Since returning from the monastary I've become a bit more experimental with Little Stone Wood (LSW) I think this is me trying to think "outside of the box" and so I thought I would try a couple of approaches that are different to what I normally do.

The first approach was to try some panoramic images, I first tried using the panoramic function on the iphone and then I took a series of images with the DSLR and stitched them together in photoshop.

I feel that they are ok, but I think that the format seems a bit gimmicky. I am trying to produce a sense of inner reflection through deadpan photography and the long format doesn't help to produce that state of mind. It seems to distract because it is unusual to see a panoramic image and so I don't think it would be useful.

The second experiment I tried involved film. This started by recording some of the ambient sound at LSW to see how that would work. When I was listening back to the recording, I then decided to put a series of still images with the sound. This led to the production of the first 2 videos below, one in colour and then one in B&W.

This idea seemed to work better than the panoramic photographs, the images are the right ratio because they are photographs and the sound gave an extra element of immersion, especially when listened to with headphones as that blocks out the ambient sound of your current surroundings.

So I then returned to LSW to produce some more video. I decided to record each shot for one minute and to follow the deadpan aesthetic. In total I took 7 shots, for a couple of shots I just let the camera run for over 5 minutes to see if that would have any extra effect, but when editing I found that it worked better with a minute length instead.

Overall I am happier with the film than I am with the panoramics. I do feel that it is more immersive and can produce a sense of inner reflection. With this being just an experiment I think there are elements that can be improved on. When I was shooting the film it was getting near dusk and so the light was failing. This has led to an increase in digital noise which is very obvious in the last scene so it would be better to shoot it earlier in the day. Another element that I want to try is to be there when the weather is more stormy. When I was shooting this, there was no wind and so everything has a sense of calm but I would like to juxtapose the calm with high winds and creaking branches. There is also the question of the wind noise on the microphone, but I can always borrow an external microphone from the university. I am also undecided if it needs to be colour or B&W, hence why I am producing the film twice and will decide later which format works best.

So, I think at the moment that the film is worth persuing. I think it has a couple of advantages, the first being I can control how long the viewer sees the scene for, which is something I can't do with a still image. I also think that it is more immersive, especially when listened to with headphones as two senses are engaged instead of just one. Also this is something different, that it feels like it's a new direction for the project instead of recreating what I was photographing before.