"Come to Ours" - Video Takeaway

Video takeaway was a project devised by a group of independent artist called "come to ours". It was aimed to make use of the city's spaces and appeal to customers and staff at takeaways. 'Come to ours' chose two of their favourite takeouts in Plymouth and on two existing TV screens, presented an array of short films and animations from independent and student filmmakers from around the world.

 A short brief was posted by the artists collection on criticalnetwork.co.uk, detailing how the short film work should appear, and what specifics needed to be included. It also outlines details on how to post the video to 'come to ours' vimeo page.

 Some of the specifics include that the film must be filmed in a 4:3 format, and be silent. They also stated that the piece should be "made for the specific context of a TV monitor in a takeaway (or existing works that would be interesting to be seen in this context)". The only piece of advice the collective gave was to try and limit the amount of time the piece runs for, as a longer piece might become less interesting than quick, snappy works.

 I think this brief was perfect for what 'come to ours' were trying to achieve because it outlined the exact audience they wanted to target, and also let the filmmakers know clearly what the expected. These elements all constitute a good brief.

Video painting is a form of expressive video art, a relatively new concept that is now being showcased in galleries around the world. The concept is to present footage on a LCD screen or projected onto a wall, framed like a real painting.

 In 2001, a philosopher named Hillary Lawson played around with the idea of footage. A documentary filmaker himself, Lawson wanted to explore the idea of film having no real meaning and so set up a motionless camera so as not to introduce meaning, and left it rolling for a few minutes. After looking at the footage he decided that he was captivated by the idea and spent the next few years exloring the idea further.

 "A video painting constitutes a motionless image, with no dialouge and no sound, and allows each viewer to create their own meaning, rather than a meaning that has been played out to them".