Summing up Summer

Mark Mazur’s August is his Final Film Capturing The Essence of Summer

Bees buzzing, flowers in full bloom, fans blowing, ball games in parks, sweat dripping off foreheads, face paint and fun fairs are all recalled in Mark Mazur’s final instalment of his three-part film series about summer.

These slow-motion films, like half-forgotten yet vivid dreams, comprise of a combination of close-ups and macro footage that is driven by sound design and music. They provide intimate portrayals of both adolescent and adult summers told through single moments.

‘I first started developing the idea of the series in mid-March, which is still the middle of winter in Minneapolis,’ Mark told us. ‘As I was coping with the cold, I started to think of my childhood summers and the joy that surrounded them.’

The films, partly inspired by the opening of TV series Dexter, and the music video to Flames by Karl X Johan, have been created to allow space for the viewer to inject their own memories into them. ‘Everyone can have their own experience with each scene,’ Mark added. ‘And these memories would allow their own experiences to drive the narrative.’

We asked Mark a littler more about his films (scroll down for the breathtaking July and June films):

The Plus: Do you have any creative rituals?
Mark Mazur:
I guess the only ritual I have is I tend to spend the night before the shoot staring at my ceiling and writing down any notes that comes to mind. It’s actually surprising how many ideas come to me the night before a shoot.

TP: What would you like people to come away thinking or feeling after watching these films?
MM:
Pure nostalgia. I want people to inject their own memories into the story, to be able to taste, smell, hear and feel the scene because they have lived it. This self-insertion is the biggest reason why I wanted to limit the amount of faces we see in the films. I didn’t want to tell story of fictional characters, but instead wanted to allow individual moments to breathe and bring the audience back to their summers and those moments that were important to them.

TP: Did you find any particular challenges in shooting this series?
MM:
When the first cuts came in from Cody Brown, there is no sound and no music. It’s just a series of pretty shots. After the first review of JUNE, I sat down and asked myself “What the hell did I just make?” It wasn’t until Nick Mihalevich added in the sound and music that the pieces really had life.
This project is truly a sum of all it’s parts and placing faith in the process made all the difference.

TP: What next?
MM:
Aside from some branded spots that I’m wrapping up, there are a few different pieces I’m working on. One is a more traditional narrative that that is still in the very early stages of development. The second is a concept for a piece that I’m collaborating with a few different directors on that explores the idea of perspective.


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