REFLECTIONS - EXTEND PROJECT

Day one - idea generation; exploring the quotes, working through solutions

On the initial day of the project, I read the briefs for all of the pathway quotes in order to select a brief that was most appealing to me. I was unsure at this time over what pathway I wanted to go into; the choice was between illustration and graphic design, however, the graphics brief stood out to me as something that could be challenging and lead to an interesting outcome.

From here, I read through the quotes offered, and went on to define each of these through research. Once this initial task was done, I then went on to choose three quotes and explored different concepts and ideas inspired by these words, and how they could go on to form a project. This part was challenging at first, as I found it difficult to generate multiple ideas after one idea had formed itself in my mind. I had to break away from this idea and imagine new concepts to draw up as many possibilities as I could, which I was able to do to some extent.

I went through a lot of different trial and errors trying to select on one set idea on day one. I reached out to peers for feedback on my three strongest ideas, which was useful as I could get an outsiders understanding on my own work, but I still felt at a loss of what to actually do. My main issue here was that I had a concept I really liked, but couldn't be appropriately created within four days- however, I felt my more 'achievable' outcomes were weaker ideas that needed more thought. To combat this, I continued imagining each of my ideas and how they would take shape as a final outcome, to try and visualise what would be effective and work well, and what wouldn't.

Day two: development; finalising idea, shooting on location

Following day one's initial idea generation, after speaking to my tutor and considering the time frame I had, I was able to settle on what I would be creating and could start to plan the production loosely.

I settled on a moving image piece, with the prompt, 'YOU ARE HERE'. The moving image would be accompanied with visual posters supporting the film, with their content generated directly from footage I had taken.
I planned to film people randomly, asking them, 'What are you doing here, right now?' The concept was to create a relationship between time and action, and to encourage people to take a moment and identify their current whereabouts, however, this concept was built up as I made the film. Initially, in the early planning stages, I wasn't able to contextualise the concept as strongly, but the intent became clearer as I produced it.

Shooting was harder than I had anticipated. I found it difficult to go up and approach strangers with a camera; it is invasive, unconventional, and sometimes unwelcomed. This is why I had only taken footage of 5 interviews, when in my earlier planning, I recorded needing 15. This is something I can improve on as a filmmaker and creator; the confidence to involve and seek participation. I was proud of myself for the footage I did take, but if I was to do it again, I would like to have gotten more footage on the street. Additionally, my location changed from Shoreditch (that was marked in my plan) to areas surrounding Oxford Circus, Waterloo and Soho, as I felt people would be more welcome and open to be on camera in 'touristy' places.

Day three: continued production; finalised edit of video, poster creation

Once my footage had been filmed, I began to edit. I had a strong idea of what I wanted the film to look like when I went into the editing stage, using research of similar videos as an original reference point, and even had an awareness for suitable audible settings, ect. The actual production went fairly smoothly- the only initial error was rendering in a lower format than I wanted, which required a re-render which was time consuming, however, it was worth it, as the video quality improved greatly. If I was to do this process again, however, I would like to have spent more time on the video, i.e, storyboarding, generating a screenplay, transcript, ect.

I also created the concept posters; a series of A3 images that mapped the interactions seen in the videos in relation to physical space, with an excerpt of the recorded conversation. Whilst the idea for this supportive media was strong, I really think the outcome was rushed and it showed in the work. If I had more time, again, I would've dedicated more time into these posters; perhaps, they would work better as a book? The colours or fonts could've been selected more carefully, and the artwork on the posters definitely felt rushed to me. I feel these were the weakest points of the project, and will act as a reminder for the future for time management.

Day four - presentation, crit, feedback.

I received very helpful feedback during the crit, in which I allowed my film to play on loop, with the posters supporting the video placed next to it. I felt pleased to see my peers be interested, and seemingly enjoy the film.

Some comments I got were on the posters, and that they could've been developed more, and felt a little disconnected from the film, which I agree with. This is something that could've been achieved with more planning and better usage of my time. Another response I got was that they'd have liked to see more interviews, as the format was interesting- this was mainly due to the fact that I as aforementioned felt nervous to approach people, and will have to work on this in the future.

Overall, I am proud of the work I produced in the short time. I would have liked to extend on this though, or perhaps if I had a larger window, I would've wanted to explore some of my other ideas.

PART ONE

PART ONE

REFLECTIONS

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