There is nothing i hate more than showing people my work. Although i was happy with the final outcome of project brief 2, it was agonising watching others watch my own video. I hadn’t shown it to anyone before that class and i cringe watching it amongst others. I believe that some things are made to be shown to an audience, while others are made for oneself. This is definitely one of those occasions. Although this was a uni assessment and I had to show the class, a personal self portrait is the sort of thing I’m not happy to freely show around. Not only that but i found the quality and overall look of my video slightly crappy and unprofessional. The ‘Lo-Fi’ idea of the brief was probably taken to the extreme when it came to my video and it was hard to manage understanding the whole idea behind the 60 second clip. I’d much prefer to be showing a video or short film that i really invested a lot of time into, in terms of the aesthetics and overall look of. However the viewing experience I had from watching other peoples videos was actually really comforting, I realised a lot of people finding it difficult showing others their clip, even though the work was really well done. I fully understand the reasoning behind forcing us to present our work to others, as it enables criticism but also growth and acknowledgment of the positives. I’ve realised that I’m never fully aware of what is good or bad about my work, unless someone gives me some kind of feedback or alternate view point. Its helpful getting a different perspective in order to change or alter certain elements. Before completing project brief 3 I’d like to show it to one or two people, in an effort to confirm that I’ve successfully delivered the message i wanted to my audience.
April 2015
Short Film ‘Funnel’
https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2015/04/01/funnel/
The funnel 7 minute video, created on a budget of $80 is such a simple idea that can be extended further, so interesting to see how scenery can assist comic timing to such a degree. The simplicity of him talking to someone over the phone is heightened by the fact that he is walking in really strange locations. We laugh because we don’t hear the responses from the friend on the phone. I love this film and the simplicity is something i want to recreate. It reminds me of a Duplass Brothers film ‘The Puffy Chair’, one of the best films I’ve seen. Again the simple road trip story is taken on differently and honestly. Im a big fan of the Duplass brothers, not only because of there films, but also their ideologies and the offered advice an and independent filmmaker. As an aspiring film maker, Jay and Mark Duplass highlight the fact that we should be making and filming whenever we can. Jay Duplass drove the message that there are “no excuses to not be making films on the weekends with your friends”. I love this mantra and i want to continue to make and film and write and formulate ideas, hopefully to create something as witty, intelligent and sincere as ‘The Puffy Chair’.
Short film of the week (www.shortfilmoftheweek.com), I’ve found, is great source in the form of inspiring content. In regards to Project Brief 3, I’ve discorved some really encouraging short films, just like ‘Funnel’. Which are simple and able to be appropriated. Just like ‘Funnel’ I’m hoping to recreate some of this one-sided comedy in relation to a documentary style. Taken on in the form of one person talking, and the audience not hearing or seeing the reciprocating person in the scene.
Flow
Keith Sawyer outlines in the reading Group Genius: The creative power of collaboration that “group flow is a peak experience, a group performing at its top level of ability”. I guess what Sawyer is really saying is we strive to find our group in order to grasp this “flow” and maintain and nurture a mutual interest. I’ve honestly always hated group work, working with people you don’t always know or like. But i do admit to finding a thrill in these situations when things work out well. When the rare opportunity arises that you have surrounded yourself with similarly interested people whom all are fully invested, things unfolded freely and easily. In my experience, I’ve found it motivating and rewarding when I’ve created something with my production team because we have all worked equally as hard, we’ve all had the same vision and end goal. I feel that in order to create a good team all contributors need be on the same page, and strive for the same goal. Having different means of getting to that end point is always evident, but as long as that end point is mutually recognised. Being apart of a group where the visions of certain members have been varied and not unified is a disheartening experience. Every moment with a group like this make the heinous task of group work soul crushing and elongated.
Saying this I do believe that collaboration and working with others is the key to creating great work. Building connections and meeting new people to work with is very important in the media industry and this in its self can be the means of natural “flow. “Teams can win only by improvising and collaborating, changing constantly in response to the adjustments their opponents are making”. Being apart of a team of Media students is an encouraging experience, that hopefully involves this same improvisation and collaboration, where the opponent is not a physical person, but a means of creating artistic or informative information and material.
Keith Sawyer, 2007, Group Genius: The creative power of collaboration, New York: Basic Books, 2007, pp.39-57
Lectorial Week 5
The idea of a creating my own 2 minute clip on a person of my choice is very exciting. Project brief 3 is further developing my conceptual ideas from the self portrait video, but using more advanced technology and actually having more of an archive to use in terms of footage and sound. I’ve decide to focus my short video on a close friend of mine, not only because this will be easier in terms of scheduling and comfortability but also because i’d like to present my own version of this person and project it onto the screens of others. I’d love to make this clip a witty and fast paced video that fully encumbers the comical nature of my friend. I am fully invested in the idea of interviewing and heightening all the natural comedic elements (that hopefully will come out of the interview)in order to create a sense of hilarity. As the use of ‘found footage’ is a necessary constraint of this project, I’ve been looking into the archival footage on archive.org, and its difficult to narrow it down to the type of footage i’d actually want. A vast amount of footage is easily accessible but i’m finding it tough to decide how ill intwine this into my ‘documentary’ type video. I need to further explore exactly where i want to go with project brief 3.