Shifting Context
Shifting Context consisted of creating an AV installation using an existing piece of media as the base and changing it's context. I had to be creative with text and use well designed typography. We had to view a topic from a different perspective and provide some form of contrast in the installation.
Process
One of my favourite movies of all time is "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind" directed by Michael Gondry. I chose this as my base piece of media. Prior to this I chose 7 pieces of media I liked and this was the one that called to me the most. I began to analyse the features of the film in terms of Visuals, Narrative and Auditory features to create a bespoke installation.
The next step was to view the media piece from a new perspective. I chose to look at the meaning of the movie and came up with the idea that "if memories could be remembered at all times would they be of any importance". The original product talks about not forgetting memories so I contrasted this.
I now had to convey this idea and I chose to use photos from my life growing up as means of showing "memories" and adding a personal element to the installation. I also wanted to include a narration from myself and Nils told me that it was possible to caption videos in premier pro so I researched how exactly to do this. This was my means of including creative and interesting typography.
This is a portion of the first version of the narration.
This is a portion of the first video piece I made consisting of photos of myself throughout my life.
I also included the song "motion picture soundtrack" by Radiohead as I felt it portrayed matched and emphasised the meaning of my installation.
The feedback I received from this first version was that people didn't really see how the context was being shifted. This caused some frustration for me as I needed to provide even further contrast the perspective. The narration was received very well.
I also learned that our 'soundscape' project for the audio assignments was being included in this project too so I had to create a new composition to suit this project.
While being frustrated that I needed to drastically improve/change met idea I was dealing with some creative block. However I produced a new perspective that I felt was even better than the first. I wanted to heavily focus on the importance of a persons individuality and its role in all our lives.
I wrote a completely new script as the previous one was very unclear. This script was longer and emphasised individuality a lot more. It also was purposefully written in a more 'poetic' manner.
Here you can see my first installation of "shifting context". I decided to include clips from the original piece of media to further showcase my idea and perspective. I placed the narration over the montage of pictures and cut it in and out at specific points to add importance to the images or visuals you see. I chose to use two old computer screens to emphasis a sense of nostalgia and reminiscing. I also created the audio track in Ableton.
I gained a much more positive response to this version of the project. The main critique I received was from Hendrik who told me that it is completely pointless projecting onto a computer screen as I may as well just play the video off a laptop instead. This made total sense. He then gave me some advice that I could create a piece of 'chaotic projection mapping' and provided a video for me to watch as inspiration. I loved this idea of including performance art and chaotic projection into this project as it really does add to the overall message.
You can view the inspiration at this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3gZOt1Lo4A
Time stamp 19:00
Above is a photo of the final version of my Shifting Context project. I had a lot of fun involving performance into my project and it's definitely something I'll consider for future projects as I believe is under utilised in media. As you can see above the location for this installation is inside my own bedroom. This decision was purposeful as it adds a much more personal element to the installation as if you yourself are seeing a personal part of my life which most people will never see and that's not just in relation to me but with everyone.
I had multiple takes while shooting this as i've never performed like this before so it was a huge learning process for me. The more I shot this video the more I improved until I had a good quality performance. Each shoot was a learning curve and really helped me understand more about performance art and artists.
Synopsis
My installation is a story about the importance of individuality in life and how it's taken for granted. The fact we all individually have personal parts of our lives which only we see and we know about make making connections with others even more valuable. Like I said in my installation if somebody could see your memories whenever they wanted, of what importance is making connections with others. It's the mystery of learning about somebody and them trusting you enough to let you into their own personal bubble that makes us treasure the connections we make. It is human to chase this feeling and how beautiful is that. Our unique individualities make life to be beautiful.
What I want viewers to take home from this project is a different outlook on themselves as individuals which I hope will lead to them valuing their own personal connections in life and just grow to appreciate their own uniqueness, the people around them and the beauty that is all of our differences.
What I Learned
My knowledge and skills both greatly improved in this project. I learned more things you can do inside of premiere pro, how to appropriately tackle a project in terms of the creative process and I learned a lot about performance art and ways of incorporating it into installations and its capabilities to improve an installation.
Inside Premiere Pro I learned how to create captions and subtitles. This was something I didn't know was possible inside premiere and it's something I did my absolute best to utilise in my installation. It's a simple but fun feature that can really improve any piece of media.
My process from the beginning of this project was very different to my usual methods but I found this process really made things much clearer for myself while working its definitely something I'll use going forward. Taking things step by step with appropriate research is an excellent method to creating a bespoke piece of media.
Performance art has always been something I've known about but never really taken the time to learn about. I've never even considered it to be used in my projects but it's definitely something I'll consider going forward. I learned of its capabilities in terms of amplifying an installation whether that be for visual reasons or emotional reasons. It really adds more engagement to the video and can really add a personal element to the project. Its storytelling ability is exceptional and I'm very glad to have utilised it very well.
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