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Findlay Brown 'Being Young Is Getting Old' by Anthony Dickenson

David Knight - 10th Aug 2021

The second of Anthony Dickenson's new videos is another example of the director's dedication to visual experimentation, and intimacy. In this case, for Finley Browne's Being Young Is Getting Old, he subverts the conventions surrounding the use of motion control cameras to explore the ups and downs of a relationship.

With a couple, played by Sophie Emmett and Luke Booys, events are replayed and run simultaneously, often in a triptych-effect. The motion control and split screen is employed to run concurrent narratives, or repeated shots, and primarily a storytelling tool.

There is a randomness at work with the use of the technology which suggests the effect of different viewpoints and the possible presence of an 'unreliable' narrator. It's an intriguing way to address the complex realities of a relationship which is possibly on its last legs.

ANTHONY DICKENSON:

I wanted [the motion control camera] to follow something that felt authentic, improvised and emotional.

"I had been running workshops with a group of actors I met whilst studying the Meisner technique a couple of years previous. We were specifically working on a technique called Active Analysis, which is a way of finding the root of a scene with physical connection rather than dialogue work. We ran with this and started with some simple scenes based around the ups and downs and pushes and pulls of a relationship in crisis.

"I was also inspired by how this kind of conflict is presented in two of my favourite films, Blue Valentine and Eternal Sunshine. Derek Cianfrance’s description of his film [BV] always stuck with me. He called it 'a love letter to a break up'.

"The technique was something I was keen to try out for a while. I have a small motion control camera rig that I always like to experiment with. I wanted to use it in a way that didn’t feel like it was governing the action. I wanted it to follow something that felt authentic, something improvised and emotional.

"I focused on the way that it can present multiple perspectives of the same moment in time, and how people remember these moments differently."

David Knight - 10th Aug 2021

Tags

  • Director's notes
  • Motion control
  • Narrative
  • Pick of the Day
  • Singer-songwriter
  • Relationship
  • Split screen

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Credits

Production/Creative

Director
Anthony Dickenson
Producer
Anthony Dickenson
Production Company
All Mighty Pictures

Camera

Director of Photography
Mads Junker

Casting

Lead actor
Luke Booys
Lead actor
Sophie Emmitt

Editorial

Editor
Anthony Dickenson

Grading

Colourist
Mads Junker

David Knight - 10th Aug 2021

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