Cinza - For My Love
I get more enjoyment from working with sound than I ever have with any other creative medium. The notion of being able to shape and mould a simple tone into something radical, emotive and evocative never ceases to inspire and amaze. Sound is a total affirmation of life for me. It's like painting, carving and sculpting into the ether.
The next video will more than likely be created with this track in mind.
Cinza - Lapse
This track was created a few months ago as a potential video soundtrack. It was my first 'serious' attempt at composing audio with video in mind, and part of the process of further familiarising myself with audio software. It was inspired by space, the future, and the unknown.
I'm not sure when it will find use. I have some vague ideas of visual accompanyment, but for now it sits in the archive.
Ascent
This was the initial study for what would become Zenith & Nadir. I used some old archived cloud footage to feel out my initial proposal and see if any further ideas would come out during the preliminary process of experimentation.
The concept at this point was only vaguely formed. I was primarily concerned with settling on an idea that felt 'right' for me personally, rather than directly addressing the academic criteria. I knew I wanted to do something very minimal and reduced, otherwordly yet familiar.
After pondering on this footage for some weeks, I left it in this current state and moved on to what would end up as the final video. Maybe it will find use at some point in the future in a more realised work.
The audio is also an earlier version of the final piece. Natalie's vocals are unfortunately much less prominent. Not a great mix. But still, it's a snapshot of a process in progress.
Cinza - Untitled Sketch #01
A little tune made early one morning. Might find its place in a video some day.
Cinza - Remembrance (Zenith & Nadir)
Vocals by Natalie Rose Cassaniti.
The work is in part a reaction to so much of the mediocrity we are fed in this hyper environment of constant saturation of information. It's too easy to become complacent and accepting of what’s being fed to us—from media, entertainment, politics, and even academics. As Kevin Martin said in a recent interview for FACT magazine, "There's so much middle ground that's just nothingness now. It's like a conspiracy to narrow your horizons."
The attitude has to be right. Either go all out, or find the essence.
This video was my attempt at presenting the essence of being. I wanted to try and create a work that was emotive but stripped bare to its fundamental core—without reliance on editing, actors, staging, script etc. At the same time I wanted to create something that had an otherworldly quality—an expression that is familiar, yet removed.
The horizon that the image meditates on is figurative—the future, the unknown, endless possibility. The zenith and the nadir above and below it—and from which the work takes its title—are the highs and lows we encounter as time passes. The chaos and uncertainty of life reflected in nature, simply and purely.
The primary reference for and influence on this work (and my other videos in general) is sound. It's not the image that is leading with the audio following. The soundtrack is not secondary or an accompaniment to the image.
The role of sound in much video art tends to be undervalued and considered only after the final image has been assembled. As I have been getting deeper into working with video I find that sound has increasingly taken influence on my visual approach, and I often find myself working on audio before even touching a camera.
Though I am far from proficient in any audio composition I feel the most important thing is to simply capture a mood through tones and textures. This is my only real concern-the mood and feel. Maybe I will write about this topic more at a later point. It's something I think is very important in this kind of work.
The video was created with scale in mind, to be presented in a gallery style context, via HD projection. The audio should ideally be loud, through a good speaker system to harness the range in frequency and envelop the viewer.
Watch the video at exhaust-space.
Luna Park, Sydney, 14/11/09. Sometimes it's best not to revisit ones childhood.
Memory: Favela do Vidigal, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 22/01/09. At the 'Baile do comunidade'. 99, the chief of the faction controlling the favela, has given his permission to photograph in the company of his personal security guard. Regardless, much care had to be taken and conditions were not ideal.
A few more photos from the night can be found at exhaust-space.
