Projection, using natural images such as sky, plants and water. These films are looking at small differences, noticing change occurring almost imperceptibly in a slow breathing rhythm. They have a number of incidents, or triggers, to prompt memory and for imagination and wondering to begin. Day Dreams. I hope the viewer will detach from the daily demands of life and take some time for the essential practice of day dreaming. I am quite happy for people to stop watching my film and start creating their own in their minds eye. I see this kind of film as permitting the viewer to absorb and then to take over the role of originator, to move from the watcher to the imaginer. I am interested in how thinking happens. It might be in the form of daydreaming, puzzlement or meditation. It might be freed up by absence of demand, released by capacity to engage, or triggered by a small difference in the quality of a moment. The work is made using sequences and sets of digital stills imported into iMovie to create the pieces in DV film. I edited these films to music by 90 Degrees South, whose composer and musician Kev Fox is now working with me on music written specially for new films. An example of how they might be seen could be: A person arrives in a waiting area, not really sure how long for and not keen to be there either. The image is slowly changing, not in fluid action but steps of transition, in transformation, drawing their eye into repetition and pattern, and to noticing small changes. The colour is a controlled palette, and alters gradually, sometimes by shape and sometimes by hue. The rhythm is steady, clear and restful, conducting their mind to a place of confident ease. There is a singular episode, an image more recognised or an element more symbolic, that triggers an alert or a question. Then a recollection occurs and, almost unnoticed, the wondering becomes a trail, an unfolding sequence. The viewer has their attention broken by hearing their name being called and realises the journey taken in their thoughts. Getting up to leave, there is not really a precise memory of what they have watched, but a feeling of respite remains.
SETTINGS I am exploring how these films are received in a variety of places, interested in introducing the idea of day dreaming into the routine of life. Life is fast moving, complex and packed with demands; pressure is constantly built up not just in work but also in recreation and entertainment. I want to make a space where people have a chance to think for themselves, without having to follow a storyline by or about someone or something else. I welcome the opportunity to bring Day Dream films to different places. Please contact me if there is somewhere you can offer, or you have a suggestion.
email me here DEVELOPING WORK I have been working on short films created as conversations between the film, the viewer and myself. They are made for screening on a monitor using headphones, as I want an intimate, almost private space in a personal exchange. Called FACES as a working title, they look at what is the same and what is different in represented beauty from a variety of times and cultures. I hope the viewer will see something of themselves and those they love as well as the less familiar. They will be presented as a suite of four when complete. I am concerned with how we manage being human. The best of that perhaps is thought of as angels, and the worst perhaps in that we think we can know about someone just by their appearance.
These films are set to songs, and the lyrics bring a dialogue into the work. I will be exploring using my own voice and text on screen as the pieces develop. I use the same technical methods, digital stills in iMovie. As well as using family photographs and my postcard collection, I source images online; and one of the pieces is made with 21 portraits painted by Mik Godley.
One of the portraits by Mik Godley, see his studio website here
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