Long Time No Blog

Well time flys, and clearly judging by the date of my last blog it has flown a little to fast! I should be hear to stay now as it is coming toward the end of my degree there is lots going on. I am working on researching a location down at the Docks for my next project, I found this location when I joined the docklands workshop last semester (see link to attached website at the bottom of blog for more information). The derelict building on Liverpool docks is in the form of a derelict police station, it is quite small in size and this is why I intent to use the whole building for my next idea. Currently I am waiting to hear back from the Maritime Museums archive department (which has taken a while) I can't quite move on with the rest of my project until then so for now I am researching artists and the general idea of a police station in the victorian era. I need to think of a back up plan incase they do not find anything, so I am also working on that although currently I have nothing. I want it to be like a haunted house experience, for people to be able to visit this building an interact with it's surroundings and objects, it is going to take a while to sort out and there is a lot of planning involved but it should work out in the end. I will update my progress on here as I go along, but it is basically along the same theme as I have mentioned in previous blogs! Bye for now x

http://contextualtheatreproject.weebly.com (not finished, it still needs a lot of work)

I seem to be all over the show today, can't seem to focus on one set thing - this could stem from a number of factors. I began researching documents on the history behind Allerton Towers this morning in the hope I could find reference to any online jot the number down and jump the queues once I got to the Liverpool Archives.......WRONG! Turns out the head of the family who once lived there was a famous merchant, and as a result all the records on the family are in the Maritime Museum archives down on the docks. By the time I would have rushed down there today it would have been time to turn back - I am heading down tomorrow, and hopefully coming back with lots of research to work with. My current ideas are based on linking fact and fiction together, I don't want my work to be a historical learning curve that is not the idea, the idea is for the viewer to open up their own imaginations and escape in to the film. Another reason I am feeling slightly thrown is due to the fact that I wont be able to visit Allerton until - at least next week! Which is slightly frustrating but due to the nature of the building it is a good idea to take the boyfriend with me for my own safety really. I intend to work towards the goals that where set in my last tutorial for my next one which is on monday, it was recommended that I had chosen a location to work with which I have done, and collect lots of research - archival or otherwise - which I am currently in the middle of doing, and intending to create a shiny new sketchbook with :-).

My arty book arrived today from Amazon on 'Video Art' as there are next to no sources on the internet if you don't know where you are looking. I have already been inspired by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller's installation entitled 'The Paradise Institute' created in 2001. It consists of theatre seats in which the participant can sit in, in front of them is the lower tears or stalls of an old theatre/cinema it gives the impression that they are sitting in the gods looking down as if they are part of the experience. The participants then have to put on headphones, the audio is a mixture of peoples voices sat around them whispering and asking about popcorn lol! As well as the feature film that is played on the monitor in front of them. I believe this relates to my work as they are trying to take the participants in to a different time or reality, they are participating in a set up theatre/cinema experience, the same way that I am trying to create films that have a narrative open to suggestion.

Here is a link to the video:

http://www.cardiffmiller.com/artworks/inst/paradise_institute_video.html

Rach x

Location, Location, Location...

.... wehey I have found a location! To film that is - for my next video piece. It's a place in Allerton Liverpool that goes by the name of 'Allerton Tower' yes it does sound like that famous theme park, but alas it is not. My dear boyfriend is willing to take me there on Tuesday, I intend to do some more research on the location before I visit so that I have a general idea of what and how I can get the most out of this trip. Hopefully I will be able to use this footage to learn how to use final cut express in uni, so a learning curve all round! Well that is all for now, only a small post tonight because I am absolutely shattered! Writing 1000 words for a dissertation is knackering!

Rach x

Whilst on a visit to York last weekend, I had the opportunity to visit the following visitor attractions;

Jorvik Viking Center - http://www.jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk/

York Castle Museum - http://www.yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk/Page/Index

York Castle Prison - http://www.yorkcastleprison.org.uk/home.html

Jorvik Viking Center is a ride that takes you back to the viking aged streets of York, I think I was interested in the way that they made you feel part of the the Viking Village by taking you through it on a small monorail type thing! Pretty cool even if you are aged 20 or ahem... over. The not so pleasant part was the smells that came from the 'fish market' and the man on a make shift toilet type thing at the end!!! But I wont go in to that - maybe it's funny if you are aged 20 or under. Anyway the important experience I took away with me from this ride was the way smells made you feel, and how they added to the experience as I mentioned in my first blog this is something I intend to experiment with, especially after that experience!

York Castle Museum gave me the opportunity to walk down a Victorian Street, it was similar to being in a film set! I enjoyed the way the street changed from day to night with the help of lighting effects and a few street lamps, and how they strategically placed speakers in hidden places to give you the impression that people where walking and talking past you about victorian subjects.

My favorite experience has to be the York Castle Prison! I was intrigued when I saw an idea in there that I had thought of in the studio a week or so before. Basically they used projectors to project recordings of people (one in every cell) on to the walls. It gave them a ghost like appearance as they told the visitors of there past and why they where in the prison, people like Dick Turpin where portrayed .etc. I had thought of doing this type of thing myself to see how people would interact with a fictional character who they thought she might be etc, again something for me to think about. It was an effective way of getting bringing you to the reality of the kind of place it once would have been.

I have attached the Videos of the 'projected people' to this blog so you can see what I mean, I'm never the best person at explaining things, but there we go.

Rach x

P.S I can only upload this one video at this time as it takes 'blinkin' light years to upload.... but you will get the idea.

Thomas Ward - Prison 'Turnkey'

Some of the first initial things I was inspired by come in the form of adverts and clips etc, so here is a good place to post them, I wish I had a sketchbook that could project films at the turn of a page but never mind we can leave that to the future! Both of the following YouTube clips are adverts for two rides based in Alton Towers, the first two rides that I was inspired by.

Rach x

Alton Towers Ride - 'TH13TEEN'

Alton Towers Ride - This is part of the experience of the ride you watch this film before you enter the ride itself.

The Beginning.

As this is my first post I thought it would be important to explain my initial ideas for this years project. This is an idea that I have had in mind for some time - however a trip to Alton Towers over the summer inspired me to go with it. My two main themes revolve around different realities and escapism - how we enjoy visiting theme parks, watching films or even reading books as a form of escaping from everyday life and putting ourselves into a different reality as we know it. For example we participate in experience rides such as 'haunted houses' and similar attractions because we enjoy being put in to a reality that is different and sometimes more exiting than our own. As an artist and a person I am interested in history and historical locations in general, and with all the above in mind these are the main themes that will form the basis of my main ideas at this time.

I intend to use film as a medium that will experiment with the above ideas, for example I am currently thinking of a series of short films based in a historical context that will engage and entice the viewer in to a different reality. I am intending to create short films that will leave questions open to the viewer and this will hopefully result in them experiencing being part of a different reality. I have also thought of experimenting with different senses - for example smells along with the films to see what kind of feelings people may gain from both attributes combined (as some attractions do)

I will start my blog by posting a short film I created over the summer along the lines of my ideas I have mentioned, please feel free to comment - in-fact THE MORE COMMENTS THE BETTER, as audience participation and relational practice is also and important factor at this time.

Thanks

Rach x