Loach and Leigh.

Apologies for not writing in over a week. My page view graph has flatlined at zero and such objective feedback is hard to take and makes me embarrassed.

I’ve been lazy over the Easter period, I predicted it happening.

I am back into working ways now and have spent the morning reading articles and highlighting relevant points and including them in my reflective journal. I’ve read two lengthy interviews with Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, both of which have been very useful. I would like to find more critical analysis of some of their film, as opposed to simple reviews.

I related what Loach and Leigh said in the interviews to my own work and have come up with some thoughts, I guess, in response to some of the critique of my short films.

Optimism is long term. The characters are in the here and now, living in the moment and I’m giving the viewer a glimpse of that. To portray them with optimism would only seem contrived and fake. Humour and harnessing the amazing human capacity for people down on their luck to be funny is one way to break up the pessimism or realism. It is important this is not perceived as trite or cheap as it’s pivotal to avoiding creating stereotypical characters. An individual reacting with dry humour to bad situations keeps them human and realistic.

I think I need to continue writing and exploring script ideas and ideally try to keep the scripts as loose as possible to allow for improvisation. This feels like it could be difficult as I am not working with professional actors but with friends and people around me. Loach is well known for using people who aren’t actors in his work, though those people are always from the area he is filming and have a lot in common with the characters of his films. It may be difficult to find such characters at an art school, keeping in mind that my disillusionment with art school is partly what’s driven me to create this style of work.

I need to focus on the humour in my writing, not just for comic relief and definitely not to appease the smiley-happy brigade but, as I said before, to maintain a realistic human feel to the characters, to make them more three-dimensional and not stereotypical. In my critique a few weeks ago, the mature German Phd student who leads my group and speaks brilliant English, used the word silhouette instead of stereotype. I liked this as it made me realise I need to ensure my characters are not simply outlines but are fully rounded entities.

This reading of Ken Loach and Mike Leigh has been invaluable on a number of levels. Here are two quotes from each man that I have picked out from the interviews.

"It’s a mark of how much the right wing has triumphed that people just associate strikes with inconvenience."

- Ken Loach

"I do this because my job – and this is what all artists do whatever the medium, because all art is based on improvisation and order – is to start something that grows all over the place and then figure out how to shape it into something that’s coherent."

- Mike Leigh on negotiating with actors as creative collaborators

Not a total disaster for a first post in a while.

"My line of enquiry is fueled by my growing cynicism"

Ok, from now on I'm going to try and regularly update this blog. Frequent writing and reflection is one aspect that is majorly lacking from my practise and I feel I need to address this.

I can feel the academic aspects of my course stepping up and I'm trying to stay on top of different avenues of research and enquiry. I feel busier than ever and I'm straining to keep on top of essay and background reading, artist research and contextual research. 

Despite this I am enjoying my work at the moment, being busy seems to drive me forward and keep me producing work. I've had some fantastic feedback on my work recently and have even managed to sell a drawing. I'm not totally happy with my painting but I think I need to find a style and medium that suits the subject matter. (Take a look at James Holliday's blog for an insight into the anxieties facing a painter in his practise!)


I am exploring British society. (Though strangely the drawing I sold was from a Cartier-Bresson photograph in Paris). My line of enquiry is fueled by my growing cynicism. As much as I try to have a positive outlook at all times, it's hard to ignore the media coverage of the problems in today's society. (Though admittedly, whether they are really problems or just scare mongering is up for debate!)

I have been looking into British social realism (I recommend the book "No Such Thing as Society" by David Alan Mellor). Films such as Kes and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning have been great examinations of British working society, though I feel I need to focus my work on my current affairs. The British working class (and even the "comfortable classes", a term coined by photographer Martin Parr) are something that are close to my heart and of great interest to me. Along side a possible enquiry into the North-South divide in England (something which I have become increasingly aware of since moving to the South of England), I believe I have a veritable cornucopia of possibilities layed out in front of me.

I have rambled for long enough now and I can't remember if I had anything else to say, so here are a few (poor quality - excuse the camera phone) photos of some of my work and studio space.

 

 

Hopefully I'll be able to get organised and keep on top of this and other writing as well as my practise and reasearch. I shall endeavour to keep you updated.