Week Six
It has been a really fantastically productive week where ideas have gelled and filming began properly on location. Steve White and I are making a film of my experience of being an artist in residence for a year, the highs and lows of being creative, the impact of living and working in a new environment and its effect on my creative process. I have been recording video diaries since I’ve been here myself, with also the odd bit of shaky hand held filming around the area, fortunately the ‘miester’ of film will be making several visits here to professionally shoot and to give me tips on the footage that I film. This is a totally new medium for me to work in and although I spent my first few weeks fighting with the tripod, there is now an improvement in the quality of my filming. I have also, almost, made friends with the tripod. I take the ‘handy cam’ out with me each day on my walk with my stick, pedometer and stills camera. 
So much was crammed into the week with dawn starts and filming way into the night. A gadget bag was produced that held wondrous devices for different filming techniques. We had bicycle cam, a complicated steadicam device (that I’m sure defies the laws of gravity) so I could be filmed walking and a myriad of microphones and hand signals to contend with. There was somewhat a game of tag with the weather but with regular checks on the Norwegian weather station one could plot the day. However we filmed in floods (in which I offered someone 22p to drive through a flooded ford), rain, sunshine, grey skies and extreme wind but still managed to get some excellent footage. 
Also filmed in a beautifully dilapidated corrugated iron abandoned shooting hut near Highgreen, which was set up for the pheasant killing seasons, complete with stencilled wooden walls inside, and now wondrous rotting windows. 
Steve also set up time lapses of the sun rising, sun setting and thankfully neither beast nor human disturbed the camera whilst it happily clicked away. 
I was also ‘time-lapsed’ whilst drawing, which produced fantastic footage of the drawing changing with the blurred image of me working. The finished result running looks well GROOVY. 
As the tracks, paths and roads are becomingly increasingly important in my ideas the ability to be filmed whilst walking was very special indeed. I also think my attachment to the road that I am fondly developing has been rather well captured by Steve. I would like to point out that the red coat in the photograph is padded…heavily….and I am wearing layers…..many, many, many layers. And for anyone concerned the ‘beached’ Jilly was not harmed in any way during filming. 
I have been reading ‘Wanderlust’- the History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit, which is fascinating. I have been stunned at such people like William and Dorothy Wordsworth whom walked for miles and miles in the Derbyshire peaks in fine and extreme weather conditions, a twenty mile jaunt was an average walk for them. In fact they were a turning point in the history of walking, from them it became fashionable to walk in the wilds of nature rather than the topiaried gardens of the gentry. It also, at that time, was against the ‘norm’ for a ‘lady’ to go solitary walking, so applause for Dorothy I feel is just.
In 1953 an American woman known only as ‘Peace Pilgrim’ walked 25,000 miles over nine years. She set out each day with no money, no coat, wearing a tabard that had peace pilgrim written on it. She never asked for food or shelter and would only accept it if offered. In 1964 after the 25,000 she stopped counting the miles but continued to walk for peace. She was often invited to give talks at universities, and at first she refused transport to get there, but later on began to accept lifts and ironically was killed in 1981 in an automobile accident. As I walk my still paltry sum of miles in comparison, these people fill my mind. Whilst I was being filmed walking I saw two men with rucksacks coming towards me. I have been walking this route for six weeks and apart from the activities of the locals I have never seen any ‘hardcore’ walkers. To my delight….actually in truth… it made my heart sing…these young men were walking from London to Edinburgh; our meeting, greeting, the hugs and my delight were all captured on film. 
My only sorrow is that when they continued onwards that I did not run after them and offer them food and shelter for the night. So this is my first ‘web’ apology to two unknown men…..”I am sorry for not offering you food and shelter and may your feet carry you safely to your destination, may your heart and mind be at one with the experience”. This week was believed to be a spectacular time for watching the Leonids and their supposedly impressive meteor showers. Throughout the night regular sky checks were made to see thus supposedly amazing sights. But with all the checking the Northumberland skies alas insisted on remaining cloudy. Apparently there was a great view in Nepal (remind me to try and get a residency there one day!). However on the last night before Steve’s departure he did manage to take a wonderful photograph of the starry sky, plus turret that every good manor house should have. 
Although I try to forget that I am being filmed it is interesting to have to vocalise my ideas and thoughts about my work, I felt that the actuality of saying them out loud put them more into perspective. In some sense it also made ideas more concrete and also allowed me to filter out the weaker ones. It has been a thought provoking and stimulating week. This is a serious project that we would both like to complete and therefore will be applying for funding to help. So if anybody knows of any funding bodies that may be useful please let me know. I am approaching the Arts Council and VARC with a promo that Steve is at this moment editing together. Week Six……done!