I have been working with a 7 minute piece of footage shot during the March 2018 snow, from the train window between Wimbledon and Clapham Junction stations, passing through Earlsfield. The footage was compelling largely due to the transformation of the city, both green spaces and built-up areas, by the layer of snow.

I started with the simple triptych format that I had employed in “Approach“, staggering the single vertical format section of footage by just under a second – this was enough to align the objects at a relatively close distance. I used the “Wimbledon A” signal box in the shot below as the register for the time separation. Objects closer and further from the camera are out of alignment between each frame, due to the differential parallax.

I left the sound from the recording (from the carriage from which I filmed), which created an interesting trebling due to the small time offset.

This is the triptych doubled. The effect is to widen the view, providing a more panoramic image. The sound becomes even more complex as it now has six repeated layers.

And now quadrupled. The separation of each duplication of the footage suggests the windows of a train. The sound now has 12 layers and is starting to become musical.

Doubled again, so the triptych is repeated eight times, there are now 24 individual versions of the footage and sound. These 24 layers produce a rhythmic musical effect for the soundtrack. The vista is now so wide that objects in the view can be more carefully studied – similar to the effect of looking through a train window, where a passenger can move their gaze.