(Taleski, 2013).
I looked at Pina Bausch for inspiration as Sebastiane mentioned he liked her avant-garde style, focused on emotion. Her choreography is not conventional, but instead uses simple movement or combinations of movement to evoke a feeling or tell a story. Pina Bausch's work linked below is called The Fall Dance. It shows a woman, who looks like she's in a trance, wondering around trying to escape the man who is following her every move. It is disturbing and shocking how she falls so confidently towards him, keeping her body still, for him to catch her just before hitting the floor. I think this piece could represent trust, as she keeps testing her trust for him by seeing if he'd catch her.
Screenshot from Test Shoot 3.
Watch Test Shoot 3 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9l1re9NRNo
I was inspired by this use of a trust fall when I choreographed a section of dance for my film. She falls to one side as a test to see if she is alone or if there is a member of society to catch her as she falls, mirroring her unstable, sensitive emotions. As the dancer, who represents a member of society, runs forwards to catch her, this is the first sign of She's acceptance into society. She continues to test her trust with this member of society by falling three times before they come face to face. Instead of adding music to this section I decided to keep the real sounds to give it an organic feel and to focus solely on the movement and emotion, but layered it with deep breathes as She falls to reflect She's cautiousness.
(AlexanderFamilyJD, 2014).
With Autumn and Brooke's inspiration in mind, I then choreographed She and the dancer to do some slow and simple synchronised movement to reflect She cautiously engaging with the society member. The dancer then steps forwards into darkness and She moves to one side to reveal her acceptance. The two do some more synchronised movement and it finishes with the society member taking She's wrist and completing her move, as if she is helping her. This is the beginning of their relationship and trust growing throughout the sequence. I was proud of myself that I choreographed a small story as I had never done this before so it pushed me to achieve something unique. I felt the emotions of acceptance and belonging were communicated through the simplistic movement and gestures; however I didn't feel it portrayed She's liberating feeling of freedom as the dance was very slow and controlled. This is something I will need to consider, possibly through styling or different, possibly faster movement.
I chose to use minimalistic nude and taupe styling for this test shoot so the focus was purely on the movement and emotions. I planned to discuss my styling ideas with Sebastiane after the choreography and mood was decided.
I had asked to see Sebastiane but he said he didn't have time so we agreed he would get back to me if I sent it over email. I felt very panicked that I was not able to see him for a tutorial before my shoot on Saturday and got more stressed when he did not reply for the rest of Wednesday or Thursday. On Thursday I felt very panicked as still didn't know what I was going to shoot on Saturday, so I booked a tutorial with Sharon to discuss her thoughts on this scene. However this wasn't until Friday afternoon so I decided to create a test shoot that combined emotional movement with expressive dance and beauty products to keep the emotion, but also incorporate the fun and excitement of the art. I wanted to postpone my shoot because I was so unclear of what I was doing with the choreography and styling; however my dancer was only free on that day as she lives in London and has many assessments and training sessions to attend so I kept focused to have everything organised by then.
Pina Bausch (Section 20:25 - 23:30)
(ThearoTV, 2013).
Pina Bausch inspired the beginning of this next test shoot from the sequence where a vulnerable looking woman is surrounded by men in suits, touching her and poking her from every direction. I found this sequence uncomfortable to watch because she just stood there, as if she had given up fighting back and let the men touch her as if she was a toy. The men look intimidating because of their authoritative suits, straight faces and confident movements, making it more disturbing to watch. I felt this scene reflected how She feels when people discriminate against her and how she doesn't have the strength or confidence to fight back or stick up for herself. I chose to use a closeup of She's body and only hands entering the frame to conceal the society figures' identities and to reveal the detail in the intruding hands. To transition this first clip into the second I choreographed all the hands to leave the frame and then just one to re-enter in a comforting way to represent a member of society reaching out to her. This fade was very smooth and seamless to reveal the society member's identity. I kept the same styling as in the previous test shoot so, again, all the focus was on the movement and emotion.
Caught in Paint by Rita Blitt and David Parsons
(Blitt, 2009).
In the test shoot before where I experimented with products and perspex plastic I felt slightly restricted when dancing with the perspex as it was surrounded by a black border, limiting my freedom of expressive movement. I was doubting my idea about creating abstract art on perspex until I came across Caught in Paint by Rita Blitt and David Parsons. This video shows Blitt painting beautiful, abstract art onto a 4x8ft transparent surface and then dancers from the Parsons Dance Company creating shapes with their bodies that mirror the dancing lines of Blitt's brush strokes. I envisioned She painting abstract art onto the perspex with beauty products and the dance mirroring her shape movements and shapes. I was also inspired by the way they held their perspex landscape as it gave the dancer's more freedom and space. I decided it would be best for two people to hold the perspex on either side so the top and bottom weren't covered by a border, but instead looked like they were never ending. I experimented with different lighting set ups, from the sides and behind the perspex and edited them together to create a rough draft.
Screenshot from Test Shoot 4
Watch Test Shoot 4 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV6dWHnMjaE
Sharon Feedback
I explained to Sharon my film's concept and all the scenes so that she understood the film's background and style. She loved the opening of the scene with the hands touching She's body because she said it communicated that She was under other people's control and the visual was intriguing. She thought the simplistic, neutral tones of both models' styling created a clean canvas to reveal emotion and focus on the movement, rather than being distracted by dominating styling or makeup. I said I was hoping to give the models more extravagant outfits to emphasise their emotion and social status so we discussed how I could shoot the sequences in both outfits and then edit them together to flash the more avant-garde styling throughout. I thought this would be perfect to build the scene to a climax at the end when the white leather dress is fully revealed, reflecting her growing confidence and empowerment to be herself and stand out from the accepting crowd.
I showed her Test Shoot 4 and she said she liked the use of beauty products on the perspex; however after I said Sebastiane thought it was cliche we agreed that it was not necessary to portray She's emotions and it was unclear that the products were beauty products so did not add much depth. This clarified to me that I would not use the beauty products or any other products as I would focus on the emotion of the dance to portray the concept. I felt frustrated that I had continued to experiment with using beauty products because Sebastiane had said that he did not think they worked; I felt I had wasted this time when I could have been working on dance choreography.
Sharon said she thought the choreography in Test Shoot 3 worked in portraying She's emotions; however thought I should experiment with quicker, sharper editing to keep the young audience engaged as they take polished, professional editing for granted. She also said I should film the dance from different angles and closeups to them incorporate together, again to break down the slow movement to hold interest. Sharon also suggested I made the lighting slightly brighter as some of the detail of the styling and movement was lost in the dark shadows; I will discuss using reflectors or a fill light with Harrison to brighten the footage.
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| She's Look 2 Hair Design |
I quickly showed Sharon the styling, makeup and hair for the first and second scene and she was concerned my young target audience would not understand Look 2's hair design with the hair braided onto her face. She suggested wrapping the plaits round the model's neck; however I said I was concerned it would decrease the difficulty as this was the most challenging hair design. We discussed that I could wrap the plaits round the model's neck for the majority of the scene and then add some closeups of the caged hair design to reveal the detail and reinforce she feels trapped and restricted by society's hold. Sharon was also concerned the black dress styling for Look 2 was too complicated and wouldn't necessarily translate to the young audience, so she again suggested having a more simplistic outfit and then having only some edits of her in the more detailed costume for dramatic effect. I will discuss these ideas with Sebastiane in my tutorial with him next week. I will carry out a focus group with people in my target market to gain their perspective of Sharon's concerns and other aspects I am unsure about.
Sebastiane Feedback
Sebastiane loved Test Shoot 3, saying it was a great break through. The email he sent is shown below:
_________________________________________________________________________________
Well ms Mercer,
Yes, yes and again yes. SO much better and a real break through.
I don’t like the music dance bit; it changes into dance and stops the sensitivity and communication of feeling. I prefer the use of breath sounds and the bits without music are excellent and communicate a subtle sense of tenderness, protection and togetherness. My partner who is a dance movement psychotherapist (DMP) liked it too and mentioned the use of duality: light, dark, old, young, apart and close.
The costume might be something to consider, but you definitely have something, well done.
Well done Becky
Sebastiane
_________________________________________________________________________
I was so excited and relieved that Sebastiane was so positive about my work because I had been so stressed deciding what would work and the shoot was the next day at this point! I understood why he did not like that sections with music because the music became a dominant aspect, possibly drawing less attention to the emotion. I thin the best plan of action would be filming the sequence first and then adding sound effect, like breathing, over the top to enhance the movement. I showed him the styling I wanted to use and he said he thought the green leotard for the society figure placed it too much in a dance context and so suggested using something more reflecting everyday wear or even domestic wear. Sebastiane's partner liked the use of young and old; however my mother was only standing in for my younger dancer. I therefore decided to use the young dancer for the beginning of the scene and then incorporate the older model towards the end to show the acceptance of a range of people in society and how it can make the model feel.
When Sebastiane mentioned that the music would not work as it changes the emotion into dance, I instantly felt guilty that Dan had taken the time to create the piece because I may not even use it. I also felt guilty that I may not end up using one of Sofia's designs as I had originally planned to use the white leather blazer to portray another representation of She; however this new interpretation that the dancer represented society would not work with my intended styling. I kept having to remind myself that the outcome for my project was the priority so if things are no longer suitable then I shouldn't use them just to make other people happy. I understood his concern about the music and so wanted to experiment with either adding more sound effects or removing it completely.
I am excited that I now have a clearer idea of what I am filming tomorrow; however I have a lot to get sorted before then! Like extra styling, a different makeup look for each model and extra choreography!
References:
TALESKI, F., 2013. Pina Bausch The Fall Dance [viewed 24th March 2017]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS8hEj37CrA
ALEXANDERFAMILYJD, 2014. Autumn and Brooke - Beauty from Pain - Self-Choreographed Contemporary Duet [viewed 24th March 2017]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojZczGeAFyM
THEAROTV, 2013. I grandi protagonisti della danza- Pina Bausch [viewed 11th March 2017]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPjX2DEO5iQ&t=11s
BLITT, R., 2009. Caught in Paint [viewed 24th March 2017]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e_C8iqusqQ
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