The Unreality of Reality

Release (Director's Cut) from Kendy on Vimeo.


Webby's Gala Opening Sequence 2008 from Rob Chiu on Vimeo.


Two entirely different visualists: Rob Chiu and Kendy. Rob Chiu I have had the pleasure of knowing since the early 2000s. Kendy's work I stumbled across watching Channel 4's Urban theme: Concrete Jungle.

What unites them is a visual DNA, and also scores not too dissimilar to the undiscerning ear: Hecq and OBNY.

To their fans the two are way different, but all highlight a growing tendency in our visual culture: the unreality of reality.

In Sontag's epochal book On Photography, and if you're a theoretician in photography and you haven't read it, it's the equivalent of a playwright ignoring Beckett, Sontag pokes at the unreality of reality.

A photograph or image draws us to a realism in which more credence is attached than sometimes the real thing. In the past citing Gombrich she notes the image and its real thing were indistinguishable.

Today, our heightened sense of visual pleasure, brilliant colours, flares, noir has made cinema our reality.

Strangely, we'd rather watch the two videos above and marvel, than being given the rawness of the real thing. More so for a generation born into cinescopes' reality: games; films, music videos.


The Retwitter Show titles - journalism 2046 from david dunkley gyimah on Vimeo.


My work researching a doctorate draws some ideas, such as the reinterpreting, or reversioning of an event to heighten its affect; not for the sake of a 3 minutes of wanton pleasure, though that does happen, but an approach to burrow into your psyche - to disturb you or make you feel happy.

When those grey-suited men conceived of news and the recording of events in scientific mode - a stipulation that freed it from abuse - they did so as the nannying statesman protecting us from the deviance's of others e.g. yellow journalism, fakery etc.

Unless however the event ( news) is more gratuitous than the former its grapples fail to hold us, so in feature news e.g. docs, visualisation and sound scaping are designed to lock us in. By the way visualists have been doing this from time re:art movement to art movement. Note how the impressionists usurped the realist in the 1900s.

The unreality of reality sees TV being emasculated by 3dtv, composited form driving out what was its referent, by illusions overcoming physical states.

The unreality of reality was at the heart of the schism between classical film theory and post structuralism. In years to come it will become ever more crucial a factor that delimits our view of events.

And as the visual language grows, we can just about be certain, that a next generation's use of fluttercuts, flashframes, crushed blacks and the rest will itself become obsolete.

What then?

Meanwhile I'm enjoying this unreality/reality

Apple- profiled digital filmmaker David Dunkley Gyimah  and  internaional award winning innovator in media presents to industry on media and innovations. You can find more of his own work on viewmagazine.tv and contact him here

Youth Angst - Videojournalism behind scene

Youth Angst, Gun Crime, Bullying - Videojournalism behind the scene. I'll write more about Rob Chiu's shoot soonish. This was the last thing I created on the A1

Videojournalism- Behind the scenes film making

Rob Chiu, arguably one of the UK and Europe's young directors.

One of the least publicised uses for videojournalism has been its ability to capture behind the scenes.

It's not a novel idea. Truth or Dare or In bed with Madonna and Gerri Halliwell to name but two have all been covered by soloists. In the latter case, the highly acclaimed doc maker Molly Dinnen.

In fact you can't sniff a DVD extra today without a behind the scene, shot by a DV camer.

Often though their contact cards tend to say, "film maker". But frankly, capturing behind the scenes, asking the right questions, and being able to read situations is a job made for a videojournalist.

You could argue the closeness of docs and videojournalists, however often there's a fundamental difference in turn over time, and the obvious disadvantage for a rookie videojournalists is confidently staying the course.

Rob Chiu's film Fear and Love - a scene.

There is a different skill between the sprinter and the long distance runner, also reflected in the videojournalist and doc producer.

But it needn't be so.

At the Southbank's recent gathering of high profile names in the Arts, it took a lot of trust and a shooting taxonony that was un-doc like to engage the participants.

That same approach was used on this sizeable budget film by Rob Chiu, arguably one of the UK and Europe's young directors - known as the Ronin.

I got asked along to his debut commercial shoot and two days ago, Rob emailed to ask if I could produce the behind the scenes for a Dazed and Confused interview.

Fancy that. There was a time when pics and text would have sufficed. Not any more.

Coming back to the footage after a long absence made it interesting. Often I turn over films in the moment. The camera in shot, used on the production was The Red, which made my A1 look weedy.

Red Camera

But that's the point, "weedy" gets me into those small tight areas. And since acquring a JVC with shallow depth of field lens, I'm able to push the visuals to something approaching a cine-state.

I'll post Rob's film tomorrow, but the point with all this is to draw focus to the invisibility of behind the scenes film making

A brief visual history of video journalism -from BBC to newspapers

A brief visual history of videojournalism from david dunkley gyimah on Vimeo.

Recently, I've been spending my spare time researching further into news film making and a video journalism praxis, with the view for a book later this year.

My US publisher is like the best editors: "carrot and a big stick approach".

It's going to be fun, but in the meantime I thought of posting this vid above in expectation of NewRewired, a much talked about London media event I have been scheduled at speak at.

Next week too is the start of South Bank's Collision - an amazing gathering of artists and experts who will share each other's company and exchange ideas.

I have always believed some of the best ideas come from inviting others to share an reconstruct new threads and thoughts. So I'm thrilled at what Southbank has achieved here.

I'm also delighted that an expert who is hugely and widely respected in film and docs has accepted Southbank Centre's invitation for the week, in which I'll play the discreet host to him.

The story of film

His name is Mark Cousins. When speakers inviting a guest on stage say things like... the following guest needs no invitation, they would be talking about the likes of Mark.

This is his Mark's background. And be sure to get hold of his book, the story of film.

Back to the video.

In television terms you could call it a showreel, but I do believe it's more than that. In essence through the fringes of my career it gives some idea of the changes in video productions from the early 90s to my curent Phd practice.

Here's a precis of the video inserts

• BBC Reportage - the BBC's flagship youth programme which defined a generation of video/ film makers. Before reportage there was no current affairs that did youth issues. Before Reportage cinema verite was rare.

• Channel One TV- Channel One launched the year the web grew up circa 1994 with the launch of the first web browser Mosaic. The clip shown is part of a larger film looking at newspapers taking to the web in 1995

• Videojournalism is as much a western model as printing is believed to have been soley down to Guttenberg. Scholars have determined Guttenberg wasn't the only one on the trail of mass printing. And as for videojournalism, the Africans started experimenting with it in 1997. More recently in the Middle East a number of countries e.g. Beirut, Jordan, Egypt have taken to videojournalism

• Channel One proved something else - using the vj concept it could make any genre of programme. Last year Ferrari gave my good friend the 599GTB. We made a 15 minute vid taking the car back to Ferrari HQ which has got some good hits on youtube.

Through out the videos I'm sing a verite approach - something I call accelerated verite.

The vid ends with one of my favourite young film makers Rob Chiu whom I accompanied on the making of his first full short about teenage angst in London.

Creative walk abouts

Brilliant day down in central London at the South Bank centre talking creative stuff with Rob, the ronin, whom I consider one of the UK's most contemporary visual essayist for his generation.

We got to hang out exploring some of the world movies on show e.g. French and history of Cubby Broccoli, behind James Bond.

For a bank holiday and in spite of the rain, the centre was pretty packed. It's such a creative place to settle down for a coffee. In fact next time I there I'm going with my laptop as the lounge bars offer free wifi access.

On my way home I was inspired to make this doodle. Can't remember the last time I tried to draw. LOL The Birth of VJ Cool.

Having a bad day - sometimes things just fall apart

At some stage things just fall apart... Full experience here

From one of the best emerging motion graphic designers in the world - and that ladies and gentlemen is me being deadly serious.

When you're around people like Robb, you can't help but try and raise your game, even if you've not the first idea what you're doing

Things just fall in place

This from Rob of theronin.co.uk who I'm a big fan.
This is Graphic motion design of a quality you'll rarely see anywhere else. If you're a film buff, graphics student, video journalist enthusiast, an arm chair TV addict, or hairy monster, enjoy and spread the good visuals. The narrator is his little 4 year old. Pure pure Genius.

*Things Fall Apart*

devoidofyesterday.com
Says Rob
"Motion collective Devoid of Yesterday (consisting of directors Rob
Chiu of The Ronin and Chris Hewitt of Dstrukt) team up alongside
audio designer Ben Boysen (Hecq) for a new short narrative led piece
that explores a child's pent up anger and frustration that erupt in a
force that marks the end of innocence. Sometimes... things just fall
apart.

Created over a three week period and previewed at the ICA in London
the 2 minute piece has been picked up for distribution by Autour
DeMinuit and is to be featured on the BBC Film Network website.
Hope you all enjoy and feedback much appreciated!"

Devoid of Yesterday

Rob Chiu does things that you wonder how on heaven's earth he does them. When I wan to be inspired, rob's site is where I go put my feet up. Actually I don't that much now as I pretty much have a mental library of the work on his site.

Rob and I go back some years. We met on the covers of a magazine called Computer Arts. He had his reel in one week and then mine the other. Reels are reels, but rob's was beyond belief.

His style is teutonic, a sort of David Finch meets Carson and Tony Scott. What he does with visuals will make you weep with joy and probably send you to amazon to buy a book on After Effects.

Yesterday he sent me the preview of his new piece. Gosh would I just love to sent it out, but er No. Embargoes are not meant to be broken.

There is a new space that video journalists could inhabit, mixing motion graphics with their skill for story telling. It gets wrapped up in something I call MI6: integrated multimedia.

The bar Rob sets is way high. On Black Day to Freedom, about refugees which he produced, curated and everything else, some of the most talented young designers around the globe gave freely their time. Hahaha he had me running around the woods behind my house with a sony tape attached to me, being pelted with rain, so we would get the right voice effects for his piece.

Anyway's what am I doing trying to encroach on his glory. Super.. superb. Go to his site

www.theronin.co.uk and then again next week to catch his new piece.

A short story: Maria

A short story I wrote inspired by the plight of young displaced people. Part of the critically acclaimed book and production Black Day To Freedom now posted on the BBC

Thanks to Rob Chiu for giving me the opportunity. You can learn more about the piece below +

Maria can't see tomorrow. She's not blind. She just can't think past the present. Life has become a surreal kaleidoscope of muted blurred dull colours moving in slow motion.



In front of her lies a long road going somewhere. . . to her left and right ragged vegetation and behind her memories she has been forced reluctantly to leave behind. Embers and smouldering heat from a once vibrant village just about find her nose, touching also her unblemished skin.

Soon she will be out of range, but that is cold comfort. What will she eat? Where can she sleep? How will she find her brother?

Suddenly she is stopped in her tracks. Something catches her eyes in the dirt. Risking her life to stop she stoops to ponder the simple object: a page from a magazine, barely depicting a smiling face, mouth agape, ready to eat.

If the page were complete and she could read, she would see a young boy devouring a cake with the words. 'Sumptuously delicious."

Her moment of thought is broken, a flurry of shots, mortar rounds, a loud bang, brilliant colours and then a deafening silence.

When Marie comes around, she notices new clothes. It is dark. Time has aged. She stirs to look sideways and then the other, and then begins to simper. A lone voice, velvety, meets her cries mid-air.

It is an angel all in white, smiling. Maria's troubles are over. She is in that place, heaven. "So what's your name then? You're lucky to be alive."

Jane Goodman is one of the remaining aid agency workers in a region wracked by civil war and the little girl she has helped bring into camp is one of many casualties.

Maria has never seen a white person, except most recently as a picture in copper coloured soil. Her religious teacher once told her what angels looked like, but they were supposed to have wings, otherwise this woman has near enough the same features as her: two eyes... a nose... mouth... two arms... and two....

Maria can't see her legs.

The woman notices her changed looks and beckons a colleague.

Over the course of the evening as moths flicker against the lamp, Maria explains to the two strangers, one of whom speaks her language, how she fled her home, how militia gunned down anyone they saw, how her mother on the verge of her last breadth made her daughter feign death, and how her last words were: "When the soldiers turn their back run.. run with your brother to the hills.. run for your dear young lives".

Few eyes remained dry as Maria Stephens slumped back into her chair and lifted her prosthetic legs into a more demur position.

The darkness has lifted, but the wounds of guilt and blame are there, as today she leads a new life in Berkshire, the UK, attending a new school.

She was lucky. She lived.

She was given a new life in England and a new mother. 

Jane Goodman has since swapped the care of the destitute for that of young minds needing to acquire knowledge. She's a school teacher.

Maria's simple yet powerful soliloquy stemmed from the simple, yet powerful words inscribed on the blackboard: Refugees.

She has since learned she was one. That in England, her new home, people get very animated by the subject, ranging from outrage to despair.

She has learned of the different classes of refugees; migrant, economic, political, transcendental, even psychological.
They all share something in common. An attempt, often futile, to escape circumstances they have no control over.

As she wheels herself back to her desk, a classmate asks: How did you cope with all the pain and suffering all that while.

Maria pulls a dirty piece of paper from her satchel and mutters something in a language no one understands.

If they did, they would hear her say: "He reminds me of how lucky I am. above all he looks like my brother. He never leaves my side and I also know he is really with the angels.

End+

I wrote this for a publication called "Black Day To Freedom". The curator/ instigator Rob Chiu would later ask if I could feature inside an animated piece he was creating.

Black Day to Freedom, a critically acclaimed production and one of the best pieces of animation around the plight of refugees is now posted here on the BBC and where I debut as the reporter's voice within the piece.

There are a number of thing you can do towards this issue, particularly bringing to the attention of politicians and news makers what's going on in Dafur.

A video report on the release of Black Day featuring Rob can be found here here Rob releases Things Fall Apart this month.