Action (C3-12) – Colin Martin
An action based on a conversation and a tram journey.

Friday, 13th February, 2009

‘Parallel Lines’
Our subject, ‘The long take – extended moments in film’, reflected a mutual interest and relates to Colin’s research exploring connections between photography, film, and painting.
We recorded the event obliquely by filming the view through a Luas window as we journeyed from St. Stephens Green to Sandyford and back again. Analogies between movement and film added momentum to our conversation. The journey, recorded on video tape, was in itself a kind of long take. The tram window became a screen showing the world outside slowing down and speeding up between the stops. Arriving back at St. Stephens Green we were approached by security guards enquiring about our filming permit?

While being escorted from the platform we agreed on ‘Simon’s Place’ for lunch. The beginning of the Dublin Film Festival, and in particular the Chantal Ackerman films being shown, provided a topical coda.

“Like the film’s illusion of movement the experience of the railroad is a fundamental paradox; simultaneous movement and stillness.”

Lynne Kirby, Parallel Tracks: The Railroad and Silent Cinema