This blog is part of a series of written reflections by MA Documentary Film students at UAL. The students collaborated in small groups to create short films which responded to the David Usborne Collection. You can watch this film on our social media.
This film explores the female form and endeavours to convey the evolution of its portrayal through the different spheres of time and space. Our inspiration for this project was shaped by the David Usborne Collection, of which is a part of UAL’s Archives and Special Collections Centre.
The collection is home to over 500 objects with functions that are not easily decipherable. One such object is the Appalachian zither (DU_749), which took our interest and forms the centre of the film. The relationship between the zither and the female body was initiated by David, who suggested the instrument signified the female form.
This intrigued us and we began looking at more obvious representations of the female body, most notably in: paintings, carvings, sculptures, and through the medium of dance. Visually, we believed dance worked best for this piece and we gathered archive footage of female dancers both past and present to attempt to convey how the representation of women has changed throughout the course of history.
The music we have chosen to feature in our film is that of a zither, alluding to its importance and significance in the making of this piece. Its sound is perhaps not as easily recognisable, and we feel this ties in nicely with the themes of the David Usborne Collection.
The zither brings our film to life, with the female dancers remaining an ever-present symbol and a physical embodiment of the instrument. The interpretative nature of the dancing further adds to the notion of mystery and intrigue, which surrounds many of the objects in the collection.
As filmmakers, inspiration can come from absolutely anywhere or anything, and David’s collection is a wealth of potential with unique stories behind every object. Our film may not tell the exact story of the Appalachian zither, but it was formed from an understanding of its significance to David and his interpretation of its symbolism.