Project Description: Create a 33 1/3 second video (1000 frames) that conveys the meaning of a given word without using sound or text. the video must be black and white and 1080 x 1080 px.
My word: Crash
Step 1: Define
I started by researching the different definitions of my word and listing some synonyms of it.
Step 2: Brainstorm
From the definitions I pulled a few words that I really wanted to focus on and started brainstorming imagery that I associate with the word crash. I was most drawn to the idea of a crash being something sudden and unexpected.
After writing down a few ideas I started going through my camera roll and noticed that I have a lot of videos of art in museums and my own work. A lot of the clips related to the idea of a sudden act; whether through light, composition, or movement.
I also have a lot of images and videos of my dog on my phone. I watched one of her sleeping and it made me think of how people use the word “crash” to describe falling asleep quickly.
I decided my video would be composed of artwork, clips of things crashing, and my sleeping dog sequenced in away that create sudden jumps between them.
Step 3: Sketch
Once I had my initial idea, and had pulled a few clips to start with, I sketched out a storyboard to try to nail down the sequencing and pacing of the video.
Step 4: Start to Esemble
After sketching, I had to film a few small clips. These were mostly of a ball rolling, a door slamming, and a phone dropping. I then started to piece together the clips in Premiere.
I was initially really interested in jumping between 2 sense that were connected in there movement as the introduction to the video. Really starting with an obvious image of a gate crashing into a wall, and a ball being pushed. I liked how the ball could then transition into the spinning wheel of a crashing computer and how that easily led to a black screen.
I really liked the idea of the video going black because I could then use a clip of neon light skeleton that I saw at the Venice Biennale. Showing flashes of this clip really emphasized the idea of something sudden, rapid, and suprising.
The next part of the video transitions into the idea of sleeping. I used a clip of a piece of art that looked like reflecting water and faded that into my sleeping dog. After this I knew I wanted something fast and unexpected to happen that would “wake up’ my dog.
Step 5: Crit and Edit
Next, I showed what I had to a small group of classmates and my professor. My main take away from the crit was to focus on this surreal experience the video was creating and to really emphasize this feeling of going in and out of a dream/sleeping state.
I also had to work on how much of each clip I was showing and making sure all the clips worked together well.
Step 6: First Version
This was my first full version of the video.
At this point, I really like the middle part of it. I liked the use of the skeleton and the transition from sleeping to being woken up, but wasn’t sure about the beginning and end and how those fit with the rest.
Step 7: Crit and Edit
I showed my first version to my professor and a group of classmates and they seemed to have the same feeling as me; The beginning didn’t feel like it fit, the gate was an outlier. It seemed to be because of the slower speed of these first few clips and the wider angle shots.
It was suggested that I focus more on the things that weren’t recognizable, like my painting at the end of the video. That could be shown for a longer period of time because it was unrecognizable and the viewer couldn't quite understand what it was, unlike the eye which was instantly recognizable.
Step 8: Final
After the feedback, I cut the first part of the video. In its place I started with flashing lights to try to give that idea of a dream state, and also referencing police lights, that would be cut by the camera being dropped. I introduced the skeleton after this to bring them in earlier and then was able to have longer footage of my painting.
I found a clip of a sleeping cat on my phone and thought the movement of the tail mimicked that of the painting nicely. I also liked how the cat battin g at the air related to the painting finally crashing to the ground, almost like the cat pushed it.
The rest of the video pretty much remained the same. I liked how more focused on the idea of sleeping, dreaming, and being abruptly woken up than. Whereas before it was still very focused on objects crashing.
I also liked how the ending became like a person being woken up and the going back to sleep. The video ends with the eye snapping shut and then looping back to the beginning and back into the dream state.
