Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow- Analysis

The first 20 minutes of Over Your City Grass Will Grow is exactly what we’re trying to emulate in our experimental project. We are taken into a space we don’t know and shown around it through lingering single shots, often with a slow moving camera. The impression I'm given while watching the opening is that it’s as if the camera is discovering the details of this location slowly at the same time we are, since it moves so smoothly and slowly as if it is cautious of what is around the corners.

Each shot is so slow moving that it gives the feeling of a still image, and as such you view what is being presented as if it is a photograph, but the slow tracking and zooming in the shots connects them all with a shared visual style. Most, if not all of the shots focus on showing texture and line, with the occasional one showing the light of the underground locations, the colours are quite cold due to what it is presenting but there are brief moments when colour engulfs the screen, made more obvious due to the fact these moments are few and far between.

The soundtrack is of as much importance as the visuals; the minimalist soundtrack gets across the spiritual feeling of the location, and if anything aids the visuals too much. If anything I think it adds a false depth to the images. On their own the shots are visually stunning but I think that the eerie feel to the piece is brought mainly through the soundtrack, and alone the visuals wouldn't have had this effect.

The rest of the documentary is still an interesting story and a well made film, but it doesn't relate to our project, and the visual style changes to more of a standard style so it can show what's going on clearer. As a result so all the influence I will gain from this film is from the first 20 minute segment, but for such a small segment it is something I will consider very much when on location shooting.

This is precisely the kind of feeling we want to get across in our experimental film, we want to put people in a place and try to explore that place without showing it overtly, almost as if teasing the place you are. The main thing we will do slightly different I think is that we will have more static close up shots, because as well as tease the location we also want to show its dereliction, so show it no longer has a sense of place. One of the best ways to do that will be to get in really close to parts of the warehouse that show the weathered effect of the location most and show them clearly.