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This is the final cut for my film at Speakers’ Corner, I thoroughly enjoyed putting this film together. I feel as though my film editing skills have improved a lot since starting this project and that it has really improved my work. 

The process of filming and then editing has been a fascinating one, I have made a lot of changes to my initial video, I started off with a two-minute clip of each person in the videos but these were too long and in film, a minute is worth an hour. I needed to keep the interest in the video and to not allow the viewer to get distracted so I have changed this to end the film after three minutes. Three minutes allows me to show the fast-paced environment of Speakers’ Corner without losing the atmosphere. 

To improve this film I would learn how to use the Steadicam, however, I don’t currently have access to this equipment so this hasn’t been possible this time. With the use of Steadicam I would’ve been able to show more moving shots, however, to get around this I have instead used the zoom on my lens, I have also used a monopod instead of a tripod when filming which was intended to give the idea that you are stood in the crowd viewing it yourself. 

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Gift by Dan Mace

As well as researching styles of film which are similar to mine, I also wanted to look at videos with interesting colour grades and transitions. This video was created by Dan Mace in 2015, the video follows the story of a young boy who uses dance to get over his fears. 

The film is written in the style of a poet to show his love for dance, as well as being graded in a fairytale light to also portray this. It is a form of expression for the young boy and everything in this short film was aimed to show this and to make sure that it flowed perfectly. 

As well as the grading for this film, the sound is a key component, it pays a pivotal part in telling the story. After watching an interview in which Dan discusses his project and the background behind it, it is evident that the composition was key for him. 

My own project doesn’t have a composed soundtrack to it but in the interview, Dan is discussing the importance of keeping natural and ‘organic’ sounds in this piece. He explains that every aspect of the sound was created while filming on location with the young boy. My project doesn’t have music however it does have sound on each clip that was recorded at Speakers Corner and the sound plays an important role in getting across the message which I am trying to portray. The sound which accompanies my video needed to really get across the atmosphere, this is something which is successfully done by Dan on his own and is something I have looked at to influence my own. 

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Strange birds by Gemma Marmalade

While thinking about artists which had used film, I remembered that during the 1st year of university we had a guest lecture given by Gemma Marmalade, this guest lecture particularly stuck out for me. I decided to look at my current practice and have a look at how I am now able to interpret her work.

Gemma Marmalade’s project ‘Strange Birds’, involved her finding a scrap box of 35 negatives outside someone's house, after finding this box of negatives she decided to get them developed to see what they might entail. Upon receiving her developed negatives she discovered a selection of photographs with different types of pigeons as the main protagonists. After doing some research about where these images came from and why they had been taken she found out that they were taken at pigeon shows, places that people take their fanciest looking pigeons. She describes one pigeon, in particular, Barbara, as being the Beyoncé of pigeons in that this particular pigeon was one that was particularly striking. After many days of research and following up, Gemma discovered that pigeons had actually been involved in a study that was conducted in 1957 that showed that pigeons were able to determine the sexuality of humans. The short film depicts the act of the pigeons detecting the sexuality of each participant involved in the film.

The plot twist, however, is that she had made this story up. The level of detail that she was able to go into was fascinating, this was something for me to take as it showed the importance of research and how your research can add many layers to a project.  

In terms of the short film and how this has been a useful form of research, It was interesting to see how she worked with three different videos. My own exhibit is going to include two videos, Gemma Marmalade’s Strange Birds short film was a great way for me to look at different ways to edit my work. The post-production of Gemma’s project was interesting, the three videos all interlinking brought me in to focus on each part of the video. The transitions to fade in and out were satisfying to see as they

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This is the second part of my short film for the Final Major Project. The idea behind this video was to question whether or not Speakers’ Corner is still currently having an impact on our society. 

It was once a place in which people could go and be heard, however, this was in a time when we were censored a lot more and it was a massive help for people that wanted to be heard but couldn’t. The issue is that now it is less helpful and more damaging. It has a reputation for being a rowdy place where people come to shout, and to a certain extent, that is the case. The problem is that there are still a lot of people who attend to discuss important issues but, unfortunately, there are some that, attend to spread hate. Due to the nature of free speech though, this is acceptable. 

In terms of the edit of this film, I cut together multiple shots of each actor, each filmed in their own homes. Both films are 3:15 long and are intended to be played on a loop. I explored various methods to exhibit my work, however, in the end, I have decided to show this film on two macs which will be stood on two plinths slightly facing each other as to act as if they are confronting one and other. 

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Speakers Corner Practice Test

The second video that I showed at the work in progress show was my practice test for Speakers’ Corner, I was a lot happier with my edit in this one. There was still a lot of room for improvement but I was comfortable at this point, filming at Speakers’ Corner. The first shot had a ‘click analyze to begin’ mark left on it from the edit which was slightly disappointing, however, this video gives you a good idea of where I was heading with my final film for Speakers’ Corner.

I wanted to show a variety of shots and to snap back and forth between being close and far. The video edit was made with the aim of showing Speakers’ Corner as being observed, as if you were walking through the area, seeing it from different angles and point of views and getting a sense of scale for how many people attend.

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Practice Test Actors

This was my practice film for the work in progress show. The feedback I received for this was incredibly useful. At this stage of my project, I wasn’t particularly happy with the actual footage, as this was more of a practice for me to see how I would edit my footage together. 

In terms of the improvements that needed to be made, they were mainly to do with the actual footage, the edit was fairly messy but that was something I could definitely improve on and I knew that the way I would do that was to practice my edits. 

The footage needed a lot of improvement, for starters, there was a bit of dust on the lens, this is not something which would be acceptable in my future footage. Another bit to improve on was the composition, there was too much going on in the shot, it was too busy. I also wanted to get the participant to stand up in the next film and to be more emotive with their body language. 

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Election Night, Ryan Scafuro

One of the short films I have taken a lot of influence from while researching has been this short film about the U.S election night.

The film covers the ups and downs of the 2016 election night. I really enjoyed the way in which this had been edited and the sketchbook cutouts I provided didn’t quite do it justice. The purpose of the sketchbook cut-outs was for me to view the moments of the film which I thought stood out as key moments, and for me to be able to go back and look at ways that I could improve my own editing and shots. 

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Another piece of research I have conducted has been Guan Xiao’s short film David. This piece was created in 2013 and was created by reusing videos from YouTube. An interesting commentary on the consumption of images. 

In terms of how this has impacted my own work, it has given me another opportunity to look at how I can edit my film, as he predominantly uses a layered effect, one main video and two at the sides. 

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Strange birds by Gemma Marmalade

While thinking about artists which had used film, I remembered that during the 1st year of university we had a guest lecture given by Gemma Marmalade, this guest lecture particularly stuck out for me. I decided to look at my current practice and have a look at how I am now able to interpret her work. 

Gemma Marmalade’s project ‘Strange Birds’, involved her finding a scrap box of 35 negatives outside someone's house, after finding this box of negatives she decided to get them developed to see what they might entail. Upon receiving her developed negatives she discovered a selection of photographs with different types of pigeons as the main protagonists. After doing some research about where these images came from and why they had been taken she found out that they were taken at pigeon shows, places that people take their fanciest looking pigeons. She describes one pigeon, in particular, Barbara, as being the Beyoncé of pigeons in that this particular pigeon was one that was particularly striking. After many days of research and following up, Gemma discovered that pigeons had actually been involved in a study that was conducted in 1957 that showed that pigeons were able to determine the sexuality of humans. The short film depicts the act of the pigeons detecting the sexuality of each participant involved in the film. 

The plot twist, however, is that she had made this story up. The level of detail that she was able to go into was fascinating, this was something for me to take as it showed the importance of research and how your research can add many layers to a project.  

In terms of the short film and how this has been a useful form of research, It was interesting to see how she worked with three different videos. My own exhibit is going to include two videos, Gemma Marmalade’s Strange Birds short film was a great way for me to look at different ways to edit my work. The post-production of Gemma’s project was interesting, the three videos all interlinking brought me in to focus on each part of the video. The transitions to fade in and out were satisfying to see as they 

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Personal Reflection

Before starting this degree and moving to London, I knew very little about politics, it was something I wasn’t particularly interested in, be this down to naivety or a lack of information in the state-school system. I experienced my first exposure to politics in 2015 general election and made an uninformed decision, not one which I regret but there was a lack of knowledge. Prior to university, I had lived in the small town of Warwick, a town which predominantly votes for the conservatives, that was until the 2017 election when it swung to Labour. I feel like this project and the research which I conducted is a documentation of the political discord in the UK, shown through some of the passion that can be found at Speakers’ Corner. During the process, I’ve been asking myself whether or not Speakers’ Corner is still one of the truest forms of democracy or whether in fact, it has crossed “the line” and to what extent the changing political climate has fed that. Has Speakers’ Corner gone beyond free speech? This is a timeless question.

This project is a homage to not only Speakers’ Corner but also my personal development and the changing of tides.

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The final cut.

This sound recording is the final one which was played at the exhibition. 

The sound fades in to reveal loud shouting as if you are walking up to Speakers’ Corner and then focuses in and out of conversations. 

The decision to censor the sound slightly by not letting the listener hear the conversations in full was one chosen so that my work didn’t offend anyone who might listen because the conversations can be quite offensive and politically incorrect. 

Overall, I am incredibly happy with this sound recording and I feel as though it has done the job that it needed to which was to transport the listener to Speakers’ Corner, along with the images. I feel as though my sound recording and editing skills need some polishing and this is something I will be working on in time for the FMP.

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This was the final sound I recorder at Speakers’ Corner, the aim of this was to collect sounds together so that I could then splice them into one track. 

The sounds were still meant to be similar but I was focussing on getting the focused discussion for a small time and then going back out to the madness.

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This was my first composition. Changing from recording on my phone to using a rode microphone was a real eye-opener. The equipment was advanced and tricky to set up but it made a big difference. 

The sound was composed in such a way that you would be able to hear the sounds of London and slowly encroach onto the chaos of Speakers Corner in such a way that you would feel as if you were there. 

The idea was to be quiet an peaceful and then slowly hear the ruckus, with occasional focusing on speeches. 

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I found that involving sound added another layer to the exhibition. In order to understand the linkage between photography and art, I conducted some research into the contemporary sound art scene. One of the artists who has heavily impacted my work has been Susan Philipsz.When looking at her work it made me consider the impact that sound can have in the gallery setting and the different ways to exhibit the work. Philpsz’s sound installation ‘Night and Fog’ was a key body of work which I found fascinating to research. Night and Fog was an installation that took place in the Kunsthaus Bregenz.Philipsz’ showed her work which included war-battered instruments that she had predominantly found in Berlin, from the Second World War. In relation to the importance of including sound in her exhibitions, she said “Sound is materially invisible but very visceral and emotive. It can define a space at the same time as it triggers a memory” (Tate, 2016). My work’s purpose is not to trigger a memory of sorts but instead, it is meant to trigger the feeling one would feel while standing in the middle of the heated debates at Seakers’ Corner and I believe that by including sound this has done so. During my final major project, I would like to continue the use of sounds and explore it further. I’m currently not sure of how to do this, however, through further research into artists like Susan Philipsz, I will gather more references and hopefully develop my work further to create a truly contemporary body of work.

Susan Philipsz is a Scottish sound artist and one which I have specifically looked at for influences on how to exhibit my work. 

While researching her work, I came across Night and Fog which was an installation that took place in the Kunsthaus Bregenz. Her work was fascinating because of the way she created an installation in such a large space and as she says in the interview, with such difficult acoustics.

It was important for me to consider artists who had used sound in their exhibitions to help me decide whether to play sound through speakers or headphones. Due to it being the pilot-major project this would not be possible, however, depending on the space for the Final Major Project, this may be more possible if I can arrange plynths so that the sound doesn’t leak and ruin other exhibits. 

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This is the fifth and final recording done on my phone. The man talking is one who has been going every weekend I have visited this semester and is one which I recognized from two years ago. 

This man is one of the Speakers that as soon as you hear him discussing, you can understand his passion. He speaks loud and clear but very rarely raises his voice, this has meant it can be quite difficult to record what he is saying, however, with better sound recording equipment I am confident that I will be able to get a better recording of him. 

I have found it quite interesting to watch this man talk, he regularly gets a large crowd because he has two people with opposing views to his. The two people week in week out will stand in front of him and provoke him. In this clip you can very faintly hear him asking to ‘keep this man quiet’ because they shout over him so much. 

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This fourth recording is of a man discussing Judaism.

This man’s speech was captivating. He was able to throw his voice in such a way that was almost ominous at points. The discussion didn’t manage to gather a big crowd for some reason and so the fact he was still able to project his voice in such a way was something I found quite impressive and incredibly passionate. 

It is this passion and shouting that I would like to gather for my final piece because with the shouting you can already get an image for what facial expressions he may be pulling. 

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This was my fourth Speakers’ Corner recording. The Speaker was discussing IC codes and government corruption. 

While a major part of Speakers’ Corner debates are religious, quite a few discussions are anti-establishment. These discussions are fascinating, one of the reasons to create this project was because of how fascinating I find  the discussions that go on at Speakers’ Corner and the passion which emulates from such discussions. 

The man in this recording is talking about the IC Codes that police officers and is talking about how the codes are another way for the government to control us. He had created his own versions of the IC codes and used terms like ‘yellow-skinned mongoloid’, ‘white-skinned Caucasoid’ and ‘black-skinned negroid’ along with various infographics as his evidence.