From a list of voice recordings I made during the week I was in Szydlowiec with my grandmother. This voice recording was the one that stood out to me the most and I what I personally found my favourite. Although the story is generally sad, there are parts that are comical creating a bitter sweetness that I am very fond of.
My original plan was to remake the voice recording with my mother to make the Polish clearer as well as not have any background noise. However, I tried a sample editing footage with the original voice recording and I thought it wouldn't be the same if I had remade it. My grandmother speaks a very primitive Polish however has a way of telling her stories, which is what saved the original voice recording.
The background noise is from the television. As a child I watched Reksio, a Polish children's cartoon programme, so my grandmother left it on for me whilst talking about her childhood.
The footage begins with the main square of Szydlowiec of the tower playing bells. Along with an old woman walking into the square. The footage then goes on to observe the traditional houses of Szydlowiec with dogs guarding at the gates. But if anything they were the most gentle dogs that would just stare and be happy to be stroked. I wanted to include the dog in the snow outside the house because I thought it was a nice representation of the story to come. A lonely dog in the snow with a warm house just next to it. Another small dog barking outside eventually sneaking back under the gate. My grandmother left with her sister whilst her father is away leaving her nothing. She tries to make a nice Sunday lunch but her sister would rather beg to her neighbours for a better food. The only thing my grandmother wanted was her mother who made a meal and a warm home.
The next scene is in my grandmothers flat with curlers in her hair watching the television (Reksio). There is then a sequence of her in the kitchen sharpening a knife and cutting a fish (Carp).
I included these scenes because I wanted to show a traditional routine in Poland during the winter time. But it also included my grandmothers routine as a widow living alone.
I had asked her the previous day to go to the graveyard which she agreed on as she hadn't been there in a while. So I filmed during the walk there as well as her routine in the graveyard.
There is around 30 minutes of footage I had taken in the graveyard that I had to pick from. So I picked the few that made a mini narrative of simply lighting up the candles with a small prayer at the end. I wasn't sure whether to translate the ending of the prayer but I decided to translate the only part you could hear because its almost an intrusion into her present life even though it had nothing to do with the story of the past.
The most noticeable editing was with the music. My grandmother asked me a question and it didn't sound right with music playing on top. So I edited the music to play as she tried to light a match but stopped as soon as it was noticeably not lit until she tried again. The music would then play when the match had finally lit until the moment she closes the lid of a candle lantern and asks me a question. She then finally places the candle into the other lantern putting the lid into place which then continues the music once again.
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