aesthetics-2019-blog

[aesthetics-2019-blog]

Thoughts on the final video

Throughout this process, I have developed various skills and learnt so much about the experimentation process. this is by pinpointing the aspects of the video which I would change and aspects which I admire. 

With retrospection, I would probably have organised and strategised this video and its concepts. This is because I had various changes in my execution such as initially planning to have people discussing their predictions of the world’s end which was later changed to audio of the news predicting the end. It was also suggested in my tutor’s feedback that a storyboard would have strengthed the proposal of the video again showing that better organisation was needed.

However, I think the lack of organisation and structure is reflective of the nature of experimentation and allowed for discovery for what worlds. If I had structured myself and created a storyboard, I would have limited myself and not allowed for room for experimentation. The rewards of experimentation are unexpected and uncontrived. It’s a non-linear process which is contradictory to the linear systems like storyboards. 

Overall, although there are aspects I felt like I need to improve on, such as greenscreen editing, I have learnt a lot about my skills and creative potential with experimentation.  

[aesthetics-2019-blog]

FINAL ASSESSMENT 3 VIDEO 

[aesthetics-2019-blog]

So I have also decided to experiment with music production after being inspired by the workshops and am using Ableton Live to do so along with a Roland Synthesiser. 

Initially, I thought to make an eerie and sinister soundtrack as shown through samples in my Pecha Kucha (which I cannot insert as they exceed the file size limit), however once again, it felt too boring which I want to avoid. I want this video to be a little more engaging and am willing to sacrifice the eerie experience for audience engagement. 

I tried to incorporate instruments that reflect the sounds associated with ‘the world’s end’ however the positive aspect of it, such as the instrument ‘Harp Delicious’. I have also made the soundtrack more upbeat so that it doesn’t make the video drab and instead, to make it uplifting which is closer to the motive of the video which is to show ‘apocalypse’ as its true meaning- Revelation, unveiling and change.  

Lastly, instead of incorporating people talking about their predictions, I’ve decided to sample and mix audio of the news predicting the end of the world yearly. It’s a comical touch and plays with how the media influence’s viewers and exacerbates their anxieties. 

[aesthetics-2019-blog]

I have incorporated the green screen footage however I realised that the idea where the people just stand and talk about their predictions did not fit in with the video as a whole and made it a little unentertaining. So I have decided to just show one person interacting in the space in blissful ignorance. 

[aesthetics-2019-blog]

So this is a sample edit without the green screen footage just so I can test out the visual aesthetic and the editing effects. I really like the intensity of the red and the etherealness of the images.  

[aesthetics-2019-blog]

As I have also decided to experiment with Green Screen because I have never worked with it before, I asked a friend to act in the video. However, because this isn’t a video experimenting with narrative and directorial skills, and instead, is more an experiment with visual style, I wanted her to act very casually. 

I also encouraged her to feel comfortable and use her phone. This idea was inspired by Greta Thunberg and the Climate Strike and the power of social media for activism however it’s potential for ignorance during moments of chaos. (NOTE: this isn’t a video about climate change or activism, it was just an inspiration to communicate passive ignorance during important moments). 

With the footage taken with the Green Screen, I then masked the layer to isolate the actress; colour-keyed it to remove the green; feathered the effect to blend it footage and make it look natural; then duplicated the footage, and then either grained it or matted it to give it a sinister look. 

After testing out green screen footage, I had the idea to potentially record people speak about how they think the world is going to end to show how media portrayal influences our perceptions. 

[aesthetics-2019-blog]

I began my experiment by gathering pictures and videos from royalty-free sources and compositing them onto AfterEffects. As I’m experimenting with colour, I decided to layer the footages with the effect ‘Infra-red’ and saturate the colour to become a very pigmented crimson symbolic of strength, passion and reflective of colours usually associated with apocalypses.

I have also decided to layer the images by either lowering the opacity or inserting the ‘colour-key’ effect to remove parts of the footage to reveal the under layer. 

However, to add more variety, I decided to incorporate other visual changes to the footages such as ‘warp’, and ‘mirror’ as seen in the last few pictures above.  

[aesthetics-2019-blog]

After coming across these images, I felt inspired to create a video that encapsulated the same daringness and innovativeness they had.  As this assessment is based on experimentation, I plan on experimenting with style and meaning as seen in the fashion pieces. This is particularly through people’s perception of apocalypses which has historically been associated with Gothicism and morbidity. However, from its Greek origin, the word ‘apocalypse’ is “an unveiling or unfolding of things not previously known”.  Therefore I plan on experimenting with the dual meaning of apocalypse by creating a video that encapsulates both the negative associations with the positives. This will be through gathering royalty-free footage of nature and through editing, convert them to an unnatural, digitalised image. Natural to unnatural which is often understood in the media’s portrayal of apocalypses.