I presented an ‘in progress’ version of my slide animation at Last Friday Shorts in Southend last week.
I’d spent some time before the screening expanding my 50-second edit to allow a lingering over what I realised were in many cases exceptionally brief, barely perceptible images. The resulting cut, almost 90 seconds long, is smoother and ‘quieter’ in many places, with gradual fades between shots – swells and blends that help to counter the flickering stop-start of the animated moments. It is probably still a little fast – on the big screen the shots of thorns were surprisingly agitated, violent almost.
Feedback from the screening was interesting: people commented on the closeness, the intimacy of the imagery (someone even mentioned voyeurism). And the separateness of the viewpoint: against the faraway sounds of children playing and the traffic hum, the viewer seems distanced and solitary. This reminded me of Susan Trangmar’s discussion of sociality versus solitude in shared urban spaces and seems an important aspect of the piece.
