It's been a decade now since my first ever film school production class in the winter semester of 2003. We did a lot with slides that year and used them as an introduction to visual storytelling. Several years ago I actually shared a bunch of these images as a glimpse into what I'd come up with. See that here.
I pulled out these slides again as a bit of a reminder of some of my early photo work, and stumbled onto a few shots I didn't remember. There was one of Ward, who I did a lot of touring around Regina with during this project, and various shots of Regina landmarks that I hadn't remembered shooting. It's not really that my style of photography has changed that dramatically over the years, but looking back at things like this is a nice reminder of how much you've improved and matured. It's just a nice flashback really.
This is the last of the film school slide volumes. Look over the images once more and think to yourself about what the story or scene behind them might be and share it if you like. As I've expressed, this is a great exercise for a variety of technically based (film experience related) reasons, but it's also just a great way to wake up your brain.
#11 - Truck
Old truck with Saskatchewan plates, what's the owner like or where is he or she?
#6 - Waffle Ceiling
Mad Men office space or space office for mad men?
#1 - Window
Sask. Legislature, maybe a stately home even, who's inside?
#16 - Papers
A million old stories, a lost message, stacks of old observations . . . find something.
And we continue with my film school still frame exercise. What's the story behind these images? What kind of movie would these be from? What's the scene? Do they connect with one another somehow? These were all things we were asked when assigned this project back in the introductory class to the film program. I may have taken the images, but the beauty of the project is that they are what you make of them.
#10 - Alley Building
Lens flares, over-exposed, a back alley entrance - quirky address or seedy meeting place.
#14 - Government House
Historic home, government grounds, modern day or early 20th century?
#7 - Caution
Foreshadowing. What's going on here - crime scene, painting, leaky roof?
#15 - Tree Lined Road
Drive to a hospital or prison in the country - a stately manor perhaps?
In continuation of the images I posted yesterday, here are several more slides from the same film school photography assignment. Several of these images were never used in class, so coming across them again after years in a box has me redefining their meaning. The idea behind the project was to consider possible scenes or stories related to the image, as though it was a still frame from a feature film. What do you see?
#2 - Pentax
My friend Ward. Shooting each others portrait at the same time - what happened to the picture of me I wonder?
#8 - Fountain
Dimly lit, beads of water collecting - someone else was just here.
#5 - Bowling Alley
A time gone by, abandoned, nostalgic, what's inside?
#9 - Utility Closet
Shades of yellow and orange, full shelves, hidden supplies, someones collection.
A movie, technically speaking, is simply a series of still images played at 24 frames per second to create the illusion of movement. This fact proved to be the central theme of my very first production class and the inspiration behind many of the projects that we were assigned in the winter semester of 2003. Working with the Pentax K1000 (still camera) we were instructed to capture images and then create a back story, soundscape, song, or any cinematic embellishment we wished, to add another layer to the images.
I vaguely remember what I did, but stumbling on to these slides again was a treat. It brings back a lot of memories to see how 7 years ago I was just beginning to explore my love of urban texture and depth - bricks, concrete, peeling paint, retro settings in a modern context, etc. This influence is evident in several of my projects, most notably, Urban Jazz from that same year.
If you imagine these slides as a single frame in a feature film, it's actually a great creative exercise (hence the assignment) to picture what might be going on - Where are we going? What is this leading to? What does the image say about the theme, style, genre? I have my own notes on how I accented these images, but I'll leave it to you to come up with your own stories.
#12 - Western Furs
Bold text, patterned windows, bellowing smoke, canted angle to emphasize scale - this is the cold city.
#3 - Piano
Stylized text with Canadian reference, short depth of field - foreshadowing for Keys perhaps?
#13 - Hang Up
Abandoned, desolate, no answer . . .
#4 - The Red Light
Industrial elements, a bright spot of color - welcoming or foreboding?
