In my initial test videos, I was only exploring different body movements, unrelated to the concept that was brewing in my head (I have since re-tested some movements and choreography/narratives). This was one of those beginning videos. I found it really interesting how my younger sister had been taught a song anecdote about the potential movements of her hands and what they can do. I asked her to perform it for me - a choreography in itself - and I tried to film drawing on her hand motions (although difficult because she moves so fast). This led to my concept development of looking at the difference in body movements between young and old people. Considering I stay with my grandparents in London during the week, in order to commute for this Foundation course, I came up with the idea of looking at the secret movements of elderly folk. Since I have been staying with my grandparents, I have found that I actually move faster around the house than I do at my parents, bizarrely.

Are old people really as slow as they let on to be?

The rhythmic movements of my Grandmother knitting is interesting, as it draws on the mechanical, almost instinctive motion of the needles and the wool combined with her (sorry Granna) elderly hands. What I find most fascinating is how she is not even looking at her hands when doing this. How many times do we have to repeat an action for our bodies to complete the movement without thinking? 5? 10? 15 times? Or does time and age determine how naturally our body moves and reacts. 

Here, [below] was a quick experiment with the different ways I could film, technically. By filming through the doorway, focusing on my grandmother moving in the reflection of the window at night, it creates a kind of onlooker approach. In class, we thought about how positioning the camera in various ways creates alternative atmospheres and characters. For example: high positioned cameras looking down immediately reads as CCTV, neutral angles are associated with human points of view, and low positioned cameras often portray the perspective of a child, or animal, or perhaps someone sitting/vulnerable. I plan to explore and experiment with creating not only a character for the performer in my short film, but also for the camera and whoever is behind it/representing the scene to viewers.

Movements can be subtle, and choreography does not have to be dance, it can be natural movements, recreated and exaggerated too. In this video, the heavy breathing creates a flowing movement.

I find that hands and hand gestures can say more about how a person is feeling, what they are intending to say, and how they intend to be read - body language almost always speaks higher volumes that written language.

I am fascinated by the stories hands have to tell: they age, they have experienced life, they are strong yet delicate. In my short film, I definitely want to have at least one shot focusing on hand movements. Our bodies would not function nor move in the same way if we did not have hands.

Below, I did a quick test combining exaggerated choreographed movements, camera angles, location and character... I will not use this camera angle in the end, I think it does not suit the kind of character I want to create through my Grandad and his movements. Having the camera higher, at a neutral position will make him more readable and relatable, in terms of showing his facial features and human behaviours. I tried a simple movement but exaggerated here, and I want to play on this when filming my granddad. I will have to be careful that he doesn't go too far, becoming a kind of Mr Bean character, and spoiling the concept and choreography - I want to avoid this...

With this last initial test, I thought about how I can create a narrative in the short film - not the narrative as in a story, but the narrative as in a structure and process. How does the performer come into frame? How do they move across the frame? What is the start, middle and end of the sequence/film?

By using the doorway as a frame (again) I tried dancing across the space in the background. This created a time frame in which I was both in and out of the shot, adding structure and more of a story to the piece. I should remember to think about this when filming my proper footage on Wednesday, as I want to keep the story simple, the movements basic, but I still need to aim for a piece that captivates the audience. By creating this sense of suspense as to when the performer will enter the shot, the viewer is naturally more interested in the film and is waiting for the action to commence.