Seeing

(A practical reflection)

The first exercise that allowed me to rethink the way I saw on screen was the edit analysis. Not only my own work, but also the ones we analysed in class. I had never before stopped to pay attention to cuts, sounds, camera angles, and so on. After that first exercise, I realised how much work there was to producing any moving picture. Especially the one I analysed, Wild Wild Country, I sensed that there was not even one word or sound or picture, not even one millisecond, that had not been carefully built. At that point, making my own ethnographic film seemed very overwhelming. Would we we able to do so?

What followed was the premiere exercise, which made me feel even more overwhelmed. Although technically it was easy to understand and I felt glad to acquire such skills, it was also a bit daunting. It was a lot. Then came the camera class, where we learned how to look through the lens of the camera. It was very technical, yes, but also allowed me to have a clearer understanding of how I would actually do that. With the knowledge of the camera and the editing tool, I could finally start visualising how we could actually pull this off.

For the camera exercise, we decided to do something fun. We did not want to stick to the basic and film someone doing the dishes or having a chat. Nukri came up with the concept, it would be a competition. Two of our friends would race, one with the stairs, another with the elevator, and we would film that. Of course, there would be no actual race, it was all scripted. Several challenges present themselves during this process. First, the weather. We wanted to start with the outside shots, but as soon as we made this decision, the sun disappeared. We then hurried to get our first friend and start filming. We started with the elevator, which was a big problem, people kept going up and down, opening and closing the doors, and we simply could not monopolise one of the elevators for our own artistic purposes. Then the security came and told us we were not allowed to film there, we needed a permit. Not to mention that everywhere we went, inside the elevator, up the stairs, filming from a different angle, there was a different light, a different white balance, a different everything. We adjusted and readjusted the camera time and time again. It was exhausting, but also very fun. Finally, after a couple of hours, a permit from the university, and promising to pay coffees to our friends, we got every done. What was also challenging was the amount of requirements we had to fulfil. So not only did we have to film our very first motion picture, but we also had to make sure to do the correct shots to fulfil the requirements of the exercise. Now, the next challenge is to edit, I am curious to see how that will go.

About our own project, we have luckily found many talented tattoo artists willing to let us is their process. They seem friendly and excited about the project, but that does not mean they will help us. It involves their clients, their studios and perhaps their reputations, so although they tell us they will help, after our first meeting we end up ghosted by them. However, we now seem to have at least one good character and another great lead on the way, so it is going well at this point. What we really lack is an angle. There are many discussions about it, should we focus on body, on the commercial aspect, on the art on the walls, there are just so many things. It needs to be feasible, ethnographic, anthropologic and interesting. After all, what we want is to create a final movie we will be proud of. I believe we’re on the right path.