Assignment Two planning

St Cuthbert’s way

It was last year sometime that I saw the film ‘The Way’. It was a Sunday afternoon, post monster gym session (my ‘slob’ time!) and I wanted something easy to watch on TV. When I read the synopsis of the film, I pretty much knew the plot line but I love walking, so gave it a go. I’d also been flicking through the WordPress reader and so I’d come across assignment two for this unit.

As always my brain started going into overdrive. Whilst I knew that walking the Camino de Santiago may be considered overambitious for a Level two assignment, I began to consider options in this country. In Northumberland there is a walk called the St Cuthbert’s way which ends at Lindisfarne where St Cuthbert, once a shepherd was prior there for many years.

I had big ideas to produce a piece of work based on a Catholic pilgrimage. I’d wanted to film some of the journey using a GoPro, produce some large scale images possibly incorporating some gold leaf to represent the type of illuminated text and images of Catholic texts. I even got as far as planning the trip, considering the logistics of storing images etc. There was also scope for including text quotes and even music, Catholic hymns and Psalms.

In the end of course I realised it was too big a project for this stage and also cost prohibited. Weather is always a consideration and realistically, one trip probably wouldn’t be enough. So sadly, I ditched the idea. The reason I’m writing about it, is because it might be something I’d tackle for level three or at least something along these lines. So I began to look closer to home for something more manageable.

Suffolk Coastal path

The Suffolk coastal path is local to me. It’s a 60 mile walk from Felixstowe to Lowestoft. What is interesting about the route, is that it passes a number of landmarks both modern and historical. Starting at Felixstowe docks which is an industrialised modern shipping port, the route quickly becomes more rural passing the Martello towers, remnants of the Napoleonic wars and Orford Ness which was an MOD base (which I photographed in the previous unit). As the path goes inland it passes through Rendlesham forest famous for it’s UFO siting, Snape maltings, Sizewell nuclear power plant and so on. There’s plenty to photograph.

I considered splitting the journey into six ten mile sections. I was more than happy to put the time and effort into it. The issue was getting to the start and finish of each day. There’s a real lack of public transport. Whilst I could of course just photograph pre-determined landmarks, I really wanted to have the experience of actually making the journey. I’ve put this idea to one side for now.

Rendlesham forest

Areas to note on the map (re: exercise 2.4) ‘The folly house’ beside the northern car park, the airfield which I remember is fenced off, ponds off the path that travels south and more open ground near the southwest car park. Of course there’s also an awful lot of trees.

Rendlesham forest is part of the Suffolk Coastal route. It’s a place I have some familiarity with. My plan is to find a route through the forest. I’m thinking about the associations with folklore and fairytales in respect to our notions of the forest but I’m also mindful of how our more modern associations with a forest might be quite different with relation to Climate change and biodiversity. Traditional notions are one of danger, witches, children getting lost, a wild place, Robin Hood but at the same time one of a blissful fairy realm.

Psychologically, the forest might represent the unconscious mind and I was thinking about Jung’s ideas of the shadow self, i.e the dark side of ourselves. This also took me to thinking about ‘The hero’s journey’ a structure used within literature and film, (think Star wars). This could possibly form a structure to the piece although I’ve not yet looked at this carefully enough.

Therefore my plan of action is to research widely. I plan to look at the cinematic effect produced by Gregory Crewdson. His images have a specific quality which I find unsettling. I’ve considered some technical approaches such as using infrared converted to black and white but now I’ve found a fabulous lens and bought a new camera I will probably be working with that. As I’ve been researching filters for this unit, I’ve purchased a ‘fog filter’. I’m not holding out too much hope for the effect, it may not work but it will be fun to play around with it. I’ve also considered using props.

My first visit will be to experiment with visual effects and establish a route. I have an OS maps subscription so may be able to incorporate that somehow. I’ve been watching ‘Yorkshire walks with Shanaz Gulzar’ which I’ve found very compelling. She records herself using I presume a Go Pro, reciting poetry, interviewing locals etc. I can’t afford a GoPro really but I may chance trying out a cheap imitation from Amazon which will at least give me some experience of stitching together some moving image.

I’m mindful not to fall into parody, I think there’s a real danger of that.

Presentation may be in form of story-book with a cinematic feel.