Studio 1 - Week 8 - Related Works HH

Band in a Bubble daily show Episode 1, Channel [V]

Some good Samaritan uploaded the first episode of the 30 minute daily show coverage of Channel [V]’s Band in a Bubble project from 2004. For those who don’t know about it, the project saw Australian band Regurgitator locked in a “bubble” living-space and recording studio located in Federation Square in Melbourne for three weeks to record the entirety of their album Mish Mash! Cynically known as a “media stunt”, this project was supported and covered by cable TV channel Channel [V], and to this day remains one of the most memorable public art projects I have ever witnessed. Viewers could tune in 24 hours a day to watch the goings-on, or alternatively could watch 30 minutes of daily highlights in the daily show every evening. This first episode covers the band entering the bubble, beginning to write and record, and attempt to endure the antics of [V] host Jabba.

Big Day Out 1997, Channel [V]

This is a YouTube video of an hour of Channel [V]’s coverage of the 1997 Big Day Out festival. Over the hour, hosts interview bands including Fear Factory and The Prodigy, live performances are shown which are experimentally shot and edited, they will cross to more esoteric stages such as the LilyPad, and occasionally intersperse segments with bizarre animated sequences. This is a lot of fun, and considering I watched all this growing up and I often find myself trying to emulate the feel I sense here, I can’t help but think that it has been a deep well of inspiration that I owe a lot to. There is something especially cool about all this- the visual effects they use are colourful and fun, but also uniform and considered. It’s that kind of amateur-ish professionalism that is so fun to watch (and to make), and it served a lot to capture and create the feeling of being at this hugely important Australian music festival.

“Mrs Danvers” from Rebecca, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, 1940

The character of Mrs Danvers shows up at the start of the second act of Hitchcock’s Rebecca and quickly becomes a focal point who I found to be terrifying. The film follows a young and naïve woman, Mrs de Winter, hastily marrying a widower, Maxim de Winter, and moving into his stately home. Upon arrival she meets all the staff of the house, including the immediately icy housekeeper Mrs. Danvers, the staff’s spiritual leader. Despite practically begging Mrs Danvers to be her friend in an otherwise lonely new world, Mrs de Winter is treated with nothing but cruelty and hostility by Mrs Danvers. Danvers is downright evil; not only does she never take any pity on Mrs de Winter, but she really scares her (and the audience) by constantly showing up in the corner of frames and at one point even trying to convince Mrs de Winter to kill herself. Not very nice. I really couldn’t figure this movie out because everyone is so awful to Mrs de Winters that it almost seems comical. This led me to thinking there may even be some supernatural twist, like, for example I thought perhaps that Mrs Danvers could have been the evil ghost of the widowers first wife, back to scare the new one away. This just goes to show how well this character is framed as a terrifying obstacle to Mrs de Winter achieving happiness in a new life. I’ve also learnt that Mrs Danvers was played by an Australian actress, Judith Anderson.