Soanyway, Thesis Maps and Film Festivals

Jerry Bermans’s Letters feature in Issue Ten of
Soanyway: Ten Conversations. Subtitle a turn in
conversation Soanyway is online here:
https://www.soanywaymagazine.org/issues. This issue explores
conversations, exchange and dialogue, with
loads of brilliant practices from dance to text
and visuals. Recipes for Baking Bread is about
dialogue across generations. Berman’s letters
also provide a rare, and objective accounts of
Holodomor. I write about this in my thesis
in comparison to Christoper Isherwood’s ideas
about objective writing, Isherwood wrote “I am
a camera” in Goodbye to Berlin. He was an
objective, reflective observer of events. Svetlana
Alexiviech in Chernobyl Prayer is part of
her text. In one chapter, after hearing stories of
Chernobyl survivors’ experiences with journalists,
who refused their food for fear of contamination,
Alexievich writes “(Now we are sitting at the
table, having lunch)” (Alexievich, 2016, p. 233). Berman’s
letters are objective, descriptive and human. He
writes with perspective and with detail.




Recipes for Baking Bread: Jerry Berman’s Letters film
still, 2021. Source: Author.


I am working on preparations for my viva.
My work is a complete thesis map. This
shows my ideas, in each chapter, with page
numbers. This builds on my early structure
diagrams and is for fast references when I
defend my work.



Original Thesis Maps 1, 2021. Source: Author.




Original Thesis Maps 2, 2021. Source: Author.



Original Working Maps, 2021. Source: Author.




Viva: Final Thesis Maps (in development) 2021. Source:
Author.

I have a catalogue for film festivals I am
submitting to. This is spreadsheets, and entries
using Film Freeway. This is a brilliant site,
I can collect my press packs, project images
and information and submit quick responses to
festivals. I loved going to festivals after I worked
on The Accident, and I hope this work is well
received.



Film Festivals Spreadsheets, 2021. Source: Author.

References:

Alexievich, S. (2016) Chernobyl Prayer.
Translated by A. Gunin and A. Tait. London:
Penguin Books.

Press, S-ARCH and Boxes

 I have press online for my work in Kyiv. There is a
brilliant article from Yana on the Holodomor Museum
website here:
https://holodomormuseum.org.ua/news-museji/proiekt-retsepty-khliba-finalnyj-rolyk/
This appears with social media work on
Holodomor Museum’s Instagram site. Details appear
of collaborators, timescales for this work and my
final outcomes. This is great press for Ukrainian
audiences.



Holodomor Museum Website Press, 2021. Source:
Holodomor Museum, n.d.




Holodomor Museum Instagram Press, 2021. Source:
Instagram, n.d.

Holodomor Museum Instagram Press, 2021. Source:
Instagram, n.d.

This week I presented work at the 8th International
conference on Architecture and Built Environment
with Architecture Awards, S.ARCh. A book of
abstracts is online here: https://www.s-arch.net/
My presentation is a survey of three books.
These all describe architectural practice and
film in some way. Eisenstein describes film as
architecture. Vertov describes structures of practice
and rhythm in production, rhythms of making.
Steyerl describes architecture in film in in
particular describes uses of short filmic wipes.
This is my first conference presentation of my
final film works.




Eisenstein Book Drawings, S.ARCH Presentation, 2021.
Source: Author.



Vertov Book Drawings, S.ARCH Presentation, 2021.
Source: Author.



Steyerl Book Drawings, S.ARCh Presentation, 2021.
Source: Author.



Exploring Forms: Architecture and Filmic Wipes: Presentation,
2021. Source: Author.

On Thursday my boxes arrived from Germany.
This is a stationery order I delivered to
Michelberger in Berlin on my way to Kyiv, and
posted back to myself, This includes glassine
envelopes for my remaining thesis production
books. I am collating and posting these books on
Thursday, Friday and Saturday next week. These
glassine envelopes are also for participants’ packs.
There are six of these in total, Alison Marshall has
hers. These include Draw Bibliographies, Postcards
and posters for my films in Kyiv. These are
collaborators’ materials and also include my own
copy of my thesis.

References:

Holodomor Museum (2021) Проєкт «Рецепти хліба»: фінальний ролик [Project: Recipes for Baking Bread – Final Movies] [Online]. Kyiv: Holodomor Museum. Available from: <https://holodomormuseum.org.ua/news-museji/proiekt-retsepty-khliba-finalnyj-rolyk/> [Accessed 25 September 2021].

S.ARCH (2021) S.ARCH The 8th International Conference on Architecture and Built Environment with Architecture Awards 22–24 September [Online]. S.ARCH. Available from: <https://www.s-arch.net/> [Accessed 25 September 2021].

Project Presentation, Soviet Modernism and Press Kits.

Kyiv, Ukraine 13th–18th September 2021.

I am working with Yana Grinko at Holodomor
Museum in Kyiv on presentation of my films. Posters
appear below. QR codes link to Jerry Berman’s film
and a full composite online. Ideas for promotion
is, are Yana is going to include a full composite
on Holodomor Museum’s website, and press on social
media. This expands audience reach in UK and
Ukraine.


Recipes for Baking Bread Exhibition Posters, 2021.
Source: Author.



Recipes for Baking Bread Exhibition Posters, 2021.
Source: Author.



Also from Ukraine I have photos of Soviet Modernist
architecture. These include a trip to Dnipro-HES
Hydroelectric Power Station and Dam, Zaporizhzhia
circus, Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine,
housing in Obolon, and Sotsgorod Housing estate in
Zaporizhzhia. Brutal architecture styles appear in
my films, and have visual links to constructivism.
This is a new archive I am creating.



Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, 2021. Source:
Author.



Modernism in Dnipro, 2021. Source: Author.




Dnipro-HES and Park for Energy Workers, Zaporizhzhia,
2021. Source: Author.



I have now a complete press kit for Recipes for
Baking Bread. This is online on my project website here:
https://recipesforbakingbread2021.cargo.site/ This includes
stills, project information, biographies and credits,
posters and a full script. This is for quick launches and
film festivals and press.



Recipes for Baking Bread Project Images, 2021. Source:
Author.



Recipes for Baking Bread Project Images, 2021. Source:
Author.

Holodomor Museum (2021) Holodomor Museum Website [Online]. Kyiv: Holodomor Museum. Available from: <https://holodomormuseum.org.ua/> [Accessed 18th September 2021].

Glover, Sam. (n.d.) Soviet Modernism [Online]. UK: Sam Glover. Available from: <https://sovietmodernism.com/> [Accessed 18th September 2021].

Packing Production and Project Launches

This week my themes are packing, collation and
Ukrainian Itineraries. These packshots show my final
packaged theses from last week. I am adding
extra layers of brown paper inside my packaging
for safe keeping during posting. One final addition is
graph paper literature reviews. Tactile pages using
layers of tracing paper, green dot stickers and
graph paper stuck into my book. My Ukrainian
itineraries include a private view on Wednesday 15th
of September at Ya Gallery. An exhibition created
with the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation and the
British Council, curated by Pavlo Gudimov (Ya
Gallery, 2021).




Ukraine Packing, 2021. Source: Author.






Literature Reviews, 2021. Source: Author.



Packaged Thesis Boxes, 2021, Source: Author.


Final production work on my films includes details
in film 2, Water. My second half of this film
focuses on priests and images of church icons.
These represent losses of goods and objects
people handed over in Torgsin shops, icons were
considered of value and disappeared for food.
I am linking this to exile of priests in early
1930s Ukraine. For this shot I have added some
of my original project materials using flour and
baking ingredients in production shoots. I use
my vector drawings as mattes and these materials
now reveal images from inside vector drawings.
Each of my films begins with a line shot. A
production breakdown shows developments of
this work. This is an idea from Richard Gort,
at Whisper. In film 2 a line appears and then reveals
to be a queue of people for a Torgsin shop. I use
this device to start each of my films. In film
4 this line appears from dots, small particles.
This develops into a spiral shot. This references
Vasily Grossman’s text from Everything Flows (2011).
It is about truth, reality and fictions. This
also references a famous article, “Dizziness
with Success”. This was Stalin’s article to
suggest initial attempts at collectivisation
had been over ambitious and to pull back on collectivisation
policies. This was before Holodomor. This as a
visual device also references Simon Morris’
work on Inscription Magazines (Inscription, 2021).
A spiral logo is a logo for this journal.




Recipes for Baking Bread, Film 2 Water, Source:
Author.



Recipes for Baking Bread, Film 2 Water, Source:
Author.



Recipes for Baking Bread: Production Shots, Source:
Author.

Recipes for Baking Brea: Dust Shot Breakdowns
Source: Author.



Recipes for Baking Bread: Dust Shot Breakdowns
Source: Author.




Recipes for Baking Bread: line shot. Source: Author.



Recipes for Baking Bread: Line Shot. Source: Author.



My poster frames for my project launches I use
single titles frames opening each film. My introduction
for part 4 is my only still opening. This is a reference
to a later shot, A shot of complete stillness, or
blackness. This is to represent deaths from
Holodomor and also a reference to black soil,
fertile land in Ukraine. Links to my websites are
below:

http://recipesforbakingbread.co.uk/

https://recipesforbakingbread2021.cargo.site/




Jerry Berman film poster, 2021. Source: Author.

References:

Grossman, V. [1989] (2011) Everything
Flows. Translated from the Russian by R. Chandler
and E. Chandler with A. Aslanyan. London: Vintage.

Inscription Journal (2021) Inscription [Online]. Inscription. Available from:
<https://inscriptionjournal.com/> [Accessed 11 September 2021].

Ya Gallery (2021) Ya Gallery: Naïve [Online]. Kyiv: Ya Gallery. Available from:
<http://yagallery.com/en/exhibitions/nayivna> [Accessed 11 September 2021].

Research Supervision Meetings: September 2021

Viva and mock viva, Lisa and Simon at my viva,
completion, submissions and ending, shiny academic
practices, living and breathing work, how to
show my film, Yana and Alison, letters, Kyiv,
final films, audio, production and composite
versions, thesis, physical copies to reception
for Lisa, abstract to Lisa, external examiners,
SAMS, intentions to submit, archival copies,
redactions and clean copies for library,
production work, websites and appendices,
margins, fibonnaci sequences for typesetting,
documentations on blog, meetings in October,
saying goodbye.

Recipes for Baking Bread: Introductions, Ukrainian lessons and End Credits.

I am working on two short, ten second pieces to
bookend my final films. These are a short
title and introductions with a subtitle salt
and an end credits sequence. These concerns are
visuals and practices around baking bread. My
audio is recordings from an interview with
Reverend Fr. Volodymyr Sampara on Sunday
22nd of August 2021. A short section of this
interview with Reverend Sampara describing
differences between Paskha, a religious festival
and Paska a European and Ukrainian Easter
bread. These themes combine with early visuals
I use flour and baking materials in production
tests from 2016 and 2017. These are introductions
to my works.

Recipes for Baking Bread Intro Sequence Stills, 2021
Source: Author

Recipes for Baking Bread Intro Sequence Stills, 2021
Source: Author

Recipes for Baking Bread · Recipes for Baking Bread: Introduction Reverend Fr. Volodymyr Sampara

Interview recording with Reverend Sampara: edit,
Source: Author

On Thursday August 26th and Tuesday August 31st
I had two Ukrainian lessons with Kateryna Tyshkul
and Kateryna’s niece, Darina. These include
basic structures for conversation responses, how
to talk about my work and travelling around
Ukraine. These were brilliant opportunities to
practice my Ukrainian and work I have been doing
online with Duolingo. Kateryna has translated
one of my audio pieces, my second clip from
my interview with Reverend Sampara. I am
using this for my end credits.

Ukrainian-English Dictionary book drawings, 2021,
Source: Author.

Ukrainian notes and toasts drawings, 2021, Source:
Author.


This is a simple end sequence and dedication. In this
part of my interview Reverend Sampara is talking
from a script about Kolach Ukrainian Christmas
bread. This bread appears in rituals including
rituals for passing of dead people. This translation
is from Kateryna and translates as: “And also
services and memorials for relatives who passed
away”. I am using this in combination with
my visual credits and a dedication, to bread,
to my films and to those people involved in
Holodomor.



End Credits, work in progress screenshot, 2021,
Source: Author.




End Credits: Recipes for Baking Bread, 2021,
Source: Author.



References:

Duolingo (n.d) Duolingo [Online]. Duolingo.
Available from: <https://www.duolingo.com/learn>

Golden Ratios, Fibonacci and Gmund

Golden Ratios, Fibonacci and Gmund.

Grids and layouts for my thesis production are
now complete. I am using a formula by Bringhurst
using golden section ratios to determine page edges and
margins. Here Bringhurst uses dimensions of an
A, ISO paper size. This is equal to a diagonal
square of unit 1 (Bringhurst, 2005, p. 147). Inside this a
textblock fits golden ratio dimensions 1.62 “[Φ, the
golden section]” (p. 175). Bringhurst gives a simple
formula for working out these ratios. Spine and top
margins are equal, and equal to page width / 9.
Bottom and edge margins are 2 x spine or 2 x top. This
gives a complete symmetry to my book and project. I
am aligning page numbers to edges of my text blocks.
I do not have a symmetrical page layout because
of my thin writing columns and right ragged text.
I have used this basic structure to create an offset
version using a more complex grid where
a second internal right spine margin gives a
value for each text block. Images align
exactly to margins and reveal this grid. All text
including captions offsets on my subset text margin.

I have also discovered Bringhurst’s brilliant uses
of Fibonacci series. Bringhurst gives an offset example
to determine text sizes at 4, 7, 11, 18… My
body text is all set at 18. My captions are now at
7 point text, my sub-heads are also now at
11 with my body text to fit this Fibonacci
series. This gives a symmetry and musical rhythm
to my entire production. All my text,
images and captions now hang off this grid.
There is some brilliant analysis in Bringhurst’s
book about page and proportions of human body, a
musical symmetry and depth to layout which
invites humanity to any text. “If the book appears
to be only a paper machine, produced at their
own convenience by other machine, only machines
will want to read it.” (p. 143).

My final paper stocks are Gmund and Munken,
both from G. F. Smith. Gmund is a fantastic,
think, only 10 gsm thicker than tracing paper stock
at 80 gsm. This is almost opaque it is so dense
in its quality. Even my initial photocopy
postroom prints were beautiful in
this stock. My press room prints are gorgeous
and I am sold on this. This is my text for my
bibliographies and appendices section, and my
images throughout my whole book. I am using
SRA3 with bleeds throughout. My text is all
going to print on Munken. This is from
by Huddersfield print room and is also from
G. F. Smith. This is 100 gsm, thick, beautiful,
handable quality, pure white, it has an
academic and deep soul feel. My books go
into production next week and all prints go to
press on Tuesday and collation is on Thursday
and Friday.





Golden Section Layouts. Source: artist, information
from Bringhurst, 2005, p. 175).

Gmund and Munken Stock, Source: artist.

Grid, early tests, Source: Artist.

Images and grids, Source: Artist.

Final margins, Source: Artist.