24 Hours - My town...

M38A1

I've been wrestling with a little 'project' for a while now and thought I'd ping the group for some direction. What I wanted to do was shoot my town in 24 images, ie: one for each hour of the day/night. I've come up with a couple approaches which have some pros and cons, so any input would be appreciated. The slant I wanted to use was of the Street/PJ approach.

Approach #1 - Shoot 24 hours straight wandering the town
This approach would be a really long day and night. But taking this approach, one would get to really experience all the aspects of the town as time goes on. I would simply wander from area to area shooting at whim, them selecting the best image in each one-hour block. It would be totally ad-hoc short of what I decided in my head about where I'd want to be about when. I'd be forced to keep moving and forced to keep thinking of shots on how to document a 24 hour period in a representative light.

Approach #2 - Plan out what I want to shoot and execute
This approach would allow me to pre-plan the series, then execute it over a longer period of time. This would let me really think about the shots and let me focus on that one shot for the whole hour block of time. The downside to it is, it's not spontaneous. For example, in the rough planning I'd like to visit the airport at 3am when they are buffing the floors. A shot of an empty airport, floor buffer in action would be the objective. So any given night, I decide to create that shot. When done, move on to the next one which has been pre-planned.

Is this crazy?
Has anyone else done something like this?
Any other approaches?

I DO believe it would be a fun series to create, and most certainly a real challenge to try and show my town in 24 images.

Thoughts?


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lizzard_nyc

I like this idea Scott. I myself had thought of a way to document Queens (it's always overlooked) but never landed on a solid idea.
I like the 24 hours idea, though I'm not sure which one would be better, both have their plus and minuses, but which one is more compelling? I think maybe idea 1, spontaneous street shots all taken within a 24 hour period. You're in Austin right? I can't really imagine what you would shoot from 3:00 a.m. on til the wee hours but I'm curious and now you have my attention.
I think it would be more challenging to get really good images that are attention worthy within a 24 hour period. The more I think about it, the more I like #1.
Can't wait to see if you can pull it off:)

I bet you will learn much from your project.

Hinson

Ya know, I've been trying to think of a project to kick-start my stalled imagination/inspiration and this might be the key. Fortunately, I live in DC metro so location would be simple. Either my community, my county my state or just do DC. And, because of health, I doubt I could do a straight 24 hour shoot, but breaking it into say, six hour segments over four days might work. 6-10am one day, 11-2pm the next and so on. Scott, thanks so much for this idea. I'm anxious to see which route you take and the hourly images.

Actually, I just thought that a state-wide 1 hour shoot, 24 days in a row might be fun also. Plan for what/where I wanted to shoot each hour then jump on the bike and go. Maybe Annapolis one morning early, OC boardwalk one evening or sunrise one morning, etc. Some of the shoots would be 4-5 hours away so would make for a full day just to get the one shot. Could be interesting.

Richard

It sounds like a great idea either way you do it. I think it makes a better back-story to do 24 hours in a row, but I suspect the actual pics will be better if you spread the shooting out over several days. For one thing, you won't be exhausted in the final hours--it's tough to be in the zone when you're zoned out. I don't think having a specific shot in mind detracts from spontaneity as long as it doesn't involve posing. If you are alert, you can still be on the lookout for the unexpected while you are waiting for the specific shot to materialize. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

M38A1

Thanks for comment....

I'm leaning towards a 24 hour marathon shoot of sorts. That way I hope the images will show just how long a day can be as it wears on. Now, what time would you start? I was thinking 0600hrs or early morning so I wouldn't be totally trashed.

Hinson

M38A1 wrote: »

Thanks for comment....

I'm leaning towards a 24 hour marathon shoot of sorts. That way I hope the images will show just how long a day can be as it wears on. Now, what time would you start? I was thinking 0600hrs or early morning so I wouldn't be totally trashed.

Couple of questions.
1. Do you plan on going without sleep for the 24 hours?
2. How will you fill the time between shots?

To answer your question. (particularly if the answer to #1 above is yes) I would think that 0100hrs would be the best time two start. You could plan on getting to bed earlier than normal on day preceding the shoot so you could get at least 5-6 hours sleep. Start shooting at 0100hrs and end at 2400hrs. Back in bed and get a normal nights rest. That way, you don't shift your day night cycle. Also, all shots would be withing the same 24 hour day.

redleash

Excellent idea, Scott. I have no doubt you can find interesting subjects at all hours. I like your #1 approach; to me, it sounds like a very good way to capture a 24-hour cycle of your town. Like everyone else, I am looking forward to your results.

Lauren

M38A1

First off, thanks for all the comments!

I'm leaning towards the 24 hour straight effort if only to capture a true 24 hour period. Life as it was in that consecutive 24 hour would be drastically different than 24 images of my town over a period of days or weeks each representative of an hour block of time. So to stay true to 24 (think Jack Bauer/24), the only real approach is sequential/same day.

I've pretty much concluded I'll have a schedule, pre-thought shots I want that I'll execute. My intent was to show what all is in my town so the viewer can see a representative selection of images and get the feel they were there, and experienced it. I will however leave some wiggle room for the unplanned shots true to PJ. You just never know I suppose what you might stumble in to on one of those hour long blocks that is more street worthy than what I had planned.

Now, a weekday or weekend? They can be drastically different here.....