[ Arran Tenzin Bradstock ]

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XENOBLAST (2021, 6 minutes): ‘Spaces converge and collapse in this audiovisual exploration of location and perceptual experience, presented through sounds and images recorded by experimental filmmakers Arran Tenzin Bradstock and Maximilian Le Cain.’
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XENOBLAST was conceived as a collaborative film, featuring sounds and images recorded by
experimental filmmaker Maximilian Le Cain and myself. The project involved us both gathering audio and video material which I then combined through a process encompassing both improvised and randomised editing. Exploring the balance between creative choice and chance was a concept central to the development and process of XENOBLAST, as well as the act of exploration itself in relation to gathering audio and visual material. Max was given direction through an accompanying text score I prepared which outlined a series of instructions we both would follow while gathering material, which also included 'Notes on Creative Approach' in which I gave insight into my thoughts on how to treat the material gathering stage as an act of exploration. The finished film is made up of a 50/50 split between his and my material. This project was, at its core, an ‘experiment’, as throughout the process it was unknown to me and Max what the film would become until the very final stage when our material was brought together

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This film was made as part of my PhD in Composition in University College Cork. My research is focused on the development of an approach to experimental filmmaking in which sounds and images are treated as equal and independent elements. I often employ chance-operations in the editing process and allow things such as shot order and durations to be randomly determined, having been inspired by the work of experimental musicians such as John Cage.

 

Recorded and edited in Cork, Ireland, between September and November 2021.

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XENOBLAST was officially selected for screening at the 2022 IndieCork Film Festival and 2023 Bloomsday Film Festival.

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Click here to find out more about Max's work (Close Watch Films & Experimental Film Society).