Fields and Frames: 2nd Workshop

We began the lesson by reminding ourselves what expanded cinema was by having a recap form our previous session. About how it is about the construction of the film and not just the film itself.

We also discussed how film became an art, as in the 80s, it was a very industrial thing. This seemed to be cause at the time film makers had to be very technical savvy and the equipment was not yet available. Therefore less people were able to create video art. 

The possible benefits of video art over shooting in the industry was also mentioned, such as not having to have a reliance on other people such as cast and crew or unsuitable weather conditions. It also may not require as much heavy duty equipment and can be done with everyday items making it an easier attainability. 

I found it interesting to learn about how to be a good reflective practitioner.

We were put in groups and asked to complete a power point presentation. Ours was on 'Reflexivity' Here is what we learnt about this topic.

• Cause and effect theory
• The creation of the film itself
• Self referential 
• The process of film-making, such as camera and editing, is the centre of attention.

An example of Reflexivity was Go! Go! Go! by Marie Menken.

 

 

The other themes where the following on which I took notes from:

 

Duration

• Duration is a 'period of existence' or in other words the 'length of time something continues or exists.' 
• It is a measure of continuance. 
• There is a relationship between real time and film time. 
• Is a means to conform or regress from traditional 3 act structure. 

Perspective

• What the audience takes in and how they interpret it
• Different camera angles mean different things
• Camera can be in position to get a different perspective to what would be normally seen

The Frame

• It is like a boundary - everything is confined to a frame
• Can manipulate how things stand out - small framing can focus attention to a single person, while large framing a single person could get lost amongst the crowd
• You can show something instead of telling through frame

These where the films we watched in relation to the following themes from other groups:

 

Berlin Horse by "Malcolm Le Grice" 1970 - Duration

 

2/60 48 Kopfe Aus Dem by "Kurt Kren"

"Hand Catching Lead" by "Richard Serra" 1968 - The Frame

 

After a break we did a camera workshop to practice these four categories. However ours turned into more of an experimental piece centered on capturing the film through the reel as it was going through the projector, Here is a short video that we had done.