playing with the idea of micro editing. the following text lists the simple processes for exploring the notion of a 2 second feed. taking motion and editing it to stillness then reanimating through compiling frames together. looking at composition, choreo-cinematography, remapping time, loss of information, redundancy, reconfiguring and perception. just for starters of course.

from these edits there are two main streams in terms of inscribing the images. the first is through following the chronological progression of the movement. that is, taking a phrase (be it through movement of body, camera or both) and pulling out frames so that there is still a sense of shape or linearity in the resulting images. it’s almost like the reverse of time-lapse photography or stop-motion animation.

the second stream is more about dislocating the images from their chronology and composing the sequence through other means. each frame has a relationship to the preceding and succeeding frames. this becomes a more compositional assemblage where the editing takes precedence in the choreography of the piece.

other things: what is the resulting visual impact of extracting frames from a linear progression? does it allow the inbetween moments to be represented? are those missing elements holding signifigance in their absence?
using a cell size of 2 frames instead of 1 creates a very different experience. the fractions of movement that the eye picks up with 2 frames makes the sequence fit into a dance idiom. some interesting reading here.
things to try: turn your sound off when you watch them. open them all up in pop-ups and view at once. download to your desktop and open all in quicktime – set them to looping playback. observe the topography of the studio. step through them frame by frame. the clips are listed in order below the body of this post.
process 1

fixed frame, dancer walking and standing score.
import entire 3min clip into FCP
edit frames from viewer onto timeline
1. choosing static poses (1 frame)
2. choosing ‘in-between’ moments (2 frames)
3. compiling chronologically

process 2

fixed frame, dancer walking and standing score.
import entire 3min clip into FCP
edit frames from viewer onto timeline
1. choosing static poses (1 frame)
2. compiling frames with repetition of images

process 3

fixed frame, dancer walking and standing score.
import entire 3min clip into FCP
edit frames from viewer onto timeline
1. choosing ‘in-between’ moments (2 frames)
2. compiling chronologically, duplicating
3. reversing duplication.

process 4

moving frame, dancer improvising with a focus on relationship to camera and sense of moving through the frame
log and capture clips into FCP – extracting ‘useful’ sections
edit frames from viewer onto timeline – one clip at a time
1. choosing dynamic moments (2 frames)
2. compiling chronologically – 5 segments only to create a section
3. repeat section

process 5
duplicate sequence from process 4
1. reduce each cell to 1 frame only
2. duplicate to fill 2 secs

process 6
moving frame, dancer improvising with a focus on relationship to camera and sense of moving through the frame
log and capture clips into FCP – extracting ‘useful’ sections
edit frames from viewer onto timeline – one clip at a time
1. choosing dynamic moments (2 frames)
2. compiling chronologically

process 7

same as process 6 – different footage.

process 8

same as process 7 but there are 2 frames for each cell – this is a 4 second feed

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