THE CLOCK
2010
Film by Christian Marclay
Technique: "A series of fragments that build a whole"
Observation and Research
The film that I have chosen to study is a 24 hour art installation piece by Christian Marclay, entitled 'The Clock'. This film utilities the technique of "a series of fragments that build a whole". Marclay was a Swiss- American artist, his film was a college piece, taking thousands of fragments of clips from movies creating a 24 hour long piece, taking over two years to compose it was displayed in multiple galleries across the globe (Potempski, 2012).
This film encompasses time as its structure as it is quite literally a clock, not focusing on a plot purely keeping time as a clock would. A unique way of seeing is integrated throughout the film as there as thousands of different segments from different films creating the whole piece. Due to this the camera position and angles were always different, focusing on different characters in different settings, often using interesting shots.
Through my interpenetration of this technique as well as Marclay's heavy focus on the concept of time, I decided to frame the world around me using a point of view film technique. I was able to compile a series of short films clips ranging from one second to three seconds to form a one minute long video. I used small fragmented clips of the process of getting ready, from waking up to starting up my car. This film takes place over the time span of an hour as I have shown in the incorporation of clocks in my work, compressing this into a one minute video.
In the 1970s Maclay was a pioneer in the concept of "turntablism" the manipulation of sound as an art form (Potempski, 2012). Through the design process I have taken this technique into consideration and as a result my film is enhanced by the emphasis on sound, using clips of things such as an alarm, kettle, water, doors and more to create a unique experience of sound and vision.
Visual Analysis
2:19 pm
Although the camera is a mid shot on the protagonists face, the image of the clock behind is still prominent, through the use of bright neon lights and colors as well as the position of the camera. This image documents the motif of time as a sequence to document and keep actual time.
Through the composition of the still is it clear that the viewer is still meant to take notice of the clock in the background. This is also made clear through the lighting, in this slightly overexposed image.
12:05 pm
This still shows a rather cinematic composition of a table, utilizing the reflection to highlight the motif of time. This slightly overexposed shot allows the viewer to focus on the darker objects in the image drawing their eye to the salient point of the clock.
The shot used is a slight high angle mid shot, just displaying the space on the table and how the objects relate to one another.
As you can see in my annotation below I have highlighted how frame is used to highlight the composition of the objects as well as shapes showing their obvious man made geometric structure.
12:04 pm
This last still I've chosen to analyse provides insight into the length of searching that the artist went to find each exact minute of the day, tracing back to old black and white films.
With the use of light and dark, this interesting shot is accompanied by the ticking sound of a clock giving this image an almost eerie quality. The camera angle is a mid shot providing the audience with a clear view of the subject, and again carries the motif of time.
Bibliography
Horwatt, E. (2013). On The Clock and Christian Marclay's Instrumental Logic of Appropriation. Framework: The Journal of Cinema & Media, 54(2), 1- 19. 10.13110/framework.54.2.0208
Marclay, C. (2018). The Clock [film]. TATE, London, England. https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/christian-marclay-clock
Potempski, J. (2012). Christian Marclay's: The Clock. Journal Title, volume(87), 10 -13. https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/docview/1022042286? accountid=17095&rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo
Williams, H. (2018, October 9). 24 Hours Inside the Christian Marclay Installation 'The Clock'. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/09/arts/design/the- clock-christian-marclay-tate-modern.html
