Inspiration - #2 - 28/11/14

Ceol na Mara: The Uist Selkie Story

The Uist Selkie Story is the first film in 'Ceol na Mara - Sound Of the Sea' a new series of shorts devised, produced, directed and edited by Ruaraidh Urpeth, that explores the relationship between the Outer Hebrides and the sea through art, music and storytelling.The Uist Selkie Story is told by Ian Stephen, and is a traditional story from South Uist that tells the tale of a selkie who becomes trapped in human form and is unable to return to the sea.Selkies are a common subject of North Atlantic seaboard stories, and are seals who can shed their skins and come on land, assuming human form but they can only return to the sea if they put back on their own skins which they stow by rocks at the shore.The Uist Selkie Story is from the tradition of female selkie stories.
I particually like this short film as I think it's a complete original piece of work; the use of storytelling as well as landcsape videoography mingled into one is what makes this short film so breathtaking.

Upon watching this short film and having a conversation with my teacher, I have decided to go ahead and use the quote from Annie Dillard's novel, however - I will be using it in a way that is not just the audio; if all goes to plan my short film will include a storyteller that tells Dillard's passage from her book.

MGS - 25/11/14

1. Do some test shots this weekend, revolving around seascapes. Sandwich Bay. St Margarets. Broadstairs, etc.

2. Record Kayleigh and ask Ms Lambert about the audio overlay. A range of voices?

3. Start researching possible sounds that I may use for the blended soundscape.

4. Storyteller?

Filming Locations - 23/11/14

 Image One: Llanbedrog, posed in front of the 'Iron Man.'

 Image Two: Within Llechwedd Slate Caverns.

Image Three: Aerial view of Tryfan.

Image Four: The Cnicht.

 Image Five: Black Rock Sands, Criccieth/Porthmadog.

Image Six: Criccieth Beach.

Image Seven: The Iron Man, Llanbedrog.

Image Eight: Faerie Glen. 

Image Nine: Ty Coch Inn - Porthdinllaen, Llyn Peninsula.

 Image Ten: Sunset at Criccieth Castle.



Image Eleven; The woodland walk up to Llanbedrog's 'Iron Man'.

Arranging which shots that will go with the Narrative - 17/11/14

 “Think of a globe, a revolving globe on a stand. Think of a contour globe, whose mountain ranges cast shadows, whose continents rise in bas-relief above the oceans. But then: think of how it really is. These heights are just suggested; they’re there….when I think of walking across a continent I think of all the neighborhood hills, the tiny grades up which children drag their sleds. It is all so sculptured, three-dimensional, casting a shadow. What if you had an enormous globe that was so huge it showed roads and houses- a geological survey globe, a quarter of a mile to an inch- of the whole world, and the ocean floor! Looking at it, you would know what had to be left out: the free-standing sculptural arrangement of furniture in rooms, the jumble of broken rocks in the creek bed, tools in a box, labyrinthine ocean liners, the shape of snapdragons, walrus. Where is the one thing you care about in earth, the molding of one face? The relief globe couldn’t begin to show trees, between whose overlapping boughs birds raise broods, or the furrows in bark, where whole creatures, creatures easily visible, live our their lives and call it world enough. What do I make of all this texture? What does it mean about the kind of world in which I have been set down? The texture of the world, its filigree and scrollwork, means that there is a possibility for beauty here, a beauty inexhaustible in its complexity, which opens to my knock, which answers in me a call I do not remember calling, and which trains me to the wild and extravagant nature of the spirit I seek.”
― Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

'Think of a globe, a revolving globe on a stand.' - Preferably a macro/supermacro shot of a revolving globe in the outdoors.

"Whose mountain ranges cast shadows, whose continents rise in bas-relief above the oceans' - This shot will be done in North Wales. It'll most likely show the Snowdonia or Carneddau mountain range.

"But then: think of how it really is. These heights are just suggested; they’re there…." - Unknown shot.

"….when I think of walking across a continent I think of all the neighborhood hills, the tiny grades up which children drag their sleds." - A possible revolving shot/pan from the top of the Cnicht or another mountain.

"It is all so sculptured, three-dimensional, casting a shadow." - N/A currently

"That if you had an enormous globe that was so huge it showed roads and houses- a geological survey globe, a quarter of a mile to an inch- of the whole world, and the ocean floor!" - N/A

"Looking at it, you would know what had to be left out:"  - N/A

"the free-standing sculptural arrangement of furniture in rooms, the jumble of broken rocks in the creek bed, tools in a box, labyrinthine ocean liners, the shape of snapdragons, walrus." - Macro/supermacro shots of corners of furniture looking out over the sea.

"Where is the one thing you care about in earth, the molding of one face?" - N/A

"The relief globe couldn't begin to show trees," - Pan out from the woods; Location: Llanbedrog 'The Iron Man' walk.

"between whose overlapping boughs birds raise broods," - If possible this shot will include a flock of birds, preferably this will be filmed over Criccieth beach or Black Rock sands.

"or the furrows in bark, where whole creatures, creatures easily visible," - Unsure of what this shot will be of, however I would like it to be macro.

"live our their lives and call it world enough." - N/A

"What do I make of all this texture?" - Possibly the shot taken from the plane when flying back from India. 

"What does it mean about the kind of world in which I have been set down?" - N/A

"The texture of the world, its filigree and scrollwork, means that there is a possibility for beauty here," - N/A

"a beauty inexhaustible in its complexity," - These three shall be linked. Although I do not know what shots I will be using just yet, I plan to have a mixture of both my Wales and India footage.
"which opens to my knock" 
"which answers in me a call I do not remember calling,"

"and which trains me to the wild and extravagant nature of the spirit I seek.”  - N/A

Screenshots for Possible Footage - 14/11/14

I love this shot due to the sunrise in the background as well as the fact that the wing of the plane stretches out across the entirety of the shot. As well as this, I believe that the subtle movements within the clip.

I will be using this shot in my film as I feel as if it reflects certain parts of the narrative perfectly. The close-up shot of the crab shows the subtle movements of the crab and the free flowing stream, touching on natures beauty.

13/11/14 - MGS Feedback

1. Go through each sentence/phrase and think of a visual that may link to it.
2. Screen shots of India footage and a short analysis of each shot.
3. Where there are blanks for the phrases start thinking about what sort of images you can use to fulfill this in Wales.
4. Document what you are planning at the moment to shoot in Wales.

Footage from India - 03/11/14

Questions posed:

1. Why did you take this footage?

 

2. What purpose does it hold?

3. Can you use the footage that you have collected; if not, why?

Footage will be uploaded beneath.