The idea for this film comes from the experience of three winters living in the Kitsilano district of Vancouver. Walking out along the ocean front is a rewarding experience at any time of year, but in winter the fog moves in and the landscape assumes its quintessentially Pacific North West appearance. It is at this time more than any other when, lacking a clearer point of reference, one's attention is drawn to the large cargo ships which anchor in the bay.
Sometimes, in clearer weather, the ships dominate the landscape. At other times, when the fog moves in, the landscape dominates the ships. On some days they assume a monumental, sculptural presence, testimony to the technological domination of the environment. At other times they are no more than grey, ghostly shapes, only half-seen in the swirling fog. At times they appear to be so large they look as if they may be about to run you down. On a different day they look like children's toys or partially drawn pictograms on grey paper.
The film comprises a series of panning shots from numerous camera angles and in a variety of winter weather conditions. The camera pans slowly from the left and from the right, as if searching for something in the fog. At times the fog is so dense that viewers of the film will be unsure if they have seen anything or merely invented a ghostly shape in the air. At other times a ship pans into view, large and very solid in the low, winter light. Shooting in different degrees of visibility has created the sensation of time passing—by, for example, dissolving a shot of a clearly visible ship into a shot of a dense fog bank and vice versa.
2 PRINTS IN DISTRIBUTION
|
distribution format |
16mm |
|
screen |
1,37 - Standard (single screen) |
|
speed |
24 fps |
|
sound |
optical sound |
|
rental fee |
58,00 € |
|
distribution format |
Digital file on server (FHD) |
|
screen |
1,37 - Standard (single screen) |
|
speed |
23,976 fps |
|
sound |
sound |
|
rental fee |
58,00 € |
