BRYDAN MEREDITH REFLECTION

I approached Project Brief 3 differently to Project Brief 2, instead of taking photos and videos and then constructing meaning (entirely through editing), I wrote a screenplay/script which I then shot and edited. This approach made for a much nicer (and slightly quicker) editing and shooting experience, due to the fact I knew exactly what I wanted to convey and what I needed to do to convey it. Surprisingly, the images I had in my head at the start of the project, closely matched what I ended up with. I’m glad I was able to follow and articulate my ideas from the point of conception to creation; this is a huge positive I have taken out of completing this media project.

A key difficulty I had was creating a defined rhythm to my project. In order to create contrast  I had 3 key paces. The first was the comedy bookending the piece, designed to highlight Joel’s eccentric character and absurdist humour. The second was the drum patterns accompanying the found footage, each drum pattern was slightly abrupt, never fully solid, I did this in order to create a nervous feeling, mirroring the nervousness and abruptness of theatre and live performance. And the final was a world war 1 march designed to contextualise Joel’s personality in the context the present and an era gone by, suggesting that it is timeless.

This is an example, of the creative possibilities I found when collaborating during this portrait- I found the process of collaboration of great benefit. I asked Joel to do something that he believed represented himself (which created initial meaning). I then added further meaning through some quotes, music and editing. My job was to mix, mash and contrast Joel’s thoughts and character in order to create a unique representation him. In many ways I saw myself like a ‘DJ’ bringing together something whole, new and unique from pre-existing media.

I learnt in the process of making this project how useful found footage is, it gave my piece a completely new tone that would never have been created with new footage.