MOVING IMAGE WORK, PAUSE&EFFECT, SHOWN ON THE BIG SCREEN, FEDERATION SQUARE, MELBOURNE

Inspired by John William Waterhouse’s painting, Ulysses and the Sirens (1891) in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), PAUSE&EFFECT was an artwork produced by Now Screening, a moving image project. The short film is a mixture of photographs, live action footage, hand-drawn animation elements created from photographs and digital compositing.

The conceptual development process took a long time. A storyboard took over the studio wall. Young people and artists shot many hours of
 film in city locations, which became the live- action footage for PAUSE&EFFECT. Observations crystallised around a storyline, while participants gained skills in still and video camera operation, editing techniques and managing graphic image files. Young participants experimented with basic principles of animation and developed skills in using animation software that came into play in the final production. They were encouraged to experience intensive one-on-one tuition in all aspects of production.

In PAUSE&EFFECT, the young call on the Sirens of Melbourne’s skylines, found turned to stone high on the buildings, to take on the task of encouraging people not just to look but to see, not just to hear but to listen and not just to touch but to feel. The film explores the layers of the city, from the visual displays that bombard people with messages, to the small details that often go unnoticed. Through making this work the young people themselves had to do what they were asking of their audience.

Click here to view  the PAUSE&EFFECT film in full.