Adorned Cinema

I love cinema because it is such a form of escapism. To me, films are photography in beautiful motion, it is the art that encompasses engaging visuals, story, music and everything in between. When I watch my favourite films, I can not help but analyse every clip and mis-en-scene as a still image. Every cut and camera angle choice gives away something that is important, that knowing long glance, the seemingly banal framing of a prop, later becomes important as the story develops. I have become Sherlock and most of the time know who is about to get it on, and who the killer is in most whodunnits ( Columbo doesn’t count, we are all supposed to know).

I dream that I am within the screen shooting behind the scenes, capturing the sets as larger than life editorials. I am in awe of the rapturous cinematography of great directors such as Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola, and Tim Burton. A few years ago as part of a collaboration with HP computers, I had the opportunity to see first-hand the rooms of the palace of Versailles, where Marie Antoinette was filmed. Those moments in the quiet of the hidden halls, taking mental pictures of how the filming unfolded ( of course taking a tonne of actual pictures) instilled a certainty that this is where I need to be.

 With support from the Adobe creative residency community fund, I will be exploring my personal project Adorned Cinema. Over the next month I will focus on creating cinematic editorials and still life inspired by Wes Anderson’s,  The Royal Tenenbaums. I chose this film because I never tire of the visual narrative. Every time I see it, there is a nuance I somehow missed, and makes me fall in love with it all over again. From the soundtrack to the dialogue, there is a joy and a sadness which imitates life. It is equally quirky, off-beat, cool and timeless.

This project gives me the opportunity to delve and experiment into the ways of seeing, try different techniques and editing processes inspired by the film, using the full Adobe arsenal. The Royal Tenenbaums will work as a creative road map for inspiration. Expect an emulation of key scenes as still life and my re-imagining of props that would fit within the film. In these uncertain times, this is a great opportunity to cement my photography with more focus, depth and personal signature, anchoring my work in more cohesive story-telling. I hope this project empowers you to keep creating, and really take the time to figure out exactly what you want, and to just do it. Even without the fund I was going to do this for myself, it would have taken much longer, but this truly excited me. I will be sharing my process and essays here on my visual journal, unfold my work on Behance .All updates and showcasing the work of the other community fund recipients will be on Twitter. Behind the scenes /tutorials will reside in video on TikTok and Youtube.