Emptying frames

This short essay brings together some thoughts about two films, both of which take as their starting point the photographic still image and use film to expand and question the immobility of that image, teasing out small shifts and changes in its appearance. What follows are some observations about how these films reflect on their photographic materiality, the relationship between the still and moving image, the filmic interval, and the film and its projector. In the context of animation both films explore the boundaries of what constitutes the form. What are the most minimal conditions for ‘animation’ to take place? Can movement come from a single still image? In Candle (2007) and Tidal (2007), two obsolete and disappearing media come together to reflect on their own condition, their material and temporality.