[toc]<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
By Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\nPublished in\u00a0[in]Transition<\/strong>, 1.3, 2014<\/a><\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Extract below from<\/strong> Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez, ‘From Idea to Concept’, <em>[in]Transition: Journal of Videographic Film and Moving Image Studies<\/em>, 1.3, September 2014. Online at: <a href=\"http:\/\/mediacommons.futureofthebook.org\/intransition\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/mediacommons.futureofthebook.org\/intransition\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>[The above] <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/103506522\" target=\"_blank\">audiovisual essay<\/a> is devoted to Jean-Pierre Melville\u2019s\u00a0<em>Le silence de la mer<\/em>\u00a0(1949), a chamber piece which fascinates me \u2013 as well as an extraordinary and too little known directorial debut. Here, I wanted to focus on its subterranean love story, never directly or openly addressed, but conveyed through small gestures (mainly of the actors, but also of the camera and\u00a0<em><span data-scaytid=\"32\" data-scayt_word=\"mise\">mise<\/span>\u00a0en\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"33\" data-scayt_word=\"sc\u00e8ne\">sc\u00e8ne<\/span><\/em>). That is, ultimately, where the concept of the piece would lie \u2013 but I had to find my way there by steps.<\/p>\n<p>I knew beforehand some of the fragments I wanted to use in the piece, because I had already written about the film (<span data-scaytid=\"34\" data-scayt_word=\"\u00c1lvarez\">\u00c1lvarez<\/span>\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"35\" data-scayt_word=\"L\u00f3pez\">L\u00f3pez<\/span>\u00a02013) and even extracted some clips to accompany that text. However, I then re-watched\u00a0<em>Le silence de la mer<\/em>\u00a0several times, annotating the timings, trying to be as exhaustive as possible. I was amazed to discover how much of the film\u2019s material could indeed be used to work through my idea. To search for all these \u2018small gestures\u2019, make clips of them, name them and\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"36\" data-scayt_word=\"catalogue\">catalogue<\/span>\u00a0them, took me a couple of days. When I began on these operations, all I had was an\u00a0<em>idea<\/em>\u00a0but not yet a\u00a0<em>concept<\/em>\u00a0for my audiovisual essay. Since this driving idea was mainly visual, I was a little worried about the sonic elements \u2014 about the jarring effect that could result from putting all this material together (most of these fragments were very short; in some of them we hear ambient noises or silence, in others little scraps of music and\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"37\" data-scayt_word=\"dialogue\">dialogue<\/span>\u00a0that did not form any complete or coherent phrase).<\/p>\n<p>But, while collecting the clips, I had a more concrete notion about a possible structure for the piece. I\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"38\" data-scayt_word=\"realised\">realised<\/span>\u00a0that I could use one of the\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"41\" data-scayt_word=\"monologues\">monologues<\/span>\u00a0recited by Howard Vernon in the film, where he tells the story of \u2018Beauty and the Beast\u2019. In a way, this tale mirrors, condenses and prefigures the love story between him and the female character in\u00a0<em>Le silence de la mer<\/em>. Of course, this\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"42\" data-scayt_word=\"monologue\">monologue<\/span>\u00a0is itself also a \u2018small gesture\u2019, and one that allowed me to\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"44\" data-scayt_word=\"emphasise\">emphasise<\/span>\u00a0the power of speech and its crucial role in the bizarre courtship ritual set in motion by the man. There was yet another reason that pushed me to use this\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"43\" data-scayt_word=\"monologue\">monologue<\/span>: at a given moment, in order to describe the recognition of love from Beauty toward the Beast, the character uses the following expression: \u201c\u2026 and she gave him her hand\u201d. As soon as I heard this sentence, I felt compelled to match it with the image that I wanted to use to close my audiovisual essay: a shot that shows a detail (the drawing of two hands extended toward \u2014 but yet not reaching \u2014 each other) on the female\u2019s character shawl, which was designed by Melville himself.<\/p>\n<p>Listening over and over to this fabulous passage of speech (which, in the original film, is even longer), I\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"52\" data-scayt_word=\"realised\">realised<\/span>\u00a0I could break it into two, distinct segments: the first, devoted to presenting the characters and the coordinates of their master-slave relation; the second, much shorter, devoted to describing the turn in Beauty\u2019s feelings. Between these two parts, I introduced a central section (using\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"57\" data-scayt_word=\"dialogue\">dialogue<\/span>\u00a0and sounds from other scenes) dedicated to moments of turbulence and confusion \u2014 moments that begin to signal the transformation of the woman\u2019s emotions (mainly through hand gestures), but only in an unconscious,\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"70\" data-scayt_word=\"not-yet-recognised\">not-yet-recognised<\/span>\u00a0way.<\/p>\n<p>So, finally, the element that was less developed in my mind when I started to think about this audiovisual essay \u2014 namely, the sound \u2014 ended up providing the global structure for the piece, working as a narrative frame according to which I began to\u00a0organise\u00a0the entire, visual aspect. In the first section, I tried to find a way to express \u2014 through the actors\u2019 poses and postures, through the distances and angles of the camera, through occasional movement and repetition \u2014 the parameters of the captivity situation evoked in the\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"83\" data-scayt_word=\"monologue\">monologue<\/span>, as well as the subtle \u2018binomial pair\u2019 of the characters\u2019 personalities. In the central part, I gave particular importance to the hand gestures that play a prominent role in the film,\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"88\" data-scayt_word=\"signalling\">signalling<\/span>\u00a0the trouble, confusion and disturbance of the characters\u2019 feelings. And, in the final section, again picking up the\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"87\" data-scayt_word=\"monologue\">monologue<\/span>\u00a0that now bursts forth while describing Beauty\u2019s acknowledgment of love, I concentrate almost exclusively on the ardent gestures of the camera (extreme close-ups, inquisitive\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"93\" data-scayt_word=\"reframings\">reframings<\/span>) and of the woman (smiles, glances).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong>READ THIS ESSAY IN FULL <a href=\"http:\/\/mediacommons.futureofthebook.org\/intransition\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">HERE<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>Edited by Catherine Grant<\/em><\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2>Copyright Notice<\/h2>\n<p>\u00a9 Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez,\u00a0September\u00a02014.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Suggested citation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez, ‘From Idea to Concept [Extract]’,\u00a0<em>The Audiovisual Essay: Practice and Theory of Videographic Film and Moving Image Studies<\/em>, September, 2014. Online at:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/reflections\/intransition-1-3\/cristina-alvarez-lopez\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/reflections\/intransition-1-3\/cristina-alvarez-lopez\/<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Biographical note<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez<\/strong>\u00a0is the co-editor and co-founder of the Spanish online film journal\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cinentransit.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Transit: Cine y otros desv\u00edos<\/em><\/a>, and co-curator of the section on audiovisual essays at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.necsus-ejms.org\" target=\"_blank\"><em><span class=\"caps\">NECSUS<\/span>: European Journal of Media Studies<\/em><\/a>. Her critical writing and audiovisual essays have appeared, over the past six years, in the following international publications:\u00a0<em>Transit<\/em>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/lolajournal.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em><span class=\"caps\">LOLA<\/span><\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<em>Trafic<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Caim\u00e1n:<\/em>\u00a0<em>Cuadernos de cine<\/em>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mubi.com\/notebook\/posts\/author\/269\" target=\"_blank\"><em><span class=\"caps\">MUBI<\/span>\u00a0Notebook<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.screeningthepast.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Screening the Past<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmkrant.nl\" target=\"_blank\"><em>De Filmkrant<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/framescinemajournal.com\/article\/double-lives-second-chances\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Frames<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<em>Shangri-la<\/em>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/contrapicado.net\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Contrapicado<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gobshitequarterly.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Gobshite Quarterly<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.elumiere.net\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Lumi\u00e8re<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.blogsandocs.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Blogs\u00a0<span class=\"amp\">&<\/span>\u00a0Docs<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lafuriaumana.it\" target=\"_blank\"><em>La Furia Umana<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/desistfilm.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Desistfilm<\/em><\/a>. She has translated numerous critical and theoretical texts on film. She also has written chapters for the following books:\u00a0<em>Chantal Akerman<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Paul Schrader: El cineasta frente a los tiempos<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Max Oph\u00fcls: Carn\u00e9 de baile<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Philippe Garrel<\/em>. With Adrian Martin, she co-organised the conference The Audiovisual Essay: Theory and Practice (November 2013), and co-teaches a course on audiovisual essays at Goethe University,\u00a0Frankfurt.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>See also<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-scayt_word=\"\u00c1lvarez\" data-scaytid=\"73\">\u00c1lvarez<\/span>\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"L\u00f3pez\" data-scaytid=\"74\">L\u00f3pez<\/span>, Cristina. \u201c<em>El\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"silencio\" data-scaytid=\"77\">silencio<\/span>\u00a0del mar<\/em>: La\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"palabra\u201d\" data-scaytid=\"78\">palabra\u201d<\/span>,\u00a0<em>Transit<\/em>, 10 December 2013. Online at:\u00a0<a class=\"ext\" href=\"http:\/\/cinentransit.com\/el-silencio-del-mar\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/cinentransit.com\/<span data-scayt_word=\"el-silencio-del-mar\" data-scaytid=\"79\">el-silencio-del-mar<\/span>\/<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><span data-scayt_word=\"\u00c1lvarez\" data-scaytid=\"73\">\u00c1lvarez<\/span>\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"L\u00f3pez\" data-scaytid=\"74\">L\u00f3pez<\/span>, Cristina and Martin, Adrian, ‘The One and the Many: Making Sense of Montage in the Audiovisual Essay’, <em>The Audiovisual Essay: Practice and Theory of Videographic Film and Moving Image Studies<\/em>, September, 2014. Online at:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/frankfurt-papers\/cristina-alvarez-lopez-adrian-martin\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/frankfurt-papers\/cristina-alvarez-lopez-adrian-martin\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On SMALL GESTURES [toc] By Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez Published in\u00a0[in]Transition, 1.3, 2014 Extract below from Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez, <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/reflections\/intransition-1-3\/cristina-alvarez-lopez\/\">Continue Reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">CRISTINA \u00c1LVAREZ L\u00d3PEZ<\/span><span class=\"meta-nav\">→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":120,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-fullwidth.php","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-218","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P4VcpT-3w","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":742,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218\/revisions\/742"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Published in\u00a0[in]Transition<\/strong>, 1.3, 2014<\/a><\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Extract below from<\/strong> Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez, ‘From Idea to Concept’, <em>[in]Transition: Journal of Videographic Film and Moving Image Studies<\/em>, 1.3, September 2014. Online at: <a href=\"http:\/\/mediacommons.futureofthebook.org\/intransition\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/mediacommons.futureofthebook.org\/intransition\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>[The above] <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/103506522\" target=\"_blank\">audiovisual essay<\/a> is devoted to Jean-Pierre Melville\u2019s\u00a0<em>Le silence de la mer<\/em>\u00a0(1949), a chamber piece which fascinates me \u2013 as well as an extraordinary and too little known directorial debut. Here, I wanted to focus on its subterranean love story, never directly or openly addressed, but conveyed through small gestures (mainly of the actors, but also of the camera and\u00a0<em><span data-scaytid=\"32\" data-scayt_word=\"mise\">mise<\/span>\u00a0en\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"33\" data-scayt_word=\"sc\u00e8ne\">sc\u00e8ne<\/span><\/em>). That is, ultimately, where the concept of the piece would lie \u2013 but I had to find my way there by steps.<\/p>\n<p>I knew beforehand some of the fragments I wanted to use in the piece, because I had already written about the film (<span data-scaytid=\"34\" data-scayt_word=\"\u00c1lvarez\">\u00c1lvarez<\/span>\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"35\" data-scayt_word=\"L\u00f3pez\">L\u00f3pez<\/span>\u00a02013) and even extracted some clips to accompany that text. However, I then re-watched\u00a0<em>Le silence de la mer<\/em>\u00a0several times, annotating the timings, trying to be as exhaustive as possible. I was amazed to discover how much of the film\u2019s material could indeed be used to work through my idea. To search for all these \u2018small gestures\u2019, make clips of them, name them and\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"36\" data-scayt_word=\"catalogue\">catalogue<\/span>\u00a0them, took me a couple of days. When I began on these operations, all I had was an\u00a0<em>idea<\/em>\u00a0but not yet a\u00a0<em>concept<\/em>\u00a0for my audiovisual essay. Since this driving idea was mainly visual, I was a little worried about the sonic elements \u2014 about the jarring effect that could result from putting all this material together (most of these fragments were very short; in some of them we hear ambient noises or silence, in others little scraps of music and\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"37\" data-scayt_word=\"dialogue\">dialogue<\/span>\u00a0that did not form any complete or coherent phrase).<\/p>\n<p>But, while collecting the clips, I had a more concrete notion about a possible structure for the piece. I\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"38\" data-scayt_word=\"realised\">realised<\/span>\u00a0that I could use one of the\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"41\" data-scayt_word=\"monologues\">monologues<\/span>\u00a0recited by Howard Vernon in the film, where he tells the story of \u2018Beauty and the Beast\u2019. In a way, this tale mirrors, condenses and prefigures the love story between him and the female character in\u00a0<em>Le silence de la mer<\/em>. Of course, this\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"42\" data-scayt_word=\"monologue\">monologue<\/span>\u00a0is itself also a \u2018small gesture\u2019, and one that allowed me to\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"44\" data-scayt_word=\"emphasise\">emphasise<\/span>\u00a0the power of speech and its crucial role in the bizarre courtship ritual set in motion by the man. There was yet another reason that pushed me to use this\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"43\" data-scayt_word=\"monologue\">monologue<\/span>: at a given moment, in order to describe the recognition of love from Beauty toward the Beast, the character uses the following expression: \u201c\u2026 and she gave him her hand\u201d. As soon as I heard this sentence, I felt compelled to match it with the image that I wanted to use to close my audiovisual essay: a shot that shows a detail (the drawing of two hands extended toward \u2014 but yet not reaching \u2014 each other) on the female\u2019s character shawl, which was designed by Melville himself.<\/p>\n<p>Listening over and over to this fabulous passage of speech (which, in the original film, is even longer), I\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"52\" data-scayt_word=\"realised\">realised<\/span>\u00a0I could break it into two, distinct segments: the first, devoted to presenting the characters and the coordinates of their master-slave relation; the second, much shorter, devoted to describing the turn in Beauty\u2019s feelings. Between these two parts, I introduced a central section (using\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"57\" data-scayt_word=\"dialogue\">dialogue<\/span>\u00a0and sounds from other scenes) dedicated to moments of turbulence and confusion \u2014 moments that begin to signal the transformation of the woman\u2019s emotions (mainly through hand gestures), but only in an unconscious,\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"70\" data-scayt_word=\"not-yet-recognised\">not-yet-recognised<\/span>\u00a0way.<\/p>\n<p>So, finally, the element that was less developed in my mind when I started to think about this audiovisual essay \u2014 namely, the sound \u2014 ended up providing the global structure for the piece, working as a narrative frame according to which I began to\u00a0organise\u00a0the entire, visual aspect. In the first section, I tried to find a way to express \u2014 through the actors\u2019 poses and postures, through the distances and angles of the camera, through occasional movement and repetition \u2014 the parameters of the captivity situation evoked in the\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"83\" data-scayt_word=\"monologue\">monologue<\/span>, as well as the subtle \u2018binomial pair\u2019 of the characters\u2019 personalities. In the central part, I gave particular importance to the hand gestures that play a prominent role in the film,\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"88\" data-scayt_word=\"signalling\">signalling<\/span>\u00a0the trouble, confusion and disturbance of the characters\u2019 feelings. And, in the final section, again picking up the\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"87\" data-scayt_word=\"monologue\">monologue<\/span>\u00a0that now bursts forth while describing Beauty\u2019s acknowledgment of love, I concentrate almost exclusively on the ardent gestures of the camera (extreme close-ups, inquisitive\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"93\" data-scayt_word=\"reframings\">reframings<\/span>) and of the woman (smiles, glances).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong>READ THIS ESSAY IN FULL <a href=\"http:\/\/mediacommons.futureofthebook.org\/intransition\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">HERE<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>Edited by Catherine Grant<\/em><\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2>Copyright Notice<\/h2>\n<p>\u00a9 Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez,\u00a0September\u00a02014.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Suggested citation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez, ‘From Idea to Concept [Extract]’,\u00a0<em>The Audiovisual Essay: Practice and Theory of Videographic Film and Moving Image Studies<\/em>, September, 2014. Online at:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/reflections\/intransition-1-3\/cristina-alvarez-lopez\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/reflections\/intransition-1-3\/cristina-alvarez-lopez\/<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Biographical note<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez<\/strong>\u00a0is the co-editor and co-founder of the Spanish online film journal\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cinentransit.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Transit: Cine y otros desv\u00edos<\/em><\/a>, and co-curator of the section on audiovisual essays at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.necsus-ejms.org\" target=\"_blank\"><em><span class=\"caps\">NECSUS<\/span>: European Journal of Media Studies<\/em><\/a>. Her critical writing and audiovisual essays have appeared, over the past six years, in the following international publications:\u00a0<em>Transit<\/em>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/lolajournal.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em><span class=\"caps\">LOLA<\/span><\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<em>Trafic<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Caim\u00e1n:<\/em>\u00a0<em>Cuadernos de cine<\/em>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mubi.com\/notebook\/posts\/author\/269\" target=\"_blank\"><em><span class=\"caps\">MUBI<\/span>\u00a0Notebook<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.screeningthepast.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Screening the Past<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmkrant.nl\" target=\"_blank\"><em>De Filmkrant<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/framescinemajournal.com\/article\/double-lives-second-chances\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Frames<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<em>Shangri-la<\/em>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/contrapicado.net\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Contrapicado<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gobshitequarterly.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Gobshite Quarterly<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.elumiere.net\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Lumi\u00e8re<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.blogsandocs.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Blogs\u00a0<span class=\"amp\">&<\/span>\u00a0Docs<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lafuriaumana.it\" target=\"_blank\"><em>La Furia Umana<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/desistfilm.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Desistfilm<\/em><\/a>. She has translated numerous critical and theoretical texts on film. She also has written chapters for the following books:\u00a0<em>Chantal Akerman<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Paul Schrader: El cineasta frente a los tiempos<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Max Oph\u00fcls: Carn\u00e9 de baile<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Philippe Garrel<\/em>. With Adrian Martin, she co-organised the conference The Audiovisual Essay: Theory and Practice (November 2013), and co-teaches a course on audiovisual essays at Goethe University,\u00a0Frankfurt.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>See also<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-scayt_word=\"\u00c1lvarez\" data-scaytid=\"73\">\u00c1lvarez<\/span>\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"L\u00f3pez\" data-scaytid=\"74\">L\u00f3pez<\/span>, Cristina. \u201c<em>El\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"silencio\" data-scaytid=\"77\">silencio<\/span>\u00a0del mar<\/em>: La\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"palabra\u201d\" data-scaytid=\"78\">palabra\u201d<\/span>,\u00a0<em>Transit<\/em>, 10 December 2013. Online at:\u00a0<a class=\"ext\" href=\"http:\/\/cinentransit.com\/el-silencio-del-mar\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/cinentransit.com\/<span data-scayt_word=\"el-silencio-del-mar\" data-scaytid=\"79\">el-silencio-del-mar<\/span>\/<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><span data-scayt_word=\"\u00c1lvarez\" data-scaytid=\"73\">\u00c1lvarez<\/span>\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"L\u00f3pez\" data-scaytid=\"74\">L\u00f3pez<\/span>, Cristina and Martin, Adrian, ‘The One and the Many: Making Sense of Montage in the Audiovisual Essay’, <em>The Audiovisual Essay: Practice and Theory of Videographic Film and Moving Image Studies<\/em>, September, 2014. Online at:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/frankfurt-papers\/cristina-alvarez-lopez-adrian-martin\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/frankfurt-papers\/cristina-alvarez-lopez-adrian-martin\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On SMALL GESTURES [toc] By Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez Published in\u00a0[in]Transition, 1.3, 2014 Extract below from Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez, <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/reflections\/intransition-1-3\/cristina-alvarez-lopez\/\">Continue Reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">CRISTINA \u00c1LVAREZ L\u00d3PEZ<\/span><span class=\"meta-nav\">→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":120,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-fullwidth.php","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-218","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P4VcpT-3w","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":742,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218\/revisions\/742"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Extract below from<\/strong> Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez, ‘From Idea to Concept’, <em>[in]Transition: Journal of Videographic Film and Moving Image Studies<\/em>, 1.3, September 2014. Online at: <a href=\"http:\/\/mediacommons.futureofthebook.org\/intransition\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/mediacommons.futureofthebook.org\/intransition\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>[The above] <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/103506522\" target=\"_blank\">audiovisual essay<\/a> is devoted to Jean-Pierre Melville\u2019s\u00a0<em>Le silence de la mer<\/em>\u00a0(1949), a chamber piece which fascinates me \u2013 as well as an extraordinary and too little known directorial debut. Here, I wanted to focus on its subterranean love story, never directly or openly addressed, but conveyed through small gestures (mainly of the actors, but also of the camera and\u00a0<em><span data-scaytid=\"32\" data-scayt_word=\"mise\">mise<\/span>\u00a0en\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"33\" data-scayt_word=\"sc\u00e8ne\">sc\u00e8ne<\/span><\/em>). That is, ultimately, where the concept of the piece would lie \u2013 but I had to find my way there by steps.<\/p>\n<p>I knew beforehand some of the fragments I wanted to use in the piece, because I had already written about the film (<span data-scaytid=\"34\" data-scayt_word=\"\u00c1lvarez\">\u00c1lvarez<\/span>\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"35\" data-scayt_word=\"L\u00f3pez\">L\u00f3pez<\/span>\u00a02013) and even extracted some clips to accompany that text. However, I then re-watched\u00a0<em>Le silence de la mer<\/em>\u00a0several times, annotating the timings, trying to be as exhaustive as possible. I was amazed to discover how much of the film\u2019s material could indeed be used to work through my idea. To search for all these \u2018small gestures\u2019, make clips of them, name them and\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"36\" data-scayt_word=\"catalogue\">catalogue<\/span>\u00a0them, took me a couple of days. When I began on these operations, all I had was an\u00a0<em>idea<\/em>\u00a0but not yet a\u00a0<em>concept<\/em>\u00a0for my audiovisual essay. Since this driving idea was mainly visual, I was a little worried about the sonic elements \u2014 about the jarring effect that could result from putting all this material together (most of these fragments were very short; in some of them we hear ambient noises or silence, in others little scraps of music and\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"37\" data-scayt_word=\"dialogue\">dialogue<\/span>\u00a0that did not form any complete or coherent phrase).<\/p>\n<p>But, while collecting the clips, I had a more concrete notion about a possible structure for the piece. I\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"38\" data-scayt_word=\"realised\">realised<\/span>\u00a0that I could use one of the\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"41\" data-scayt_word=\"monologues\">monologues<\/span>\u00a0recited by Howard Vernon in the film, where he tells the story of \u2018Beauty and the Beast\u2019. In a way, this tale mirrors, condenses and prefigures the love story between him and the female character in\u00a0<em>Le silence de la mer<\/em>. Of course, this\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"42\" data-scayt_word=\"monologue\">monologue<\/span>\u00a0is itself also a \u2018small gesture\u2019, and one that allowed me to\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"44\" data-scayt_word=\"emphasise\">emphasise<\/span>\u00a0the power of speech and its crucial role in the bizarre courtship ritual set in motion by the man. There was yet another reason that pushed me to use this\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"43\" data-scayt_word=\"monologue\">monologue<\/span>: at a given moment, in order to describe the recognition of love from Beauty toward the Beast, the character uses the following expression: \u201c\u2026 and she gave him her hand\u201d. As soon as I heard this sentence, I felt compelled to match it with the image that I wanted to use to close my audiovisual essay: a shot that shows a detail (the drawing of two hands extended toward \u2014 but yet not reaching \u2014 each other) on the female\u2019s character shawl, which was designed by Melville himself.<\/p>\n<p>Listening over and over to this fabulous passage of speech (which, in the original film, is even longer), I\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"52\" data-scayt_word=\"realised\">realised<\/span>\u00a0I could break it into two, distinct segments: the first, devoted to presenting the characters and the coordinates of their master-slave relation; the second, much shorter, devoted to describing the turn in Beauty\u2019s feelings. Between these two parts, I introduced a central section (using\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"57\" data-scayt_word=\"dialogue\">dialogue<\/span>\u00a0and sounds from other scenes) dedicated to moments of turbulence and confusion \u2014 moments that begin to signal the transformation of the woman\u2019s emotions (mainly through hand gestures), but only in an unconscious,\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"70\" data-scayt_word=\"not-yet-recognised\">not-yet-recognised<\/span>\u00a0way.<\/p>\n<p>So, finally, the element that was less developed in my mind when I started to think about this audiovisual essay \u2014 namely, the sound \u2014 ended up providing the global structure for the piece, working as a narrative frame according to which I began to\u00a0organise\u00a0the entire, visual aspect. In the first section, I tried to find a way to express \u2014 through the actors\u2019 poses and postures, through the distances and angles of the camera, through occasional movement and repetition \u2014 the parameters of the captivity situation evoked in the\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"83\" data-scayt_word=\"monologue\">monologue<\/span>, as well as the subtle \u2018binomial pair\u2019 of the characters\u2019 personalities. In the central part, I gave particular importance to the hand gestures that play a prominent role in the film,\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"88\" data-scayt_word=\"signalling\">signalling<\/span>\u00a0the trouble, confusion and disturbance of the characters\u2019 feelings. And, in the final section, again picking up the\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"87\" data-scayt_word=\"monologue\">monologue<\/span>\u00a0that now bursts forth while describing Beauty\u2019s acknowledgment of love, I concentrate almost exclusively on the ardent gestures of the camera (extreme close-ups, inquisitive\u00a0<span data-scaytid=\"93\" data-scayt_word=\"reframings\">reframings<\/span>) and of the woman (smiles, glances).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong>READ THIS ESSAY IN FULL <a href=\"http:\/\/mediacommons.futureofthebook.org\/intransition\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">HERE<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>Edited by Catherine Grant<\/em><\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2>Copyright Notice<\/h2>\n<p>\u00a9 Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez,\u00a0September\u00a02014.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Suggested citation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez, ‘From Idea to Concept [Extract]’,\u00a0<em>The Audiovisual Essay: Practice and Theory of Videographic Film and Moving Image Studies<\/em>, September, 2014. Online at:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/reflections\/intransition-1-3\/cristina-alvarez-lopez\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/reflections\/intransition-1-3\/cristina-alvarez-lopez\/<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Biographical note<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez<\/strong>\u00a0is the co-editor and co-founder of the Spanish online film journal\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cinentransit.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Transit: Cine y otros desv\u00edos<\/em><\/a>, and co-curator of the section on audiovisual essays at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.necsus-ejms.org\" target=\"_blank\"><em><span class=\"caps\">NECSUS<\/span>: European Journal of Media Studies<\/em><\/a>. Her critical writing and audiovisual essays have appeared, over the past six years, in the following international publications:\u00a0<em>Transit<\/em>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/lolajournal.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em><span class=\"caps\">LOLA<\/span><\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<em>Trafic<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Caim\u00e1n:<\/em>\u00a0<em>Cuadernos de cine<\/em>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mubi.com\/notebook\/posts\/author\/269\" target=\"_blank\"><em><span class=\"caps\">MUBI<\/span>\u00a0Notebook<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.screeningthepast.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Screening the Past<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmkrant.nl\" target=\"_blank\"><em>De Filmkrant<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/framescinemajournal.com\/article\/double-lives-second-chances\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Frames<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<em>Shangri-la<\/em>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/contrapicado.net\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Contrapicado<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gobshitequarterly.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Gobshite Quarterly<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.elumiere.net\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Lumi\u00e8re<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.blogsandocs.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Blogs\u00a0<span class=\"amp\">&<\/span>\u00a0Docs<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lafuriaumana.it\" target=\"_blank\"><em>La Furia Umana<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/desistfilm.com\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Desistfilm<\/em><\/a>. She has translated numerous critical and theoretical texts on film. She also has written chapters for the following books:\u00a0<em>Chantal Akerman<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Paul Schrader: El cineasta frente a los tiempos<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Max Oph\u00fcls: Carn\u00e9 de baile<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Philippe Garrel<\/em>. With Adrian Martin, she co-organised the conference The Audiovisual Essay: Theory and Practice (November 2013), and co-teaches a course on audiovisual essays at Goethe University,\u00a0Frankfurt.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>See also<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-scayt_word=\"\u00c1lvarez\" data-scaytid=\"73\">\u00c1lvarez<\/span>\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"L\u00f3pez\" data-scaytid=\"74\">L\u00f3pez<\/span>, Cristina. \u201c<em>El\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"silencio\" data-scaytid=\"77\">silencio<\/span>\u00a0del mar<\/em>: La\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"palabra\u201d\" data-scaytid=\"78\">palabra\u201d<\/span>,\u00a0<em>Transit<\/em>, 10 December 2013. Online at:\u00a0<a class=\"ext\" href=\"http:\/\/cinentransit.com\/el-silencio-del-mar\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/cinentransit.com\/<span data-scayt_word=\"el-silencio-del-mar\" data-scaytid=\"79\">el-silencio-del-mar<\/span>\/<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><span data-scayt_word=\"\u00c1lvarez\" data-scaytid=\"73\">\u00c1lvarez<\/span>\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"L\u00f3pez\" data-scaytid=\"74\">L\u00f3pez<\/span>, Cristina and Martin, Adrian, ‘The One and the Many: Making Sense of Montage in the Audiovisual Essay’, <em>The Audiovisual Essay: Practice and Theory of Videographic Film and Moving Image Studies<\/em>, September, 2014. Online at:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/frankfurt-papers\/cristina-alvarez-lopez-adrian-martin\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/frankfurt-papers\/cristina-alvarez-lopez-adrian-martin\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On SMALL GESTURES [toc] By Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez Published in\u00a0[in]Transition, 1.3, 2014 Extract below from Cristina \u00c1lvarez L\u00f3pez, <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/reflections\/intransition-1-3\/cristina-alvarez-lopez\/\">Continue Reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">CRISTINA \u00c1LVAREZ L\u00d3PEZ<\/span><span class=\"meta-nav\">→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":120,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-fullwidth.php","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-218","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P4VcpT-3w","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":742,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218\/revisions\/742"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/audiovisualessay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}