This week we completed the second project brief – as essay film. My film is entitled: Understanding Distance and is an exploration of the themes I wish to explore in my final documentary. My identified group of people are subjects of distance – those whose relationships are riddle by geographical location.

My forms of content used in message film are primary audio, my own footage, found footage and a recording of my grandma. I initially began the process with a lot of found footage, though as I continued to edit it, I discovered that the content wasn’t reflective of my experiences. My themes are matters that are extremely personal, and I found footage taken online to take away a level of individual connection that I am trying to convey in my work. It is an essay of self exploration and as such I used found footage as interludes to bridge my paragraphs and ideas together. I feel such is reflective of the way the resources I have used have helped form relationships and coherency between the concepts in my mind.

My essay follows a personal path as I introduce the topic through my own means of discovery. It begins anecdotally as did my formation of the film idea. The story then progresses into my current understanding of distance and place. Such was my reasoning for using footage I had already accumulated, as each shot is a visual representation of my perspective of place and my surroundings. My documentary will be more reflective of others and I saw this essay as an opportunity to conceive my own speech as my final work will create a path my participants to find their voice.