Institute of Contemporary Arts

Through the eyes of the documentary

Date: 4 December 2006

12" singles at Vinyl Mania

It's funny how, when you have a project to work on, everything in and around that work, and everything else besides, seems to be informed by the subject matter. We're making a film about independent record stores in the USA, and now everything I look at in the street, read in the press, note as I walk into a shop, or observe about the local neighbourhood, seems to be viewed through the eyes of the film.

Would this corner on of the Lower East Side I am standing on, make a nice flash of contextual footage to reflect the colourful, grimy-but-fashionable part of Manhattan that is home to a number of of the record stores we are speaking with?

How does this article I am reading in the New York Press about the commercial take over of MySpace feed into the argument we are forming on film about the shifting terrain of the exchange of music?

How is the this local news report I am watching on TV framing the person that is being interviewed, and cutting some descriptive footage in between?

Should I be photographing every small indepedent gig venue, musically-themed mural, collection of stickers promoting underground music, in order to build up a wider visual landscape that the stores themselves sit within in New York City?

Should I discuss the project with every single person I meet, just in case they suggest a store we din't know about, someone who'd make a great interview, or give a new angle on the subject that could really inform the narrative?

It's quite hard to switch off, and even when we aren't filming or scheduling, or reflecting on where we're at with what footage we now have, we are exchanging ideas, or, in a less overt way, thinking and considering the film: whenever something appears in front of us that has some connection to record stores, vinyl, independent music, it immediately resonates in the context of the film.

And as well as feeding the project, these constant observations also make for a really detailed exploration of a place, and offer a compelling, alternative way to see a country, its geography, its local communities, its architecture, culture, politics and people. I might be seeing things from a very specifically channelled perspective, but I am probably also seeing things that I might not have noticed at all, was it not for such focus. I feel like we're not only making a music documentary, but are also piecing together a layered portrait of a particular community, and the varied expressions of identity that such a subculture houses.