The Juniper Tree

Digital video embodies immediacy; light is captured, translated to binary code and instantly replayed. My practice involves pursuing immediacy by negation of script, lighting and crew. Instead narrative is improvised with actors and non actors on location, with only practical lighting and the filmmaker on camera. The handheld camera is free to explore and react to the unfolding drama, seeking a balance between aesthetic framing and amateur documentation. The immediacy of this process is complimented by the 24 hours permitted for the whole production. Editing deconstructs the long takes and contrives a linear continuity, juxtaposed with voice over and music.
Narrative comprehension becomes a collision between sight and sound as causal links are created by the audience. Initial confusion is rewarded by the weight of these collisions bearing down on the spectator as the story leads to its inevitable conclusion. The abridged Brothers Grimm fairytale is reinvented within the modern digital culture as an unsettling, claustrophobic portrayal of domestic abuse and guilt.