So recently I've begun to explore the sort of, advanced cousin medium to mine own (photography) which is that of the moving image.
I'm a very form oriented individual. My photographic "parents" as some people like to call them, are Albert Renger-Patzsch, Julius Shulman, and Andre Kertesz. The important one in terms of this blog post is Albert Renger-Patzsch. Renger-Patzsch was a German photographer associated with the New Objectivity active during the Weimar Republic. Now, the New Objectivity was something that, for those who know me, would assume I would hold protest against. However, in looking at the photographs presented by Renger-Patzsch, his focus on recording the beautiful forms that exist in the world, I've found a substantial amount of nearly universal subjectivity tying together all of his work. Yes, the images were recorded at a somewhat "arm's-length-distance" in an attempt to reduce the photographers bias. However, the choice to make the photograph is the biggest form of subjective bias I can think of.
Anyway, his importance in this blog post is that the increased sensitivity to everyday forms and objects, as well as Julius Shulman's increased sensitivity to imbuing a subjective, emotional, aesthetic quality to everything he pointed his lens at helped me in my first (after a long hiatus) film project.
As for the cinematic influences on this project...well, in keeping with the Germanic/ western European love of form I was greatly inspired by German Abstract Cinema of the 1920s and later on Soviet film director (1929) Dziga Vertov's masterpiece, Man with a Movie Camera. < Please, if you have the time, watch Vertov's film. Specific artists would have to include, Vertov, Walter Ruttmann, Hans Richter, Viking Eggeling and Oskar Fischinger. While the latter four are arguably more abstract than Vertov and my film is much more in the spirit of Man with a Movie Camera, I developed my appreciation for the musicality of forms and their inherent subjective qualities because I was first introduced to German Absolut Film before experiencing anything of Vertov's. (Again, if you can spare the time, please read the short wikipedia article about Absolut Film)
Currently it's called City of Light and Lines but I might as well call it Man with a Blackberry Camera as that's what I chose to shoot with for convenience, ease of blending in and capturing the true environment, and it offered me a lo-fi, old film look that I feel works.
As the film progresses it becomes more and more abstract. Elements of sci-fi and suspense. Light is personified as a concept and a character.
As the film progresses it becomes more and more abstract. Elements of sci-fi and suspense. Light is personified as a concept and a character.
Without further ado...here's my short silent film:
Any feedback, comments, questions, any...anything is greatly appreciated! Please utilize the comment box either on Youtube, blogger, or my email address provided in the right hand side bar.
Warmly,
-steve
P.S. Here is the stable URL link to the youtube page.
http://youtu.be/EWZ0HTJpdF0
