video open calls: as part of testing my boundaries of where my landscape video work might belong and reach an audience, i have been looking into all sorts of open call opportunities and selecting ones that best suit the type of work i am making. as i have said, unlike open calls for print, video open calls tend to be more prescriptive and might also involve a selection panel process. not to be put off, i am actually enjoying putting some shape to some of my works in progress and footage that i have recorded related to landscape, image, body, gender. although no guarantee of an audience, i am excited by the prospect of reaching one at least. and as most of these submissions require a brief description about the work, this is helping me to articulate what the work is and could be about.
video submission 3: ‘human versus nature’ 60 seconds festival: brief: open call for original works of 60 seconds duration, with no sound, no credits, mp4 format and 4×3 aspect ratio about human versus nature. in terms of this theme, other key words given included – natural capitalism, environment, we are nature, global goals, climate change, global warming, biodiversity. location: 10 works to be selected and exhibited during 60 seconds festival week in Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Køge and Helsingør during the festival week Feb 18-24th. cost: none. deadline: 1st February. links: 60sec.org*
process: the prospect of only 10 selected from 140 films was a little daunting and with such small odds, i did have to consider whether i should put in the effort for this submission. yet i was interested in shaping some of the footage i have been recording re landscape, body and gender. i looked through different footage that i recorded and collected as part of ‘landscape and i’ exploration last year and thought that actually a lot of my filming was very relevant to the ‘human versus nature’ theme as it looks at the landscape from a body and gendered perspective. i started by editing some of my mirror landscape footage as i felt its uncomplicated visual structure would suit the short 60 second film. i had to modify the film to 4:3 and also mute the sound, as specified by the brief. both of these altered the footage and i had to ask myself whether this would compromise or compliment the film’s integrity – i guess this is a necessary question which arises when submitting to any open call brief. it is really a constant question with all editing decisions in video production anyhow – a cycle of yes, no, yes, no and why? at least in this case the why was because it was given, but there are also whys asked for choosing, adhering to and following through on any brief whether externally or internally self-directed.
other parts of the process required filling in an online submission form – email address, phone number, artist/director’s name, link to website/page, address, type of film, year of production, title, a short synopsis of the film (only 2 lines). writing this synopsis becomes another way of putting some kind of shape to my work. finally and on a more practical level, for this submission the film could be sent by dropbox which is a format i am familiar with for submissions.
mirror image (© elaine crowe 2019)
synopsis (for submission): ‘mirror image’ explores landscape from a gendered perspective, attempting to find a mirrored line of symmetry in the natural landscape through the eyes of an imperfect and asymmetrical body.
next: …….i thought of submitting another 60 second film to this festival but came across another opportunity which could be fun, interesting and exploratory. linked to the 60 second festival, there is another open call for film works in 1 second duration which would be shown interspersed between the 60 second films in a ‘1 second festival’ during the same dates. i look forward to the chance and challenge to say/do something in 1 second. so for video open call submission part 4 i will attempt this over the next week or so. noemata.net/one-off/*
elaine crowe 
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