2 min video
So what compositional approach did I take with this piece?
I will write here to reflect on this.
I knew that I could only dedicate 12-15 hours maximum for this piece, so I wanted to get my ideas down in a direct and perhaps slightly raw way. After collecting my footage from London Underground I limited myself to use a small number of short clips of moving image to use (e.g. the train passing – red & blue carriages). My thinking behind this was to concentrate more on exploring the possible transformation of the source material through the languages inherent in digital video editing software: cropping, colourisation and simple layering.
As I began playing with the material, I started thinking about the repetitive chugging rhythm of the trains and thought it’d be interesting to develop a visual rhythm through the use of repetition (loops). Rhythm is linked to movement, so the piece developed in to a kind of cyclic journey.
Later, as I started to think about how it might sound. Visually the piece was suggesting to me a rigid, defined sonority, syncopated rhythm, sharp cuts (no fading in and out). I wanted to keep the sounds themselves close to their source, to contrast the quite heavily transformed visuals. I only really spent time cleaning them up (using EQing techniques to create a sonic balance between the elements) and sequencing.
Perhaps the most exciting idea that came out of the creation of the piece was the mind the gap idea: punching out the image for a few frames. I feel this gave the piece a bit more dynamism, and made me smile too since the sound itself comes from an anonymous source – belonging to no one!
This absence of the visual in contrast with the presence of sound I find interesting. I’d like to experiment with this more perhaps creating a kind of question and answer style piece: Visual A plays alone, Sound A responds alone, Visual B plays alone, Sound B responds alone…
Mmmm… working on this has been extremely enjoyable!
