- How you have used text (what have you written? Why? What idea of effect were you hoping to achieve?)
Initially, the creation of the video sketches was separate to Korsakow, so they were produced individually and didn’t necessarily have links. Through this assignment I have used my video sketches to create a dynamic storytelling setting. By placing them together in the Korsakow program, they have the capacity to draw meaning and present a narrative to the viewer. In collaboration, the video sketches are small segments of my life. In turn, this assignment is a sketching of my life. The films have collectively produced a text which allows the viewer to extract meaning and therefore not take a passive reading of the text, with no specific or linear narrative that can be drawn.
The themes given to us in classes each week evoked a journey and exploration into our creative minds in terms of the environment that we had readily available to us. The majority of my films are quite mellow and bright, which reflects me as a person. Through the construction of my piece, I was hoping to achieve a multi-linear narrative of the different aspects of my life and how they interact with each other. The way in which the Korsakow program is set up, allowed me to do this quite easily. I took a predominantly visual approach to the assignment, with only a small reliance on sound as a medium. This was done to draw more attention to the visual elements of the video sketches and as to not attach too specific an emotion to the videos. The films in which I have relied on sound, such as the ‘red’ video are quite nostalgic, and perhaps reflect a particularly melancholic mood for that particular day. This occurs throughout all of my videos, depending on when they were film/what day they were edited, the feel and emotion put into them differs quite significantly.
- How have you conceived of the structure of your work?
Korsakow is interactive film, so I have tried to make it an interactive experience for the viewer. Obviously I had to abide by guidelines such as having a viewing window and three preview windows to coincide with the assignment, but the order and lives of these windows was left to my discretion. I decided to create lives for my videos ranging from 1 to 5, depending on how I felt the video reflected my life most accurately. I left the exact order slightly random in the sense that life is random itself. This being a statement in itself of the unexpected, frivolous nature that life takes.
In terms of the interfaces, there are two sets, which fit either the landscape or portrait video sketches. This is something that I would have liked to avoid doing, but having not filmed all my sketches in the same dimensions, it could not be avoided. This evidently made my work not look at aesthetically pleasing as I had originally wished that it would, but by creating the different interfaces, the videos fit better into the context than before. I also made the background of my piece purple, which is a colour that defines me as a person; and anyone who knows me intimately will know this.
- Do you think your work is successful? How?
In terms of the technical side of the project, I felt like I was quite unsuccessful. Whilst filming my video sketches, I did not consider the fact that I should have made all my videos the same size and film them all in either portrait or landscape. This did not become evident as an issue until I was putting them into my Korsakow program. I managed to resolve the problem in the most part by changing the dimensions of each of my individual films. Also, I created different interfaces for my portrait and landscape sketches so that the playback would be smoother.
In the most part, I am pleased with how each of my actual videos came out after filmed and the way that they fit in with each other in the multi-linear narrative scenario. The way in which I filmed my sketches were consistent in the sense that they are all quite similar, often using panning shots of an environment to evoke emotion or thought from the viewer. This was successful in fulfilling the purpose of the video sketches being ideas, and not a big picture. More like an insight into life as opposed to describing it in it’s entirety. The informal approach to the videos, as they are in fact ‘sketches’ was really comfortable for me to approach, it’s like writing what you know, what you enjoy, what you like and presenting it to the world which I believe I was successful in doing, particularly as the duration of the task stretched out and I was no longer concerned with making and doing what others expected or wanted.
- What is the most important thing you’ve learnt in doing this task?
The most important thing that I have learnt in doing this task is to remain consistent and organized from the beginning. This is directed at the filming process of the video sketches, which presented many technical difficulties throughout the assignment. Although, I am happy that we have done this task at the beginning so that I have learnt this lesson early on, and can improve upon them in the next Korsakow task.
Also, I have learnt that is important to make work that pleases you and means something to you. A whole new perspective on making and doing has come from this assignment and subject this semester. I must remember to make the things that matter to myself first, and I will make better work and have a better audience. It is imperative to my work that I must learn what I want to say to my audience. Build quality first and the audience will follow later.
Here is the link to my Korsakow piece:
http://raws.adc.rmit.edu.au/~s3327902/Integrated%20Media/30secondfilms.html