Mobilising Stillness: from database to story, via still and moving-image

The article explores the concept of 'database filmmaking' (i.e. first compiling a creative database of images in order to later construct a narrative in post-production, rather than following the more traditional pathway of filmmaking via scriptwriting), arguing that approaching a film from a database perspective can potentially increase its cinematic qualities. The article builds upon Database as a Symbolic Form (2001) by Manovich, along with cinema writings by Kracauer, Bresson and Tarkovsky. The author takes his own short film, Crossing (2008) - co-directed with filmmaker/photographer, Ian Wiblin - as an example and case study in formulating image-led drama. The film's database consisted of both still and moving-image, which were juxtaposed in a variety of ways; the article reflects upon this methodology and how the meanings generated by the interplay of still and moving-image could only have emerged from adopting a database approach to storytelling.