Dead Reckoning (13:20, 2012)
Lighthouse studio at the The Lighthouse Field Station, Cromarty, Scotland
Dead Reckoning focuses on the cinematic qualities of maritime environments around the Cromarty Firth and combines this with the sublime ambient music of theapplesofenergy.
[In navigation, ‘dead reckoning’ is the process of calculating one’s current position by using a previously determined position, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time, and course]
Dead Reckoning plots an audio-visual journey through a seascape containing monuments to industry, energy and leisure.
The film focuses on the cinematic qualities of the Cromarty Firth, the Moray Firth and the North Sea; maritime environments in the North East of Scotland where sea mammals such as dolphins and seals coexist amongst the activities of oil rigs, cruise ships and wind turbines. By combining these cinematic images with an emotive soundtrack the intention is to create a new experience that highlights, or elevates, both the beauty and the conflict inherent in this kind of coexistence.
The addition of underwater video and hydrophone sound recordings introduces an element of disorientation and danger, and provides a new perspective from which to contemplate the impact of industry on nature.
Dead Reckoning was produced over the Summer, 2012, during a Sublime Artist Residency in Cromarty, Inverness-shire. I was based at the Lighthouse Field Station, a marine mammal research station of the University of Aberdeen’s School of Biological Sciences. The residency was supported by IOTA, Inverness, and the University of Aberdeen with additional funding support by Creative Scotland and HIE.