Film Ideas

In our group, we began discussing how the concept of our sound project could be translated into film. Hence, we began to brainstorm how our sounds could be presented visually. Our original idea for our film would be similar to that of the aforementioned Tango (1981), in that a person would individually act out each of the actions presented in the sound piece; all of which would overlap and intertwine with each-other to create a very abstract and chaotic scene. It quickly occurred to us however that such an idea would realistically be impossible to create considering our experience as filmmakers, our lack of advanced resources, and our time constraints. Hence, we decided that it would be suitable to scale down the idea. Rather than focusing on an entire scene, we would instead focus closely on a particular action. Given that our original concept of the project was sounds of the body, we came to the idea of using several close-ups of mouths miming the actions presented in the sounds. Although the actions of the mouths would represent those of the sounds; they would not necessarily do so literally. For example, an idea was the sounds of the door slamming could be coupled with a close-up shot of the mouth abruptly closing. Although the two objects closing create a parallel action between one-another, their connection should not be taken literally; the mouths would only create an abstract interpretation of the sounds.

We then expanded this idea further, suggesting that perhaps rather that creating shots consisting of just mouths, they could instead feature numerous parts of the body creating various interpretations of our sounds. A few examples of our ideas can be seen in the image below.

The visuals will correspond to their respective sounds, but not necessarily in a literal sense.

For example, an idea was that the person's head could tilt to one side, which could then be coupled with the sounds of pouring cereal. This idea was inspired by an ocean drum: a musical instrument that creates a sound similar to that of the ocean when slowly tilted. Another was that the sounds of the brushing of teeth could be coupled with the person scratching their hair or their chin. We were even able to reincorporate the idea of the door slamming being coupled with a mouth closing. What all these combinations have in common is that the visuals represent their corresponding sounds, but often not literally. They present an exaggerated or abstract interpretation of these sounds. This project intends to experiment with the way in which sound and image can be combined in order to create a variety of effects; this idea should allow us to do exactly that.

Images for Experimental Film

http://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-13136996-stock-footage-businessman-nervously-clenched-his-fists-and-kill-it-for-a-spin-close-up-angry-business-fist.html?src=rel/6108284:8/gg

The above image depicts a clenched fist. The original source was a short video of said fist being clenched; a shot that was rather similar to a shot idea for our project. It shares the idea of a particular part of the body being the focus of a shot. In our case, we plan to use such a shot in combination with perhaps, our door slamming sound; which would link into our idea of the images representing the sound, but not necessarily literally.

https://www.pinterest.com/tamredavidson/kiss-kiss-bang-bang/

This image shows an abstract interpretation of the human mouth. This links into our project in that we will primarily use mouths in order to create abstract interpretations of certain sounds. The mouths that will be present in our film will not be artistically abstract themselves, in that they will not exhibit any particularly unusual qualities. It is instead what these mouths represent rather than the qualities they exhibit themselves.

Tango (1981), Zbigniew Rybczyński    https://vimeo.com/90339479

This is a frame taken from Tango (1981) by Zbigniew Rybczyński. The film consists of a series of actions being performed by a number of people within a single room repeatedly. More and more people begin to crowd the scene to create a very chaotic and abstract image. It does so in such a way that it becomes clear that these actions cannot be being performed simultaneously. The intertwining and chaotic nature of the visuals in Tango reflect the intertwining and chaotic nature of the sounds in our project; as was our intention. The tone of chaos and pure abstraction within our project resembles those seen here.

Om (1986), John Smith   http://www.vdb.org/titles/om

This is a screen shot taken from Om (1986), an experimental film by John Smith; a film that provided some inspiration towards ours. It features mostly a single shot of a young man who initially, appears to be some sort of monk; wearing a robe and breathing in incense. He begins to hum "Om" - a sacred sound and a spiritual icon in Indian religions. It then appears that this man is having his hair shaved. and the sounds may actually be coming from the razor, not the man. The orange robe is then revealed to be a barber's robe, and the incense is revealed to be a cigarette. The man himself is also revealed to be a skinhead, almost a polar opposite of what was originally connoted. The film plays with the idea of the viewer's expectations. It was this film that provided some inspiration towards our ideas concerning the relationship between sound and visuals; and the ways in which their combinations could create a variety of effects. "This four minute film explores our response to stereotypes - aural, visual and ideological. Smith signals these stereotypes to the viewer through a chiefly associational system. which deftly manipulates the path of our expectations. The structure is stunningly simple and deceptively subtle. We are taken on a journey from one concrete stereotype to its diametric opposite, as the images transform and juxtapose to, ultimately,  invert out interpretation of what we see and hear." - Gary Davis

The Symptoms (2013), Lee Pearse    https://vimeo.com/86796902

The above image, a screen-grab from The Symptoms (2013) by Lee Pearse, shows a use of split-screening that could be interesting to use in our project. Since the audio consists of several overlapping and repeated tracks, it would make sense to make use of the corresponding visuals in a similar fashion; having several of them on screen at once; perhaps using the same shot multiple times within a single frame. This way, the visuals could overlap and intertwine similarly to their respective sound tracks. The monochrome effect also creates a rather gloomy and depressing tone, which could also be a good thing to incorporate into our project as it would reflect the repetitive morning routine on which the sounds were based.

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This again links into the idea of using particular parts of the body to create an abstract interpretation of sound. The eye is particularly interesting as it reacts and adjusts to the environment around it. Placing a camera in front of a person as they open their eyes will cause it to noticeably adjust; allowing the possibility for this movement to provide ideas in terms of the ways the eye could represent sound. Similarly to the fist, the eye could also be linked to the slamming of the door; the sound being an exaggeration of the closing of the eye.

Experimental Short - Om

Om (1986) is a short experimental film by John Smith that explores the ways in which sound and visuals can be used in combination in order to create certain meanings. The focus of the film is a young man who is depicted to be some sort of monk. He wears what seems to be an orange robe and is breathing in what appears to be incense. The man begins to hum "Om": a sacred sound and spiritual icon in Indian religions. The man then begins to have his hair shaved by an offscreen barber; his humming coupling with the sound of the razor to imply that this is in fact where the sounds originate. The end of the film reveals that the robe is in fact a barber's gown, the incense is in fact a lit cigarette, and the man is what appears to be a skinhead.

In this film, Smith intelligently uses a combination of sound and visuals in order to coax the viewer into developing false assumptions. Hence, the film can not only be categorised as abstract, but also as a representative of a personal view. The film aims to present how quickly people can be to jump to conclusions and stereotypes.

"This four minute film explores our response to stereotypes - aural, visual and ideological. Smith signals these stereotypes to the viewer through a chiefly associational system. which deftly manipulates the path of our expectations. The structure is stunningly simple and deceptively subtle. We are taken on a journey from one concrete stereotype to its diametric opposite, as the images transform and juxtapose to, ultimately,  invert out interpretation of what we see and hear." - Gary Davis

This film inspired our project in that it gave us the idea to experiment with the ways combinations of sounds and images are able to connote certain meanings, similarly to how the combination of these elements in Om is designed to fool the viewer into making false assumptions.

Experimental Short - Fisticuffs

Fisticuffs by Miranda Pennell is a non-linear short film depicting various fights between 6 customers at a typical British pub. Throughout the film, several references to Western cinema and culture are made, such as the film seen on the television and the square dancing club seen in the room adjacent to the pub. The non-linear narrative comes into play when the long-haired man (seen on the far right in the below image) appears to enter the bar multiple times; each time being attacked by a different bar-goer. Afterwards, he then returns to the door he entered from and the process repeats. That is until a man wearing what seems to be a cowboy outfit walks into the bar; a scene very reminiscent of Western cinema (this man being the teacher in the square dancing club). After this, the bar-goers seem to fight among themselves; the long-haired man soon getting involved. The non-linear narrative comes into play again when the bar-goers seem to very rapidly change opponents, within the span of just a few seconds. The film is simultaneously realistic and surrealistic

The four fighters seen here rapidly alternate between opponents within what seems to be a single shot.

The fights seem to go completely unnoticed by the other bar-goers; the violence seemingly having no consequences on the fighters, nor the world around them; much like the Westerns that they are referencing. These references to Western cinema, coupled with the obliviousness of the other bar-goers, reflects a gritty reality of British culture. Although it is exaggerated for the sake of the film, such fights have become largely incorporated into our society, particularly in an environment such as this.

The film exhibits some of the characteristics of an 'Associational Form'. According to an extract from Bordwell and Thompson: 

"Associational formal systems suggest ideas and expressive qualities by grouping images that may not have any immediate logical connection. But the very fact that the images and sounds are juxtaposed prods us to look for some connection - an association that binds them together." 

 - Bordwell, D., Thompson. K., (2007). Film art: An introduction (8th ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill

In this case, the two seemingly unconnected images are those of the pub brawl, juxtaposed with those of the square dancing club. At a glance, the two seem to have little connection, however, the association that can be made between the two is that they both reference a part of Western culture, as well as Western cinema. Hence, the two actually work in combination to provide commentary on the condition of society; comparing it to that of the violence of Old Western movies.