Session 1: 15.3.2011
Today's workshop didn't exactly go to 'plan', but that's not a negative thing. I set out with a lesson plan and by the end of the workshop I did manage to cover most of what I planned but we spent most of it in dialogue. There are moments in a process like today where you just have to go with it, let it run and see where it goes. This was evident in the discussions that came out of hearing how we all are working, the unanswered questions we have and how we are documenting our processes.
I began the workshop by introducing myself, my experience and my practice. I also outlined the aims of the workshops while emphasising that in only such a short time I would only be able to give an insight into the theory and practical aspects of my archiving studio practice. What I do want to achieve by the end of these workshops is to make participants aware of how technologies can be used to document and present documentation. This to be used as a tool for the dance creator/collaborator/performer to gain distance from their work in order to have freedom of the restraint our own vision has on what and how we see our own work.
It's difficult to explain my theory, aims and techniques used to achieve my work in a few paragraphs and that's most probably why we spent most of the time in discussion.
After introducing myself, my practice and aims of workshop I then asked each participant to introduce themselves, and talk about their experiences of documenting their own practice. 1.5/2hrs later we moved on to the next part of the workshop (well actually skip to another part). This 1.5/2hrs I must say that I found the most beneficial. I miss these moments where collectively we can thrash out of thoughts and share our experiences. I/we should do it more often, HOWEVER we shouldn't get stuck in this part of the process. We need to get busy, put ideas into practice.
So I moved onto relating back to my BA Hons. dissertation where I focused on 'why are three-dimensional moving bodies traditionally viewed from a two-dimensional perspective, similar to that which occurs within the theatre?'. I won't go over this in detail but will publish it on my website very soon. Part of it I wanted to highlight how are mind has ideal images of what we see and understand, and how our mind is constantly filling in the gaps. These gaps can be obstructive view, partially lit or fragmented images. I wanted to highlight that our mind doesn't (and if wanting to creative an active viewer, should not) need to see everything and every step of dance. To emphasise this I got the participants to carry out a number of tasks as well as a writing exercise. It was and always is great to see how people carry out the tasks.
One of the tasks is called 'the object task. In this task I ask everyone (individually) to draw a door handle, chair, table, glass & telephone for example. The point of this exercise is not to see how well we draw but what we draw, meaning.... what we see. On this occasion everyone drew the same chair (four legs and a back), and table (four legs). It proved again that we all collectively have the same idea image of something in our mind. I also asked everyone to draw the body from the front, side, back, foot and hand. This was to see whether we need to see something in front of us to see it. Here again it proved that we don't.
The point to this and the other exercises is that we don't need to show everything within the final documentation we produce but moments of a process that creates spaces for viewers to add their own understanding to it. To complete the incomplete.
The day ended there with a lot to try and fit in to the next/last workshop.
Today I decided, less talking more action.
I started off by showing the first 5mins of 'Holds no memory' so that those who missed last nights screening of the new film '45, 46, 47 The Unbearable' can visually see the final result of an archiving studio practice document. We talked so much about the theory, procedures and techniques I use within my practice and so I wanted to show an example of it in physical/practical terms before getting busy.
I mentioned about consistency within filming in terms of how you use the technology and the settings (Record mode, exposure, format, etc). This is very important for the editing process in particular as it makes the process a lot easier to deal/work with.
I then set everyone a task. The task was to spend 15mins each recording a dancer in process using all that we had talked about. Within this task each participant had their own individual role (mimicking the dance process I would be involved in and the relationships between each person). One would be the documenter/filmmaker, one the performer/dancer artist, and the other the dramaturgy.
As part of this task I asked each participant to record the dance process from a multiple perspective. This included recording it in a wide, mid and close up shot, from the front, side and back, and from mid, low and high level. By gathering these various types of shots, the documenter will be creating an archive full of numerous perspectives, of which from these the filmmaker can select the material which best highlights moments within the process. I emphasised moments in respect of what we discussed in the previous workshop and that as a filmmaker in this role it is important to constantly keep questioning yourself; 'is what I am recording add/saying any more than what it has been saying for the last 1-5mins' for example. If not, stop the camera, move,set and record from a different perspective.
It was great to sit back and watch how people treat the camera, apply what I have taught them and how they are within each role. For my role in the archiving studio practice it is vital that I do not interfere, disrupt or directly affect the process when recording. I am a witness and I try to become like a ghost in presence but active with capturing and understanding the process. I can enter the dancer's 'space' through the camera but shouldn't physically (in other words I should not get in the way). Also as filmmaker I should have full autonomy over how I document the process, as if this is determined by the dancer or anyone else then the other members of the process will never be able to have distance from their work in order to stand back from it and see it properly.
It was interesting how some participants just couldn't quite grasp this, however I know if I had longer they would. Usually I have minimum a week just doing this task over and over again. The more I do it the more I understand why I'm doing it.
It was a great session, very active and just what the workshop needed. I hope the participants were able to get an insight into what's involved while also questioning themselves on how the document studio practice.
We concluded this task by watching and discussing the material participants captured.
I briefly talked about how to go about reviewing, capturing and editing the material gathered. A 3rd day workshop would have been great to focus on the editing process.
We then had less than 1hr for me to make participants aware of other technologies, in particular virtual that can aid the documentation process. These were free online resources to help gain better understanding of filmmaking, technically and media production using: http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/
I also presented the following:
Links
Chris Clow's CV
Today's workshop didn't exactly go to 'plan', but that's not a negative thing. I set out with a lesson plan and by the end of the workshop I did manage to cover most of what I planned but we spent most of it in dialogue. There are moments in a process like today where you just have to go with it, let it run and see where it goes. This was evident in the discussions that came out of hearing how we all are working, the unanswered questions we have and how we are documenting our processes.
I began the workshop by introducing myself, my experience and my practice. I also outlined the aims of the workshops while emphasising that in only such a short time I would only be able to give an insight into the theory and practical aspects of my archiving studio practice. What I do want to achieve by the end of these workshops is to make participants aware of how technologies can be used to document and present documentation. This to be used as a tool for the dance creator/collaborator/performer to gain distance from their work in order to have freedom of the restraint our own vision has on what and how we see our own work.
It's difficult to explain my theory, aims and techniques used to achieve my work in a few paragraphs and that's most probably why we spent most of the time in discussion.
After introducing myself, my practice and aims of workshop I then asked each participant to introduce themselves, and talk about their experiences of documenting their own practice. 1.5/2hrs later we moved on to the next part of the workshop (well actually skip to another part). This 1.5/2hrs I must say that I found the most beneficial. I miss these moments where collectively we can thrash out of thoughts and share our experiences. I/we should do it more often, HOWEVER we shouldn't get stuck in this part of the process. We need to get busy, put ideas into practice.
So I moved onto relating back to my BA Hons. dissertation where I focused on 'why are three-dimensional moving bodies traditionally viewed from a two-dimensional perspective, similar to that which occurs within the theatre?'. I won't go over this in detail but will publish it on my website very soon. Part of it I wanted to highlight how are mind has ideal images of what we see and understand, and how our mind is constantly filling in the gaps. These gaps can be obstructive view, partially lit or fragmented images. I wanted to highlight that our mind doesn't (and if wanting to creative an active viewer, should not) need to see everything and every step of dance. To emphasise this I got the participants to carry out a number of tasks as well as a writing exercise. It was and always is great to see how people carry out the tasks.
One of the tasks is called 'the object task. In this task I ask everyone (individually) to draw a door handle, chair, table, glass & telephone for example. The point of this exercise is not to see how well we draw but what we draw, meaning.... what we see. On this occasion everyone drew the same chair (four legs and a back), and table (four legs). It proved again that we all collectively have the same idea image of something in our mind. I also asked everyone to draw the body from the front, side, back, foot and hand. This was to see whether we need to see something in front of us to see it. Here again it proved that we don't.
The point to this and the other exercises is that we don't need to show everything within the final documentation we produce but moments of a process that creates spaces for viewers to add their own understanding to it. To complete the incomplete.
The day ended there with a lot to try and fit in to the next/last workshop.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Session 2: 17.3.2011
Session 2: 17.3.2011
Today I decided, less talking more action.
I started off by showing the first 5mins of 'Holds no memory' so that those who missed last nights screening of the new film '45, 46, 47 The Unbearable' can visually see the final result of an archiving studio practice document. We talked so much about the theory, procedures and techniques I use within my practice and so I wanted to show an example of it in physical/practical terms before getting busy.
I mentioned about consistency within filming in terms of how you use the technology and the settings (Record mode, exposure, format, etc). This is very important for the editing process in particular as it makes the process a lot easier to deal/work with.
I then set everyone a task. The task was to spend 15mins each recording a dancer in process using all that we had talked about. Within this task each participant had their own individual role (mimicking the dance process I would be involved in and the relationships between each person). One would be the documenter/filmmaker, one the performer/dancer artist, and the other the dramaturgy.
As part of this task I asked each participant to record the dance process from a multiple perspective. This included recording it in a wide, mid and close up shot, from the front, side and back, and from mid, low and high level. By gathering these various types of shots, the documenter will be creating an archive full of numerous perspectives, of which from these the filmmaker can select the material which best highlights moments within the process. I emphasised moments in respect of what we discussed in the previous workshop and that as a filmmaker in this role it is important to constantly keep questioning yourself; 'is what I am recording add/saying any more than what it has been saying for the last 1-5mins' for example. If not, stop the camera, move,set and record from a different perspective.
It was great to sit back and watch how people treat the camera, apply what I have taught them and how they are within each role. For my role in the archiving studio practice it is vital that I do not interfere, disrupt or directly affect the process when recording. I am a witness and I try to become like a ghost in presence but active with capturing and understanding the process. I can enter the dancer's 'space' through the camera but shouldn't physically (in other words I should not get in the way). Also as filmmaker I should have full autonomy over how I document the process, as if this is determined by the dancer or anyone else then the other members of the process will never be able to have distance from their work in order to stand back from it and see it properly.
It was interesting how some participants just couldn't quite grasp this, however I know if I had longer they would. Usually I have minimum a week just doing this task over and over again. The more I do it the more I understand why I'm doing it.
It was a great session, very active and just what the workshop needed. I hope the participants were able to get an insight into what's involved while also questioning themselves on how the document studio practice.
We concluded this task by watching and discussing the material participants captured.
I briefly talked about how to go about reviewing, capturing and editing the material gathered. A 3rd day workshop would have been great to focus on the editing process.
We then had less than 1hr for me to make participants aware of other technologies, in particular virtual that can aid the documentation process. These were free online resources to help gain better understanding of filmmaking, technically and media production using: http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/
I also presented the following:
- video editing application called VideoSpin
- image editing site (very much like Photoshop in so many ways apart from expensive cost) called Pixlr
- brainstorming/mind-mapping/presentation editor application called Prezzi
- computer screen video capturing application called Screenr
- interactive/multimedia linear story documenting presenter called Vuvox Collage
It really was a way to go out with a bang by overloading participants with ways in which technology is available for free to help gather, build or present documentation.
When the workshop finished I felt we only really got started with ways in which to document studio practice and wanted to carry on. I just hope the participants know they can always contact me for advice on how they are documenting their pracitce. I wish them all well and look forward to hopefully working with them all again one day.
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About me
From 1999 to 2001 Chris was a member of an all male dance company, Positive Action. In that year Chris completed the BTEC Diploma Foundation Studies (Art and Design) at Isle College. In 2004 Chris completed the BA (Hons) in Dance Theatre at Laban and later that year started as the Graduate Assistant in Audio Visual (AV) & Information Technology (IT). In 2005 he became the IT/AV Advisor for Laban and left in 2008 to become IT/AV Advisor for CILASS , then Teaching Technologies Supervisor for CiCS Learning and Teaching at The University of Sheffield. Chris has presented his own choreographic and film work in a number of venues: Deptford X, Greenwich Film Festival, AbunDance (Sweden) Choreographic Captures (Germany) and VideoDance (Athens) are just a few of many. Chris has also been commissioned as a dance film-maker and lighting designer for a number of artists, and in collaboration with Louise Pembroke, has sold over 500 copies of 'Dedication to the Seven' & 'Catatonia' (Choreographed and performed by Louise Pembroke) to MIND Publications.
Chris is now focusing on his dance film-making productions and has led intensive practical workshops in archiving studio practice (using film as the main medium) at Central School of Speech and Drama, Laban in London and dance film at The Brit School, London.
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Links
Chris Clow's CV
C. Clow and A. Sánchez-Colberg Choreology, Archiving, Documentation, Research, Paper for Laban International Conference, 2008. (read here).
