First and foremost, it should be said this is not the video I intended nor wanted to initially make; this was my contingency video. I think that is important to consider when evaluating my work and comparing the planning process to the final video. Though this not what I consider to be my best or ideal work, I do think it shows my ability to make the best out of a situation and more so my ability to work within a small time frame.
The main reason my video did not pan out the way I hoped or wanted to was because I was let down by other people who were meant to be filmed for my video. I did book the studio numerous times across 3 weeks with having at least 2 days per week completely booked up (as part of my contingency plans), yet due to either poor communication or simple laziness, my subjects did not turn up. This of course meant I could not film anything no matter way of looking at it, because there was nothing to film. This is almost bittersweet to think about because whilst I am devastated not to create the video I wanted and planned for so long, it gave me a taste of real life scheduling issues. I fi was to do this shoot again, or work in a more professional environment I think I would create something like a contract in order to ensure people would turn up. Though in hind sight, I think I also should have prepared a better contingency video beforehand too in order to fully show my creative and technical abilities.
I do think my video to an extend does show this however. I didn't particularly have a concept to begin with because I wanted the video for the most part be interpretational, so i thought having an instrumental song with a video that has no definitive time structure would be ideal. It also meant I wouldn't have to be confined to a certain narrative, which I tried to avoid even in my first planned video. I did however provide structure by section the video into 4 separate parts, dedicated by the bridges in the song and change of location. The symbolism I was going for was a girl walking through different dimensions, but I think it could also be symbolic of simply someone trying to find their place.
But again, it's interpretational because the only clue we as a spectator is the word 'remember'. Besides the ability to dimension travel, I wanted to create a groundhog day type of narrative. I was initially going to include more of a breakdown or more clues of something like this throughout, but I couldn't make it as subliminal as I wanted it to be; however an element of this is still apparent with my quick cuts near the end where the subject begins to remember. But as they remember the song ends, and they wake up again. my original ending was going to have the subject wake up and the walk past the jacket seen in the last shot, but it would have changed the first shot which didn't make sense if it was to be a repeated timeline.
I think the weakest part of my video is the beginning, and if I consider my actions when filming I did rush the beginning the most. I was more concerned about filling the time I sectioned for it rather than content. I think I particularly under estimated the amount of time I had given and also the general sound of the first section of the song; by this I mean what I originally planned didn't suit the tone of the song, nor the time frame which would have made it look rushed. The beginning is also still too dark for me, even with colour editing but I also think it suits the tone I was trying to set too so i'm not overall bothered by it (even with the grain present).
My best part was definitely the second part/the projections which I am ecstatic about considering the amount of time I took to perfect them even in the plan for my old video. Visually I think they look very striking and work for my concept perfectly; the videos are stock videos I found on youtube, but I think they resemble what I would have liked to film if the opportunity was available (e.g. the moving stars, micro close ups & lightning). Of course I would have preferred to use my own videos, but it is nothing too important to me.
I also think my variety of camera techniques and shot types were also very aesthetically pleasing and visually interesting. I did use a lot of jump cuts and cross cuts to try and show as many as possible without being too distracting, which could be argued is still a problem; but personally I think it looks nicer than just static shots or normal tilting/panning. One of my favourites is the shots used for the projections where the camera moves whilst the subject spins and covers their face. I think this movement exemplifies their emotion perfectly, and even symbolic of how they cannot keep up with he constant change of mind and location (concept of dimensions). I also like the pull focus on the jacket from the subject because it gives a direct line of focus for the spectator; I think it is also better than an over-the-shoulder shot which was my second choice.
Overall, despite it's few problems and it not being my initial choice, I am not mad with how my video turned out. I would have preferred to do my other video, but with all the time-constraints and subject problems, I think i produced a well video for what I had left to work with. I also got to work with projections which is what I initially wanted right from the beginning. If I was to redo this unit, as discussed I would have many another contingency plan for an overall video and made contracts to ensure I knew people would turn up. I would also have considered doing more post-editing, as I would have this time but it just didn't suit my video.
But again, it's interpretational because the only clue we as a spectator is the word 'remember'. Besides the ability to dimension travel, I wanted to create a groundhog day type of narrative. I was initially going to include more of a breakdown or more clues of something like this throughout, but I couldn't make it as subliminal as I wanted it to be; however an element of this is still apparent with my quick cuts near the end where the subject begins to remember. But as they remember the song ends, and they wake up again. my original ending was going to have the subject wake up and the walk past the jacket seen in the last shot, but it would have changed the first shot which didn't make sense if it was to be a repeated timeline.
I think the weakest part of my video is the beginning, and if I consider my actions when filming I did rush the beginning the most. I was more concerned about filling the time I sectioned for it rather than content. I think I particularly under estimated the amount of time I had given and also the general sound of the first section of the song; by this I mean what I originally planned didn't suit the tone of the song, nor the time frame which would have made it look rushed. The beginning is also still too dark for me, even with colour editing but I also think it suits the tone I was trying to set too so i'm not overall bothered by it (even with the grain present).
My best part was definitely the second part/the projections which I am ecstatic about considering the amount of time I took to perfect them even in the plan for my old video. Visually I think they look very striking and work for my concept perfectly; the videos are stock videos I found on youtube, but I think they resemble what I would have liked to film if the opportunity was available (e.g. the moving stars, micro close ups & lightning). Of course I would have preferred to use my own videos, but it is nothing too important to me.
I also think my variety of camera techniques and shot types were also very aesthetically pleasing and visually interesting. I did use a lot of jump cuts and cross cuts to try and show as many as possible without being too distracting, which could be argued is still a problem; but personally I think it looks nicer than just static shots or normal tilting/panning. One of my favourites is the shots used for the projections where the camera moves whilst the subject spins and covers their face. I think this movement exemplifies their emotion perfectly, and even symbolic of how they cannot keep up with he constant change of mind and location (concept of dimensions). I also like the pull focus on the jacket from the subject because it gives a direct line of focus for the spectator; I think it is also better than an over-the-shoulder shot which was my second choice.
Overall, despite it's few problems and it not being my initial choice, I am not mad with how my video turned out. I would have preferred to do my other video, but with all the time-constraints and subject problems, I think i produced a well video for what I had left to work with. I also got to work with projections which is what I initially wanted right from the beginning. If I was to redo this unit, as discussed I would have many another contingency plan for an overall video and made contracts to ensure I knew people would turn up. I would also have considered doing more post-editing, as I would have this time but it just didn't suit my video.
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