Molly McGuirk - E-Portfolio by

Initial Idea

mollymcguirk — 2024-02-01 09:22:38 UTC

Our preliminary idea was formulated around how the weather, specifically rain can depict our emotions, starting with someone in a dark place walking alone in the rain to then ending with that same person dancing around in the rain and fountains, soaking wet but happy, with crowds of friends and people around them.

Creative Process

mollymcguirk — 2024-02-01 09:26:03 UTC

The weather and transport led us to have the idea of following raindrops in a moving car window leading into choreography, after knowing we wanted to present our work in the form of a dance, we spent time in the studio choreographing a dance and came to the conclusion Kate was best suited for the dancing role. Tilly took lead on the choreographic process however we all aided in trialling loose and flowing movements to reflect and link in the rain.

Issues We Faced - Developing the Final Idea

mollymcguirk — 2024-02-01 09:26:31 UTC

Originally we wanted to focus on the different perspectives you see in reflections of water and the ripples caused by rain at its different extremities. We attempted to start filming but quickly became aware that we could not rely on the weather and as our project was dependant on it raining and being in a dark miserable environment we had to think about another idea.

Upon reflection and after filming one cold day in Victoria Park, the plan to film a large group of people in and out of a fountain in the middle of winter was not going to be a safe or easy task as it could lead to illness and injuries, this meant we had to change the concept of ending with everyone in a fountain.

We also struggled to find days that we were all available to get to our planned locations in the rain, and after waiting a while for rain we realised we did not have the time frame for the unpredictable weather. As a result of these issues our idea naturally progressed with parts of the original idea still being prevalent, the influence of Coldplay’s original music video still remained prominent in the final piece as we wanted to keep the idea of freedom and breaking free within our clips and choreography. To show this we decided improvisation would be effective to show freedom and show people letting loose and doing what they want, much like the animals in Coldplay’s video. We still took inspiration from weather and emotions as we were able to show how being outdoors and opening your eyes to a wider environment can uplift your mood, not just being sad when it’s raining and happy when its sunny.

Development of the Finial Idea

mollymcguirk — 2024-02-01 09:28:49 UTC

With rain and weather being a heavy focus in our initial idea, our final idea focuses more on how someone’s personal environment can affect their mood and outlook on life. We specifically look at the support system of friends as well as our ecosystem and natures natural uplift that can bring you out of a dark place and make you look through a wider lens. Still inspired by different reflections and perspectives, the piece starts with a girl submerged in her own world with headphones on. This was to give an isolated effect for the audience on someone wallowing in their negative thoughts, which develops as the video progresses and allows the audience to be a part of that isolated space with the girl.

In some scenes as the girl's mood is uplifted and you will see the weather improve through brighter coloured leaves, clear skies in rural landscapes and calm streams of water with gentle ripples, this is to represent how nature can have an effect and even influence and affect our moods and emotions. In these brighter shots the girl is seen to be in a happier mood as her friends come to support her however, we also show the girl in dark and gloomy environments however with the assurance and presence of her friends she finds enjoyment and happiness, not depending on the weather and physical environment.

The flow of dancing and meeting friends is interrupted throughout the video multiple times with short clips of wide view shots of nature and rural scenery emphasises the importance of looking at the bigger picture when times are hard, these scenic shots again follow a change in perspective as the weather varies in these as well. These short clips show more aggressive ripples and streams of water, contrasted with more serene and calm sunny views of land. The video concludes with the girl removing her headphones which opens her up to the bigger picture and a different perspective on life and problems that come with it.

Problems we overcame

mollymcguirk — 2024-02-01 09:30:11 UTC

Even after adapting our first idea, we had issues with the second piece that we were able to adapt as a group as and when challenges arose. We had issues with getting everyone to the same location arose again due to train strikes and people travelling from different areas, so we had to change the fountain and water scenes from Hyde Park to Alexandra Palace as it was of easier access to us all. This was the first time any of us have had to film and dance in an outdoor space which came with implications we hadn’t accounted, one being the choreography which we had originally set from the dance studio.

When filming emotive, lyrical choreography on an unstable and slippery surface on the leaves during the solo dance shot we had to adapt choreography where she wasn’t able to perform turning steps like a calypso, we had to change them to smaller movements and reduce the number of pirouettes as the surface was not safe to turn on. We trialled different movements to see how much she could travel the choreography as most of it we had to adapt to a smaller confined space due to the instability of the surface.

Working Collaboratively

mollymcguirk — 2024-02-01 09:32:02 UTC

Zoe was the director who organised meeting times and organised the group’s agenda, Tilly choreographed the solo performed by Kate. Myself (Molly) and Anna took on the role of videographers and Kate was our editor who cut our clips together, layered the music to fit with a cut in the song and overlayed nature sounds. Throughout many parts of the project, we collectively helped one another so that we were all happy with the final outcome and each gave our input to the creative decisions.

mollymcguirk — 2024-02-01 09:32:32 UTC

When filming the choreographed dance outside I was faced with more creative freedom, in some moments I tried to get a more immersive perspective for our audience, this was to keep the audience engaged and submerged in the solo world of Kate. In order to do this, I filmed close to Kate while she danced around me and had to ignore the camera being in a close proximity. Though multiple retakes I found this was most effective on the slower, bigger movements as well as on the pirouettes where I could then tilt up towards the sky and surrounding environment. On the travelling aspects of the dance, I kept a still camera to enable the audience to focus on her movements. I also experimented with slow motion recording as it gave a more dramatic effect with the leaves blowing in her kicks, after using this in our first day of filming we transferred this throughout our later filming days to create a nostalgic feeling at the end of the video where she is with others improvising and running about in slow motion.

Upon reflection, this task allowed me to broaden my knowledge on how choreography must be adapted to suit the environment of which it will be performed in as I had previously only performed on stage and purpose build flooring. Next time I would try more transitions when filming to have smoother links between the clips. This would involve getting closer to objects to end in a blackout and then open in a new location and spinning out of shots and into the next one.

Inspiration

mollymcguirk — 2024-02-01 17:13:56 UTC

We wanted a song that started more slow and solemn that gradually grew bigger and ended in an uplifting happy tone as this would allow us to show the timeline of the emotions form sad to happy. We listened to slower songs with a big build and found ‘Paradise’ by Coldplay was the perfect fit, additionally we watched the music video which also sparked new ideas. The video shows a lonesome elephant character escaping from the zoo and breaking free from a trapped environment to start a challenging journey back to the wild, where he was happily reunited with other elephants in a better environment. We took the ideas of being free and going through challenging times to get to a positive outcome and adapted them to be more about a person's feelings of worry and sadness and how this can be turned into joy and happiness.

Creative Task for Inspiration

mollymcguirk — 2024-02-04 17:31:43 UTC

In the early stages of developing our ideas we each were inspired by different stimuli which came together to formulate the general concept for our video. These inspirations were travel and modes of transport, weather, reflections and different angles/perspectives. From this, we sketched pictures of skyscrapers reflecting in a puddle which gives a new perspective of looking down on them rather than up.

mollymcguirk — 2024-02-04 17:33:29 UTC

mollymcguirk — 2024-02-04 17:37:23 UTC

We originally set out to have one videographer, however on our first day of filming we came to the realisation two camera angles of the same shot gave a more fluid and seamless shot as the footage was from the same shot taken from different angles. Therefore, we used two videographers, and this took a few attempts to perfect as we had to manage manoeuvring ourselves around Kate dancing without getting the other camera in shot.

Individual Process

mollymcguirk — 2024-02-04 17:38:48 UTC

We made different stylistic choices as videographers whereby Anna filmed from a further distance, and I worked closely with Kate trialling different angles and playing with proximity, this also helped resolve issues of having the other videographer in the back of one another’s shot. With this, I also played on starting to follow close and then moving further away to enable the editor to cleanly link the videos together. This technique was useful as we found filming from a far at Alexandra Palace our audience wouldn’t be able to pick up finer details that were pivotal to our piece e.g. Kate putting on her headphones, which didn’t read clearly due to camera angles, therefore we took multiple shots being higher and closer as well as Kate changing the angle of which they were placed on her head.

mollymcguirk — 2024-02-04 17:55:27 UTC

A specific inspiration for us was the opening credits for the series ‘Friends’ in which you see the group of 5 friends splashing and dancing around a fountain. They all seemed happy although it may have been cold, they were having a good time playing together in a child-like manner. We wanted this to be shown within our piece as it progressed and had originally set out to end our video with a large group of people splashing around the fountain at Hyde Park.

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Bibliography

mollymcguirk — 2024-02-06 20:16:40 UTC

Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions. (1994) Friends

Available at : https://www.bustle.com/articles/59386-the-fountain-in-friends-opening-credits-scene-has-been-playing-you-for-a-fool-photos [Accessed 16th Nov. 2023]

Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions. (1994) Friends

Available at : https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/friends-reunion-stars-recreate-iconic-24188130 [Accessed 16th Nov. 2023]

Coldplay (2011) Coldplay Paradise (Official Video), YouTube. [online video] Available at: https://youtu.be/1G4isv_Fylg?si=EA8sSHnLw2jMyVPE [Accessed 12 Nov. 2023].

Browne, M. (2019) Princes’s Diana Memorial Fountain

Available at : https://www.photohound.co/i/princess-diana-memorial-fountain-1004349 [Accessed 16th Nov. 2023]

Jonnie. (2013) Italian Gardens – Kensington Gardens

Available at : https://www.bowlofchalk.net/things-are-afoot/the-italian-gardens-kensington-gardens [Accessed 16th Nov. 2023].

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