Slambangricketychuck
is a new style of documentary.
In
January 2002, the filmmakers took to the streets of
suburban Melbourne, knocked on doors, rang bells,
buzzed buzzers and tapped on windows. The people who
opened their doors were then asked a series of
questions about the very door that they had just
opened.
What
do front doors mean to Melburnians? Are people
happy with the appearance of their doors? Do they
leave it open or closed? Who knocks on the door? What
sort of a person has a toy baby shoved through their
letter slot? What sort of callers would home-dwellers
rather passed by? Why do so many electric buzzers not
work?
The
Melbourne suburbs of Hawthorn, Footscray, St Kilda
and Yarraville were chosen to provide a spread of
different types of doors and residents. What the
suburbs have in common are that most of the houses
lining their streets are old. One hundred years of
history meant that the monotony of brown security
screen doors of some newer suburbs was avoided. Of all
the doors knocked upon, there were 24 participants,
including 5 children. Most respondents were puzzled as
to why someone was so interested in their door;
however, many people were very enthusiastic, revealing
a high level of knowledge about their door.
Approximately two hours of footage was taken over
three days. This was then edited to a film of just
over 7 minutes.
However,
the editing process of the film was far from
ordinary. Director Maria Clementine Wulia drew
inspiration from Mike Figgis, who wrote a 4-part score
for his cameras and actors for the film Timecode
(2000). In Slambangricketychuck the screen is split
into four quarters. Typically, a human subject appears
in one quarter, whilst the doors are featured in the
other three quarters. The filmmakers believe that the
modern movie-goer can absorb more information in a
shorter time, and unashamedly present four concurrent
movies. However, as with Timecode, repeated viewings
of Slambangricketychuck yield deeper levels of
understanding.
Whilst
doors are typically thought of as inanimate
objects, Slambangricketychuck recognises that doors are dynamic.
Maria Clementine Wulia explains:
“I
realise that different doors make interestingly
different sounds, and that most of us have been taking
those sounds for granted. I wanted to get as many
samples as possible from as many people as possible,
make something out of it, then return it back to the
participants in a completely different way from what
they have expected.”
So,
the sounds of doors opening and closing, bells
ringing, keys turning, gates squeaking, hands knocking
and the like provide the aural soundscape to accompany
the story of the doors. However, more than that, the
sounds of the doors are edited in such a way that the
sounds form a cohesive and rhythmical soundtrack. This
film uses everyday sounds to create music, a process
that perhaps began with Pierre Schaeffer, the French
founder of musique concrete, and has more recently
provided an expanded industrial musical palate for
many artists from Björk to Nine Inch Nails.
The
task of editing the visual footage such that its
corresponding audio creates a rhythmic composition was
not without its challenges. However, Maria Clementine
Wulia and Ariel Valent teamed together to piece
together a 4-part symphony-come-cacophony that has the
viewer’s ears as actively engaged as their eyes. It
starts with squeaky gates that gradually congeal into
a rhythm. Knocks, knockers, bells and buzzers all play
their part in providing the ‘beat’. As the tempo
increases, the doors seem to slam a little harder,
until the final slamming crescendo is a door-to-door
salesman’s worst nightmare.
As
if the four screens and percussive soundtrack
weren’t enough, the filmmakers have added text as an
overlaid commentary.
Slambangricketychuck
has been selected as a finalist
at the MAFIA (Music and Film Independent Artists)
Documentary Awards and will be screened with nine
other finalists at the Chauvel Cinemas in Paddington,
Sydney on April 7, 2002. This screening will be the
film’s premiere screening.
