Encounters by Adrienne Torres
Deriving from the concept of place and time, Alexander Sokuruv’s Russian Ark (2002) is an experimental historical film that follows a ghost of an unnamed narrator that wanders through the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg who encounters various real and fictional people from different periods throughout the city’s 300 year history. The film is infamous for being recorded entirely using a one-take single 96 minute Steadicam point-of-view sequence shot. The film breaks the fourth wall extensively, as at times the narrator interacts with other performers, whilst at other times going unnoticed. The whole film was repeatedly and dynamically reframed and some scenes were slowed down or sped up. Sokuruv described his technique of being shot in “one breath” as an impressive technical achievement and a work of great ingenuity. The film was choreographed in order for the camera to navigate smoothly through various rooms. (Harte, 2005) The director equipped the film with a distinct fluidity that heightened the impression of three dimensional space and the sensation of “real” time passing.
I was inspired by Sokuruv’s technique to film a one-take film as I admired the attention to detail he possessed in Russian Ark. On the opening of each door, the camera hovers in wide-eyed anticipation as every room would take the viewers to a different time period. The point-of-view technique which would then follow a different character gave me the idea to bring viewers who watch my film a glimpse into other people's lives after an interaction. The film begins by following the character Marquis, so I decided to start my film by filming a wide shot of various pedestrians, then following the journey of a character who walks past the camera.
The film has various couples dancing and interacting with each other. As they are obviously at a social gathering, I directed my actors to show me their journey when meeting people in a social setting. My film uses various circle shots and tracking shots that follow the different characters that encounter each other to show that even though their interactions may be ordinary, every journey has a story... just like the film.
The film breaks the fourth wall extensively by making eye contact with the camera and by characters interacting with the character whose point of view the film surrounds. However, the film is also told through expression and the various expressions that make eye contact with the camera. I decided to portray that by creating a scenario in which a character in my film is lost and the expression on her face indicated so. I made a decision to not have dialogue in my film as I wanted to rely purely on camera angles and the character's expression and gestures to tell the story. The film does this, as there is no particular storyline but the viewers are made aware of the situations occurring because of the gestures, costumes, occasional dialogue and expressions. The film also follows various angles that portray that "real life" persona by using imperfect camera angles and many occurrences happening at once.
Sokurov showcases that the time period has changed by walking through different rooms. He achieved this by changing the clothing and hairstyles of the characters. Because of the requirement to make a 1 minute film, I decided to portray a similar concept by changing the main perspective of my film by following another character after the previous character interacts with them. This allowed me to easily create a point-of-view single shot that still told a story and pertained to the concept and techniques of Russian Ark.
REFERENCES:
Harte, Tim. A Visit to the Museum: Aleksandr Sokurov's "Russian Ark" and the Framing of the Eternal. Slavic Review, 64 (1), 43-58. www.jstor.org/stable/3650066.
