Spaces under water

After a few friends shared this awe-inspiring film on Facebook, it has been looping in my mind for some time.  It’s the same feeling that I get for weeks after watching a marvelous show, a moving film. Once again I am left fascinated by the incredible support provided by the element of water. To an extent I feel that the water in this film gives a visual gestalt of the malleability of space. Space and its infinite points, pulls and tensions support the body in relation to gravity. But this idea is challenged when dancing at the bottom of the World’s Deepest Pool.

Or is it?

I don’t want to go into the science of it all. I want to admire Ama for Julie Gautier’s effortful performance.  Her words echoing in the back of my mind.

“Ama is a silent film. It tells a story everyone can interpret in their own way, based on their own experience. There is no imposition, only suggestions.
I wanted to share my biggest pain in this life with this film. For this is not too crude, I covered it with grace. To make it not too heavy, I plunged it into the water.
I dedicate this film to all the women of the world.”

~Julie

Her control and displacement of the water reveals less a barrier and more a threshold. The choreography and music choice is so befitting and then there is the subtle, yet growing presence of the camera. A relation is established from the start through eye contact, the zoom drawing me closer towards her, first from the periphery and then into her personal space, then, as she closes her eyes, into her thoughts.

For a while it is purely Gautier as she indulges in her movements, performing them masterfully that is mesmerizing, forcing me to puzzle together my own narrative, to question what the choreography and her powerful yet intimate delivery could signify. It’s the balance between tenderness and strength that I find endearing and revealing. Only as I tilt my head, I realise the presence of the camera as it provides a slanted view. I also become aware that as the music builds the camera becomes more involved, more noticeable. But the device does not intrude and it does not take away from the grace of the performance. In fact it adds to the intimacy through close-ups and rotation, circular pathways and tilts. Whereas long shots reveal Gautier’s vulnerability, the intimate distance of the close-ups reflect an inner strength.

These almost oblique shots of her also reveal a deeper emotion. I find that the choreography shows an interplay between extending and contracting, holding on and releasing. These themes seem to create a subtle thread throughout the film allowing me to further weave my understanding and project my own lived experience onto the work.

In keeping with these themes, her suspended jumps in contrast with the vulnerability of laying on the bottom, allow the choreography to shift and transform in the space of the pool. There is a clear sense of three-dimensionality suggested by the depth cues created by the two pool walls that join behind her.

With this image I am reminded of a similar framing created in Amelia by Edouard Lock and La La La Human Steps. However it was Naughty Boy – Runnin’ (Lose It All) ft. Beyoncé, Arrow Benjamin that kept jumping out after watching this Spark Seeker/Les Films Engloutis produced film. Of course upon looking into it both Ama and Runnin‘ have a connection with Les Films Engloutis and Julie Gautier. How surprising as I’ve been meaning to write about Runnin‘ for quite some time. In both, water plays a character and I wonder whether it is the escapist quality or connection provided by this transformable fabric that serves as an underlying theme across Gautier’s work. It is certainly something that I would look into for future reference.

Finally, it remains to be said that I could not help but try to hold my breath with her. When I am not granted the release for breath at the end, I am left in a gulping, oxygen deprived state with the desire to stay underneath the edge with her, for longer. This brings me to my two favorite moments of the entire film i.e. her first breath and the lack of release, which I found absolutely tormenting, but incredibly artistic and cinematic!

As the imagery and soothing soundtrack still replay in my mind, along with the echoes of Gautier’s words, I am continuously drawn to the idea of catharsis and the purging, purifying nature of water, but also the weight of not quite reaching that full release, not quite breaking through the threshold, remaining in the liminal space. In this light, there is a great sadness underscoring this beautiful work and perhaps therein lies its essence.

Credits:
Choreographer : Ophélie Longuet
Music : « Rain in your black eyes », Ezio Bosso. (P) Sony Music Entertainment.
Cinematographer : Jacques Ballard
Editor : Jérôme Lozano
Colorist : Arthur Paux @ Spark Seeker
Compositing : Gregory Lafranchi @GoneFX
Sound mix : Nassim El Mounabbih @Dinosaures
Production : Spark Seeker/Les Films Engloutis
Associated Producers : Y-40 The Deep Joy/RVZ
Camera Assistant : Arthur Lauthers
Electrician Romain Mostri
Safety Freedivers : Anne Maury – Fouad Zarrou
Making off : Jimmy Golaz
Camera Rental (Red VistaVision 8K) RVZ
Light&Electric Rental : TSF Cannes
Wardrobe : Tatiana Henri

Dancing faces

Often in dance conversations talk turns to the dancer’s body, the athleticism, technique or lack thereof and the physicality of the dancer as a performer. It is rare that the dancer’s facial expressions are discussed, and on the odd occurrence that someone does mention it, it is generally in a bleak context. Dancer’s all over the world can probably relate to remarks directed towards their “over-the-top” facial expressions and criticism aimed at minimizing extreme animations of le visage.

To me, on the other hand, there is nothing more distracting than a face that is disengaged. Similar to how actors are often referred to as talking heads, I experience a dancer with a passive face to be a talking body. The face plays a crucial part in giving meaning to movements, how can it not be regarded as part of the performance? Recently I have revisited some of my favorite screendances within the music video and advertisement world. Here’s a brief look at two video.

An oldie, but a goodie and also a recurring feature in most of Sia’s video’s, is Maddie Ziegler’s dancing face from The Greatest. Chandelier deserves a nod as well, although I seemed to remember more facial expressions than what are actually visible in the video, perhaps due to the long shots and framing. In The Greatest, Ziegler’s facial expressions really come into their own as she introduces the narrative through her face. It is in fact primarily her facial choreography that keeps me as a viewer connected in otherwise darkly light scenes. Her gesticulations build and inform her character and attribute additional meaning to her movements.

These expressions undergo some form of development as they seem to tell a narrative within the narrative. Her face breaks boundaries which is supported by her extensions through space and frantic traveling pathways. Like any good story the progression in her facial choreography has a clear beginning, middle and end. Below I suggest these key moments.

Through close-ups, the expressiveness of the face is emphasized and I feel drawn in by her emotions, especially as they seem as unpredictable and unsettling as her expressions. Speaking of unpredictable facial contortions my second video is the KENZO World advertisement which has come to the foreground again since its 2016 release. This is in light of certain questionable similarities identified in Taylor Swift’s new Delicate video.

Apart from the fantastic soundtrack from Mutant Brain (feat. Assassin) by Sam Spiegel & Ape Drums, this video features some serious micro-choreography beautifully performed with reckless abandon by Margaret Qualley. It also takes me back to this stellar performance by Christopher Walken. I have no doubt that this video will appear in a post somewhere along the line.

Back to Qualley’s dancing face. Apart from the commitment oozing from her performance there are certain moments that reveal the same sensitivity and intimacy preceding a burst of choreography that is noticeable in Ziegler’s facial expressions.

Qualley’s face reveals a narrative within the greater scheme. Her expressions break through the boundaries enforced by her structured and formal environment and like Ziegler her face initiates movements and energy that sequence through her entire body.

Her expressions reflect increasing power spurred on by possible frustration and the urge to escape the dullness of her surroundings. The way in which she executes these very specific facial gestures draws me towards her make-believe world and takes me with her as she leaps towards and through the floral Kenzo eye.

Similar to the final, closing image from The Greatest, there is a definite final look. In contrast to the disheartening final teary gaze from Ziegler, Qualley gives us a satisfied, almost empowered, bravado-esque stare. To me it almost feels like a dare, asking me to give her my best shot or dance rendition or perhaps issuing a challenge along the lines of “would you dare break boundaries?”

This remains a personal reading of both videos. This goes to show how rich the content is from which we can draw meaning. In this post I have focused on the dancer’s facial choreography, and yet the role of the moving camera has not gone unnoticed. It is to my mind due to the camera’s trajectory, following both dancers through space and its technical ability to capture their facial expressions in close-up shots that allows me to perceive and interpret their micro-choreographies. These close-ups invite us into the dancers’ personal space and thereby establishing an implied relationship. We get a front row seat to their facial performances!

If we could just shift our perspectives we could perhaps open our worlds to seeing things differently or even notice movements that have always been there. A lovely challenge is to try to notice what tendencies our own faces have towards gesticulating and how in fact these facial gestures aid in our day-to-day communications. I, for one, know that my face is inclined to reveal expressions on a grand scale, for the most part lacking in subtlety.

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Credits

The Greatest:

Directed by Sia and Daniel Askill, featuring Maddie Ziegler, and choreographed by Ryan Heffington.

Kenzo World:

Written & Directed by: Spike Jonze “Margaret” played by Margaret Qualley Producers: Natalie Farrey and Vincent Landay for MJZ Executive Producers: Humberto Leon and Carol Lim Co-Producer: Amanda Adelson Director of Photography: Hoyte van Hoytema Production Designer: KK Barrett Editor: Eric Zumbrunnen Choreographer: Ryan Heffington Costume Designer: Heidi Bivens Song: Mutant Brain (feat. Assassin) by Sam Spiegel & Ape Drums.

We’re going home – Vance Joy

Under the surface you don’t know what you’ll find
Mmm, until it’s your time

These lyrics echo the content of Vance Joy’s music, Mimi Cave’s choreographic director’s style and the incentive behind this blog. I stumbled across We’re Going Home a few weeks ago – despite its January 2018 release – and found myself entranced. It’s not the first time that dance has featured in music videos. In fact music videos are some of the earlier versions of dance on screen apart from the ground-breaking musical films of Busby Berkeley, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Many music videos use dance as a means of expression.

It is the combination of music, lyrics, the narrative and movement of the camera in addition to the mesmerizing choreography that drew me in. I can watch this video on repeat, which is what I did, and this is what I discovered.

The opening shot already reveals the prevalence of the moving camera which is noticeable throughout the video. Along with panning shots, the camera performs subtle motions such as swaying as she touches the bed linen, a jerk when the bus comes to a halt followed by focus-pulling on a new passenger as she comes on-board the bus. These small movements accumulate to what can be understood as kinesthetic empathy. A concept referred to by Karen Wood as the sensation of moving whilst watching movement. Since the theme of this song and narrative seemingly deals with grief, mourning loss and moving on, it serves to use the camera movement to bridge our world with the worlds presented on screen.

There is a lovely contrast between the framing of the flashbacks and the journey characterised by the open fields and the main character/dancer. The past is framed in close-ups, representing an intimacy and warmth, whereas the wide-angles often present the bodies on screen as isolated, and dwarfed by the vastness of their environment. Yet the tracking on the dancer with her suitcase creates the sense that she is not on her own since the body of the camera connects her with us, and us with the space on screen.

We, as much as the camera, are on this journey with her, despite the fact that she does not acknowledge the presence of the camera. It is through Cave’s careful consideration of camera shots and choreography that contribute to this experience. Perhaps it is because of Cave’s dancing background that enables her to choreograph the camera – a notion that recurs throughout screendance and dance for camera conversations. From looking at her other videos, Cave demonstrates an understanding of how the camera can be used to alter the point of view and space on screen.

Read an interview with Cave on her approach to filmmaking.

Her use of oblique angles for Joy’s video, place an emphasis on the moving dancer as well as the moving camera, as a dance partner. Here the angles are achieved by gradually moving the camera whilst the dancers are performing thereby creating a unison akin to a ballet pas de deux.

The camera really starts to dance and what is truly remarkable about this movement is that it becomes accentuated once the camera stops in order to observe as is the case in this powerful shot below. This shot is somewhat reminiscent of a similar nuance created by the dancers framed in Pina (2011) by Wim Wenders.

It is however not only when the camera dances with the dancers on screen, or observes from a distance, that enhances the viewing experience, but also the moments during which the camera moves amidst the stillness of the dancers. It is such a subtle technique that Cave, along with her production team, manages to execute beautifully.

I have to mention Cave’s choreography which to me is what elevates the video and gives texture to the content and lyrics. Her movements are mostly gestural and come into full effect when the group performs them in unison. Even in moments of being seemingly still there is a groundedness attributed by each dancer which sprouts from, what I can observe, the tangible and emotional conviction with which the gestures are executed.

Of course, this music video is rich in meaning and can be interpreted and perceived through numerous lenses as suggested by the narrative revealed through meticulously stitching flashbacks in between the moments of choreography. This post aimed to specifically highlight the movement of the camera and its impact on my viewing experience. To me We’re Going Home demonstrates how the camera can be perceived as more than a tool for recording. This video attributes a crucial role to the camera as it becomes more than an archivist, but perhaps within this context the device is encouraged to embody a fellow passenger and dare I say –  to go home too.

Credits

Director – Mimi Cave

Producer – Jocelyn Webber

Production Company – Doomsday Entertainment

Cast- Holly Kaplan, Erin Murray, Leonard Kelly Young, Stephen Todt, Owen Cole, Kent Boyd, Sarah Butler, Shauna Davis, Jessica Franco

Full link to We’re Going Home – Vance Joy

Screen test

Hallo!

I’m new at this, but the urge to write, share and engage has been stifling for long enough. No matter what I do, I am sporadically bombarded with my own desire to start a blog, a platform where I can share my interests, my observations and hopefully build up a community that can engage with the thoughts and considerations deliberated throughout the various posts. I intend to have this platform continually feed my own hunger for learning and exploring new avenues.

My interests are mainly screen and film based.

I’m inspired by the different techniques used to give the camera, as a device, a body and presence so as to allow this mechanical and technical device to become what  I consider a partner in this so-called pas de deux between dancers and actors on screen.

This blog is thus the place where I will observe and analyse any videos, films, screendance or screen-based media that move me to write about it. I will also gradually start sharing some of the work that I choreograph, film, write, and create in collaboration with some of my closest friends, who happen to want to explore similar notions.

I am done shelving this idea with excuses.

The time is now!

So what do you say? Keen on looking through the clouds presented by carefully crafted mise-en-scène with a close-up on what is really going on in and behind the screen?

Yeah, why not?