“Back to basics!” cry the Lumieres. Here’re some snips from the Lumiere Manifesto:
Lumiere video arises from the tradition of the French Lumiere brothers. Credited with some of the first footage captured, in 1895, the Lumieres are also recognized for holding the first public film screening, showing ten shorts that lasted only twenty minutes total. At the time, Louis Lumiere stated, “The cinema is an invention without a future,” believing that everyday photography and video [or film, as the case was] was ultimately nonsensical. Yet, we stand firm that Lumiere principles are essential to our existence as artists, media producers, visual creatures, and world citizens.
We believe… that everyday video brings together a collective consciousness and experience through which we all come to view a universal existence and see “light” in the world, even through personal darkness.
We believe in video as a tool for contemplation. As camera movement, zooming, cutting, and special effects merely function as distractions, the filmmaker should shun these techniques out of respect for the audience.
Like Dogme, there’re some ground rules for would-be Lumiere video makers: 60 seconds maximum, no audio, and the camera fixed (no handhelds–the Lumieres had heavy equipment and used a tripod), and no zooms, FX or edits. One shot, take it as it comes.
I’m not a big fan of rules, but some of the Lumiere videos are quite beautiful. Mike Moon’s “Moon & Clouds” struck me as especially lovely. Although not a Lumiere video, Patalab’s “frottage” is gorgeous, and I love the ambient soundtrack by Magnatune artist Monoide. Les uns et les autres perhaps best capture the Lumiere spirit, in my opinion, with this short piece called attempt III of models striding down a runway and this one, “The Sky Is Watching You,” of clouds and what is certainly a helicopter but could just as easily be a bug.
