310′mc – Post 20 – My Reflection of 310mc

So I have made three video for this module this term which will help lead into 311mc next term, The first video I made was on global warming, this video was for the Spectacle part of the module, I collect images and video clips off the internet and put them together to make a collage of material. The idea around this was to show initially the state of the damage, what e were doing to the planet, showing video of gasses going into the atmosphere and flooding villages, then having a title saying that we can change and showing images and video of how we can change, so car pooling, using re-usable sources of energy and recycling. Finally I went on to say and show what could theoretically happen if we don’t change, so floods that wipe out entire cities or lack of food in areas where food was once a constant source. Some said how is this a spectacle, I replied it once wouldn’t have been but now, everywhere you look we are greeted by media influences, stating we must change, or on the news about the global warming increasing, so it has no become a spectacle in all our lives, it’s a fixated occurence which will keep reoccurring until there is a dramatic change. For the next video we had the title power to attend to, this one I struggled with not because I couldn’t think of an idea, but because I couldn’t decide on which idea to take forward, in the end I decided to do a video on, what comes to mind when I think of power, that way I can use little influences of each idea, instead of simply concentrating on one direct idea like others had, this way it was something unique and had a lot of information that the viewer can take in. So I used just video for this one, video of powerful athletes, Powerful machines, Powerful animals and the power of mother nature, It was commented that perhaps I should have just concentrated on simply one idea instead of trying to incorporate too much, but then I personally would no have been happy that I couldn’t get across what the word Power meant to me.  The final video I made was on Memory, now this one I did struggle with, I couldn’t come up with an idea for ages, I knew I wanted to do something around my childhood, but wasnt sure what or how to portray it. With this one I finally decided to go at it in a different way, I chose the idea of thinking back to what I remember about a typical childhood day for me and what came straight to mind was playing with my friends, so thought I would do that. I started off by scripting out what I wanted to say, then after I knew which direction I was going to go with, I came up with the idea of instead of acting the images out that I would use children drawings and do a stop motion type of artifact. I got my little cousins to draw the pictures, I feel it gives a better childish perspective, I liked doing this one because it was more personal to me.

Over this module I have used both still image and moving images, I had used these resources before but not in the way I used them on this module, For instance using children’s drawings was a risk but a risk I believe payed off, I had never tried it before and was a little apprehensive, but was pleased with the outcome. Also collecting video off YouTube, I had never done this before, so I had to search and search for ages online for a site which would rip and convert the video for me, I finally came across, Zamzar and I can now use this in te future. 

So what has worked for me, Firstly using the moving image and still images on the Spectacle video I would say worked for me, they never looked odd next to each other they just seemless flowed, that could have been because of the half a second cut obstruction we were given. children’s drawings also worked I was very pleased with the response I got from this, so this worked better than I could have imagined. Even though the response to my power video was that there was a lot to take in, the overall artifact was pleasing to me, the music and video went hand in hand, some may say an acquired taste and I would agree. Overall I was very pleased with the obstructions, when I heard about obstructions, especially the half a second and a cut, I thought this is going to be impossible or at least it will look horrible, but actually I kinda enjoyed the obstructions, there was that pleasing feeling not only knowing you have finished the artifact but that you were able to meet the obstructions, I think there should always be obstructions on videos we make.

What I learnt from this module is that researching is actually a very useful tool, having the knowledge before you attempt a video based around the research is a tricky thing to achieve, For instance when I went to make my spectacle video I had not fully researched all the facts and so when I showed my first draft to a few peers, they corrected me on some mistakes, both factually and technically, so researching will always be the first thing I do before approaching an artifact for now on.

I was influenced by many mediums on this module, Foucault panoptican and the theory of being constantly watched, somewhat like on the show Big Brother, that influenced my question for another module, 300mc. I was also influenced by the John Lewis advert, this influenced me to make my memory video about childhoods. For my spectacle video  I was actually influenced by a poster for Oxfam, the picture of a life cycle showing the effects global warming is currently happening and the what could happen, this influenced me massively to make the video, The 2012 film trailer was also very influential, by making me think of possible outcomes like freakish waves. The lectures also helped influence my ideas, by showing various videos it was able to make me think of possible ideas based around videos I had been seen, for instance the video of the projections on the buildings I was influenced by that, and actually that was my initial idea for my memory piece to re-create that. But what I learnt is that influence can come from all over and at anytime, for my peers or something I see or hear off the TV.

The new things I am thinking of trying is, combining Still images with video, but with a twist instead of the images being just plain images I was thinking of using my knowledge with Photoshop to make the images have a Sin City influence, somewhat like a freeze frame and then the image would fall into a moving image, I was thinking of using this technique for my final degree show. I will be developing my power artifact I think, using it as a starting block for my next piece, It will help to influence my decision on powerful mediums, even though I will more than likely do a piece not directly related, it will be useful to pull in the power artifact.

~ by craigpowis21 on December 14, 2009.