This latest task we were given in class was to construct another self portrait, this time in the form of a one minute piece of edited video with specific guidelines. At first I found it difficult to approach this task, as it is difficult to portray my entire being in 1 minute of footage. Therefore, I wanted to try and take the viewer of the material “into my head” so to speak.

How was I to do that? I figured that seeing as it is a journey into my thoughts, I would capture a scenario which accurately describes my headspace whilst on the train, a usual occurrence for me. I tried to create a melancholic vibe in the shots of myself on the train, using gamma correction to reduce the darkness in certain areas and using tint to suck the colour out of the frame. This for me paints an atmosphere of quietness, which I believe I tend to be most comfortable in. It also translates the concept of my deep thought and introspection, hence the name of the opening title.

I tried to juxtapose my thought with the previous shots of me thinking by changing the contrast to make the picture lighter. This I think worked quite well.

The synced audio of me typing the opening title was more of an ad-lib idea I had, but I stuck with it because it played into the minimalist atmosphere that was being created. I also thought it was pretty unique as well.

I found it very difficult and quite tedious to incorporate the still photos in the montage, as I felt they disrupted the “train of thought”. Whenever I am in deep thought, it’s unusual for me to have a still picture in my mind and thus the mere constraint of having photos in this piece doesn’t accurately represent my thought process. I would have liked the production value to be a bit higher, however that said, I believe I created the atmosphere I envisioned, and all in all I am decently satisfied with what has been created.