Seven weeks has passed since the start of the new academic semester and the start of Integrated Media 1. After working over seven weeks to make fifteen 30 second video sketches and make a multi-linear Autobiographical story on Korsakow using the videos, I’ve gone bonkers.
Well, not really, or rather, not yet.
But seriously, I have had my frustrations and mind-blankness with Integrated Media 1 and this thing/tool/software/thing-that-confuses-me called, Korsakow. Maybe I’m not used to the seemingly open ended nature of this subject. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to the linearity of conventional narrative. Maybe I’m not comfortable stepping outside of my comfort zone. Maybe the manual for Korsakow is in Russian! Nothing seems to make sense. Alas, as the weeks passed, I start to gain a better understanding of the subject and Korsakow; especially after completing my K-Film.
We were all told not to dwell too much in thought when creating these video sketches and just do it somewhat spontaneously, and I did that for the most part. I find that thinking too much on the creative process the video sketches actual hinders my actual process of making these sketches. So as the weeks goes by, it became easier for me to make these sketches without thinking too much of it.
The theme of the K-Film assignment is “Self-Portrait”, and we’re advised by Adrian to make it into something like an autobiography of ourselves. I feel that I did this in a way I felt that best portrays my life (little itsy-bitsy things about me).
At the start, the relations that I made between these videos are of the theme for the week that the video is in (red, blue, yellow). Although after playing around with Korsakow, I feel that this wasn’t the best way of making my K-film. Almost anything is possible. I know that sounds cliché but I feel that it’s true. It’s possible make the video sketches into a work with both chaos and order/linearity.
Initially I was spamming all the words that I can think of that represents links between the videos, but that didn’t go well. It was too messy for me, so I followed Seth’s recommendation of utilising lesser keywords to link the videos. In the end I used 3 keywords to link all the different videos. They are Live, Learn, and Love. I used these words to link my videos together. I believe these words are applicable to my life, and by extension my video sketches. I live and not just exist. Majority of life is about lessons and learning new things and probably re-learning old things as well. And of course, Love. Without it, I wouldn’t be here now.
Life is random for the most part. We could have control over certain aspects of it but random things happen in our lives. We can try to do the same things daily over and over again; we experience it differently every time. There’s always that random element to it. I might be walking down the same street everyday at the same time, but the experience is somewhat different every time. In relation to my K-film, I used the video about myself to be the starting video. This can be seen as me controlling a certain aspect of my life. For the most part the rest of the flow of the K-film is decided by the viewer. If the viewer is fortunate, the viewer would be able to watch all 15 videos, if not, the K-film ends after there are no further ‘out’ links available for the current sketch.
Life like they say is only live once. That’s why I decided only to give one life for each the videos in my K-film to show how life is only lived once. If the viewer is fortunate, the viewer would be able to watch all 15 videos, if not, the K-film ends when there are no further ‘out’ links available for the current sketch. As I’ve mentioned earlier I limited the life of each video to one and selectively adding or omitting the 3 keywords to the In and Out field of each video. So while there are choices that the viewer can make, the viewer might not get the chance to view other choices that the viewer didn’t choose at some point in the K-film.
I do believe that my work is successful. I’ve gotten over the frustration and confusion of using Korsakow as a story telling tool, also I gained a better understanding of the technicalities of Korsakow. I adhered to the requirements for the film; I used all the videos I’ve made, I’ve use 3 thumbnails panes and subtitles for all the videos in my K-film. I believe I adhered to the theme (Self-Portrait) of the K-film through my way of seeing it. I think my K-film would give the viewers a kind of understanding of how I see my life through the whole gamut of film, text and choice (or the eventual absence of it).
PS: I can’t upload my work onto the server. Help!
PPS: I uploaded my file to http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18978094/korsakowfilm/index.html
