A moving image collaboration between Jimmy Fletcher and Alex McDowell
24th January 2022
Draft #3 – An abstract response to the landscape
Moving image brief For the moving image piece, both Alex and I were inspired by the work of “Al Brydon’s Pantha Puncha”, Matthew Murray’s short film “Arenig” and his photo book “Saddleworth- responding to a landscape”. We wanted to experiment with our two genres (wildlife and landscape) and create something darker and more abstract than what would normally be expected from this type of collaboration. Creating this moving image piece was a real journey, as we were constantly coming up with new directions in which to take the work and new ideas to add to the project. The project started off with draft 1, which used ideas linked to classic horror. After days of filming in the dark woods, ideas began to change, we came to draft 2 where we decided to experiment with purely abstract landscape imagery of the land surrounding the woodlands during the day and focusing on creating distortion by using sound. After a bit of time to reflect on what we had created so far we decided to blend the two different ideas into what became the final video, which explores both fear and distortion as it transitions from the landscape in the daylight to the forest at night. To create the moving image piece both Alex and I spent many late nights out in the Forest of Dean filming and recording the sounds of the landscape and wildlife during the night, using a range of different lighting methods, from torches and car headlights to portable studio lighting and coloured gels, using both a constant and flash lighting. We also spent many daylight hours recording landscape footage in the areas surrounding the woodlands. Jimmy Fletcher
To View the Moving Image please click HERE
“This stills project then fed into the idea forming my collaborative work with Jimmy – ‘Draft #3’. A project which finalises in a personal response to the landscape that surrounds us. A 24 hour exploration, inclusive of beauty and fear.” Alex McDowell