9 minute read

Planting Seeds

Embedded in layers of evocative symbolism, Rachael Porter’s Greenhouse excavates metaphors that bind agriculture and anthropology with one distinct voice

How does your garden grow? Rachael Porter’s patch is a messily sown tract of wildflowers and weeds – hastily arranged with a hobbyist’s hand.

“Half of my plants sprout perfectly, the other half die soon after,” she sniggers. “I’m a fledgling enthusiast. It’s rough.”

A filmmaker by trade, Rachael’s interest in horticulture stems from her background in Tennessee’s ‘scenic city’ – or Chattanooga, to be more exact. Nicknamed after its verdant locales, the metropolis borders the leafy foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, its flourishing environment a textbook setting for those engaged in cultivation.

Here, Rachael’s been advocating her local businesses for years, creating films for local organizations that highlight the state’s natural beauty. Gig work paid the bills and kept her afloat, but in 2022, her focus has shifted. With the aid of X-H2, she’s been creating something more intimately linked to her obsessions.

“Passion projects just haven’t been attainable for me. The grind of a freelancer is something I’m involved in most days, so I’ve seldom had the time,” she explains. “I try to maintain a serious work/life balance, investing in my desires outside of the nine-to-five slog. Personal ventures have always felt like mountains I can’t climb, until now.”

Rooted in her love of gardening and the great outdoors, the kernels of Greenhouse materialized in a number of ways. One such idea came on a muggy spring day, while Rachel was tending to the shrubs of her burgeoning backyard.

“I was repotting some plants after a spat with a loved one. As I was working, I noticed the soil was bad, and the roots needed replacing. That’s when it struck me – this perfect analogy.

“It came to me as this naturally good fit, communicating the season of life I was experiencing.”

Recognizing value in the simplicity of this metaphor, Rachael acknowledges the stems and offshoots of her conflict. From here, she was able to enact a meaningful settlement to her dispute. It may have been straightforward, but the implication of this symbol was enough to kick-start a wider consideration of the connection at large.

“It helped me realize there’s a lot that’s outside of your control. Like flowers, relationships need to be grown and nurtured, but more importantly, cared for.”

Perhaps more perceptively, each seasonal cycle imparted a greater wisdom – that blossoms and beauty don’t last forever, nor are they supposed to. This inescapable progression renders everything fleeting, fading like an autumnal shift, grasping the summer away.

“That’s the natural rhythm – life cycling towards death, then all the way back again. Situations are constantly changing and rearranging. In a culture that privileges instant gratification, I think this sifting through the dirt – being in it for the long haul – is a key aspect in this film. We should strive to face difficulties with curiosity, digging deeper to confront the complexity of emotions that live within us.”

Like any good idea, numerous channels bind the complexities of Rachael’s thoughts together. Cultivated over time, her initial concepts and theories took a while to gestate. The crystalized vision didn’t materialize immediately, and although frustrations abounded, the final idea was more than worth the wait.

“In 2019, I planted a load of seeds. At first, they didn’t end up blooming, and that really discouraged me. Then, in the spring of 2020, what I thought were a bunch of weeds suddenly started to thrive. It was a crazy mix, and it was totally gorgeous.

“It reminded me that you have to keep hold of patience. Whether it’s an idea or a plant, there’s something rewarding about organically developing things yourself. It’s really special when that happens instinctively, without force.”

Matching the splendor of natural environments with the lyrical musings of a spoken word voiceover, Greenhouse places its literal and symbolic namesake front and center. In the shadowy corners of a murky conservatory, an interpretative dance is gracefully intercut with strident flourishes of gardening in all its grueling forms. Perseverance and self-doubt are fleshed out amidst the scenic landscapes, unifying allegorical layers as a wearied woman contends with rigid, unyielding terrain.

A series of flares, flashes, and dissolves navigate us through a tale of ultimate triumph. Eventually, our flower farmer must face her doppelganger in the greenhouse, confronting these apprehensions and misgivings in a beautifully poetic way.

Making peace with the wildness of her worries, the emblematic ‘shadow self’ is led out of the dark and into the light. Here, she dances alongside our protagonist, calmed and acceding to her unpredictable rhythms, accepting these volatilities as an inevitable – but necessary – part of existence.

“I’ve always been someone who processes life through metaphor. I find it grounding,” Rachael reasons. “I spent the past few months reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. It’s all about discovering your creative potential – facing the difficulties that go along with the process. The observations she makes were a main influence on the thematic direction of the film. I thought to myself: what can my fears teach me? How can I move forward, without feeling hindered by them?

“Internally, I think most of us are plagued with self-doubt, but we have to adopt brave faces. I wanted the environment of this piece to feel like a back-and-forth battle. Imposter syndrome doesn’t always reign supreme. For me, it’s dependent on the day. Sometimes you’re in it, sometimes you’re not. It can be a war!

“When it really comes down to it, I think fears actually showcase vulnerabilities, and help to illuminate the things we really care about. Hopefully, this film speaks to people in that way. We won’t get anywhere if we don’t sit with ourselves. I don’t think it’s wise to overanalyze to the point of self-absorption – but you’re not healthy when you’re ignoring your internal elements.”

Highlighting the importance of mental health and emotional wellbeing, Rachael’s standpoint is a nuanced call to balance and resilience when dealing with hardship. With film as her empathy machine, she’s exemplified a slice of Niebuhr’s time-honored wisdom – accepting that which she cannot change, enacting courage in what she can, and learning when to know the difference.

“I don’t want to prescribe a definitive resolution, or methodology. For me, I’m able to sit with my fears and process them. For some, that may not be so wise – they might need support. Not everyone can step into their greenhouse alone.

“In general, I hope the audience take away their own interpretations. This seedling was supposed to be representative of a wish, a dream… in essence, whatever you want it to be. I think it can be an allegory for creatives – but there’s a lot of things we collectively want and hope for that could also apply.”

While working through the process of producing, filming, and editing this short, Rachael’s initial conceptions became ironically self-referential. Paradoxically, she found herself in precisely the same position as the protagonist she’d created in her mind.

“This was the biggest film crew I’d ever contended with. Translating and infusing my imagination to multiple sets of people was a worry, but I had to make peace with it.”

Using X-H2 and FUJINON Premistas, the fluency of Rachael’s vision made a cinematic structure essential. It would have to mirror the eloquence of Elizabeth Moore’s poetry, and reflect the fluidity of Marah Bates’s free-flowing dances. Self-evidently, Fujifilm was the obvious choice.

“X-H2 handled those Premistas really well. The lenses have such depth and contrast. We had a colorist, but straight out of the camera, the images looked amazing. Fujifilm’s color science is unsurpassed – the dynamic range makes for totally stunning pictures.”

Documenting the vigorous actions of farming and gardening, the camera’s IBIS capabilities meant Rachael could go handheld as and when she required, foregoing any anxieties about unwanted shake. Any 8K images were matched with low T-stops, a picture-perfect embodiment of the film’s visual sensibility – pointed natural beauty matched with dreamy, ethereal mindscapes.

“The stabilization allowed us to be completely mobile. These activities are obviously very physical, so we wanted to match that, and X-H2 kept up perfectly.

“Clarity is spectacular. We could find the frames as and when we wanted to – punching in with that level of resolution was great. Butterflies aren’t going to wait around for you to frame up!

“When it came to aperture, we stuck at around T2.8 to T3.5. There’s a softness in that space which I love, particularly with the bokeh. In a practical sense, these zooms gave us flexibility too. We had a pretty ambitious schedule, but the equipment eased our concerns, every step of the way.”

As the credits roll, the effects of Rachael Porter’s film amount to a dignified retort – facing up to insecurity, reservation, and fear. Although ultimately subjective, one prevailing message stands above all else.

“Creativity heals – that’s the main affirmation I took away from Cameron’s book, and the final cut of this film. Whether it’s myself, or the people I’m surrounded by, I think great art helps us rebuild and prosper. It aids us in wrestling with the suffering we all experience. When you create something that’s truly your own, that’s what others connect with. They can step into that experience, and maybe, we might understand each other a little better at the end of it all.

“It’s about planting that seed – pushing it deep into the ground, without prejudice, and letting it grow.”

Rachael Porter, surrounded by a verdant selection of flowers

Photo 2022 © Varina Shaughnessy | FUJIFILM X-H2 and XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR, 1/2500 sec at F2.8, ISO 640

FUJIFILM X-H2 is coming soon to your nearest FUJIFILM Authorized Dealer. Learn more and read the full specifications here.

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