Experimental Filmmaking with OMNI | Lensbaby Creators

Inspiration can strike at any time and come from anywhere - a conversation between a group of strangers or experimenting with a new creative tool. Marta Anna Løvberg created this beautifully intriguing short documentary film using OMNI. Read on to learn more about the film and how it was made.

"Fremmed" (nor. Stranger) is a short experimental documentary film made collectively by Cecilie Holtan, Kristiane Nerdrum Bøgwald and Marta Anna Løvberg. The women met for the first time at the We Do/Polish Contemporary Arts and Culture Festival in Oslo, Norway at the documentary film workshop with filmmaker Malgorzata Goliszewska. The group felt an immediate connection over the topics of loneliness and social disconnection. The entire film was made in 4 1/2 days and premiered at the Høymagasinet, Akershus Festning in Oslo, Norway on September 14th.

"We didn't want to find an external protagonist for the film. Instead, we chose our first conversation as the subject of the documentary. We started recording and editing the audio, and the imagery followed afterward. It's a bit of an unusual approach, but it gave us the option to be more creative. We then recorded visuals of the table at which the conversation took place and abstract shots of ourselves. The table shots were intended to make it relatable, and portraits showed the distance making the viewer a bit uncomfortable. We used the OMNI Creative Filter System to create visual isolation in the portrait shots. This product was fantastic for creating this kind of whimsical, fairytale-like imagery, that let us express the separation more profoundly. The creative filters are super easy to use both for stills and moving images, so it was a fun recording session."

The movie explores how being both the filmmakers and the characters affected the material and the developing relationships between the women. The video was selected as a finalist at the Lift-off Sessions, the UK as well as Short Film Facotry, Romania, in October 2019. The story was also featured as an official selection at the Polish International Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland, and Kortflix, Oslo, Norway in November 2019.

Check out more of Marta's work on her website, Instagram, and Vimeo.