This short video is another with Azzie McCutcheon, from the original shoot. There's a couple of these shorter experiments that I've really dragged my feet in releasing. Partly because there's so much high-quality content being flung out all the time on Instagram, Youtube and TikTok, it feels weird to be sharing bits of work that are sort've by-products of process, even though that's what I know I've committed to do!
This is a small collection of moments which I felt drawn to after sifting through lots of climbing, scrambling, moving, with the camera tilting and whirling in hot pursuit. The opening and closing shots in particular I really like, just finding moments of stillness. Exploring how it is possible for a body to feel more embedded in nature. If not eagerly, restlessly tearing through it as if trying to capture everything all at once, then how? And I felt really drawn to this framing, this resting, and holding, having the trees create an architecture with you, having the water hold your reflection.
One of the major later developments during this R&D has been deciding that rather than waiting until I have a better grip of the visuals before I start thinking about scoring, to instead bring that forward, so this is an early collaboration with sound artist and composer Xavier Velastin. I sent a rough cut over with virtually no artistic spec for this to allow for his interpretation, and his take on the visual was - to me - surprising, and I really loved it. It made me really feel the lack of collaboration that I and so many of us have felt over the last year. Having been so focused on my vision and thoughts and natural responses, it was so great to remember how having a totally different brain on a work throws open the scope of what that piece could be.