Description:
This video is meant to encapsulate the feeling of overwhelming overstimulation. I wanted to portray the anxiety of things building up until your left feeling paranoid of your surrounding with not even the safety of your own body to come back to, as that doesn't even feel right anymore. I was trying to use only clips that included people, as a way to represent the human condition, so I could represent my non-human sounds with people and the things they may get up to or be thinking about.
Thoughts in Process:
I went into this project headfirst without a true plan, but instead just knowledge of how my audio project made me feel. I know the original feeling I was chasing with the last project was the feeling of being chased and the fear and anxiety that comes with that. Though that developed, both in my mind and in the video project, to the feeling of being trapped.
As I was jumping into finding video clips online, I decided I wanted most of my clips to be purely human. I wanted to bring together a bunch of people all with different lives, thoughts, perspectives, mannerisms, etc. and I wanted them all to come together and represent one, scared individual. I started off with finding some clips that I thought matched the car sounds in the beginning of the audio, but then I decided to instead plan out an idea of what I'm looking for on paper throughout the entire video and then go hunting for that. Some of my ideas were inspired by the clips I had already found, but a majority were found based on a vague idea coming to life.
During this planning, I had written out approximately what kind of clips I had to film myself (my planning process is pictured on the back of this scrap paper I had):
Most of these clips can be found in the second half, as this is when I begin to have repeating types of video clips due to the buildup that begins there. The first clip that is my own actually replaces some of the original sound in the audio project. Where I originally had some sort of elevator music, I instead included the audio from a clip of my friends, Liam and Michael, playing a small repeated portion of the song "Where Is My Mind" by The Pixies. I thought this was fitting due to this video being able to almost simulate a buildup of anxiety or a panic attack. This snippet also helps elevate an example of the human condition that I wanted to portray. My other homemade clips were made in my dorm room on my phone's camera using a desk lamp, some cardboard, and a bit of tape to get the sectioned/striped lighting I wanted. My friend, Liam, once again, helped me and participated in the videos. We were trying to get across an increasingly paranoid and scared-of-what's-to-come feeling.
Once I had all my videos collected and recorded, I put the bases of the video in order in iMovie (I tried to use a Windows-friendly application, but it didn't work out). Once I had the first sets of video down, I began to map out and put in my overlaying clips. I had originally thought I could overlay multiple videos, but once I found out I couldn't, I just had to reorganize where each overlaying clip was playing and cut them up a bit more. I played around with the placement of the overlaying a lot, between being faded over top of the first video, being fully visible to the in a third of the frame, and being fully visible in a corner of the frame. That was the final piece of the project I worked on.
Thoughts with Final Project:
Now that the video is finished, I'm quite happy with the product. Every second of the video has some sort of human aspect and demonstrates the anxious buildup and panic I was going for. I'm proud that this seems to portray a feeling instead of a story, as I feel like it's allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and create something I would usually struggle with, since I've been continuously told that my writing sometimes has a tendency to tell instead of just show. I'm also glad that I was able to crank this out in a few spare hours before Thanksgiving break because I didn't think I would be able to not rush the end and struggle with its composition, but sitting down and just doing it--despite not really knowing the direction I wanted to go-- has really seemed to work out for me this time. While I am nervous, especially since I didn't get to show any of my peers or parents as I usually do, I am looking forward to hearing the thoughts of the class, which I will be noting below.
Class Thoughts: -It resonates with intrusive thoughts at night that you can't shake, like bad memories coming back
-People getting smacked and the clock feels like tossing and turning at night
-Reminiscent of ADHD time blindness, this visualizes everything else going on as you lose track of time
-It feels split into two pieces with the guitar clip being the middle. The end is brighter and the beginning is warmer and darker. The beginning is more clear while the second half is blurry. Could the two halves be woven together or be set on two paralleling tracks. You could try split-screening the two halves or put them on two different screens, side-by-side.
List of Sources:
1. phone alarm: Video by cottonbro studio from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-person-pressing-snooze-on-the-phone-alarm-clock-6963830/
2. toddler walking: Video by Pressmaster from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-mother-training-her-young-child-to-walk-in-the-grass-the-park-3196096/
3. child walking: Video by Martina Tomšič from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/nature-forest-relaxing-playing-4189988/
4. women walking: Video by Anastasia Shuraeva from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/shopaholic-women-at-crosswalk-5705008/
5. eye opening: Video by Nitin Khajotia from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/close-up-view-of-eye-opening-12041905/
6. couple slap: Video by cottonbro studio from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/woman-slapping-man-s-face-6718244/
7. tossing in bed: Video by Ron Lach from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-young-woman-having-a-hard-time-sleeping-in-bed-8486619/
8. hands reaching: Video by Luis C. Tavera from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/people-holding-hands-5267492/
9. antique clock: Video by Molnár Alex from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-timepiece-design-with-visible-mechanical-parts-3171546/ (I think)
10. woman in quilt: Video by Ron Lach from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/afraid-woman-looking-around-8261377/
11. man peeking: Video by KoolShooters from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/close-up-video-of-a-man-face-6620881/
12. ominous door: Video by ArtHouse Studio from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/smoke-in-the-sunrays-coming-from-a-window-5155194/
13. woman peeking: Video by Daria Ustenko from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/close-up-of-a-young-woman-wearing-rhinestone-earrings-13698404/ 14. fidgeting patient: Video by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-nervous-person-sitting-on-a-hospital-bed-6010768/
15. guitar playing: me
16. opening door: me
17. eye glancing: me
18. balloon blowing: Video by Free Videos from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/man-blowing-a-purple-balloon-854026/
19. pals looking: me
20. woman slap: Video by Engin Akyurt from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/woman-beating-herself-4927779/
21. clock dancing: Video by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-woman-dancing-with-a-wall-clock-covering-her-face-8322013/
22. door blocking: me
23. man slap: Video by Engin Akyurt from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-man-slapping-his-own-face-6415687/
24. couple fighting: Video by ANTONI SHKRABA production from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-woman-yelling-at-her-partner-8688461/
25. hands in light: me
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