gisele kerozene

I watched a film the other day, it was called Gisele Kerozone and it was made in 1989 and was shot in stop frame animation.

It was about three witches that are worshipping a bird like voodoo doll, and the bird like thing is stolen by another witch man. One by one the other 3 witches chase after the fourth and they hop onto their motorised brooms and chase the man. they then are killed or destroyed.

I did think that there was no actual concept to the video, there didn't seem to be a point to it, it was just like an explosion of creativity.

The craft however was very heavy indeed, it shows great craftsmanship and a flare of inspiration. I did think that it was a little bit violent to watch and it was even more perverse because it was done in a comical way.

Girl chewing gum

I watched an experimental video the other day. It was called 'girl chewing gum'.

Girl chewing gum is an interesting video, it was made in 1976 and is shot in Hackney in black and white. The craft used in girl chewing gum is very basic, only using the camera in the same position, but moving it around with the zoom.

The concept behind the video is complex and does not reflect the craft in the video. The concept that I got from the video was that the media leads their audience into believing one thing but then tricks them because the voice over has lied to them from the beginning, and confesses to it.

Another concept that may have been conveyed in the video is the thought of trying to be in control, the commentator is telling all the characters what to do, yet hes just the voice speaking over the top, and the people being filmed are actually completely oblivious to him.

I did like girl chewing gum, and I thought that it was heavily reliant on its concept.

Muto

I watched a video called muto the other day; it was by a famous graffiti artist and was made in 2006.

Muto has a strong craft involved in it, but the concepts are a little bit trickier to grasp.

Muto uses stop frame animation which creates a great effect of moving drawings. The images themselves were not great works of art; it would be pointless because they are constantly being wiped off.

The concepts that I grasped from watching muto was the idea of life and death and reincarnation, there was a lot of images of things being eaten and then the thing that ate it exploding and something coming out of the ruins, this to me suggested the thought of recreation, which was also what was happening physically to the images.

I also thought that the context was slightly warped, for a start, trying to depict life from black and white drawing is taken out of context, you would use colour or something to make things look a little more real, but muto doesn’t need this. Also there is a bit in the video where teeth are running like animals, it’s a stretch of the imagination but for a second you are lead to believe that they are not actually chalk doodles on a pavement but real life moving animals. Only for a second.

Muto is a refreshingly experemental video for its time and relies heavily on the craft and the physical and mental skill which has been used to make it, it is not my most favourite of videos, but I respect the artists ideas and talent.

chapter 1 - discuss both past and current artists and work.

There are a few similarities and differences between modern experimental videos and older videos.

For example the video girl chewing gum has similar concepts to doll face, in the way in which the artists make the audience aware that the video is based on lies, in girl chewing gum the voice over towards the end of the video even admits that he s an a field miles away and has tricked the audience into thinking that he is someone important. This is also portrayed in doll face, however the lie that the robot encountered was part of the video – in a sense the media from the television was lying to the robot.

Both doll face and girl chewing gum rely heavily on concepts, both a move the audience, however the difference is in the emotions, girl chewing gum may provoke anger and annoyance through being tricked, but doll face could make the audience saddened and upset because beauty is a relevant issue to any age and gender.

The differences between the videos is not so much the concept but more the craft, as you an see in girl chewing gum the camera stays I the same position and only follows characters and zooms in and out according to the voiceover. The sound quality is also older, it is crackly and muffled, although the artist that created the video, he may have wanted to achieve a more raw effect, you can still hear a fuzziness which you wouldn’t in a modern recording of something. Doll face has been heavily crafted with use of fantastic computer effects and animation; it is obvious to the viewer that the mot modern equipment has been used to make this film. The sound quality in doll face may be non descript and does not play a main part in the video because it is based on the visual interpretation, however, it is crisp clean cut and polished, the polar opposite to girl chewing gum.

Doll face was made in 1998, girl chewing gum in 1976 only twenty years on and the main factor that is evident is that the quality and technology has developed so much, however this will never effect the ideas that artists have, merely extend their capability to convey their ideas to the audience.

chapter 6 - Audience, and audience interpretation of the work

When we watched the video doll face the reaction was slightly different within the group, most of the class felt that there was a strong concept of beauty and the effects it has on us, but there was different angles to it some people thought it was the price of beauty (the robot ended up dying) others thought that it wasn’t as narrow as that; the media have control over us, more then we are aware of. However some of the male members of the group thought it was a bit pointless and boring, almost as if it was a waste of time.

I think that it is paramount to have different ideas and interpretation of artists work; through this the artist has made the audience think for themselves and form their own opinions of it. This may be good or bad e.g; some people got one of the main concepts that the artist was trying to convey, or they thought it was boring.

When an artist has finished their work and submitted it, it is then out of their hands, all they can do is wait for the verdict from their viewer. A big part of art, even more so in modern art/experimental videos etc is the concept behind it, if an artist can achieve this then they are half way there, and a lot of the time, when you are viewing and discussing a piece of art that you have seen it becomes more live and so much more in depth this is why I think that it is so important to have different interpretations.

chapter 2 - The use of technology and techniques and styles

The use of technology has changed greatly in the past 40 years, from the girl chewing gum which was made in 1976 to Muto which was made in 2006 both videos can reflect the different technology which is available for example, Muto uses stop frame animation and better quality cameras, its something that is taken for granted. Muto probably had a lot of funding and appropriate lighting equipment even though it looks simple it is heavily crafted.

However girl chewing gum, was shot using a very basic camera, there is no real craft behind the camera, and it was shot in one position, the camera operator doesn't actually move at all this video is still simple but still effective.

The use of technology is not as important as the audience may think, although it makes viewing more visually pleasing, it wont affect the meaning behind the video. Girl chewing gum has a lot of different concepts as does Muto, each made stronger by the styles in which they are filmed in.

chapter 3 - narrative and non narrative structures

With experimental videos it is not a necessity to have a solid narrative because the idea behind an experimental video can be whatever the artist wants it to be, it is up to the audience to make their own judgement and interpretation of the video.
However if a narrative helped to explain the video and was vital to the meaning, then it would be necessary to have a beginning, middle and end.
There can be a more complex and different structure that is happening in the video, for example in the video 'Muto' there is no narrative but a loosely based structure of a cycle throughout.

chapter 5 - How different works will inspire my work

I really liked the craft in Koyaanisquatsi when the camera shows the speeding up and slowing down of time. I wanted to portray the meaningless of time in my video. I think that it would depict a sense of not being in control of anything.

I also like the idea of not having any voices, just a non descript music playing non diagetically and would be effective, and thus make the viewer more aware of the visual aspects of the video.

The idea for my video is to make a short clip about the young homeless people in Horsham, this is a subject which I feel that I can draw inspiration from. I do want to keep the idea of a story minimal because I want to portray the rawness of the situation.

the thought of representing the emotions and how the character is important to the video. However I do not want to use a commercial way of portraying this, my suggestion is to use fire in different forms e.g. a candle/bonfire. fire can represent passion, hope inspiration and dismissal, which would be key points in my video.

Although I have not found a lot of inspiration from the experimental videos I have viewed, I do like the way in which different editing and camera filming has been portrayed.