One is a commuter who believes that if he can accumulate enough money he break free. Another is a 9-5 family man who has taken the route we are all led to believe is the one we should take to reach the alleged bliss of normality. The final character is a musician living out the lifestyle we have come to know through the tabloids and television to be 'rock'n'roll'.
The question is, of course, which path really does offer true happiness?
Although this is a documentary and all events are the reality of a day in the life, the film maker has chosen to call this film "The Gentle Art of Perception". The reason for the title is to remind the viewer that what they are watching is merely an interpretation of events which will lead the viewer to form a definite perception. A perception that is fixed to the will of the film maker. Perception created, re-enforced and determined by structuring images and sound-bites accordingly.
To quote the playwright Graham MacFarlane, "Television is just a mirror, we stare into the silver screen and see ourselves and the world around us. The image reflected just compounds our own perceptions. That process is repeated in an eternal circle. And the viewer is a knowing accomplice."
Each of the men portrayed in The Gentle Art of Perception believes their life and the way that they live it to be of total importance, which of course it is to them.
The film all began when I was travelling on a train from Glasgow to London. I was staring out of the window looking at the thousands of houses, containing tens of thousands of people. I started to wonder what possible significance my life could ever have to these people. And yet, to ourselves, our lives are everything. This sparked an interest in 'Normality' and just exactly what a normal life is. A need to stare normality in the face, and film it.
The Isle of Wight is an amazing place. It is very small, yet there's so much talent and life, it's easy to become absorbed by it all. Someone once said: "The Isle of Wight, if you can make it there, you'll make it anywhere . . ." Actually it was me, but it's true.
I don't know if you've heard but the same is said of New York. I got to wondering how similar the Isle of Wight and New York actually are.
Then I got to thinking, everyone knows where New York is, don't they? So, I asked a heck of a lot of people on the Isle of Wight, and they knew, all of them. Hmmmm, I wonder how many people in New York know where the Isle of Wight is?
I decided to find out. We, that's me and my crew took a flight to New York over Thanksgiving week-end last year. We took our equipment and filmed a scene for the film, our perceptions of the Big Apple, again forged by the media, were seriously challenged. I was asked to write a diary of our adventures so I did. I've added observations to the diary, as they turned out to be quite different than I had imagined, an imagined image constructed by 'The Gentle Art of Perception'.
November 27th: Woke up at 4.00am to be picked up at 5.30am. My first memory of the day is sitting on the 6am boat feeling completely exhausted, my mind still trying to sleep, to be rudely awoken by the boat's captain shouting "Good morning Isle of Wight" in a crazy Robin Williams style, totally inappropriate for that time in the morning.
Before I knew it a taxi journey had passed and we were boarding the plane. As we touched down I was finding it hard to contain my excitement at being in the city that never sleeps. We walked into JFK airport expecting to be lost in a sea of a million souls, it turned out to be dead quiet. Thanksgiving weekend had turned the airport into a ghost . . . well, airport. We breezed through and shared a taxi with an English guy. In a matter of minutes we were in the centre of New York City.
I was expecting bustling crowds, madness, beggars on every corner, instead it was pleasantly quiet as we walked to the Empire State Building. The time was late afternoon and we planned to leave the bulk of the filming for better light the next day. However, we set up the camera and got some footage down, of the Apple Core, the City Centre.
The camera was put away as we stepped into Times Square Brewery, it was so easy to fall into the atmosphere, easier than I could have imagined. Surrounded by images of power and money, I would have expected to have be sickened by it all, instead I felt totally at ease.
We left the bar and walked, yes walked, to Greenwich Village. I had imagined that we wouldn't walk anywhere in fear of being mugged, to be honest I felt safer walking through New York than I do walking Ryde High Street at night. We ended up walking everywhere we physically could.
Greenwich Village was odd, as it was just like being in a film set. Because we have seen the streets of New York so many times in films and on TV, being there is like continuous deja vu. It's kind of like being at home, but a home somewhere in your sub-consciousness.
Once in the Village we hit a bar called The Garage and decided to stay the night at the nearest hotel. Bags were dumped and we returned to the Garage, followed by Club 101, Jeckll and Hydes and back to Club 101. I shall go into more detail about these venues later.
November 28th: I remember hearing the Scooby Doo theme tune somewhere in my dreams then waking up to realise we had left the television on all night. Breakfast followed and by 9am we were back working.
The thing about making any kind of film is that it's incredibly boring. The actual shooting of images takes hours, so to cut a long story short the hours of 9.00am to 6pm were spent setting up and acquiring half decent shots. Poor light added to the frustration of limited battery power and tri-pod bans.
The hours passed us by, most of which were spent queuing for the Empire State Building. As the sun set we decided to walk back to the village. Following our noses we ended up completely lost and way out of our depth.
Unbelievably we did the one thing that I would advise everybody not to do, we walked through Central Park at night. On our travels we saw three grannies walking their dogs and that was it. We eventually found our bearings and took a walk through Grand Central Station. There were some performers playing out part of their show. We arrived as it was ending. I got chatting to them and arranged to return the next day and film them doing their stuff.
We found a different hotel and went for a meal at The Night Gallery which is a restaurant that has animatronic statues, which come to life and talk to the punters. Club 101 was next on the list then N.V. one of the "Hottest clubs in New York". The queuing system here was amazing. A girl called The Queen walks up and down the queue deciding who looked right to be allowed in the club. Somehow we got in. We danced then returned to Club 101, which is open to 5.30am. We eventually left and returned to the hotel.
November 29th: After a very short sleep we were back to work. The rushes from the day before were not good enough to use because the light was not right, so, we had to re-trace our steps. First however we made our way to the Statue of Liberty to get that all important image. The weather was perfect and we spent the daylight hours working our butts off to get as much as possible down before the light faded.
A return trip to the Empire State Building meant more hours queuing which when the clock is against you doesn't really help.
A promise had been made to return to Grand Central Station to see those performers. We arrived late, and the show was over. Costumes and instruments were being packed away. As I chatted to the cast I asked why they were busking in the station. I assumed that they were a bunch of hopeful wannabe's who couldn't get to do their thing anywhere else. How wrong I was. It turned out they were the cast of Faust which is on Broadway. They were performing in Grand Central Station as a promotional exercise.
One of the guys was packing up his guitar and I decided it would be a good shot of him playing his guitar. The idea being to compare this "wannabe" musician with the guy back on the Island we were comparing with Mr. Average and Mr. Commuter. If you see what I mean.
Anyhow he got his guitar back out and played a song called Providence from Faust. It turned out this "wannabe" musician was Christopher Barron, lead singer of the Spin Doctors. Perception eh?
I really must learn not to take things at face value, especially as I've made a film about it. We were invited back to Chris's apartment for a party, but first we had to get some shots of New Yorkers in action.
Back to the hotel to dump our equipment then off to New York's East Side, a few bars I don't recall, then Nice Guy Eddies, C.B.G.Bs where we saw a few great bands then it was time to hit another of New York's most happening clubs, Life. We danced and partied until about 6am. Grabbed a swift pizza, gulped an even swifter coffee, ran back to the hotel, packed our bags, jumped in a taxi and arrived back at JFK.
Once again the journey seemed to take minutes as opposed to hours. After a few laughs we were back at London's Heathrow, into a taxi, onto a boat, pick up and back home.
The effect that New York has on you, is one of inspiration. I had thought that we would be consumed by the fast pace, by millions of soul less faces rushing past us. Not at all, the city, or at least what I saw of it, was totally chilled. Everyone I met was perfectly natural and comfortable with themselves, which surprised me. I find London creates people who are obsessed with themselves and their image.
My experience of New Yorkers is, you are what you are and if someone doesn't like it, tough. Nobody I met was trying to be something their not, because they didn't need to be. Living in a massive movie set means you're constantly confronted with scenes from your favourite films being played out in front of you. You become part of that scene and are overwhelmed with a feeling of making it.
Nobody seemed to be wishing their lives away, they just get on with it. I guess wannabees don't exist in New York. You either make it or you don't. I remember Patrick Kane saying that as he walked around Greenwich Village he saw someone wearing a badge proclaiming "Don't worry it's only a movie".
In my short lived experience of New York I would have to agree, reality slides out of focus and before you know it you're off to Central Park for a coffee, meeting Tom Hanks at the Empire State Building or singing along with Sinatra: "If you make it here, you'll make it anywhere".
New Yorkers work incredibly hard because the city never sleeps. People need to be working twenty four hours a day to meet the requirements of constant food, drink and entertainment. The entertainers themselves were all of amazingly high standard. At Club 101 the band that played were simply outstanding. Yet, they didn't even get paid even though they packed out the club. A hat went around and everyone threw in change, but that was it. The band at C.B.G.B's were brilliant yet they didn't attract hardly any applause.
The cast of Faust, not content with just playing Broadway felt it necessary to busk in order to draw attention to their production. In the city that never sleeps, the performers never seem to stop working.
I don't see the same thing happening in England, we seem content with doing the minimum to sustain our existence. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel we can all learn a lesson from the New York experience.
Darrin Cooper, Director of The Gentle Art of Perception
The film is now finished and playing for five weeks at the Quay Arts Centre. The film took two weeks to make. Seven days shooting, seven days editing and sound/music recording at Dave Pontin's Sounds Right Studios.
Anybody who has an interest in film making and would like to be involved in the next project should contact Simon Clark at the Quay Arts Centre (01983) 528825
Darren Cooper hopes to make a promotional video for Island band Void. Void were featured in the Gentle Art of Perception along with one of the coolest and collected Island bands of the moment The Jones' whose lead singer Chiz is the rock'n'roll musician featured in the film.