‘Drive In Movie’ runs for 90 seconds (a minute and a half).
It was commissioned in Bristol, England, for Architecture Week 2005 and was sponsored by Arup Arts and Business Southwest. The project was a joint initiative of The Architecture Centre, the Watershed Media Centre and Independent Artists Network Productions.
I was one of several artists and architects asked to participate. I had the technical assistance, during the shooting, of Paul Appleby, producer and filmmaker for the BBC, and my son Gus Silverman played a significant role in helping me with the edit.
The film is a journey through a multi-storey car park, in the centre of Bristol, built in1966. I specifically chose to focus on the structure and the ‘unseen’ details, the things that most users do not notice as they park their cars. It is both an examination and transformation: hopefully putting it in a new light. I specifically avoided any visual record of cars themselves (though there were plenty about) - for they are what usually occupies our attention. It is instead about the nature of the building that serves them and, of course, my own idiosyncratic interpretation, as well as the influences of my collaborators.
I did not choose the site and had no prior knowledge: it was allocated to me on the morning of the shoot because of the type of constructions I had been making in my studio and installing at other locations. In particular, spiralling avenues, which rise and fall across a flood of corrugated paper. The organisers thought I would appreciate the swirl of the ascent.
We took two cameras with us: a mini DVD camcorder and a larger professional model.
I had already made some notes before we headed out, but scripted the whole thing as we walked the site before shooting. Things that immediately defined the building and helped me organise the script were:
• That it was colour coded, each floor with its own colour marked on pillars and doors etc. (initially I thought of using them as 'chapter' headings).
• That, though uniform in structure, each floor had some unique feature or element.
• That the light and the sound changed as we moved up.
We made five ascents, two on foot: one to script and one with cameras and a tripod. The other three were made by car with the smaller camera taped at various angles to the front grill and the driver's-side wing mirror.
I used the smaller camera on the second walk up and Paul the bigger. But I set up virtually all the shots through the lenses myself and gave direction. We spent approximately 7 hours and shot just under an hour's worth of tape.
All the sounds are ambient.
The next day I went down to the ‘Watershed’ were they gave me a ‘Mac’ laptop and introduced me to an editing program called 'Final Cut'. I spent the next six days trying to hone down one hour into 90 seconds. For quite a few of those days, my son Gus, who was home from university, came down to lend me a hand. He's many times faster on a computer than I am and has had lots of experience composing and editing music. It was very special working with him. He didn't just push buttons; he significantly contributed to the edit. It was great talking through ideas with him; he's very perceptive and wonderful company.
It was commissioned in Bristol, England, for Architecture Week 2005 and was sponsored by Arup Arts and Business Southwest. The project was a joint initiative of The Architecture Centre, the Watershed Media Centre and Independent Artists Network Productions.
I was one of several artists and architects asked to participate. I had the technical assistance, during the shooting, of Paul Appleby, producer and filmmaker for the BBC, and my son Gus Silverman played a significant role in helping me with the edit.
The film is a journey through a multi-storey car park, in the centre of Bristol, built in1966. I specifically chose to focus on the structure and the ‘unseen’ details, the things that most users do not notice as they park their cars. It is both an examination and transformation: hopefully putting it in a new light. I specifically avoided any visual record of cars themselves (though there were plenty about) - for they are what usually occupies our attention. It is instead about the nature of the building that serves them and, of course, my own idiosyncratic interpretation, as well as the influences of my collaborators.
I did not choose the site and had no prior knowledge: it was allocated to me on the morning of the shoot because of the type of constructions I had been making in my studio and installing at other locations. In particular, spiralling avenues, which rise and fall across a flood of corrugated paper. The organisers thought I would appreciate the swirl of the ascent.
We took two cameras with us: a mini DVD camcorder and a larger professional model.
I had already made some notes before we headed out, but scripted the whole thing as we walked the site before shooting. Things that immediately defined the building and helped me organise the script were:
• That it was colour coded, each floor with its own colour marked on pillars and doors etc. (initially I thought of using them as 'chapter' headings).
• That, though uniform in structure, each floor had some unique feature or element.
• That the light and the sound changed as we moved up.
We made five ascents, two on foot: one to script and one with cameras and a tripod. The other three were made by car with the smaller camera taped at various angles to the front grill and the driver's-side wing mirror.
I used the smaller camera on the second walk up and Paul the bigger. But I set up virtually all the shots through the lenses myself and gave direction. We spent approximately 7 hours and shot just under an hour's worth of tape.
All the sounds are ambient.
The next day I went down to the ‘Watershed’ were they gave me a ‘Mac’ laptop and introduced me to an editing program called 'Final Cut'. I spent the next six days trying to hone down one hour into 90 seconds. For quite a few of those days, my son Gus, who was home from university, came down to lend me a hand. He's many times faster on a computer than I am and has had lots of experience composing and editing music. It was very special working with him. He didn't just push buttons; he significantly contributed to the edit. It was great talking through ideas with him; he's very perceptive and wonderful company.
