In class, we’ve discussed how recorded images and sound can convey a sense of authenticity, and/or persuade us to think about the real world. This is an idea that inspired the entirety of my film, ‘To Be Something’.

After much consideration on how I was to execute this project, considering the COVID-19 restrictions, I had decided to take on the assignment alone, and make use of entirely voice-over narrative, stock and found footage and interviews. This means that this idea of using recorded images and sound to convey a sense of authenticity and persuade the audience to think about the real world, was paramount and would become my main focus.

‘To Be Something’ is based around my own personal ideas on the world. While they’re personal thoughts and opinions, they seem to be thoughts and opinions that a lot of us similarly share – That is, that that the current state of the world isn’t great, and at this rate is crushing the spirit of most of us; furthermore, if we continue to go this way it will just be a never ending cycle. So to convey these ideas, I came back to the original one we had in class, of using sound, through voice-over narration that I did myself, to discuss these ideas. I then thought to include stock footage, in between interviews with children that I collected from their parents, that would help support my opinions through the use of images that were related and helped generate thoughts about what I was discussing in the narration.

When unpacking ‘To Be Something’ further, and understanding the process behind the film – It’s clear to see that, rather than a singular moment/scene in the film/edit, the entire film works to showcase and example of this discussed idea in class of using recorded images and sound to convey a sense of authenticity, and/or persuade us to think about the real world. Although there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to discuss the Coronavirus Pandemic through this idea, as we are currently living history, I thought that there was possibly a larger issue at hand here that the virus is uncovering – That is, that there are rather large cracks in the governments and systems within our society. The pandemic is exposing these cracks, and showing us all the problems that I touch on in ‘To Be Something’, and up until now it has been a never-ending problematic cycle. But in all of its darkness, and destruction, the pandemic also marks a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to break this cycle, and that’s why I thought it time to use image and sound in this film, to convey these thoughts I was having to try persuade the audience to think about this problem in the real world – and do something about it.