Fields and Frames 4- BodySong (Simon Pummell, 2003)

The fields and frames unit allows us to be imaginative and experimental with ideas that we come up with. To help me think about ways in which I could approach the brief and experiment within the field of film, I decided to book out from the library 'Bodysong', a documentary about human life from birth to adult life, covering serious issues such as poverty and war. The film was directed and produced by Simon Pummel, known for his video work for Queen's 'Made in Heaven' there last album as a full band. Jonny Greenwood produced the original score for the film based around the experimental theme of the film. Jonny Greenwood also collaborated with Simon Pummell on the soundtrack for the film 'There Will Be Blood', which received critical acclaim.

Artwork for the Score by Jonny Greenwood

Still from the film

The film was based around humankind, our lifespan and the events that take place during this time. This was done however by using hundreds of pieces of archive footage of moving image from the past 100 years. Described as an 'Epic vision of love, sex, violence and death, bodysong is the story of an archetypal human life told through archive footage from across the world and spanning 100 years of cinema', I believe Simon Pummel created this piece of work to show the positives and negatives of human life, and the development of humanity over the past century. I thoroughly enjoyed the artistic visuals and hypnotic sequences which made me personally feel like I was in a trance at certain times. Most of the film was silent, dubbed over with a brilliant, progressive, experimental score by Jonny Greenwood, known for his work with the popular British band, Radiohead.  I felt as if the narrative of the film was produced from the soundtrack, going from a simplistic, calming orchestral score to a manic, fast-tempo'd experimental sound during the parts of the film that were negative towards society, such as the elements of war and sex. My favourite track from the film was 'Moon Trills' as I love the simplicity and repetitiveness of the piece, and being a fan of Radiohead's music, it much reminds me of some of Radiohead's softer, more orchestral songs.

Still from the film

The piece plays with the number of screens, changing frequently to a split screen experience, predominantly at times that contrast science and technology with human life, for example the image above, contrasting a projection of a part of the human body, with an ill looking figure displayed on the right. The split-screen experience may be something to look into when it comes to developing my idea and thinking about how I would display my work. The film also begins with an image of a pregnant woman in the bath splashing water on her chest. The ending also does this, fading the image to black. I feel that this mainly refers to the start of a human life, reminding all the positives and negatives in our society begin span down from the simple birth of a life. The ending states 'In this film every shot has a story, find them at bodysong.com' which I find interesting as it allows me to look further into the film after the viewing experience is over, making it not only a visual piece, but also an interactive piece, allowing the viewing to partake in the works, which is something I would like to follow with my work.

Stills from the DVD menu for 'Bodysong'