The Film - Reflection

 When creating the film I wanted to engage the viewer and bring them into the story of the House. It had long existed in my dream and family history and I liked the idea of walking the viewer through my dream and showing them the house. I wanted to encapsulate a story of loss, time passing and an era which has disappeared into the short film. I feel I achieved most of this but there are improvements I could make.

The film I created had good feedback from creative and non-creative peers. The felt the sense of loss and noted how the house felt like it disappear during the film, from pristine Victorian house to derelict ruin, on to empty grassland. Interestingly a couple of people commented that they liked the still image of the jug and fireplace which I took in my current house. They said the idea the jug had once been in the house was a  moving element which felt like an emotional connection to the siblings who lived there. I however had thought about taking those elements out because I felt the were disjoined from the rest of the film. I am starting to think about 'the viewer' of my work. I've not done this in the past, I purely made work for myself. I think this was due to years of working to a design brief. Having the chance to make any work I wanted felt like a luxury. I do understand now that it is important that the viewer is consider. Whether that means leaving enough space for their own narrative to develop or walking them through a story and journey through the art and supporting text.

Still from The House film (2020)

There are things I have learned from this process as well as getting feedback from peers. I feel I tried to cram in too many images in the derelict house section. I didn't want it longer than 3 minutes so I only gave the images a short time on screen. I think these images need longer, some shots are in such ruin that you need time to decipher what it actually is.

The children's poem 'Who Killed Cock Robin' was read by my daughter. It was too quiet in the recording which was due to using my mobile phone. I will re-record this part with an audio recorder from university. I think I will also get her to read it rather than whisper it. The whispering gave it an eerie feel, which I don't associate with my dream or stories of the house. I am also uncomfortable listening to my own voice, so I wonder if I got someone else to narrate I might watch it back more easily.

I feel so inspired when I see films such as La Jetee by Chris Marker and films by Steve McQueen and Mark Leckey. One film that really moved me was Tracey Emin's 'Why I Never Became a Disco Dancer' (1995). In her 6 minute film Emin uses a mixture of footage from her hometown of Margate, shot in a Super8 style, hazy and nostalgic. She narrates the film telling her childhood life story which I found really sad. It moves onto her experience of a dance competition which is ruined by the men who also stole her childhood. It's a tough watch and it stays with you. I think it's success lies in the juxapose of the visual which looks like a sunny holiday video (which usually portrays happy times) combined with the narrative which is the opposite of the the view, sad and melancholic.

It makes me want to create film which is an area I never thought I had interest in, I thought it was too techy for me. Only when I did the moving image workshop at university did it feel possible. My skills are still quite basic and I would really benefit from a refresher and more technical development training. I like the fact a film can be made from found footage and stills. My practice includes found items or sculptures made from found objects, giving lost items their time again. Giving them a narrative and introducing them to a new era. I feel this can be done successfully by the artists I mentioned and it feels possible for me too. I made a film during my L4 year using found footage of Manchester in the 1970's and 80's plus family photos, again dealing with loss and time moving on. I worried about copyright but I enjoyed the process and I was really happy with the outcome.

Moving forward I want to make more films, hopefully at the site of where the House stood. I might even branch out into other areas I went to as a child. 

I have an idea to film some of the Women of Gorton which relates to a previous artwork about the women and what they went through during the 1960s when the Moors Murders were happening. I feel their story has never been told and I am a child of the area and I feel their trauma and anxiety was passed on via epigenetics. I feel only a person from this area can create art about this time.