me lose interest --but there are moments of understated emphasis in the way the quality of movement relates to the the music. Those I like and want to go further with.
Nice piece, the music and quality of video editting elevates the overall tone a bit, to the benefit of the work.
It's almost frustrating to see how simply the mere use of video framing allows the performer an exciting and dramatic tool of forced perspective and a distinct offstage line, which is all much more unavailable to a live performance.
You mentioned still performing while offstage, but as a viewer I got nothing that gave me that sense. Your offstage time worked well for pacing the piece and giving it time to breathe, but you were never off long enough to let my mind wander to wondering what you might be about. On the other hand, I don't know that being offstage longer would have achieved that either. Perhaps more technique is required/should be explored?
I got the impression you knew the windows were all in frame, and concentrated on staying near them when you wanted to be seen, and far from them when not. Hence, you were always, (except for the very end,) only completely on or completely off stage. What about exploring the in-between more? Perhaps if you taped a line on the floor, demarcating your camera's sightline, so you could know exactly where your body was bridging both worlds...?
Interesting use of the worldly elements of the space- window, curtain, sash, windowsill. I sensed a dichotomy though between your interaction with these things and your more isolated movement by yourself. When you were just by yourself, your performance seemed more refined and polished. It may be that it was all completely unrehearsed but you were nevertheless clearly very comfortable with everything you did. But then, when interacting with the rest of the world, I got the sense that things were a bit more unplanned for you, and hesitant. For instance, while you untied the curtain sash with great care, deliberation, and a smooth, slow pace, once it was free, gravity yanked it down much swifter than it seemed you were planning for, and I even got the slight sense that you tried covering for it in the moment. I don't know, I don't think there's anything wrong with any of that individually, but taken all together it seemed to give an uneven quality to an otherwise very cohesive piece.
Thanks much, and can't wait to see more!
Hi, thanks for the thoughtful feedback!
I was definitely giving the emotional power of the music its space by taking my cues from it rather than trying to stand out in the scene. It was fun to play with the tremor of the sound with a suspended motion - at least that's what I was going for. It is definitely tricky to take on real word objects with that approach b/c i can't control their response to gravity as easily I can my own --meaning things fall when I don't expect them to or whatnot, so yes there were some clumsy moments that I didn't like. With some more editing i could have hidden that, but I wanted to show how my actions corresponded to the music. I was also having a ton of fun riding the underlying tremor of the sound in a sort of suspended motion. Unfortunately what I didn't anticipate was the difficulty of controlling the speed of objects responding to gravity as I can my own body.
As a videographer, I LOVE to play with the edges of the frame (you can see an example of it in a piece I'm working on with Seen Performance at our blog). I find that relationship so much more dynamic and exciting than the content of the image (usually). It is frustrating to be video taping myself -since it necessitates a still camera or other limited options, but mostly b/c it is fun to compose the image consciously. In this case, all I could do (or chose to do) was set the image up and play with the space I imagined in the frame.
thanks for watching + for writing! emp
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