Lesson: The Long Take in 60 seconds

In anticipation for our first major project which will be a one minute sync sound one take piece of work, we analysed various forms of experimental filmmaking that was either a minute long in length or had a section that showed a long take. 

We watched the following sing take films
The Kiss by John Smith and Ian Bourn
The Way Things Go by Fischli and Weiss
TV Interruptions by David Hall
Who Killed Brown Owl by Desperate Optimist
Nostalgia by Hollis Frampton

The one that I favourited amongst the rest was Who Killed Brown Owl by Desperate Optimist and this because I felt they were able to tell a story and show a range of characters during that one long take. Something that must have been difficult to orchestrate but had an amazing effect not only because of the never faltering movement of the camera but also the brightness of the day showed some kind of harsh juxtaposition between the images of the dead bodies. Though the brief says to try and keep the camera locked off in one position during the entire one minute take I thought that this example was good at ominous story telling which is something I feel like I could achieve.

Watching these films gave me a range of ideas on how to find and or use loop holes with the project specifications. This includes slow motion, Time lapse, Flashing a black card in front of the camera to assimilate a "Cut" or a blink depending on the style of the piece.

We also watched a range of other films which includes the following to name but a few...
Redshift - Emily Richardson

Continental Drift - William Raban

Worse Case Scenario - John Smith
2000 Fantoms - Jean Gabriel Periot

On The Main Square Of The Forest Edge - Sofie Thorsen

The Slippery Mountain - Prov Myza

2 Into 1 by Gillian Wearing

Two Or Three Things I Know About Her - Jean Luc Godard.

Fence by Matthew Murdoch. This looked at the gaze of the Protagonist