The creative process of project brief 3 was both a challenging and interesting one. Personally I am happy with how the product turned out overall, with the edits being mostly quick, sharp cuts to create a clean and polished finish. I enjoyed syncing voiceovers with footage, as I feel like it is effective in communicating the dialogue through another visual means, rather than only concentrating on images of the subject for the film’s entirety. Although I am pleased with these aspects, I am not as satisfied with the diversity of the portrait. This comes down to the footage I shot myself, which as a whole did not provide enough to work with, causing challenges with cutting and editing. However, if I had accumulated more footage, I feel as though I would have had much more breathing space in which I could have more comfortably cut as I pleased without the restrictions of inadequate content.

            Creating a portrait of another individual is a task that needs to be thoroughly prepared. It was tough to pinpoint one specific topic to ask about, then to draw up questions or starting sentences to stimulate answers. Although you may have envisioned the product you wish to create, you need to realise that the individual you are interviewing may not necessarily be in your mind space, and therefore may not follow the script you have imagined. This is where I have learnt that it is crucial to simply go where the conversation takes you, which may lead to candid and rich footage that you did not anticipate prior to shooting.

            I have come to see the advantages and disadvantages of the constraint of including “found footage” within the project. If suitable footage is found, it is an excellent way of adding something that you didn’t realise you needed, which can definitely enhance the overall product. This said, it was difficult for me to find relevant footage that had the potential to tie in with the nature of the portrait. As a media practitioner, it is beneficial in having sources that allow you to use footage provided by others, along with allowing you to be exposed to others’ works that could influence you own.

After spending my Friday night babysitting, I realised many things, like how annoying children can be, how cute children can be and how hard it can be to put them to bed when all they want to do is make chit chat. As soon as I walked through the door, I was greeted by a 10 year old blonde girl tugging at my bag asking me where I bought it from, along with an 8 year old even cuter blonde asking me if I had dyed my hair since the last time I saw her. I was then asked by the 10 year old how I applied my makeup that morning because the girls in the tutorials she had been watching on YouTube use both sponges and brushes to apply their foundation. At this, I literally sat there shocked for at least a minute – momentarily wondering what I was doing when I was 10 years old – making those scoobie things and putting them on my school bag? I then went into a 20 minute discussion about my makeup routine, which was briefly interrupted every so often by the distraction of the television.

I thought back on this conversation after I had put them to bed – half an hour after their bedtime because I love chatting with them, its refreshing, (something I would never tell their mum). These girls at such a young age are already being enticed by the world of makeup and beauty. I can’t believe that it’s already grabbed them at such a young age, leading to statements such as “of course I need makeup, so and so wears it. I’m just not pretty without it…”  You need to be aware as you read this that this 10 year old is one of the most beautiful little girls you will ever see. What is happening with girls’ self esteem?? If body image issues really are becoming an issue at the age of 8 and 10, how young will it become in the coming years and who do we have to blame for it? This is such a huge topic that really needs to be somehow fixed, because I will not sit and watch 10 year olds criticising their own appearances. Is the media really to blame? Celebrities in magazines? The barriers that restrain gender appearance need to be broken, we really won’t get anywhere unless they are.

Meanwhile, here’s a message from Beyonce:

In light of searching for found footage this week to include in project brief 3, there have been a variety of clips that have either been extremely relevant and useful, or simply the most irrelevant thing one has ever seen. However, whilst I have been on my search, I have come to realise that the found footage that I include in my video doesn’t have to completely link, it just needs to be somewhat relevant enough to see the the relationship present between that and the footage that I have created. That’s what is so brilliant about more abstract art, you can place pieces of footage together in order to create a completely different meaning or image that can resonate with audiences. I may use this ideal whilst searching for my found footage and how to include it within my project brief.

I have tried to express myself in a more deeper fashion compared to my final product of project brief one. Overall, my aim was to convey a sense of nostalgia. This sentimentality was aided through editing ( through iMovie), specifically via transitions between shots – generally using a cross dissolve or a cross blur in order to create the feeling that memories become a blur when looking at them in retrospective, also that life becomes a blur when you are moving too rapidly. For other shots, straight cuts were used to reinforce the sometimes impending “black and white” feeling of growing up – the thin line between right and wrong, or expectations of others, something I believe profusely reflects myself and my own inner workings. The colour palate and filters I have used I believe create a sense of wistfulness, creating a romanticised outlook of myself, as majority of the shots could be interpreted as point of view shots.

I believe that the most successful part of my self-portrait is the way in which the narration throughout the middle section of the clip intertwines with the images and footage in order to create an insight into what I reflect on, and think of myself. I do not know how easy it will be to interpret the footage I have linked together, along with the audio. As it is my own self – portrait, I see relevance and meaning in everything, however others may find it irrelevant or strange to decipher. This is what I deem simultaneously a successful and unsuccessful feat, as there are moments of explicit reflection, accompanied by abstract and vague portrayals of myself. Although saying this, I believe it creates an effective juxtaposition in the construction of my own self – portrait in the eyes of others. One thing I think may have been unsuccessful is the narrative framework as such. It is an somewhat abstract piece, however I think after reflecting on it, I would have liked it to have had a slightly more structured outline, where the footage may have linked together in a more successful and smoother fashion.