I collaborated with MDI’s group for over 50s, Men! Dancing! last year to create a video work, filmed on location at Liverpool Cathedral. The film was funded by HOP (Happy Older People) and explores the idea of harmony and the workers who built the cathedral.
Screened for the first time this year at the first HOP gathering of 2020 at FACT in Liverpool you can now see the film below. I’m hoping to continue working with the group, exploring dance in alternative spaces in future projects, with the idea of taking back our public spaces as we age.
Last year, I was lucky enough to do a short ‘Time & Space’ residency at METAL in Liverpool which I used to explore ideas I had been floating around for a while based on connection, loneliness and solitude and how mostly the idea of being alone is regarded as something to fear.
I think I’ve always been a bit of an introvert so one of the things that attracted me to filmmaking was it enabled me to dip into new worlds and collaborate with different people while remaining safely at a distance behind the camera. In fact, I have often thought of the camera as ‘The Shield’, a way to be part of something while remaining at a safe distance.
As the residency came to a close, one of the ideas I chose to develop (with METAL’s generous support) became ‘Camera Moves’. The concept is a simple one. Everyone involved has a camera and is either filming each other or a particular performer/event. I’ve filmed performances and music gigs before as part of a team, trying to keep each other out of the frame – there’s a certain amount of excitement and energy that goes into that collective approach. This is different – it’s about keeping everybody in the frame, no hiding. It’s an attempt to break down barriers between filmmaker and subject, audience and artist.
I also wanted a quick turn around time for watching the completed film, so rather than use conventional editing techniques, I’ve been working with live editing software Isadora which uses a database to hold the footage (rather than a timeline) and where clips can be selected in different random ways, such as audio or movement.
I thought it would be good to collaborate with someone skilled in movement and dance and I approached Jennie Hale at Taciturn who was keen to get involved. We then put the project to the Arts Council and we’ve been given a small grant to develop the idea and run a few small workshops. Our first session at METAL proved fruitful, just in terms of testing out the tech and how feasible this all was, but also just in terms of how it felt.
Some of the things we noted during the tests were:-
When everyone has a camera the energy in the room becomes very concentrated and about chance encounter.
People tended to explore the environment but were generally respectful of each others space.
We were all trying to create some form of creative visual connection.
There was some interesting discussions with regards to how much time we spend looking at our devices rather than at the real world.
If you are wearing a cameras such as a GoPro, the experience is completely different to using one hand held.
Watching the live edit is very addictive, there’s some often beautiful moments that may never be repeated.
Next week, we are running a couple more free workshops at MDI, one of them being an open session, so if you want to come along, book a slot now at the link below. Be interesting too see how this develops with different groups.
