Bridget Baker- Extra Soles (video, 12')
Interview
Gregg Smith : How is it going with the film industry?
Bridget Baker: It's becoming a bigger and bigger industry; you don't know when it's real life or a film shoot happening on everyone's street corner in town. And I am heavily involved in it as a stylist. I dress people. It's my job, it's how I earn money. I am a worker, complete worker. I relate to workers in Cape Town , perhaps more than being an artist a lot of the time. This influenced my reason behind using people who have jobs for my projects- who might not necessarily be inspired by their work- but who do have other thoughts.
GS: How did you find the actors you worked with?
BB: Since I was doing a job during the time of the project I had to employ someone to find the extra's; work that I would have rather done myself, had I not had this movie to do. Archie, the gardener, who became the business man, you actually never even see him. You see his feet and legs. I could have used anybody, but I liked the idea of having him there. It was great. They were just there to do something for me quickly and get out of there. It was interesting. And I also quite like the fact that we just worked really fast instead of doing a laborious ‘Is this angle going to work?' shoot. It was all shot in three hours.
I want to do a voice-over that gives the viewer the idea that the documenter is the one who is really stuck in his life and job. The momentary kind of effect the messages have on him. They don't sink in, they don't really work at all. I think it makes him realize more and more that he's stuck. He's very stuck. I also enjoyed taking images of the cityscape, specifically Thibault Square . I'm looking forward to see how that can be incorporated in the footage, the architecture of the city. Working class architecture for the blue and white collar worker. The area of the city where the workers go at lunchtime to pick up energy: have an hour off to eat a toasted sandwich and drink a coke, and then go back to the office- a long cigarette break.
Xtra Soles was filmed on the last day of the Very Real Time project, 30 September 2003 . It took place in 3 locations in the CBD. The Strand Concourse, the Civic Centre and Thibault Square. The project was documented on digital video and the edited version is 00:04: 59.
Thanks to participants:
Abrie (documenter), Archie (businessman), Caery (assistant), Carmin (general), Cam (general), Cindy (kitchenhand), Ed (DOP and editor), Emil (locations and general), Fabrizio (technical advice), Gp (documenter), James (sound), Mr Barrett (technical advice), Rocco (municipal street cleaner)