For those amongst you who are disposed towards simple explanations, ideoforming is the act of making something from an idea. An ideoform then is something that has been made in such a way.
This Manifesto was written prior to the advent of Mobile Phones possessing the technical capacity to capture decent videographic images and audible sound so might appear a bit out of date. At the time though it was so cutting edge, so much so that practically everyone I knew ignored it.
So it can be.
All ideas have their time. However brief.
It was designed to be a bit of fun and, like the best boundaries, it was self imposed. It was designed to provoke creative approaches to making films on a low budget. It is provided here for academic purposes and in the vain hope that the application of obscure methodologies of filmmaking will help make the world a better place to which to live.
Maybe they will. You will just have to work that bit out for yourselves.
Mr X
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An Alpinist Manifesto for Film.
‘Short is the little time which remains to thee of life. Live as on a mountain.’ Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
In 1954 the Austrian mountaineer Herman Bhul struck out for the summit of Nanga Parbat on his own. He carried no bottled oxygen, no tent, no sleeping bag and very little food. Returning to camp some 41 hours later, having soloed the summit, he was the first person to make an ‘Alpine style’ ascent of a Himalayan peak. Prior to this the strategy for climbing in the Himalaya was to lay siege a mountain, to edge ones way up a mountain, ferrying supplies up to ever higher camps until the summit could be reached.
Similarities can be draw to the act of filmmaking. At the time of writing The Fresh Gravity Film Manifesto Digital filmmaking was still in it’s infancy. It was just possible to edit the footage one had just shot on a laptop. No editing suit or movie studio was needed to lay siege to a story in quite the way it had for so many years before. And yes, there are plenty of examples of filmmakers working on the fly over the years but to focus to strongly on them would just spoil the conceit. So let us say, at least until the end of this page, that with the advent of digital technology, Alpinist filmmaking was born.
Tongue in cheek as it is, the manifesto is designed to stretch the skills and capability of the filmmaker, to force one to think ahead, to sharpen the focus and to attempt to maintain a strenuous pace from beginning to end.
The idea of making a film in 48 hours or less is not an uncommon condition for filmmaking competitions these days, and I imagine that severe time restraints are employed in film schools to a greater or lesser effect in pushing students to wards the boundaries of their own creative capabilities. However, The Fresh Gravity Film Manifesto goes a step or two further. Whether it will ever lead to the creation of a masterpiece remains to be seen. I suspect that we might have to wait some time.
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THE FRESH GRAVITY FILM MANIFESTO
An Alpinist Manifesto for Film
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We live in a culture where, through hard work and persistence it is possible for almost anyone to attain the fundamental hardware to make movies.
The Alpinist film maker must aspire to become the holy trinity: Writer, Producer and Director.
As within the sphere of alpinism there are stylistic considerations to be made as some forms being said to be purer than others. Of the rules that follow only the first three are essential for a film to be called Alpinist. The further down the list one progresses the purer the end result might be said to be.
- You and your team must be able to carry all their equipment with them on their backs and will not return home until all filming is complete.
- Neither you or your team will receive support of any sort from outside the team.
- The production team must not exceed three people.
- Always aim to solo a film. The only time you should work in a team is when alternative shots are needed. Therefore every member of your production team will be found carrying a camera or sound recording equipment.
- You, your team and your equipment will have the capacity to film for as long as needs be.
- When faced with a decision on shooting you must always attempt to take the shot as directly as possible.
- Neither you or your team will re-shoot footage.
- No Tripod may be used.
- Do not change your environment to achieve a desired shot. Accept your conditions and adapt.
- Shoot in sequence.
- Edit your film before you return home.
- Do not sleep.
Respect personal freedom and privacy at all times.
Measure your achievements against yourself.
Test the limit of your being.
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All Material © Clive Austin 2014
