Screening of 'The Extra's Ever Moving Lips' (2014), by artist Jenny Brady. Part of 2021 BIMI (Birkbeck Institute of Moving Image) Essay Film Festival, London.

The film was shown online between 25 March and 3 April 2021 and screened at Birkbeck on March 25th as part of A Weighted Response with artist Jenny Brady, exploring themes of communication, language and technological mediation. A selection of Brady’s short films were be shown alongside a film programme specially curated by the artist, reflecting her current research into performance, authorial voice, and the sonic practice of experimental composer Alvin Lucier.

'The Extra's Ever Moving Lips' (2014) - Lucy Clout

Two forensic lip-readers attempt to transcribe the words an extra’s speaks in the background of an Australian soap opera. The question at the heart of this video is about what happens when speech created primarily as a disposable language of kinship, comfort and context is preserved and available for re-watching and interpretation. The soap and its extras are used as the pinnacle of speech designed for emotional context rather than as content.

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/38373