The shooting process of I am the Camera did not follow a conventional screenplay, but rather the elaboration of a series of scenes. Divided into the execution of exercises and the improvisation of actions, these scenes aimed to create an interaction between the characters/performers, their devices, and the space, especially by exploring the specific locations of the plot as Luisa Bravo suggests:  

The camera frames architecture and spaces, but mainly it offers humans stories, evolutions of feelings; it captures details of social interactions, while the urban is moving around. The city, as seen through the lens, becomes a tale, open to multiple interpretations.1

Thus, the architecture of Götaplatsen, or in this case, the area around the Hasselblad memorial, served as a sort of “outdoor studio”, with an extended space at the Hasselblad Center in which we could explore the encounter of the characters and their endeavours. Furthermore, it also enabled us to look for ways in which the co-presence of the cameras could be used to create both a documentary and a fictional space. To illustrate this, what follows is a list of the major scenes and exercises that were carried out on site. 

Shooting the Scenes 

To get an insight into the shooting/documentation process of I am the Camera, I recommend listening to the audio-file below while reading the text. The audio-file was generated on May 12th 2023, when we were working at Götaplatsen on the day before the "Göteborgs Varvet" (a 20 km marathon which happens every year). 

Major Scenes (Documentary)  

Major Scenes (Fictional)

GP/ Hasselblad Memorial: 

• The characters creating links to the “hidden camera” of the Hasselblad memorial.
• The characters trying to “hack” the surveillance camera of the Hasselblad memorial. 

• The influencer and documentary filmmaker trying to enter the Hasselblad camera. 

HC/ Exhibition:

• The influencer in a monologue about her relationship with the camera. 
• The documentary filmmaker discussing the Earthrise image.
• The clown cleaning the cameras in the space.

HC/ Library:

• The camera being taken from the safe by the staff. 
• Interview with the camera that landed on the moon (different versions). 

GP/ Hasselblad Memorial:

• The influencer creating posts on social media.
• The documentary filmmaker investigating the Hasselblad camera. 
• The clown cleaning the Hasselblad memorial. 

LEGEND:

GP: Götaplatsen

HC: Hasselblad Center 

Based on the development of these scenes and exercises (and a series of sub-scenes), we have approached the different locations of the plot in a somewhat nomadic way, rather than by establishing a film set. Since we arrived at the shooting already dressed in our costumes and with our props (or cameras), this enabled us not only to practice how we could perform while documenting, but also how we could be both in front of and behind a camera. In addition to that, it encouraged us to stay flexible and adaptable to the spatial conditions and circumstances we encountered each day, whether it was by borrowing some requisites we needed for our scenes, by incorporating the sounds of the environment into our actions, or by discovering new positions for our cameras. 

Exercises

GP/Hasselblad Memorial: 

• Various warm-ups: a) spacewalk; a slow walk inspired by a passage from the book: Diary of an Apprentice Astronaut by Samantha Cristoforetti, b) 5Rhythms® waves and c) circulation of practices.
• Different Micro Labs based on Ben Spatz’s DCTV method2, for example: a) Charlotta creating posts on social media, b) Kristin cleaning the Hasselblad memorial and c) Nathalie setting up her camera at the same position of the hidden Hasselblad camera.