Studio Blog

Video Portraits

In the Studio

Though we’d love it if everyone could come in to our studios to meet the artists and see them at work, we realize that making the trip to 16th Street isn’t always possible. In light of this, we are excited to offer the chance to visit us electronically.

Teaching Artist Ming Mur-Ray has begun a series of one-minute video profiles on each of our studio artists, which can be viewed on our website here.

So what does it take to get one minute of high quality video? Ming begins by shooting about 15 to 20 minutes of footage; she says, “That’s 15 to 20 minutes on tape, the actual time spent with each artist is a lot longer.” Then, the footage must be broken down into very specific categories: descriptive shots of the artist’s reactions, their movement during artmaking, the different camera angles used, etc. There are an average of 25-30 separate clips for each video. The final cut, including sound editing, color correction, and effects, can take—from start to finish—between 2 and 5 hours. That’s in addition to the few hours spent filming!

Ming spends a lot of time watching the artists in the studio, how they work, how they interact, before she begins filming, a process she finds very helpful. During the filming she may ask a few very simple questions, or communicate with eye contact to those artists who don’t communicate verbally. “Once we warm up and begin to relax, there is an exchange between us, it’s special. My philosophy is to approach each subject with respect, and be gentle with them always.”

When viewed in conjunction with the written biographies and images of the artist’s work, a unique and compelling portrait of each individual emerges; it’s as close as you can get to being here and seeing for yourself.

They are made with sensitivity and allow the personalities of the artists to show through: those who explain things, explain them, and those who let their work explain itself, let it. This isn’t an easy task, it requires patience combined with an aesthetic judgment about what can be shown most effectively, how to film it, and edit it down to a very specific length. Then, all of this behind-the-scenes work fades into the beautiful finished product, with all the sounds and feelings of our studios intact and available for anyone with a minute to spare.

# Posted by CE on July 15, 2009