Tuesday, 2 December 2014

Exploring The Borders Within People


Borders
(CLICK LINK ABOVE)

After much thought, I was inspired to explore the borders within individuals. Thus, it came to me that having had the privilege to work with young people with mental illness through CAMHS (Child and Adolescent mental health service), I could provide a delicate insight into the emotional and psychological borders that are faced when overcoming a mental illness. In addition, I was most inspired and affected by the 'Catching Dreams' exhibition, which was a moving demonstration of the breaking of borders through self expression. And so, I produced a short piece of film using unedited footage featuring a friend of mine, who is also involved with CAHMS. The song Eleanor is singing she wrote herself, and relays her own emotional borders and the process of overcoming them. I chose a theatre setting in which to film the performance, for Eleanor is an actress and thus the theatre proves to be a source of strength. Contrastingly, I lit half of the theatre in darkness to serve as an embodied reminder of the internal borders we face. In terms of the furnishings, I chose to use blank wooden boxes to surround Eleanor to visually represent a border, which would contrast against her song of attempting to break free. Furthermore, I made the conscious decision to film from a single angle and leave the raw footage unedited, for I want the focus of the film to be Eleanor and the meaning of her song. In addition, I wanted to include any mistakes or imperfections during the filming process, such as a stumbling of words or the odd twang of the wrong string on the guitar, so as to further reinforce the concept of overcoming a border and celebrating the imperfect. Overall, I am pleased with the outcome of the film.

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