When I first heard about Dismaland my ears lit-up. The place looked set to be an amazing playground for moving image expression, I immediately wanted to film it.
The first visit
As you'd expect, demand was insane for tickets to the free event, it was pot luck if one managed to get though successfully.
With persistence, I managed to score some evening tickets for me and some friends. In typical Great British fashion, it absolutely pissed it down that night. That’s fine, I thought, idilic late summer nights is not what Dismaland is about.
Despite the soggy weather, I got a couple of good shots and timelapses in the can. This excursion also gave me an opportunity to revel in the spectacular art on show.
In case I could get back at some point, I reccy'd the site and made some mental notes of things I thought would be nice to shoot.
Returning to the experience
In the weeks that followed, I somehow managed to get back to the event three more times. This enabled me to shoot some more great footage and timelapses.
"Remember, it’s always easier to get forgiveness than permission." ~ Banksy
Professional filming was prohibited without prior arrangement, so I had to be somewhat stealthy.
This wasn't hard as I was only shooting with a Canon 6D. I had Magic Lantern installed so I could capture RAW video frames.
However, on the first visit I had taken a tripod with me, but the next time they had me leave it with staff at the entrance.
By the third trip I was having to use wrap a GorillaPod to whatever I could to shoot the timelapses!
Underlying messages
As with all of Banksy’s past events, the overall tone of the Dismaland experience is frankly hilarious, you can’t help but laugh and smile at the absurdity of where you find yourself. It was captivating, surreal, and loads of fun.
However it’s easy to get caught up in this and forget about the underlying messages being presented, some were obvious, some more latent, and some highly audience participatory.
I wanted to draw attention to these in part, whilst also capturing the ephemeral event in a cinematic way for posterity.
Creating an aesthetic
I aimed to create an aesthetic which married creative visuals and sound, which would translate the essence of Dismaland, so those who didn’t get to go could get a flavour and those who did could reminisce.
In this age of content overload, I’m constantly trying to differentiate myself in the projects I undertake.
The night before my first solo trip to Dismaland, I had a late night flurry of exciting ideas.
The Dismalscope concept is inspired by past creative cinema and uses some little tricks here-and-there to pop elements out of the frame, giving a new spin on the faux 3D effect.
Look out for things like the overspilling clouds and tracked motion on elements hanging out of / into the frame.
Sound was an critical element in conveying the essence of the experience, so I mixed samples, sound effects, and recordings captured on location to compliment the visuals and their undertones.
Hopefully I achieved a subtle subconscious flow as you travel around the various art pieces and attractions.
Wrapping things up
Overall the project was tricky and took commitment. From challenging filming conditions and lengthy post production, to a hugely involved sound design phase.
Naturally, as with any editing process, many changes were made and I was tweaking and polishing for days to get the final look just right.
It was important to grade the film cinematically even down to adding film grain, using RAW video helped immensely with this endeavour allowing me to build more detailed custom LUTs that do the piece justice.
I absolutely loved working on this, personal projects with no constraints are highly enjoyable and challenging yourself is always worthwhile to further develop skills.
Hats-off to everyone who made the whole Dismal experience happen, it was truly great.