Last night in Barbican Cinema 2 writer, producer and curator Gareth Evans presented some of the edited results of Eelyn Lee's 5-day Monster Lab. Last week Eelyn led a group of 18 collaborating performers, musicians and artists through an experimental process in the Barbican's studio theatre, to find new ways of creating improvised film. Loosely inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the project explored notions of monster, demons and fear, using the setting of the estuary to locate the work.
Evans had visited the Lab on Day 4 and observed the process in action. After seeing the three scenes projected in the cinema, his first comment to the audience was:
"...The idea that we would see something translated so profoundly from a theatrical space to a cinematic one in just a handful of days is really extraordinary... the process starts ironically in a theatre space and becomes more cinematic as it goes on. A wonderful paradox..."
Eelyn Lee and long-term editor/composer Francis Morgan-Giles spent three days editing the footage shot by cinematographer Dominik Rippl. The results are three scenes of a monster story: the river; the hideout and the market. Lee says,
'We have enough footage to cut together four more scenes to complete the story cycle. I am really pleased with the results which are dark, full of suspense and evoke a strong sense of the estuary. We have truly created a new visual language through this unique process. It's very exciting.'
Eelyn is currently looking to transfer the process, characters and stories to a real setting along the Thames Estuary and further develop the work to create a feature length film.
The Monster Team at the End of Day 5. From left to right: Joana Teixidor [animator], Emma Passmore [writer], Eelyn Lee [lead artist/director], Kingsley Ben-Adir [actor], Anamaria Marinca [actor], Nicola Bland [actor], Chris Kelly [art director] Debbie Korley [actor], Amy Addison [design assistant], Francis Morgan-Giles [editor/musical director], Natasha Zielazinski [lead musician], Detta Danford [lead musician], Hi Ching [actor], Sam Mumford [guest musician], Dominique Dunne [Barbican assistant], Sandy Abdelrahman [production assistant], Dominik Rippl [cinematographer]
To kick start a new piece of moving image work, last week Eelyn Lee led a team of eighteen artists, musicians and actors in a five-day lab exploring improvised filmmaking. Eelyn was selected by the Barbcian to develop the work in their studio theatre as part of their Open Lab programme. The lab was also supported by Arts Council England.
"It was an amazing experience. The beginning of the week felt like we were creating improvised theatre and by Thursday the space was functioning as a film set. We have some incredible footage that I can't wait to see cut together" Eelyn Lee, Artist
The results of the lab will be presented by curator Gareth Evans at the Barbcian Cinema 2 this Thursday 11th December at 4.30. To reserve a place e.mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
A day-by-day account of the lab can be read on the project blog.
Video installation, An Ealing Trilogy returns to the borough it was inspired by for two weeks in October. The film will be projected in the studio gallery at Pitzhanger Manor from 4th - 18th October. Eelyn Lee who made the film in collaboration with Brentside High School says,
'After a successful run at the National Portrait Gallery it's great to be showing the film in Ealing at a location that features heavily in the film. The Pitzhanger Manor Gallery is an amazing space and provides an opportunity for the work to be seen on a large scale.'
An Ealing Trilogy was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery and will be projected on a loop at Pitzhanger Manor from 4th - 18th Oct. Check for opening times here.
Eelyn Lee will be overseeing the delivery of the Barbican BFI Film Academy for the second year running. Eelyn has developed a creative approach to devising 90 second micro shorts with compelling narratives. Working alongside long-term collaborator, Winstan Whitter, Eelyn will guide students through a fast-track, hands-on introduction to filmmaking.
If you are aged 15-19 and would like to take part in this 12-week course, apply through the Barbican's website to sign-up for the taster session on Sat 4th October.
Left: Gareth Evans during the lab / Right: Filming during the lab
Last week writer, editor, producer, presenter and programmer, Gareth Evans visited the Monster Lab, an experimental 5-day process led by Eelyn Lee to find new ways of making improvised film. Tonight he will be hosting a conversation with Eelyn Lee and her team of collaborators about their experiences, ideas and reflections in the Barbican Cinema 2. Read his own thoughts on their adventures in to devised filmmaking in this poignant and beautifully written guest blog. Here's an extract:
'.... Eelyn Lee and her Pit Lab ensemble are into their fourth day when I drop by, stacking up the hours without weather like their constantly shifting cardboard set, in freighted ventilation, cabled glow, a black walled box for 18, but strangely self-sufficient and like some ‘lord of the flies’ outcrop, seeming to run by its own unspoken rules and rituals, everyone getting on with something, and those who seem least active at a given moment still holding microphones on high stems, waiting for voices but maybe conjuring them too, sonic priestesses, aural conductors of the subterranean air....
...It’s about strangers in town (think Clint, Kitano, Kasper Hauser; think Dogville and the dunes of Kobo Abe). It’s about upheaval in the estuary, about monsters and the triggers they drag in with them, like a net full of old explosives just waiting to go off. It’s about work and love, and conflict and then death; but mostly it’s about the fear that comes from meeting with the ‘other’, from the monsters that we make through instinct and such ignorance; and it takes place in the estuary that took us on its boats to Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, that gifted us the toothsome Count, that traffics migrants in, blind with terror in some sealed container. In short, it’s about now, and now again, and then again some more...'
Anamaria Marinca in 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days by Cristian Mungiu
Delighted that Anamaria Marinca will be joining the ensemble cast of Monster, Eelyn Lee's five-day experimental filmmaking lab to be held at the Barbican next week. Anamaria played the lead in 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, which received the prestigious Palme d'Or in Cannes in 2007. She also won a BAFTA for her role in Channel 4's Sex Traffic in 2004.
Other ensemble actors include Kingsley Ben-Adir, Debbie Korley, Nicola Bland and Hi Ching. Find out more about the cast on the project blog.
Monster is a new moving image work by Eelyn Lee. The work will be developed through the Open LAB scheme at Barbican/Guildhall and is supported by Arts Council England.
Pleased to announce that Eelyn Lee's new moving image project, 'Monster' has been selected by the Barbican to be developed during a 5-day lab in their Pit Theatre next month. Subsequently, the Arts Council England have offered their support in funding the project through their Grants for the Arts strand.
‘Monster’ is a five-day exploratory lab, exploring new ways of making moving image content through processes of devising and improvisation.
By interrogating notions of ‘demons and fear’ Eelyn will collaborate with a group of artists and performers to create a monster story set in a fictional place along the Thames estuary.
The results will be shared with an audience in the Barbican Cinema, hosted by film curator, Gareth Evans and be further developed next year in a real estuary setting where Eelyn aims to produce a long-form moving image work.
The lab will take place 1st - 5th December, 2014 The showcase event is Thurs 11th Dec at 4.30 - 6.00pm. If you would like to attend please e.mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Creative Connections display at the National Portrait Gallery, featuring new work by Eelyn Lee has been extended for a week. The last day to see, An Ealing Trilogy, an 8-minute projected film installation is Sunday 21st September.
The display has proven very popular with visitors over the summer, with an estimated 30,000 people viewing the work since the opening on 20th June.
Paul Canoville with Desmond, a student from Brentside High School
Whilst working on the Creative Connections commission at the National Portrait Gallery in collaboration with Brentside High School, artist Eelyn Lee was keen to include a portrait of someone with links to the school in the final display. With notable alumni from neighbouring schools already in the Collection, such as Peter Crouch and Steve McQueen there was an obvious gap to be filled.
Brentside does have a significant former student, Paul Canoville the first black footballer to play for Chelsea in 1982. Canoville suffered a great deal of racism both on and off the pitch, and injury forced him in take early retirement. He has since written his autobiography Black and Blue and gives motivational talks to young people.
Eelyn is pleased to announce that a photographic portrait of Paul Canoville by Hugh Hastings was acquired especially for the display and his image now sits in the National Portrait Gallery's Collection as a just acknowledgement for his contributions to British life and culture.
Eelyn has written a powerful piece about the significance of this acquisition in her guest blog for the National Portrait Gallery. Read it here.
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Paul Canoville with Desmond, a student from Brentside High School
