MEMORY AS A METHOD FOR FILMMAKING

Emilio Angel Reyes Bassail

This research develops a method for filmmaking that uses autobiographical memory as a guiding principle for the production of images. The proposed method comes as the result of a double gesture in which I wanted to a) acquire a subjective understanding of memory that came from artistic practice; and b) materialize the process of memory through film. I used the filmmaking apparatus as a technique to give visibility to the process of remembering and forgetting: I worked with strategies such as the elaboration of a “memory diary”; the drawing of spoken portraits and locations based on memories; casting techniques which involved a dialectical approach towards memory; scouting trips to find places from my memory; hypnosis sessions as a technique to recover lost memories; reenactments of memories; a method to direct actors that relied on memory as a guiding mechanism; and the editing of the footage through a process of memory associations. While doing this research, I inadvertently found that the techniques I used led to a process in which memories were rewritten through experimentation. Thus, the method produced a conceptualization of "memory" that frames it as a creative process. In the process of working on this project, I developed a very subjective approach to the craft of filmmaking that was informed by my particular relationship with memory. Thus, the proposed method of using personal memory as a core mechanism for the production of audio-visual products can be utilized as a tool for film education, promoting the creation of personal film languages based on an individual's memory, and as device to reflect on the subjective process behind an individual's artistic practice.

TO REMEMBER, TO LEARN (A METHOD TO LEARN FILMMAKING)

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MEMORY AS A METHOD FOR FILMMAKING

What I have been describing throughout all these small experiments is, in a way, a method to learn filmmaking. Straying from the traditional methodologies, my process involved the discovery of the craft of filmmaking using a conceptual quest as a starting point. Exploring the concept of “memory”, I articulated a series of questions meant to be solved not through theoretical or bibliographical research but by artistic practice. The techniques used to solve these conceptual inquiries, in turn, led to the development of a craftsmanship. In other words, my subjective understanding of memory led to a subjective method for the production of images.

All of this research can be read as a test case for the development of audiovisual languages that come from a subjective and personal inquiry. What my method proposes, in a way, is taking a core concept and exploring it through technique in order to develop and learn a craft.

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Filmmaking education tends to be an extremely orthodox field. Film students are many times led to the craft of filmmaking through a series of “rules” and “methods” that most of the time come from industrial practices. These industrial practices serve as an introduction for the young filmmaker to future jobs in the industry. Although these motivations clearly have a reason to be, they should never be applied as a universal method to approach and learn the craft.

Filmmaking, throughout this research, is defined as a method to construe meaning through the selection and arrangement of an individual´s experiences. The scenes that I have shot clearly reveal a very subjective interest and express a very particular point of view. In that way, the method led to a particular way of approaching the craft. In this sense, I propose that this work could be used as an example of a different path to learn filmmaking that strays away from the textbooks, “rules” and imitations of the “great masters”. I propose to use filmmaking as a technique to explore subjective questions and, throughout the experimentation process, to produce an individual technique.

I believe that memory is a very personal process. I hold a deep belief that everyone remembers things in a different way. In this manner, by studying memory and using it as a tool for film education, I’m trying to find a path to explore subjective questions through subjective answers. It is, for me, an entrance to the core of the individual that I believe can lead to the development of truly personal languages and forms of expression. Yet, only throughout the continuous work in the classrooms and educational institutions can these notions be put to test.

I believe it is no accident that the concept of “memory” can hardly be defined. Its conceptualization changes rather drastically depending on the author, discipline and epoch. If extensive research was performed to investigate the concept, it’s likely that very few commonalities would be found amongst the myriad definitions available. Even within the same field, definitions tend to vary and point into different directions.

The notes and discoveries about memory scattered through these pages come from the practice of filmmaking. Although I´m not the first one to explore the concept of memory through filmmaking, my approach is completely personal. Thus, the discoveries can only be understood through the optics of an individual quest. Commonalities with other fields of study may be found in this research. Yet, if some ideas resonate with foreign texts, it may very well be pure coincidence.

Since the beginning of this text, I have refused to form a clear definition of memory. Lots of questions are proposed and some answers are given through experiments. Yet, I don’t presume to hold a clear truth. This work and its exploration of memory are meant to be read as an unfinished process, in other words, an open research.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND CREDITS

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