Another Video Art piece which captivated my interests was David Michalek’s Portraits in Dramatic Time. I found two of these particular videos, one including Alan Rickman (above) and the second with Lili Taylor. https://vimeo.com/19238270
These Portraits first intrigued me because of their title. I was in search of a “portrait” of documentation of an individual or collection of people when I stumbled across this work.
The video, lasting over 8 minutes long, captures a moment of anger and frustration. In this piece raw emotion is expressed in fine detail as the movements are slowed dramatically. What ensues is a journey in which the viewer is pulled along and forced to analyse the actions before them with more depth than one would have experienced had the moment been in real time.
I watched this video over and over, revisiting my emotions when viewing it. During one of my viewings I was distracted for a few seconds. Within this time the actor, Alan Rickman, has moved from looking at the tea in hand to staring directly into the camera. I looked back just at this moment. It struck me as extremely powerful and had a lasting affect on the rest of my viewing. Within this piece, each small movement can be chosen as essential, expressive and as having as much importance as the next moment.
In my practical work, I plan on spending time with people, getting to know them, to share experiences and express their lifestyles. This piece of art by Michalek left me questioning “How can I define one moment as more important than another? How can I find the “essential” moments in this journey I hope to take? Should I decide in the moment? Rely on my feelings and instincts? Should I document as much as possible and come back to pick through my resources?”
The work method of Richard Johnson has created a strong contrast in the methods of documentation and research and how these methods affect a piece.
DavidMichalek (2014) Portraits in Dramatic Time Available at: http://www.davidmichalek.net/portraits/video.php Accessed (02/01/2014)
I decided to experiment with various styles of video motion. My main aims of these were to experiment in the production of the short videos and to find new ways of influencing an illustrative style, expressing line and movement. With the aid of a simple phone app, I converted the imagery to styles which focused on line or simple shapes and forms.
The following links will bring you to the prospective videos:
Eyemovement
https://vimeo.com/83385158
Slow motion experiment
https://vimeo.com/83385156
heffyd 
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