Left Opened
A collaboration about the experience of anxiety.
PRESS PACKAGE
Left Opened
[Narrative Short]
Running Time: 15.32 (TJ) 15:04 (MD)
Directed By: Rick Etkin �Written By: Christine Bissonnette ��Produced By: Christine Bissonnette� Craig Addy Rick Etkin
Production Company: 9 Creative Lives��Edited by: Trevor Jacobson� Madison Dewalt ��Cinematographer: Rick Etkin�Music Improvised by: Craig Addy�Dancers: Drew Temple� Vitantonio Spinelli
LOGLINE
SYNOPSIS
[16 WORDS]
Left Opened is a poetry, improvised piano and improvised dance collaboration about the experience of anxiety.
[92 WORDS]
Centred around a five-part narrative poem, this project was not about offering solutions, or about telling a hero’s narrative that turns anxiety into a villain that we needed to beat down or destroy by the end. Collectively, we were very specifically interested in exploring the experience of anxiety; the sensations, melodies, metaphors, and movements we’ve associated with anxiety at different times in our lives.
Filmed with 4 different cameras, each take running from start to finish (necessary, because of the improvisation), our focus was on listening and supporting each other’s voices.
OUR STORY
Back in 2016, I approached Craig Addy with a rough concept — I’d written a poem about anxiety and I wondered if he’d like to work together to add a musical tension and landscape to the piece. Just for fun.
We spent the next two years connecting in his living room to workshop, rehearse, and expand on that rough concept. Much later on in the process, we were joined by dancers Drew and Vita who added movement to the piece. This was an addition to our topic of anxiety, which I now see as invaluable.
There was a lot that I wanted to say and explore with Left Opened but the real heart of the project has ended up being the dialogue — the listening and responding — that occurs between all four performers throughout this 15 minute one take marathon of a film.
Since the very beginning, we were less concerned with creating something perfect (which would have been impossible anyway, with all of the improvisation) and more with exploring the collaborative process. We used our rehearsals to learn how to trust and be witnessed by one another; how to be vulnerable and bold in our choices; and how to support one another moment-to-moment, no matter what happened. I feel so proud of what we ended up creating together.
DIRECTOR, Rick Etkin
Rick Etkin is a long time cinematographer, director and still photographer based in Vancouver BC. Known for creating “Imagery that Stirs” mostly in the commercial and advertising world he also has created short form documentaries and 48hr film festival entries.
Etkin seeks to incite an emotional response to his work both personal and assignment related -- whether that means to create memories, desires, compassion, involvement, fun, or other connections with the viewer. Amongst other endeavours, Etkin brings culinary art and tasty images together with Slideluck, and teaches business and photography at Langara College, Capilano University and elsewhere. Holding a deep belief in community he can be found advocating for and building community as a volunteer with CreativeMornings and Likemind.
Collaborating on a passion project with such a talented, dedicated and motivated team, all working to create a performance piece with an important message was an honour and a pleasure. Anxiety affects so many people and Christine's poem inspired me the first time I heard her recite some of the opening lines. I know many people that live inside that box and wanted to create something that could help. That led us all on the journey of making the film "Left Opened". It was our hope to open dialogue about life with anxiety and with this film perhaps encourage others to tell their story.
CAST MEMBERS
In Left Opened, we enter into a sensorial narrative about anxiety using poetry, piano, and dance. Each member of our team brought their own craft and interpretation to the project -- giving voice (in their own way) to the experience of anxiety as they understood it for themselves. Vitantonio and Drew (dancers) were the last to join our team less than a month before filming. We met them for the first time on the day of the shoot. They joined our small cast with ease and grace. All of the music and dance in Left Opened is improvised.
Christine Bissonnette - Poet
Christine Bissonnette is a performance poet, teacher, and Speech Arts adjudicator. Originally from Nova Scotia, Christine holds a BA in English and Theatre, with a concentration in creative writing from the University of New Brunswick, and a Theatre Conservatory Diploma from Vancouver Acting School. She has trained extensively in voice (Linklater and Rodenburg), breath (Middendorf), and performance with highly respected coaches from across North America, including Juerg Roffler, Gayle Murphy, and Ben Ratner.
As a poet, Christine has performed on stages all over British Columbia (including featuring at the Vancouver Poetry Slam in 2018). In her teaching practice at Viva Voce Studios (where she works with children and adults), she uses poetry as a vehicle for exploring language and our personal connection to it; specifically looking at the many ways we tell stories and why. She has also worked with Kudoz (facilitating spoken word poetry workshops with adults with cognitive disabilities), Vancouver Biennale (developing and conducting multi-week poetry and theatre workshops in schools), and had the great pleasure of adjudicating the Speech Arts segment of the Pacific Northwest Music Festival in 2019.
Craig Addy - Pianist
Alongside the rigours of traditional classical music training (B.Mus, UBC | ARCT Performer’s Diploma, Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto), Craig has always explored and played with improvising. As a child and young teenager, Craig used to lie under the piano while his mother played beautiful classical music — later, during a visit to Showcase Pianos in 2018, Craig was spontaneously inspired to get under the piano again. This impulse eventually became ‘Under the Piano’ -- an offering of solo and group sessions, where clients experience the vibrations of improvisations that have been inspired by their intentions (words) and presence.
Craig is also a member of both the Amicus Music Duo (with clarinetist Howard Meadows) and the Quiet Hearts Ensemble (with Amicus, violinist & vocalist Mark De Silva, and guest artists). In stunning cathedral acoustics, or in smaller venues, Quiet Hearts Ensemble’s “Music Oasis” features spontaneously improvised music and provides audience members (and participants) with an intimate, relaxing and personal respite from everyday stress. Additional music activities for Craig include scoring and orchestrating music for media and improvised collaborations with dancers, visual artists, and yoga and meditation practitioners.
Drew Temple - Dancer
Vitantonio Spinelli - Dancer
For Drew, dance has been the most powerful ally in understanding herself. Raised in the countryside north of Toronto, movement storytelling and ritual performance are a culmination of her life’s journey and she draws inspiration from both the daily mundane to the great existential questioning of existence itself and what it means to be human. Drew currently resides in Vancouver, BC where she teaches her dance class: Journey to the Temple. Her goal is to provide a powerful experience of connection and embodiment, where one can truly come home to their own body in a more loving, conscious way.
Vitantonio is a dancer, fire spinner, vocalist, and filmmaker with a passion for beauty. How many people allow themselves to feel into what is happening in our world? If they did, would they feel an injustice impossible to shake? With over seven years of experience in film and video production, his company, Vero Films, produces documentaries, alternative media and music videos that are rooted in delivering medicine through the medium of light and sound — delivering transformational works that inspires evolution and aligns with truth, love, integrity, and peace.�
A NOTE ABOUT THE EDITING
Left Opened tells a story about anxiety, but also about collaboration. With this in mind, we decided to share our story in two different ways. Madison Dewalt created a conceptual and non-linear version of the film that visually dramatizes the narrative and invites audience members into the experience of anxiety itself. Trevor Jacobson roots the story and audience in a firm sense of place (a black box theatre), beautifully capturing the spirit of the improvisation -- all of our mistakes and moments of synchronicity -- exactly as they happened on the day.
Trevor Jacobson - Editor
Madison Dewalt - Editor
Trevor is a Vancouver-based music and video producer, and creator (with Tanya Goehring) of the audio/video project The Automatic Message. Pairing dark, off-kilter techno with visual storytelling, they’ve released over 40 productions to-date on digital, vinyl and cassette and have been featured internationally around North America and Europe (most notably at the world famous Berghain nightclub in Berlin, Germany). Their video for Drumcell’s ‘Disturbance’ was nominated for a Berlin Music Video Award, and ‘Agnete & The Merman’ (their 55 minute mind-bending dance film produced in partnership with electronic music pioneer Cristian Vogel) screened at the Berlin Philharmonic and the world renowned ZKM festival in 2018. Jacobson and Goehring also create editorial style videos for retailers, film festivals, and special events through their boutique studio Das Duo.
Maddi is a model, editor, and photographer based in Vancouver, BC. Present in a lot of her work is her inclination towards rawness, dramatic expression, and theatricality. She has a bachelor degree in theatre, and a background in ballet which has contributed to her understanding of the expressiveness of angles and forms. Maddi’s work has been featured on Gothesque, Le Fil D’or and Volo Magazine (amongst many others).
PRAISE
“Interesting to see a project featured that wasn’t just about the final product but also just as importantly, or more so, used as a catalyst for discussion, connection, and dialogue.”
“My first impression was how well the poet and pianist interacted — melodically and rhythmically.”
“The film would be very inspiring to anyone who has ever felt like they needed to be silent, but didn’’t want to be — a universal experience.”
“Maybe the ability to heal, doesn’t mean the ability to explain,’ — this section of the poem really hit home for me with a personal experience about trauma and recovery, actually (not anxiety) - it felt very relatable & really captured how I feel and actually helped me make sense of how I feel.”
“Sometimes the pauses and changes in cadence of music — or the emotional shifts were very fulfilling. I could feel my body grow less tense, or more tense.”
“One time the camera followed the upward and outward movement of the dancers and the music went with it too — wow!”
On December 9th, 2019 we hosted a small prescreening of the film. The purpose of this screening was dialogue. We asked attendees to share their first impressions, moments that stood out, and whether they thought we had captured a relevant exploration of anxiety. Here’s some of what was written on the feedback forms...
CREDITS
Directed by: Rick Etkin Written by: Christine Bissonnette
Produced by: Christine Bissonnette Craig Addy
Rick Etkin
Director of Photography Rick Etkin
Editors Trevor Jacobson
Madison Dewalt
Production Sound Recordist Teo Van Raalte
CAST
Poet Christine Bissonnette
Pianist Craig Addy
Dancer Drew Temple
Dancer Vitantonio Spinelli
B Cam Operator: : Tina Mohns
2nd Assistant Director: Stephanie Seemel Slate & Script Supervisor Lea Chambers
Digitech Kris Constable
Set Stills Rob Sturgess
Behind-the-Scenes Recording Zoran Dragelj
Production Assistant Karen Garry
Production Assistant Marn Norwich
Theatre Technician Levi Pease
Filmed at the Orpheum Annex
Special thanks to the City of Vancouver Civic Theatres
The whole cast and crew at the end of our 10 hour shoot day!
Learn More
Visit us at our website:
leftopened.com
@9creativelives
/9creativelives