Designing my own compelling experience.... Video Module 2

Module 2: Create a video of something meaningful, which conveys an essence of something. A very creative project. Here is what I came up with and my critiques. I will include my director's commentary first.


Humitz Director's Commentary

When I first started thinking about where to begin with this project… I was at a loss. I love creative projects, but struggle with such an open theme. I could go anywhere and do anything with this. So I started my brainstorming during a recent trip to Savannah, GA, thinking I might go with a “long ago” theme, since I was taking so many pictures of the historical town. That led nowhere, and I decided that if I was going to make this compelling and meaningful, I had to get personal.

I had written in my blog about my experience of moving away to Florida from Michigan, with a couple friends, one of whom I don’t speak to anymore. It is something I have been struggling with for a while, along with being homesick and so far away from everyone I love. I knew this is where I needed to go in my video, because it is so prominent in my life right now.

The story begins with the excitement of moving somewhere new and different. You can hear our excitement when crossing the state line. I left this part unedited because I wanted the audience to feel the raw emotion coming through, and anticipation of what we were embarking upon. I decided to convey my story through a letter written to someone back home. I wanted to leave the “someone,” left unknown and open to interpretation. But you can gather it is someone I love and care a lot about. The letters start out cheerful and with no regret. I chose the song, “White Houses,” by Vanessa Carlton, because it is one of my favorite songs and felt really connected to the story in my song. Following the first letter are images of my new life and enjoying my new home. I left these images flipping pretty swiftly and without a fade out, as a way to lead up to the climax of the story. Every story has a problem and we are just on the brink of it. After the video of us dancing in the bathroom I let the following pictures stand a bit longer. I did this to create a dragging sense, and notion that the problem is coming. I aligned this with the lyrics of the song, and wanted to “choreograph” the images with the music. When the song hits the word “mistake,” I wanted to time my written “mistake” at the same moment to create more drama leading up to the betrayal. This is also when I started fading one picture into the next, because it was getting more emotional. My favorite part of the video is when the beat of the music speeds up with the quick rewind of all the photos that led up to the climax. This is a detail that I really put a lot of work in, although I realize that to the only slightly attentive viewer could easily go unnoticed. I chose to rewind the pictures, like I was thinking backwards of everything that had happened leading me up to this point. Like a spiral out of control. When the music slows down I stand on the images longer again for sentimental value. I wanted to end the video with a sense that I wasn’t a victim to this betrayal, but instead rose above it. I ended with the waves in silence, because I felt it left a sense of wonder… like where will I go next. I also wanted it to convey peace and that despite the drama and disloyalty- I’m going to be okay.