#eloisedorr

WeCanFly Vienna 2017

After the success of the London Launch of the WeCanFly project we were thrilled to be invited to show the film and artists work at AdHocPad Creative hub in Vienna. The trip gave us an amazing opportunity to showcase the project in Europe and to a completely new audience. It also gave me the chance to do some further filming with some Austrian skater artists. 

First up was Alex Gasteiger, AKA Sqrl. Alex is a trained Goldsmith, woodwork and Jewellry Designer. After getting into skateboarding at 29 years old, she turned her hand to using 'the wooden toy' as the focal point of her designs. Alex’s work is high end and beautiful. We went to her work shop whilst we were there and she showed us an amazing range of hand made products including domino sets, furnishings and Jewellery. Her predominant material is the skateboard but she also up cycles old coins within her designs. Alex’s work featured in the exhibition at AdHocPad alongside the original artist Mat, Barry, Eloise and Ben (who unfortunately couldn't come to Vienna, but we did take some of his work over). 

Work by Sqrl exhibited at our event. Photo by Lilo Krebernik

Also, featuring in the exhibition was Jorg Volgger, a Architect and designer who has created an unusual chair design using skateboards. 

a SitFlip chair by Jorg Volgger (image from http://www.sitflip.com/screen/overview/language/en) 

Jorg, a skater himself has a passion for understanding the opportunities of skate able architecture and also exhibited at the show a Zine that he had created to show the evolution of the Skate Bowl. 

Of course, whilst we were in Vienna, we had to check out the local skate spots. The scene in Vienna is very much centred around the DIY aspect of skateboarding. We met the one of the architects of some of these spaces Matthew Collins. The ex teacher turned ‘Concrete Artist’ (because there is no such thing as a skate park designer in Austria) designed and help build the park featured in this video with his crew/ company ‘Spoff Parks’. 

Matthew Collins Skating his design. Photo by Kelli Watson

Our host for the event was the owner of AdhocPad gallery space Lilo Krebernik. The building itself is a work of art and the contents a hub of creativity. The space is the workplace for a group of resident artists, illustrators and designers including Lilo and his wife. It is also their family home, including their 3 (soon to be 4) children. There is a half pipe in the garden and the most amazing collection of skateboards and paraphernalia above the ramp. 

Our event was a success and was attended by many of the local skaters and artists. Mat Lloyd performed at the event, followed by a screening of the film. Our experience in Vienna was invaluable and definitely spurred on the potential for WeCanFly 2. 

Mat Lloyd performing at the event and me filming it. Photo by Lilo Krebernik

Eloise Dorr 

After a period of gloomy weather and snow, the sunshine and blue skies finally came out on Monday 13th February – just in time for filming Eloise’s part. The blue skies had a pathetic fallacy on the vibe of the filming. Although Eloise can skate on ramps and street spots, we decided that following her skating from the train station (where we met) to her Studio on South Bermondsey would support the narrative of her part. By this, I mean that this section reflects a journey and captures Eloise’s free attitude towards her skating and art.  The skating parts in this short work well as the focus is on Eloise painting during the interview.  I am also pleased with the way I can use the traversing footage to link everything together.

We filmed the interview parts in Eloise’s studio, which she shares with other artists. The location perfectly fitted the ‘artistic’ ambiance surrounding her with the tools of her trade and in a place that she was clearly comfortable in.  I decided to continue the ethnographic filming style Cine-eye (Jean Rouch) as this has worked well. Having the camera running before the official interview started and conducting the interview like a conversation gives me a much more real outcome. I like the way that in the edit, I have Eloise from different angles as this demonstrates how I reflexively moved to get closer to the action or to focus on what she was talking about. Prior to the interview, I suggested that I might film Eloise doing a painting. She was really happy to do this and commented that she liked painting whilst being interviewed as it made her think about her responses. Having the artist captured in the art of creating is a really strong element of this part. I definitely think it is worth trying to achieve this in the next interviews.

Eloise has just done a range of art shows and exhibitions and all of her current finished work was at various locations or has been sold. This meant that there was no complete art at the studio. To counter this I used a recorded the screen whilst browsing through her website. Focusing on her broken boards (as that is what she was talking about in the interview), I have captured the gallery and sped it up in the edit  to make it flow better. Additional to this I used an image from Google Images, which is from Eloise’s websites home page: (http://www.eloisedorr.com/), I used this in After Effects to create the opening graphic. I have continued to apply the layering technique that I have in Ben Gore’s and Mat Lloyds section but I have experimented with more subtle colour filters. I added a Fujifilm X pro filter with a golden glow. This highlights the sunny weather and makes the lens flare at the start really stand out. Lastly, I added music. This is a section of a song called ‘Free and Easy Take 2’ by The Brian Jones Town Massacre (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5ORsvBS6DY ). The song title really reflects the vibe of this edit, as does the upbeat harmonica. Although this is copyrighted, I have used less than 10 seconds of it and this is permitted under copyright law.  I am really pleased with this edit. It has a positive feel that reflects the essence of freedom and self-expression and this at heart is the main motivation of WeCanFly.