Atmosphere
Friday 28th May 2010
Hey there – I’m looking for artists, set designers, graphic designers and possibly new media installations that can be turned around in a very short time frame (3 weeks and counting as I write this) but for a fun and worthwhile experience.
Inspace Gallery in Edinburgh are programming official fringe activity for the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2010 with a programme entitled Atmosphere: Smoke and Mirrors, Bells and Whistles. Essentially this involves a different, free film screening each night from Wed 16th to Fri 25th June that will attempt in some way to offer an additional, immersive experience for the audience (max 100 per screening) that differs from the usual multiplex outing.
I made two proposals for possible titles, both of which have been accepted. Take a look below. They are wonderful and strange.
Sat 19th June 9pm
Blood Tea And Red String
Thirteen years in the making, Christiane Cegavske’s dialogue free film tells the tale of the struggle between the aristocratic White Mice and the rustic Creatures Who Dwell Under the Oak over the doll of their heart’s desire.
Official website / Trailer below
Thu 24th June 9pm
The Call of Cthulu
Based upon the short story by cosmic-horror writer HP Lovecraft, his official US fan society created this stunning amateur feature in vintage ‘Mythoscope’ telling of the discovery of a fearsome alien deity in a sunken deep-sea city.
Official website / Trailer below
So where might you come in?
CONCEPT 1: Blood Tea And Red String
I’d like to recreate the feel of a vintage woodland fete using handmade and paper cut materials. I’d especially like to explore the idea of ‘booths’, either real (lo-fi) or imaginary (imagery). One real-world aspect I am certain of is a refreshment stand that will serve blood tea from teapots and beetle cupcakes, so this may be a useful reference. Perhaps the projectors could simply recreate an artificial backdrop, against which we populate the space with some sweet and deliberately clumsy activities. Or it may be that someone might want to attempt a more ambitious application. Think handmade, retro, vintage, tactile, with a predominant colour scheme of red and white stripes with black accents. There may also be a make-up artist turning the audience into dolls.
CONCEPT 2: The Call of Cthulhu
This movie is told from the POV of a sickly man who is revealed in the closing scenes to be a patient in a mental asylum. Responding to the ultra-clinical feel of Inspace, it will become a Sanitarium for the evening, with the audience as patients, tagged on arrival by staff in tunics and furnished with pills and medicine (actually candy and fruit liqueur). I’d like to create the feel of ‘patient stations’ with assessment activity, ranging from eye charts that spell out dire warnings to Rorschach tests that depict monstrous creatures. Some graphic design assistance would be great! There will be a nurse offering make-unders helping people look as pale and monotone as the characters in the film, but again, further ideas responding to this theme are welcome.
BUDGET
I’ve got about £350 for each event after advance costs. £700-ish. I’m not taking any fee myself as I just want to make it happen. This might cover travel, accommodation, food, booze (!) and a little production costs, but there isn't any more I'm afraid. Such is life! Alternately, if travel is not required, then it can go entirely toward production. I really don’t want to abuse the skills of others by devaluing them in any way or assuming such help is available, but hopefully there may be one or two people who share a love of just getting stuck in and making a great time for all.
VENUE
Once the seating has been installed in the main space, this leaves a mezzanine area for us to play with. There are pictures below. It includes up to 7 ceiling mounted window projectors, although more likely 5 (with the remaining 2 positioned to spill imagery across the seated audience). They can play one individual image/movie/app per projector, or one work on all projectors, or any combination in between. There is a computer per projector. We can also synch multi-screen QuickTime files on projectors and monitors wirelessly. The gallery is testing forms of edge blending so we can have a single animated image over four projectors if required. There are 5 individual addressable speakers along the window face which take a mono input from any source and a discrete 5.1 system elsewhere in the gallery. As you can see from the images, there is one end-wall and five window spaces that form in-built framing spaces.
So if anyone can contribute any time and effort remotely (graphic artists), or would like to assist with any on-site build (applications, set design/dressing), then please do get in touch. Even if it doesn’t work out this time, I’m looking to expand my contacts as there will be more oddball opportunities throughout the year, across the UK. You can reach me via the Contact tab at the top of this page, Facebook or Twitter (just type my name in both).
Here are some pictures of the main screening space, which is for seating only:
