soul shelter

soul shelter

a place beyond place

a time beyond time

soul shelter

forever mine

i will embody in lungs and in suns

on my skin in my eyes

my fragile hands hold

power - free - rise

love illuminating my soul

dust of the earth

no longer paralyzed

i am home

with you

with me

soul shelter

with you

in me

The Planning

Throughout the whole process, this video project consisted of letting go of plans and stripping down to simplicity and raw emotion. When plans of making a video with four of my dear dancer friends about some other theme fell through, it came down to pursuing creating the video more intimately with my one friend Lillyana. Collaborating with one person instead made me think of what is means to be at home in one's body, mind, and soul, and what it would look like to best illustrate this grasping of the human desire for home and profound peace within oneself.

Lillyana and I met together to look through and choose a song in which we agreed upon "This Place is A Shelter" by Olafur Arnalds, because of its melancholic yet hopeful melody and tranquil instruments. Then we expanded on the theme of home, bouncing back and forth ideas with excitement and talking about how we can express what it means to find shelter in ourselves and in the Lord as we tread this earth. We agreed that we would know and grasp the fullness of the idea when we actually took the video. The spontaneity of it, we believed, would make it more authentic. Then we planned out what she would wear— simple, tan clothes that wouldn't draw attention but would meld with the color of the body and work well with the neutral, earthy location we hoped to find. I gave her my vision on how I wanted to edit the video with segments of zooming close into different section of her body like face, hands, etc. and how it would be cool to use soil and put it all over herself. She replied in agreement and said, "I'm ready to get messy," and demonstrated to me how she would dance to the music.

We both brought eager anticipation and thrill to planning out this project and left our conversation with direction and room for flexibility. I think knowing her personally through Chamber Singers and College Choir allowed us to bring energy and connection as we worked together. She also had continually expressed to me how she had been looking to do more creative projects with others and wanted to collaborate with me soon, and I had been wanting to do so as well, so this was a great opportunity for creativity for both of us. We set a time to take the video and set off to work on video-taking groundwork and choreography in our own separate time.

I listened to the song quite a few times to get a feel for it and then marked the seconds and places I wanted certain scenes for, putting those down on a timeline. I also borrowed a tripod, emptied my SD card, charged my camera battery, and wore comfortable clothes for the photoshoot, so everything would run smoothly. Lillyana and I asked a few friends for tan clothing, and we found some that fit well. The day of our shoot, we walked around a bit to find a location, and we found a huge, shell-like pile of dirt and bark that was perfect for our idea.

The Video-Taking

It was so peaceful. I was nervous leading up to the moment, for I had never taken a long video like this and was scared that my hands would be too shaky. Because I did not know what the location would be, I had no clear idea what would turn out. But with soft music playing in the background and Lillyana freely expressing herself through dance calmed my heart and allowed me to observe and capture these fleeting moments with wonder and care pressed into my videos. Lillyana and I talked only a few times, just for logistical things like"hey can you do this and that... that was beautiful" and "sure, how about this..." I caught myself continually affirming her dance moves and trying my best to captivate the sacred moment shared.

After we were done, and as I took off leaves and bark from Lillyana's hair, I asked her how this had been for her. She replied, "I have never felt more myself and more comfortable in my own skin. I was at peace with the world, myself, and God the whole time. Especially at the end when I just lay there covered in bark and soil with my eyes closed and open, looking up at the sky, I felt so much peace." It was so encouraging to hear that the dancer herself was fully immersed in the message we were trying to convey. I realized then that the video was only a glimpse of what took place in that time and place.

The Editing

I had so many short and long videos I took during the shoot, so I had to pick and choose which ones and which segments I would include in my video. It took a long time to edit, and I had to learn more about Adobe Premiere in the process, but I am thankful I had the chance experiment with different functions like slow-motion, attaching video frames to the rhythms of the song, and adding warmer color filters and contrast to each frame. Even the video-editing was soothing. The first fifty seconds of the song where there is quite piano chords, I placed zoomed in videos of different parts of her body's small movements where she was sitting down. Then, when the violin comes in, I incorporated videos of her slowly rising up and dancing standing up with larger, more powerful movements, even throwing soil everywhere. I also added cross fade here to bring unity among the different angles shot. As the music died down, I placed videos of her falling back into the ground and covering herself with the soil and bark, to represent a coming back to security and peace. I tried to build a suspenseful introduction, an apex of expression, and a quiet calm of an end, where she is one with the earth.

I had written a poem called "soul shelter"as I prepared for the shoot to capture what idea I was going for in my mind. To add another perspective, along with Lillyana's dancing, the music, and the different camera angles, I incorporated parts of the poem to the beginning and ending of the video where there is little to no music and slower, segmented frames, so that my voice would stand out and would not distract the audience from the powerful dancing in the middle of the video.

Lessons

Through this video project, I learned to have more confidence in video-taking and editing. I must say that I overcame my fears of video-making that had built up over the years, and I now have this emboldened desire to pursue this art form in the future. Unlike photography, video allows me to capture the fluidity of the story and the person, and it is an energetic way of arresting moments of vulnerability and beauty.

I also hope to work more intimately with my subjects and collaborating artists, for the experience becomes more rich and rewarding for not only myself, but for the people I work with, and hopefully others who come in contact with the artwork.

I see more clearly in my art a sense of connection with body and soul that I long to portray. The intersection of the physical and the spiritual is something I hope to continue exploring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZIxLd9g4Tk