2 days for the price of one

Visiting Furrah's studio

Me not feeling the colour vibe

Yesterday I made another trip out to Enfield to visit an artist I met a few months ago in Melbourne called Furrah Syed.  Furrah was in Melbourne exhibiting her art and she also conducted a workshop in art appreciation for people with vision impairments.  Her workshops include an activity where people are encouraged to experience the different temperatures that colours radiate.  Several years ago I did a great deal of research about colour for a documentary that I never got to make (one of many) and so the idea of Furrah’s workshop promised an 

opportunity to witness something that I’d read about but never seen first hand.  At very short notice I contacted the organisers and Furrah agreed to allow me to come along and film the workshop.  We became friends and so now that it was my turn to visit London she took me out for the day.  First we visited her studio so I could see her wonderful art works – they are all totally abstract with a wonderful use of colour and texture.  After me totally failing the colour test – all I felt was a sore shoulder as I wasn’t really comfortable enough to pick up any subtle colour vibrations – we went to Forty Hall – an old manor from Henry VIII time.  There we had lunch served in rather eclectic style, followed by a stroll in the gardens.

Later in the afternoon I went off in the other direction to visit my distribution company Mercury Media (they distribute my films in the UK – I don’t own the company!!!).  Tim immediately wanted to pitch my new film to Channel 4 and so I had to actually think about the project in commercial terms  - something I had so far studiously avoided.  I also got into a super long and involved conversation with the “creative director” of the company who is building a mammoth distribution website.  He’s one of those people who is totally passionate about what they are doing and I’m sure he talked for nearly half an hour without drawing breath.  He certainly sounded like he knew everything there was to know about technical formats and post-production.  I just came away just knowing that there’s a lot I don’t know ….but at least I know what questions to ask – mostly.  It was a head spinning conversation.

The meeting with Tim also meant that I had to go home and re write my pitch, which meant I had quite a bit of homework to do last night.

I ended up working until nearly midnight logging tapes for inspiration and then writing the pitch for Tim.  This morning I slept in for the first time in weeks. Bliss.

Today I really needed a day to follow up on a few phone calls and of course more tape logging.  The logging is important to do along the way as you can see what you’ve actually got on tape in terms of picture and sound but also really take notice of what people are saying and if it makes sense and can be edited.  It also gives me ideas about what to talk to the next person about.  In short it’s a crucial reference and check on what I’m doing.  Also the last thing you want is to get home with 25 hours of tape that hasn’t been logged.  It’s way too daunting.  So I have to allocate a certain amount of time to staying on top of the logging, and today was the day and I got it all done – yay.

It’s great to revisit material from a few days ago and think it over and it’s also great to see different interviews dovetailing in with each other where one person picks up on something another person has said … because I’m asking the right questions of course.  Get ready for a lot of socialist political theory … but then in America I think it will be very different.  I can already see little disputes arising between interviewees – point and counterpoint – it’s all there.

In the middle of the day I took a break as it was a sunny day so I went for a run.  I just took off down the road and after 15 minutes or so got quite delightfully lost.  Found myself in a pretty little area called Launceston Gardens and eventually came out at Kensington High Street – except that I didn’t know that for a while.  Another jog through Holland Park and then wandered back to Earls Court and grabbed yet another Marks & Spencer’s meal for one.  Thank goodness the quality and variety of these meals is quite good but I think I’ve had just about enough of them.  Judging by the queues of people in M& S at mealtimes, I think that half of London must live on them.

Tapes were all done by about 5.30 so that my master logistical plan could take place.  I have way more luggage with me than is possible for a single woman to move about on public transport on her own.  I drove it all here in a car but now I don’t have a car and I don’t want to spend a month in traffic in a London Taxi.  Tomorrow I take the train to Watford for the weekend with family so I needed to have less luggage – Watford is a long way out.  So this afternoon I took my camera and tripod and lighting kit to the hotel I’m staying in next week.  They were very accommodating and allowed me to leave it in the bell room for the weekend.  So fingers crossed it’s still there on Monday.

Anything involving the camera kit on the tube is a nightmare as there are stairs everywhere but I must say that some gentleman always offers to help me get it up the stairs – and I graciously accept with plenty of smiles and thank yous.

I saw my first wheelchair user since I’ve been in London – a man begging on the millennium bridge.  There are just no wheelchair users on the streets in London.  With the exception of a handful of random stations, the tube is totally inaccessible and so there are also very few people with prams.  Lots of travellers struggling with luggage like me but all of the wheelchair users must be in Morecombe where my journey began – that place was full of wheelchairs.  I’m actually starting to worry a little about how we’re going to get around London with Stella next week – stay tuned on that one.

So anyway, after the schlep across town to deposit the gear I felt all free and footloose for once so I headed off the to the Tate Modern for a glass of champagne and a look at the lovely city skyline from the best view in town. After the champagne took effect I wandered past a few Picassos, Bacons and Dalis and then found a looped screening of Maya Deren’s experimental film from the 1943, Meshes of the Afternoon.  I haven’t seen this film since Visual Arts at Monash Uni but I’ve always remembered its images and mood and it’s general weirdness. This time because it was on a loop I watched the second half first followed by the beginning.  Not a bad way to watch it really because then you know what to take notice of at the start.  That was a real delight and after that I wandered off into the night along the Thames, over Blackfriars Bridge and home via Temple Station.

Millennium Bridge looking back at St Paul's Cathedral

Then looking the other way towards the glass of champagne on the top floor.