Using The Stour

Hello hello,

Here’s the Vimeo link to my film, and to my blog. Enjoy! (if possible)

Mick

Finished!

The link to my short documentary, Using The Stour, can be found on the film section of this blog. I’m relatively happy with the final product, although due to problems on Vimeo I haven’t been able to upload a corrected version; something I’ll try and set right by next week, if they increase my upload allowance. But for the meanwhile, this version, with one slight error, will suffice. I wish I could have included more information on the competition between the different boating companies in Canterbury, but I could not find anybody willing to talk about it, and I don’t think I would have been able to fit it into the film, due to its length.

Learning to shut my mouth

During the editing process, I have realised that my number one enemy in filming is my innate ability to ruin clips by making what I can only describe as encouraging grunts. These are the most fiddly things to edit out of footage, as I seem to be quite partial to doing them just after the person I interview finishes speaking. Editing really does make me realise how much more I should hate myself; I have been constantly frustrated by my 2 automated response laughs (either the toddler’s squeal or the Muttley snigger), my inability to listen to an informant without grunting some semi-audible agreement, or the lack of stability in my arthritis-like hands. These are, however, some things that I might be able to change; perhaps by adopting an alter-ego that is capable of filming people without needing to occasionally squeak and moan, and without distancing themselves from the subject through their petty fears and doubts.

Canoeing along the Stour

Following the invitation of Adam Taylor, a contact of Jo from the Abbots Mill Project, today I went canoeing along the Stour through Canterbury on his canoe, Equanimity (mental calmness in a difficult situation, which resonates with his personal life at the moment, as he is separating from his wife). It enabled me to get closer to the water than previously possible, and to have someone who was genuinely enthusiastic about the river take me around it, as opposed to a paid tour guide. We travelled upstream from the Westgate Gardens, then looped back through the city, winding our way towards the Millers Arms pub, where we stopped on the water, had a coffee from his flask, and performed the interview. He informed me of a video that one of his friends had made when staying for 46 days on an island in the Medway estuary, which can be seen on the Video section of this blog. From there, we paddled back up stream, and managed to get into a little stream by the Greyfriars monastery, built around 1224, near Brown’s coffee shop, which is usually inaccessible to do low water levels.

From there, we returned upstream towards the railway bridge, then let the current return us to our starting point. I think the fact that we both participated in an activity before beginning to film an interview allowed us to get to know each other, and to feel comfortable with each other; something vital to gaining good footage. He also mentioned a forum, called Song of the Paddle, that anybody interested in canoeing is welcome to visit.

The Water’s Texture

The more filming I do, the more fascinated I have become with the plethora of different textures that are visible on the waters’ surface. There is something mesmeric, even bordering on the psychedelic, about the way the light glimmers and winks as the river runs its course. Different winds, tides, and creatures on the surface create different textures, which play a beautiful game with different sources of light. I hope that I can find the space to include some clips of this captivating spectacle in my final product. And as childishly naive as it may sound, I regret my lack of access to an underwater camera. Although the surface itself is captivating enough, I would love to be able to add a few clips of the camera bobbing up and down, capturing two different worlds. But the surface will suffice, with its colours and shades mixing and moving, as if being constantly repainted by invisible brushstrokes.

Here are some of my screenshots of the water’s surface:

 

But these images do not capture the movement of the light across the surface sadly.

 

 

What can help make Visual Anthropology more publicly appreciated?

The problem with making anthropology accessible on television is that by pushing the anthropological content to its most exotic extremes, it is no longer representative of where the discipline currently stands. There is a need to make the content as attractive a televisual proposition as possible; it must contend with dozens of other programs, and yet come out victorious. To do this, the content, lamentably, needs to be as sensationalist as possible to attract the viewer. This can come in many forms, as even escalating the human drama of the principal non-other protagonists can vary between representations of reality: there is a degree of difference between Bruce Parry’s Amazonia and Stacey Dooley Investigates, both in quality and content, but both highlight the human face in front of the camera. It can also affect the content by making it about the most extreme conditions of ‘otherness’ to command the attention of the viewer. This is what Visual Anthropology, in its current climate, must contend with being in order to be made publicly accessible on a large scale. The only way to confront this problem is by constructing a Visual Anthropology that resonates with the viewer, compelling and commanding their attention. This does not come from ‘otherness’. This comes from ‘sameness’. To do this, the exotic must be negated by that which resonates with the viewer. It is in the similarities then, not the differences, that we should cast the fate of a publicly appreciated Visual Anthropology.

Indecision

The major stumbling block for starting my video project has been my indecision; I have had 3 or 4 major ideas, and a couple of minor ones, that change from week to week. Initially I had hoped to investigate what people understand of the Spanish term “Guiri” (or foreigner of usually Northern European origins) in my village in Spain, before realising that it was significantly out of my budget. Then, I had the idea of following and filming the University of Kent Cycling Club, of which one of my housemates is a part of. But I have finally settled on the focus of my project: to film the River Stour at different sections, and interview people who interact with the river, to see what position it occupies in modern-day Canterbury. I intend to do this by interviewing people from the Abbots Mill Project, who are looking to build a mill in the place of one that used to be by the Millers Arms pub; by interviewing and filming one of the punting companies that operate on the river; and a third party that I have not yet figured out. I want to be able to film the whole project inside of Canterbury, as opposed to travelling and filming outside the city, in order to keep in relevant to the city itself, but I may have to break this rule in order to find a third group/individual to film.