Due to lock down I wasn’t able to video the mask being interacted with at the community event as I had planned. So I instead amped up the surrealism and made a very different type of video as a response to isolation. The concept of the project evaluates how we wear a series of social masks every day and so exhibiting them through these dreamlike videos of a day in isolation seemed fitting.
To plan my videos i made this storyboard for each one showing how i was to include both the large mask and the small ones in each video. This is something I found improved the quality of my videos massively as I had a clear vision and so filming ran smoothly and was more time efficient.
The scenes with the smaller masks juxtaposed with the more surreal larger mask scenes reflects our external and internal differences. When observed we wear social masks and act in accordance but inside we let our imaginations run wild.
Making costume and set for videos
For my videos I wanted to have an entirly upcycled costume so I made a two piece out fit from an umbrella I found:
I cut the top off and then cut that in half for the bra pieces
I gathered these at the wide ends to make the bra shape and sewed them onto left over ribbon from the wig (found in textiles’ scrap bin before lockdown)
Then I put a draw string in the bottom half of the umbrella to make the skirt and complete the look.
For the set I used any lovely bits of fabric I could get my hands on (i had lots of lovely blues and silvers left over from the dragon in first year). I used bedsheets towels scarves etc. Im also very lucky I live with creative people who had green carpet and foam flowers kicking around after past projects. So I strung all these up on the fence in my garden to create a dream like backdrop for my videos.
Unfortunately it was extremely windy whilst trying to film and it all kept falling down and so the continuity is a little off but its defiantly better than having a broken fence as a back drop. Another drawback of using an outdoor set in Wales was it started raining before I had a chance to take any high quality photos in front of it and so we had to rush to take it down.
Editing and Stop motion
I did all the editing on the power director app on my phone and used an app called stop motion studio for the stop motion segmants. I had really gotten on with power director from the bowl project and so wanted to continue with it. I took much of the inspiration for how I edited them from some surrealist films of the 1920’s, such as ENTR’ACTE by René Clair (1924) , Man Ray: The Starfish (1928) and Un Chien Andalou (1929) by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. They featured lots of experimental video techniques, such as overlaying videos using mirror images and the juxtaposition of imagery so these are all features I included when editing.
I had a little trouble when trying to export videos from the stop motion app it would only let me upload them to youtube where I had to redownload them to import into power director this was a little time consuming but i got there in the end.
‘Choose your own isolation’ interactive concept:
The video series was designed to provide virtual interactivity in place of physical. It simulates the sensation of chancing upon a public performance by replicating this in the digital realm. Bringing the spontaneity of a live performance to homes of many. I felt it was imperative to as closely simulate a real performance as possible, because I wouldn’t be able to tour my performance this summer any more. I did this by making the series a “choose your own reality” adventure. To do this I put links to the next options at the end of each video to make a continuous narrative throughout. As well as this I wanted very much to provide positive content during such difficult times so making it an interactive activity would provide entertainment to all those confined at home. I aim to always spread whimsy and fun with every performance and so in times like these it seemed essential to try still spread these feelings from a distance.
Link to my youtube channel and full series-
Round 1, starting video:
round 2 options:
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Round 3 options:
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Round 4 :
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My brother produces his own music and so I featured his music in the videos. I wanted to have upbeat music on the videos so I could chop and change between clips quickly, the added advantage of this is that its royalty free. I am really happy with the final outcome and i thoroughly enjoyed the editing process, Its made me reflect on the context of my practice and has made me think how I could use these video performances and editing skills to potentially make music videos in the future broadening my potential career horizons.
Rhianna Yates- Maker Blog 