FILM #1
The performance space is based on a series of photographs by a British anthropologist T. H. Huxley. His life long dream was to categorize all the ethnic types located within the British empire. These photos were very straight forward, clinical with strict rules as to their execution. The people were posed against a neutral background next to a ruler that measured their height. Four photos were taken. Two standing, a frontal and side view with arms being held straight out from the body supported by a stand. Two were taken sitting in a chair with the ubiquitous ruler next to them.

Where once the white man used his photographic technology to categorize his down trodden brother, we are going to categorize the categorizers. The possibilities are endless and they could include but are not limited to, African priestess, people with hoods on their faces, bowling pin setters, meat market butchers. The mood will flow naturally and unforced from the people and body types that we choose to photograph. Truly thoughtful examples which show the universal face of God.

Chantal performs with and without her piano in the photographic space. The performance is shot in a very low key soulful fashion that highlights Chantal. She is photographed next to the ruler. The room is lit with a shimmery water lighting. At times, Chantal and the photographic subjects are photographed with a silent 35 mm movie camera combined with a hand processing of the negative. The look of this camera lends a dissonate feeling to the imagery that plays off the mood of the song. (*Please see demo tape for examples of this extrordinarily interesting beautiful filmic look.)

I would also like to paint two opera scrims. Depending on how it is lit, opera scrim works in such a way that things can appear behind it like an in camera dissolve. The effect is quite stunning, organic and Chantal and the rest of the photographic subjects can emerge inside the painted facade. This works well as transitions between verse and chorus. The second is a painted rippely water surface. Behind this, Chantal appears sitting at her piano lit with the shimmery liquid lighting.

Visually adding to the liquid tonality of the song, I will photograph some of Chantal's performance through hand poured glass. Shooting through poured glass is like looking up while you are still underwater. It subtly ripples the image giving it a surreal watery warping feeling to the look of the film.

One visual trick employed in the video that relates to photography is shooting through the ground glass on the back of a large view camera. These are antique cameras that were used by the photographers of the original anthropological photos. The kind where the operator got under the black shawl and told the subject to look at the birdie. Shooting the ground glass image of the view camera makes the image glow with an ethereal warmth. The image on the glass is upside down but we=ll frame it right side up. As we pull back revealing the mechanics of the antique camera, we spin the film camera upside down.

FILM #2 There are 1,440 frames of film per minute. On the streets of New York, I will shoot one frame of hundreds of people=s faces. These fragments of humanity punctuate the edit, especially on the big guitar hits through out the song.

THE END

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