Eve McConnachie is a graphic designer based in Glasgow. She trained as an animator at Duncan of Jordanstone Dundee and has been in-house designer and filmmaker for Scottish Ballet since 2009. The Bird is the first piece created under ‘Scottish Ballet Creative’  – an ongoing project in which the Company collaborates with contemporary artists, filmmakers and musicians. This short film for Scottish Album of the Year Award-winner Kathryn Joseph, directed, filmed and edited by Eve. Here she tells us more about the making of this film.

Scottish Ballet’s online audience has been growing steadily for the past few years, with our online videos receiving hundreds of thousands of views per year. The films I create are mainly behind-the-scenes documentaries and trailers that promote productions, but Scottish Ballet have been looking to produce more creative content that would not be for promotional purposes. This led to the idea of ‘Scottish Ballet Creative’, an initiative that would see the company produce creative digital projects and collaborate with other artists.

Kathryn Joseph’s involvement came about very organically; we were listening to her music in the office and were awestruck by her haunting vocals and her raw and emotive lyrics. When we approached Kathryn for this project she was pleased and, I think surprised, to hear from us. She is a big fan of dance already so she was very enthusiastic from the start. When I asked if she’d like anything in particular for the film, she said she’d be happy whatever we came up with. It was a completely open brief and you can’t really ask for anything more generous.

The first thing I did was to listen to the track on loop. I also collected a ton of visuals that fit with my emotional response to the song. I showed these images to Kathryn and she confirmed that I was on the right track. I wanted to create something that would do justice to her beautiful song – and then Kathryn won the SAY award and I really knew the pressure was on!

Image by Christina Riley

The film features Sophie Laplane (pictured above), who is not only a wonderful dancer, but also a talented choreographer. I knew that she would bring something special to the film. Sophie decided not to choreograph a complete dance piece; instead we workshopped some key movements and then Sophie improvised to the track on the day.

Kathryn already had a short video for The Bird – of a murmuration of starlings. I didn’t think I’d be lucky enough to find a similar flock of birds, but I wanted to echo Sophie’s choreography with the natural movements found in a wild landscape. So I knew I was looking for a location with long grass and water, and I was hoping to film at sunset.

I spent the next week combing the west coast for a suitable location, accompanied by my dad and his bearded collie, Ben (pictured below). Eventually we found a great spot at the edge of an Irvine golf course: secluded, with a nice view of Arran, even a gorgeously silvered driftwood tree on the beach nearby. It was a typically dreich evening – grey, windy and wet – so I couldn’t get an idea of the sunset, but Ben (the dog) unearthed the bird wing which you see at the start of the video.

On the day of the shoot the sky wasn’t the atmospheric grey that I’d expected – instead we got the best day of the summer! We packed my gear into the car along with sandwiches, biscuits, chocolate and gallons of hot tea – all the essentials. When we arrived the coast was bathed in the beautiful warmth of a low evening sun so we quickly got to work.

I was shooting on a Canon DSLR with 50mm and 28mm prime lenses; shooting on a DSLR lets me get the shallow depth of field that I love. It’s also lightweight enough that I can shoot without a tripod – which meant that I could adapt quickly to Sophie’s movements.

After years of filming dance at Scottish Ballet, I’ve found that it’s best to keep the camera loose and responsive. You can plan your shots to a certain extent, but often on the day it’s the happy accidents that are the bits I like the best. I use my own (cheaper!) version of steadicam, using the camera strap stretched tightly against my neck to steady the shot. I think if the camera is free to move then you can respond better to the dancer – perhaps your shots aren’t as perfectly composed but it makes the performance more alive. Personally, my favourite shots are often technically imperfect; out of focus or only catching a small part of the dancer onscreen, but I think that imperfection makes you focus on the detail in a way that isn’t possible in a live performance.

We shot from 7pm till just before midnight. Fortunately I had good light for a long time because it was just after the longest day of the year. However, that also meant that poor Sophie spent hours in the wind in nothing more than a light dress. You’d never guess from the footage, but when the camera stopped filming her teeth would immediately begin to chatter. You can’t see, but there was always someone standing ready just off-camera armed with a blanket and a hot cup of tea! She still looked amazing though and never complained once.

Image by Christina Riley

Image by Christina Riley

My favourite part of the video is the last third, where the sun is low and the sky was especially vivid. By this point Sophie was freezing so we only had time for two shots – one ultra wide to get the sky and a second in close up. The colours were absolutely beautiful, so I’m glad she toughed it out.

Sophie then escaped to sit in the car with the heating on, while I stayed to get some final shots of the deserted beach. I ended up leaving the camera balanced carefully on the sand while I ran at a group of seagulls waving my arms frantically to scare them into flying into shot. (I’m glad the beach was empty at this point.)

The shoot only lasted one evening but the edit took far longer. I probably listened to the song another hundred times over this period. My first step when editing is to re-watch all the footage, picking out my favourite moments. Then I’ll piece together a rough edit. We’d thought we might need to do a second day of shooting but I could tell immediately that I had enough footage to tell a complete story. Just as well, as that sunset was never to be repeated!

The first edit came together fairly quickly, but then I spent days chopping, changing, and rearranging – trying to get the overall flow of the film right. I’ve learned that, with dance on film, perfect continuity isn’t as important as visual flow. Rather than piecing together movements that match up perfectly in a linear progression, I think it is much more effective to combine shots which have the same feeling, or contrast in an interesting way.

The end result was really well received, and bringing us to the attention a lot of people who might not have noticed us before. Everything worked for us on the day – that freakishly beautiful sunset and Sophie’s amazing improvisation. I can’t wait for my next Scottish Ballet Creative project!

Sophie Laplane’s new work Maze will be performed in September and October as part of Scottish Ballet’s Autumn Season 2015. Find out more information here.

See Eve’s showcased work on Central Station here.

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See a preview of Empathy, Neon Dance choreographer Adrienne Hart’s first full-length work on vimeo here. Empathy is due to premiere on 15 October 2015 at Bournemouth’s Pavilion Dance Southwest.

The next live stream will be the English National Ballet’s Choreographic Competition 2015 on 19 May at 7pm BST. Tune in online here.

Find out more and see a full range of on demand content anytime here.

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The two videos were created in response to a commissioning brief from the artist’s management. They wanted “deep, dark visuals” and two videos linked by the same aesthetic style and story, but with the narrative kept fairly loose and abstract.

At the time, I was submitting quite a lot of pitches for a fairly wide variety of acts – from radio-friendly dance music, to guitar-based rock. Once I’m sent a brief, I’ll have only a couple of days after first hearing the track to come up with an idea and draft up a pitching document to send to the label. It can be tricky jumping between different musical styles and trying to generate strong ideas that I’m committed to making, and that have a decent chance of securing the job. For me, when I’m at the basic ideas stage, there’s no point sitting at a desk with a pen just trying to force something out – and it’s a hundred times worse in front of a computer. What I usually do instead is listen to the track loads of times on a loop while concentrating on any kind of visual or emotional response I feel to it. Usually I don’t really get anything, and just find myself getting sleepy. At this point I kneel on the floor with my head resting on a chair in a really uncomfortable position, and drift off to sleep. Ten minutes, I tend to wake up with sore knees and the beginnings of an idea.

For this project, the initial idea involved a mysterious night time journey through an alien and deserted cityscape. I imagined the ‘walker’ being small within the frame, and swamped by darkness – always kind of frightened by what was around the next corner, but somehow compelled to keep going; inexorably, rhythmically, as though in a dream.

After kneeling on the floor, the next stage of my process involves getting out the pen and paper and approaching the initial idea with a critical eye and some discipline – thinking about how any specific effects or visuals can be achieved; taking the brief, budget and deadline into consideration; and starting to work out how the idea might be structured over the duration of the track. At this stage, it sometimes helps if I think of the idea as someone else’s crap brainwave that I’ve been tasked with whipping into shape – it makes it easier to leave the first type of woolly thinking behind, and get on with preparing a developed idea. (I should mention that I’m sometimes helped out at this stage by Halcyon directors Jack and Alex – for them it really is someone else’s crap brainwave). The outcome of this stage should be the creation of a pitching document to send to the label. This should give a good sense of the idea – the look, the atmosphere, the narrative trajectory. It has to be appealing to try and win the job, but also achievable, in case I do.

On this occasion, my pitch was successful, and the project rolled into motion. Beth Allan from Forest of Black came on board early on as the Producer, and we worked together closely during pre-production. She brought together all the logistical side of things – organising the crew, the scheduling, the budget, the equipment, the contracts, and probably a hundred other things I never even knew about. Meanwhile, I was working on the storyboard and shot list during the day, and at night, cycling around Glasgow taking pictures of potential locations.

As Beth brought new crew members on board, I would discuss with them what I was looking for. It was my first time working with a professional Production Designer (Moley Campbell), Make-Up Artist (Nicole Stafford), and Costume Designer (Louise Allen), and they really brought the project to life.

The filming technique employed was slightly unusual, and involved the performers having to move extremely slowly while we took a series of photographs. Having tried the required movement myself in the creation of the test footage, I was aware how physically demanding it was. Consequently, I decided that it would be best to cast dancers rather than actors, to ensure that they had the necessary physical control and stamina to create the desired aesthetic. Jen Farmer and Rob Heaslip took the leading roles, with Sarah Swires and Julian Capolei doing an amazing job on the ‘dancing couple sequence’.

The shoot itself was a slog, but by that point, the vast majority of my contribution was already complete. The real hard work at this point fell to Michael Sherrington (Director of Photography), Rory Stewart (Assistant Director), and of course, the actors. The process of filming can be fairly stressful, so I like to have made my creative decisions in advance – I just turn up on the day with a clipboard and stick to the plan.

For more work by Ciaran, see his showcase on Central Station here or visit the links below.

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My name is Dorian Nuskind-Oder, and I am an American dance artist living in Montreal, Quebec. I fell in love with Montreal in the summer of 2006, when I attended a month-long workshop in the city. I knew right away I wanted to live there. I loved the parks and the quiet back alley “ruelles”, and the reasonable rents. Quebec has traditionally taken great pride in its culture, and I could sense that the city had a rich arts scene. In addition to the big institutions like the Museum of Fine Arts, the Symphony, the Opera and the Ballet, there are tons of smaller, experimental companies and venues. In 2009, I made the move from New York City and never looked back.

It was hard to narrow down the list, but here are a few of my favorite creative places in Montreal:

Belgo Building

Belgo Building
Located on St. Catherine St, right next to the Place des Arts, is a loft building filled with a variety of arts organizations. Mostly clustered on the 3rd, 4th and 5th Floors, there are commercial galleries, artist-run centers, and dance studios. A few favorites:

SBC Gallery often host interesting live events in conjunction with their exhibitions as well as symposiums and workshops.

Studio 303 is an organization that supports the creation of contemporary dance and interdisciplinary work. They host intimate, provocative performances in their studio space.

Also, check out CIRCA.

For a weekly overview of what’s on at the Belgo, you can check out the website for The Belgo Report.

DHC/Art
DHC/Art is a private foundation housed in two beautiful buildings in Montreal’s Old Port neighborhood. They host two large exhibitions per year and focus on international artists who, though well known, have not yet had major a solo show in Canada. Recent artists include Thomas Demand, Cory Archangel, and Ryoji Ikeda. There is no admission fee, and they are usually not very busy, which means you can enjoy the artworks in peace and quiet.

Short and Sweet (performers: Adam Kinner and Kelly Keenan). Photo: Celia Spenard-Ko

Wants & Needs Dance
Wants & Needs Dance is a company run by choreographers Sasha Kleinplatz and Andrew Tay. In addition to making their own work, they organize several regular events including the very popular Short & Sweet series. Short & Sweet invites 30 choreographers (or, occasionally artists from other disciplines) to create a 3-minute piece. A timekeeper is present and anyone who goes over the limit has their lights and sound cut. Experimentation is highly encouraged, and the evenings are a really fun way to get a sense of Montreal’s contemporary dance community. Most of the time, the shows happen at La Sala Rossa, a bar/music venue on Avenue St. Laurent.

Theatre Aux Ecuries
Aux Ecuries is a bit off the beaten path, but I love their theater space and appreciate the adventurous programming.

Performance at Aux Ecuries (“AVALe” by Compagnie Joe Jack et John). Photo: Adrienne Surprenant

Societe des Arts Technologiques
If you are interested in digital and multi-media art, there is the SAT, which hosts electronic music performances and immersive multi-media type shows, as well as residences and workshops. The Satosphere is a large, domed theater space which allows for immersive 360 projections. They also have a restaurant, the Labo Culinaire, which offers an “experimental” menu.

SAT Photo: Sebastien Roy

Drawn and Quarterly Bookshop
Drawn and Quarterly is a rad little bookshop run by a printing press of the same name. They have a great selection of contemporary writing, as well as graphic novels and children’s books.

Drawn and Quarterly Bookshop, Photo: Studio Happy Birthday

Montreal is a city known for its festivals, especially for the two huge summer festivals (Montreal International Jazz Festival, and the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival). Here are two of my favorites:

International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA) 
FIFA is an international festival of films on art. Their programming is a mix of documentaries on art and artists, video art, experimental film and dance film. In general the quality is very high, and I’ve seen a lot of beautiful movies at this festival.

Festival TransAmerique (FTA)
The FTA is a performing arts festival that programs both Canadian and International dance and theater. It usually takes place the last week in May and the first week in June. Tickets are expensive, but it’s a great moment to binge on performances. The festival also organizes panel discussions with visiting artists. In addition to the FTA, there is the OFFTA, which focuses on work by local companies, as well as a number of other independent events and showings. There is not much performance programmed during the summer in Montreal, so this always feels like the season’s last hurrah before everyone takes off until fall.

Dorian Nuskind-Oder will present a new solo performance on 31 May and 1 June 2014 at Studio 303 in Montreal. For more information about her work, please visit her website.

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Our programme of public art commissions for this year’s Edinburgh Art Festival is titled Parley, exploring art’s capacity to create dialogue. Sitting alongside this themed programme, the Festival Detours series of events seems particularly fitting.

Each year we invite artists from the worlds of music, poetry and theatre to respond to exhibitions in Edinburgh Art Festival galleries in a series of intimate performances which provide fresh perspectives on visual art.

In its third year, the Festival Detours performances take place in gallery exhibitions that themselves explore dialogues between artists – be they collaborations, influences of artist’s practices on others, or the translation of an artwork into a new medium by other hands. This year’s Festival Detours are set to create new conversations and to contribute in their own way to the Parley.

Billy Letford at City Art Centre
12 August, 6-6:40pm

Billy Letford, poet, brings his unique voice to the exhibition Coming into Fashion, a Century of Photography at Condé Nast, an exhibition that charts multiple generations of iconic fashion photographers from Edward Steichen to those still practicing today such as David Bailey and Mario Testino.

Winner of the New Writers Award from the Scottish Book Trust, Billy Letford has received rave reviews for his work which combines experimental structure with cadences and accents of ordinary speech to produce “moments of transcendental insight” (The Guardian).

GOL at Talbot Rice Gallery
16 August, 6-6:40pm

The band GOL uniquely fuse traditional Persian arrangements with contemporary electronica, jazz and world music. For the Art Festival, GOL will give a one-off performance within the Nam June Paik Resounds exhibition at Talbot Rice Gallery. This exhibition is the first Name June Paik exhibition in Scotland, no other artist than whom has had a greater influence on the use of technology in art.

Roddy Woomble at Dovecot Studios
20 August, 6-6:40pm

Lead singer with Idlewild, Woomble is highly acclaimed for his solo releases of contemporary folk, and will perform an acoustic set in response to the exhibition From Fleece to Fibre at Dovecot Studios. At the heart of this exhibition is a tapestry of Victoria Crowe’s celebrated painting, Large Tree Group (1975), was chosen by Dovecot Studios in 2012 to be transposed as part of its centenary celebrations.

Louise Ahl (Ultimate Dancer) at Inverleith House
24 August, 6-6:40pm

Louise Ahl is an exciting contemporary choreographer and performer, whose alter-ego Ultimate Dancer will create a one-off performance at Inverleith House, interacting with the exhibition Mostly West: Franz West and Artist Collaborations.

This is the first exhibition of works made by West in collaboration with other leading visual artists including Douglas Gordon, Marina Faust, Mike Kelley and Sarah Lucas, encapsulating Franz West’s belief in the juxtaposition of various viewpoints.

Booking for Festival Detours has just opened on www.edinburghartfestival.com

Tickets are £4 and spaces are limited.

1. Highland Fling Poster Image for Scottish Ballet by Eve McConnachie

2. Drift by Goat

3. Kathak by Arti Agarwal

4. Five Tangos by Claire Quigley

5. Excerpt Electric Woods by Iona Kewney

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See more Top 5s selected from the network here.

The Space is also a place where everybody can experiment with ideas and play with images, text and sound.

Why we like it:
The Space provides access to all of the arts in one place where it is absolutely free to discover and enjoy. Their easy to navigate site allows you to find films including BFI Shorts, musical treats, contemporary dance and performance videos.

Find out more:
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What:
Archived’it is an experimental online project where users can create their own remix of ‘Dance on Steps’, a 1934 dance film, set alongside a soundtrack provided by the renowned Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds. As this site is still in its infancy, for best results, you will need to use Google Chrome.

Why we like it:
Sharing your work and allowing others to interact with it is essential in creative projects. Archived’it engages both these ideals beautifully and it will stay in your mind because of that.

Find out more:
Website

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As it is the week of Big Dance, we decided to showcase What On Earth!? – Duck’s Dream Performance by the Scottish Dance Theatre. It features Graeme Hawkins’ (aka Retchy) animated projections in the background. Get your dancing shoes on and join in.

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Who:
Debasers Filums is a film maker Felipe Bustos Sierra

Why:
We liked how the dancers movement, music and gorgeous Edinburgh surroundings go together. Plus there’s nothing like an energetic video to push you through a dull Wednesday.

Where to find Debaser Filums:
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