An Experiment in Explanation

By Elizabeth and Christie

Your method:
1. Find a willing participant.
2. Find a suitable location.
3. Ask them to charades a concept. (i.e explain it with their hands or body)
4. Film their actions at different angles and distances (could be from above, the side, from behind etc.)
5. Experiment with lighting as you shoot.
6. Compile footage and upload to editing software.
7. Experiment with different effects and cuts on your editing software.
8. Upload your final product to your desired platform.

Congratulations! You have completed your experiment in explanation exercise.

Collaboration Questions

What are you most excited about?
I’m most excited about the various projects that we will create during this course. They seem very interesting and provide a new way of creating and telling stories through film and motion of the body, which is a form I have not experimented with when telling a story through film before. I also greatly enjoy writing so allowing myself to combine it with a film is something I have always been eager to do.

What are you most nervous about?
I’m still fairly new to the field of film and editing so it will be a strange experience to not only further develop my skills in this field but to help teach others the skills I have accumulated. Creating a film without dialogue and text will likely be a challenge as well so it will be interesting to adapt to this change outside my comfort zone. Since the course involves a lot of group work a well, I find I am nervous about groups I am put in as I know group members that don’t contribute can lead to negative ramifications for the whole group.

What do you want to explore/find out/discover?
I want to further develop my skills in film and editing to help teach me the many different ways a story can be told through film. I enjoy and write a lot of fiction so it will be interesting to further utilize and develop the skills to display a story without the traditional elements of writing and dialogue

Reflect on previous collaborative projects: what have you found difficult? What skills have you picked up from those experiences? And tips or pointers?
Things I found difficult in collaborative projects is a sense of stagnation. Often people in my group will agree with a single idea and use it without further debate or suggestions of other ideas. With film and editing as well, it can result in workloads not feeling balanced as jobs can require more work than originally thought and an end up with either the wrong person holding the wrong work or others having far less to do. The key to solve this I found is communication as, without it, everything can fall apart, you have to stay committed to the group and if no one is willing to act, take charge yourself to move the group to action and communication