Monday, 17 May 2010
Degree Show videos
Degree Show Videos
Hendre & Llandaff
For my final pieces I wanted to do an installation that combined all the mediums I have been working with whilst exploring site specific. I primarily wanted 2 video projections to be the main aspect.
Videos
Using video I wanted to capture two sites that held strong memories to me. I also wanted to capture an urban and rural site to highlight the difference between the two. For my rural site I chose Hendre Lake and the surrounding areas as it holds the most memories to me as I grew up there.
In the Memory Series, ‘Jane’, ‘Joe’, ‘Matt’, ‘Ello & La’ films, they each end with a 360 degree rotation of the location to show the environment. I wanted this 360 degree rotation to be one of the main aspects of my ‘Hendre’ and ‘Llandaff’ videos as these sites are where the memory happened.
Therefore for the ‘Hendre’ video I went to a nearby field where there is an old concrete slab that is covered in wild plants and moss. When I grew up here I used to come to this slab to sit no matter how I felt. I would come here to get away from my house, or even go there when I was feeling good and just wanted to sit in peace. I would watch sunrises and sunsets here alone or with friends. For the film I did a series of rotations and after one rotation, edit in a close up shot from the area. This is explained in more detail in the photography book ‘On Site’, that is back up work to be shown with the degree work. The close up shots include shots of reflections, reeds, the sky, reeds, the stream, and long grass. I chose the close up shots on things that interested me and things that held memories to me. For example, there is a close up shot of a warning sign by the stream. I included this, as I liked the contrast of the sharpness of the metal compared to the movement of the water in the background. Other shots, such as the reeds and long grass hold memories to me from childhood when I used to run and hide through the grass. When filming Hendre it was a very windy day and I thought the wind would be a problem with the sound recording on the h2 Zoom. I managed to place the Zoom device in a sheltered place and lowered the setting so it wouldn’t pick up so much sound. I had to edit the sound a bit, to edit out any wind distortion, but I am generally happy with how the sound turned out. I had practice from my last assessment piece, in which the wind distortion was a problem.
Llandaff site
Originally I wanted to choose a site that reflected urban/city life. This was difficult to film as in most the places I went there would be a passer by that would acknowledge the camera in a crude way. This happened in 2 spots I chose, in Queen Street and in a skate park in Dinas Powys. I instead chose a site that although quite rural still had some aspects of urban life. This site was in Llandaff where the River Taff goes under a main road bridge. I used to there as a child and for the past few years I have walked along the River Taff every summer. What I liked about this site is that to get to it you have to walk along a main road, then the moment you walk down a flight of stairs the noise from the road is absorbed by all the plants and trees that are surrounding a path and the river. I chose the spot just under the bridge where there is a rocky embankment. From here we are surrounded by wildlife and the River, yet the bridge is visible and the noise is a constant low sound in the background. When doing the 360 rotations here I liked how you can hear the sounds of wildlife and the river and yet when the camera has turned 180, the bridge and main road come into view. The low sound of the traffic is a constant sound in the background, and seeing the concrete bridge shows man made mixed with natural. When filming the close up shots I included a mixture of natural objects and foreign objects, I did this to show the contrast of urban and rural.
Photography
Along with the video I have a photography book, ‘On site’ that shows documentation the sites that I filmed at, it also includes in depth memories from the places.
Documentation
From each of the two sites I bought back samples of the water found there. The water was taken from Hendre Lake and River Taff. This water was taken in a bottle and later put on paper. This trace can be seen in my independent study and in frames by the video projections.
Ello & La
Ello & La
Ello & La was the last filming I did. I had looked over the filming I had done to see what memories and emotions I had captured already. With ‘Jane’ it was quite a serious topic and sombre emotions. Joe was quite light hearted and happy. Matt was a mixture of both. With Ello, I knew immediately that I wanted to ask her to recall a memory with friends. She is naturally a very happy girl and always talking about good times she has had.
Half way through filming another friend came in. This made it easier for Ello to speak. They were both very natural with each other there, and talked to each other rather than me, so it didn’t feel such an interview-type video. I originally had planned for 2 close sisters to talk about their relationship and fun memories, but I couldn’t find the right people. But with Ello and La it is evident in the film the closeness of their friendship and the relationship they have with each other. I think it turned out for the best that La arrived unexpected and agreed to talk as they reminded each other of certain things that happened throughout the night they were talking about. It also just seemed like them and how they behave normally. They were able to laugh with each other, rather than be aware of the camera.
They talk about a night that although not memorable for any particular reason, they just had a good night with other friends. I like the closeness of their relationship and it shows in the film as they constantly finish each other’s sentences off.
I asked to do the filming in Ello’s room as I knew her room was filled with photos of her friends and of photos of her going out. This related well to the film as photographs capture memories and her photos are also showing her friendships.
Ello & La Transcript
Ello & La transcript
Its hard to think of one thing because, I’m trying to think of something funny. Well I got one, um, were you there that one night when we all went out and my make up got rubbed off? Were you there? The girls night. We went to Barfly and it was like a good night but also a really bad night.
[Asked why it was good]
Because, I’m sure you were there. There was loads of us there and we all got really really drunk and it was bad because I started crying and all my make up ran off and then La was going round, she did my flicks that big. And Amira was going around patting stuff on my face. It was so funny. Oh god I think me and La we fell over because we were spinning around. It was funny. I’m just trying to think of what else happened that night. I just remember Amira going around patting stuff all over my face. It was so funny. I’m just trying to think of what else. Wait there I got to think its hard to think of something that really makes me laugh.
Oh wait here’s La. Surprise surprise. La Laaaaaaaaaa.
[La joins and also speaks about the night and friendship]
(Ello – black text. La – green text)
Do you remember, when, the night we had the girls night and my make up came off because I was crying for some reason. I don’t know what it was over Gar. And you drew my flicks that long.
Do my flicks and I went Ok.
It was it was like. [Does motion with hands]
It was literally
I never could have 1 night of them. And Amira was going around patting foundation on everyone.
She was chasing you around like and.
That’s all I remember from that night.
And you found a feather.
Yeah
You found a feather in the street and you just went.
And put it as my headband.
And you were walking like this.
And we went to Live Lounge. And there’s a video of you and this guy.
And you’re just like.
I’ll hate you if you put that video up. And I’m like singing that ballad.
We were just like, we just didn’t know what happened. We just woke up and we were hungover and talking about going out last night. And just remember my head hurts. And it was just like.
It was just us dancing and an old man. Right after this random guy. That was really bad.
I stole a jug of wine.
We were with Tom Philin? Weren’t we? Did Ellie come?
It was Anthony and someone else.
Anthony? Anthony?
Yeah, Anthony was there.
Anthony? Vaughn?
Anthony Vaughn.
Can’t remember. Can’t remember.
NO! That wasn’t it either!
That was totally different.
I remember there was this guy holding a jug of rose
And you went round and nicked it?
And ran away. And I had a glass of rose and a jug and I was like rawr.
Thing is we went to Live Lounge, Cuba Cuba or whatever it was called then. All I can remember is me and you being there. Where did everyone else go?
I don’t know. We just turned up like.
There was like a group photo of us somewhere. And where is it La? NO! Esther was there.
Esther was there.
That’s the night up there. Who took the photo? Because I don’t know where they all went.
Esther, and she like passed out on the chair and this guy, and this guy was like so you going out? And Esther was like foaming at the mouth. Like asleep like foaming on her shoulder like arrr
Where was Lo? Because Lo was there. Who else was there? Betti.
That was so much fun.
It was like me, you, Zoe, Betti, Amira, Esther, Sarah, Lo.
Do you remember I deleted like all my photos from the night?
And we were like no.
I was so pissed I didn’t know what I was doing to my camera. I’ll just delete lots of photos. All the photos we had were like. And you and your eyes! And a dirty feather in your hair. That you found on the street. Because you were rolling around like. Weee ooo. Like, and I had just done your eyes. I just like used the eyeliner like a fucking crayon. Just went. Because I tried to flick but you blinked as I did it. So I had to do it to the other eye.
I remember one being that big and the other that big.
I think we should do it again
Why so people can laugh at me?
No. So we can go what’s wrong with your face?
I don’t know why she was doing it. She was like stay still stay still.
I love how we do that when we laugh we’re like.
Because we’re trying to hold our faces on.
Joe
Joe
I asked Joe to talk about his passion for football as for as long as I’ve known him I know about his love for football and Arsenal.
I decided on Joe, because I know that asking him to talk about his memories on football would show good memories and emotions on his face. He talks about how he first got into it and where he has come with it, and all the way through the film he looks and seems happy.
I did plan to film this outside, so I could film him playing football. But the week I was able to film him, the weather was not suitable. So instead we filmed it in his bedroom. This tuned out to be a better location as I was able to film his surroundings that were covered in football memorabilia. He was also able to refer to subjects around him.
As he is a shy person I had to ask Joe a few questions to get him to talk, but once he answered them he would talk about more.
I like how the ‘Joe’ film turned out as he talks about the sites that his memories are from. By watching it, the viewer can tell just by how he speaks about it and by how he looks, how much football means to him and makes him feel good.
Joe Transcript
Joe Transcript
I’ve always liked football just not as much as recently. Last 4 years or so. Yeah I used to play when I was younger, but not properly, I never played as much. And I stopped playing then. I used to have little kick abouts from time to time with friends but it wasn’t until I was 16 that I finally joined a team. I played right back as well I was a defender. But yeah, left that team then because it was under 16’s. Left school as well and went into sport recreation. Went met a few boys who were on a team, asked me to come join their team, which I did. And I finished top scorer for them on the 1st season. Even got a trophy over there, next to the television.
Yeah, and it was fun playing with 11 a side with them again being back out there, having a laugh but it comes to a point where I’ve had enough of it because they could never get a full team. They were really unorganised. They weren’t very good either. So Then I had a lot of injuries as well that season. Damaged ankle ligaments, torn a muscle in my knee, torn a muscle in my thigh. So I took a year out to recover.
And then my mate phoned me up one day asking if I wanted to come play for Llanrumney. So I did. Phoned me up 45 minutes before kick off, I was still in bed, but I went down and it was fun. Scored a hat trick and we won 4 – 2. On my first time. So I played for them the whole of the season, and finished up top goal scorer again.
And this is my second season with them and we are much better than last season. We got to the quarterfinals in one of the caps, unfortunately lost 5-3. I think it was a close game. Against a team 2 divisions above us, which isn’t bad.
[When asked about why he supports Arsenal]
Ah that’s weird I really don’t know why. Because my dad supports Man United, my 3 brothers support Man United, my mum supports Liverpool and my 2 sisters support Liverpool. And I’m just in the middle with Arsenal. And I don’t know how it all came about. It was when I started to take note of football more. When you’re little you only know a couple of teams really, you don’t really watch football, you just support who your parents supported. But as you grow older you start to learn more about football and I was just always attracted to Arsenal. And over the years it’s become a bit of an obsession but I love it all the same.
Matt
Matt
‘Matt’ was the film that persuaded me to use sound in the Memory Series. I asked him to recall his memories on music. I asked him to talk about how he got started, what has inspired him etc. During the filming he was recording on a track and playing his guitar. As the whole video was about his memories on music it seemed right to include sound. The guitar in the background seemed fitting in the environment and I liked the effect.
I thought the video would be alike the ‘Joe’ film, as Matt was talking about his passion for music. But with Matt he talks about good memories but also his despair and anger at not being able to take it further into a band. I think in the film you can see the emotion and atmosphere change quickly. Even though he seems disappointed ad bitter that he hasn’t been able to find a band, he still supports his friends that have done well.
I like the change in moods, as it shows that although he’s passionate about the subject it can still cause negative emotions and feelings. To go with this change in moods he carries on playing throughout, as though to reinforce the fact that he will carry on and progress.
Matt Transcript
Matt Transcript
I got into music by my uncle. Gave me a little ukulele when I was living in Devon and for like a week I didn’t put it down. And I loved the guitar, I remember when my dad used to put Genesis on, and he’d give me a tennis racket so I used to jump around playing guitar because I was pretending I was a guitarist.
And everyone played drums and I’d give out magazines and I used to bang them around. Then I had my first classical guitar lesson when I was a wee little lad, just playing guitar. All this in Devon. And then the next thing all the teachers thought I could play guitar quite well when I was young so they put me in a band so I’d play the Spanish guitar.
Then I just played and played and played and then I met my other uncle from Australia who lives in America and he let me play on guitar. Then the next week after my other uncle who first gave me my ukulele got divorced with my aunty so I never played guitar.
And then, met a bunch of friends, got into it even more and started buying guitar pedals, just a bit more rocky stuff instead of little classical music stuff. Then I used to learn The Used. Then just other stuff. Then I did GCSE music, took it from there did a degree in music in university. And I can never seem to get a band. That’s my only downfall. Because all my friends are taking bands or doing something else. Muggings me, who can actually write, got a degree in music, I’m left in the lurch doing nothing. So I’ve decided to take things into my own hands, make my own music. Buy my own recording stuff. Record my own music. Wait for my friends to actually become free and then approach them. And to be truthfully honest I don’t think I’ll ever be in a band, because everyone’s too busy or getting signed or just doesn’t want to play music anymore. So I keep playing my music. I’ll probably become a songwriter or something.
'Jane'
Jane
This was the first video that I filmed for the Memory Series. In ‘Jane’ I wanted Jane to talk about her memories of suffering with alopecia and to include memories that included a site that related to the memories. So this included:
Talking about when and where she first got it.
Problems (if any) that have occurred due to it.
How it has affected her.
I gave Jane a very brief outline of what I wanted her talk about as I wanted it to seem natural and not structured. Therefore I just asked her to talk bout her memories of alopecia. The rest she talked about herself and it ticked all the boxes I wanted of it to include memories and a site. The reason I chose Jane to talk about her alopecia was that I wanted her to talk about a serious subject and one that has affected her most her adult life. With all the films I wanted to capture the emotions of the people faces talking about their subject. Jane has accepted her alopecia and I knew she would be comfortable to talk about it.
The reason I wanted to film in her home was so that she was surrounding by an environment personal to her. I was able to film her going about everyday business, and showing her normal day to day activity. I think this linked well with the film as it shows her progression of suffering with alopecia. She no longer lets it affect her and leads a normal life.
‘Jane’ was the film I first used to subtitle. With the first edit I subtitled only parts that I thought summed up the recital. But I didn’t like this as I felt I was missing out too many of her memories. I then subtitled all the film, but again I wasn’t happy with the final piece. The video is about personal memories and is shot very close up to try to create a very intimate atmosphere. By excluding the sound it somehow seemed to push the viewer away. They were concentrating on the text rather than the emotions that came across Jane’s face. With the sound, the viewer is able to hear what the person speaks like, and any tones in the voice. I think this made it a better film, as the viewer is able to relate to it better and fully hear and see the emotions and memories.
As I thought it would be a silent film I had problems when filming the shots of the surrounding environment as, especially with ‘Jane’, we were talking in the background. Although I managed to edit some of the shots, I wasn’t able to do it with all of them so some of the shots had to be silent. I didn’t want some of the shots to have sound and some to be silent as I thought it made the film unequal. I then decided to make all the shots silent.
I like the ‘Jane’ film, as she talks about a very serious subject that has affected her and yet she still talks about other people in it. She recites quite bad memories but also how she has progressed from it. You can see just from the film that she’s come to accept it, yet there are also times when it gets her down. I think all these emotions of pain and acceptance are reflected in the film. Even though she suffers in it, she feels sorry for younger children that have it, and goes on to feel guilty. I think this film shows all the emotions she experiences in her facial expression and by what she says.
Jane Transcript
I’ve had this since I was about 12. First started. First with a little patch and it came back and it was ok for a few years and then in grew back and it was fine. Then a few years later it came back again. And it’s been like this for the last 20 years now, I’ve had it on and off. My daughters have never seen me with hair so…they’re in their 20’s.
Its not a life threatening condition buts its one that affects you in different ways. Body image issues, lose your confidence, doesn’t make you feel very good most of the time. People tend to forget and you still might be feeling down but they don’t realise it coz you look ok, you got your wig on or your hate on. So they don’t really realise what is going on in you head.
Most people when they know are supportive, few people look. I’m sure they probably think I’ve got something much worse. Few people have asked me about it when I’ve been out and about. Because they know people or one of their family’s suffering. I don’t mind talking about it with anybody. If it’ll help somebody then that’s fine.
I haven’t got any, well certainly not a lot of hair at the moment. I wear a wig all the time when I go out. It’s not very nice because it’s not very comfortable. Makes your head itch, makes it sore. They’re hot in the summer. Can’t wear it when you go to the beach. Can’t wear it when you go to the swimming pool. Still go to the beach, but you have to wear a hat. That’s when people look the most, and then of course they see you without your hair, then they see you maybe a couple hours later with your hair and they think “woah what’s that?” and then they obviously realise or they don’t know you.
It’s not bad for me I’m 50, but got to feel sorry for little kids that have it because little kids do have it. There are different forms of alopecia. It’s just the little kids I feel for, not the little little kids. I think little kids cope with everything very well. It’s the teenagers, the ones who get bullied in school. Got to feel sorry for them. It’s a lot to be putting up with anytime, leave alone when you’re an adolescent and a teenager and you got all the other problems that go along with it, and then to have that landed on you as well it must be, must be pretty awful. So I do feel for those people so I suppose I’m lucky in a way. I had it when I was a teenager but it was never visible. I was always able to hide it. So I suppose I shouldn’t really complain about it. But I do. It’s just one of those things.
Nobody knows what causes it. Try all lotions and potions and all manner of things to try and do something but nothing works. You spend a lot of money on it, a lot of people out there prey on you, your vulnerable side and get you to spend a lot of money promising this lotion potion, whatever, will work, and it doesn’t. I think you have to accept that, and until you do accept that then you don’t really accept your alopecia.
Memory Series
Memory Series
My work is primarily about site specific and the memories linked to the site. To try an progress from documenting and capturing the site using photography and sound I decided to try video.
When using sound I carried out a number of walks that reflected the difference of urban and rural landscapes, each walk I took had a memory linked to it. With the photography series I did the same, but captured different aspects of the walk that interested me.
I notice that all my work was based around my memories, so I decided to experiment with other people’s memories that was based around a site. When planning the filming I wanted to ask people to recall:
- A happy memory
- A sad memory
- Something that interests them at the moment
- A relationship that they feel is important/affecting them at the moment. (Could be about a past relationship of a lost friend/current relationship with a family member etc etc.)
- Something that they are passionate about.
I wanted the filming to take place in a location that is personal to the person so that I could film shots of the surrounding environment that either related to the subject or would show an insight to the person’s life.
After thought and consideration I broke it down into 4 films
Jane – Talking about alopecia
Joe – Talking about his passion for football
Ello & La – Talking about friendship
Matt – Talking about music
When I first drafted the films, I decided that I wanted it to be a silent film with shots of the surrounding environment and with the person talking. I then wanted to subtitle parts of the film that I thought summed up the memory and conversation. When trying this out though, I decided that I didn’t like the effect of just a few sentences, as the rest of the film seemed uneven. The film is based on memories yet I was leaving out so much by leaving it silent. When first editing the ‘Jane’ film, I subtitled some then edited it to subtitle all the film. However when I got to the ‘Matt’ film, I decided that I liked hearing him play the guitar as he spoke as it showed the main reason of the film that was his passion for music. With all the films I found that the background noise interested me as it reflected the subject matter and went well with the film.
This proved to be difficult to change as I had first planned to subtitle the whole film so therefore when filming you can hear conversations that happened between the person and I. Although I used a h2 Zoom recorder, I couldn’t match up the recording with the filming exactly, or some of the recordings came out too quiet. Therefore I resorted to using the sound recorded on the camera. The sound is ok, but I can still hear the tape so in the future I will use a better microphone. I think these mistakes were due to the plan of using a silent film and then changing my mind.
Catalogue
Danielle Hooi
07855 516775
http://daniellehooi.blogspot.com/
‘Ionian’ 2010
My practice explores the notion of site specificity and memory through installation, photography and sound documentation. Through a series of journeys I collect samples of the surrounding environment that reflect and highlight my perception of the diversity between urban and rural landscapes.
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