My film is uploaded now. Please find it on the page ‘Film’ on this blog.
I also uploaded full clips of the songs in the film. Unfortunately I have some problems with exporting. That is why I have only two clips now. The other three will come soon! You can also find three clips of other buskers I really liked but could not have in the film.
Thanks everybody!
I just wanted to say thank you to some special people.
The film wouldn’t have been possible without all the buskers I filmed. The once who end up being in the film but also the once who are not in the film.
Thank you all a lot!!!
And I also want to thank Kate and Mike. I learned a lot and I am very happy about that.
It is very interesting to read about busking in different countries or places. In the place where I grew up (which is about the size of Canterbury) musicians are not allowed to play longer than half an hour in the same place. They also need a permission to play there, which they get from the city council (perhaps…). Therefore you won’t find a lot of buskers playing there. It is probably different in other places in Germany. But also in the city in which I study you hardly find any buskers.
The buskers I worked with told me that Canterbury is special for them. Because buskers do not need a permission to play and they can stay as long as they want.
It seems different again in Japan. I just found a blog from someone who went to Japan. It seems to be very common that bands (who are sometimes already famous) play on the streets.
But read what he has to say:
http://gabrielvisualanthropology.blogspot.de/2007/10/buskers.html
It would be really interesting to find out how it is in other countries. I will keep my eyes open on my future travels!
This is probably what buskers meant when they told me “You get to meet lots of people”…
I found a very nice quote in one of the readings the other day. It says
“Evidently Barnouw believes that documentary exists to act on society by changing the viewer’s heart and mind.”
This quote is taken from “The elements of documentary by Rapport (2002).
I think it is an awesome goal to have doing a documentary. Although it is also a quite high aim I think it is good to keep something like that in mind while doing a documentary.
Editing is quite fun once you understand how to do it. It is still exhausting because it is a very detail focused work but I find it very interesting. The film more and more takes shape and I’m getting more satisfied with my work.
In the morning I went to the center again to film some more shots of Canterbury. I realized (again) how much I enjoy filming. I could have spend all day outside looking for more buskers to film. I met two more wonderful busker who I really cannot have in the film because I am already so far with editing. But I decided to film them and show them here in the blog.
While researching for background information I found this today:
http://youllhavetowalk.wordpress.com/category/anthropology-of-a-busker/
I am not quite sure how much I like it. On the one hand one can see that the author really engaged himself in the topic and I read some really interesting things. But I think I don’t really like the way of categorizing people. Maybe there are differences between Canterbury and the rest of the busking world. But all the buskers I met during my work were really great. They were all good musicians and all very ambitious. Probably I would not be able to categorize any of them that easy. I also think it wouldn’t be fair to do so.
But maybe you read about it in the blog yourself…
I just found this little guide from a busker for buskers who want be successful on the streets:
It is funny that people can do online courses for improving their busking skills. I wouldn’t have thought that. I wonder if it really works. Maybe someone tries it out and tells me?
“Playing For Pocket Change is a series featuring musicians playing on the streets and in the subways of New York City. Often overlooked and ignored, we find out exactly who these people are and what makes them want perform in what is arguably the world’s strangest venue.” (taken from the following homepage)
Check it out:
heymoonshaker busking in London Brick Lane. It’s a 40 Minutes documentary film in 4 parts about them. Very interesting to watch. This is just the first part. The others are to be found in youtube, too. Just check the recommended videos.
Among Hectic: Buskers in Canterbury High Street 