Tuesday 26/1/21 - Derek Jarman

For the start of the new project I was told to look at the filmmaker Derek Jarman, more specifically his sketchbooks.

Initially just looking at the sketchbooks interested me, I found it fascinating to see these images and notes that give a glimpse into Jarman's thoughts. They were described as 'magpie-like collections' which I feel is very accurate as he had a flurry of different things such as polaroids, newspaper clippings, poetry, collages and sketches. These sketchbooks were used as the base for his projects such as films or music videos. He often worked with the UK duo Pet Shop Boys.

I feel like his sketchbook is a good example of how he puts his personality into his work, he was said to have taken it everywhere and would never be without it. This is something that I like in filmmakers and artists in general, it's more interesting to see their thoughts and how it affects their work, makes it more personal and connected to them. It helps give the work more personality and creates something more interesting. It feels as if you can get a little insight into how they see the world, their interests and their dreams / aspirations. To me, the best work is the work that has personality.

I saw this in his film Blue. He created it whilst he was suffering from AIDs, due to this he was partially blind and could only see in shades of blue. The film is one single shot of the colour accompanied to a soundtrack composed by Simon Fisher. It tells two stories, one of a character called Blue who gets into fights with the other colours. The other story being his life as a gay man living in 1990s London, living with AIDs. However, it doesn't just focus on the realistic aspects, it includes dream-like references such as wondering 'what is beyond the sky' and what it is like to be an astronaut. There are also references to his health and how that is affecting him. The film ends with the repetition of names belonging to friends and lovers who died of AIDs. It was considered his last testament as a film-maker. I feel like the idea of this film is beautiful as it's something very personal to Jarman and it uses a really simple yet powerful method through the single shot of the colour blue.

Here is a link to the first soundtrack demo to Blue.

The idea of soundtrack is something I want to incorporate into my work, I want to pay attention to how I could use sound and music to help affect the atmosphere and how you see the film.