Simple Video Piece:

This will fairly be a straightforward reflection as it was simple to do this video piece. As previously discussed in the Part 1 reflection, I have constructed reasons as to why I chose these particular shots to be incorporated with the audio being listened to. Despite the lack of literal relevance in the original video (between the visuals and the audio), I still attempted to make a connection between the two as explained in my reflection.

Searching through my archive of observations, I managed to find one that one relevant to the visuals this time. I made ‘relevance’ an important point for this assignment as it was more digestible for the viewers and easier for me to make connections between the audio and the visuals. Therefore, I chose this observation (observation three) as I thought it was the most appropriate – for example, as I was surrounded people in the video whilst doing mundane tasks, the way it was filmed was as if it was through another perspective, other than my own. You can see how relevant it is to my observation, because I discuss how I see myself through videos, essentially seeing a new side to my appearance and how I carry myself.

The new audio inserted to the original video piece works hand in hand together as there is a strong connection between my observation and also my video piece.

Advanced Video Piece:

From my week seven reflection, I discussed my potential plans as to what I was going to be filming for the advanced video piece. The following will be numbered in regards to what I had in my mind for this advanced video piece:

1. Prior to filming, in order to translate this observation into something that was film-worthy, my action plan would be to write a script. This was both for myself and talent in order to imagine how this observation would transform into a medium of video.
2. My experience with blood was something I wanted to document but looking at it from a practical perspective, I thought it was the easiest to make a short film out of. The location was easy enough to scout (my friend’s room) and there would be minimum props needed in order to produce this mini-short-film. The props used were a lamp for the lighting, a sun reflector (used for cars to keep the heat out) as a second lighting device and red food dye for the blood. It was all fairly simple and straightforward because of how simple my chosen observation was.
3. As previously mentioned, I was also intending to collaborate with Khurram and that would be to have him as my cameraman/cinematographer. Unfortunately, this did not work out due to the lack of organisation and also the creative difference we had with my own observation. I thought it was best to work independently because I knew of my own personal experience and it would be more ideal to avoid a disagreement that would hinder both of us.
4. The camera used was Sony a6000, similar to my previous project. I thought it would be best to go with something familiar and easy to use. At the same time, I knew that it would produce the desired results. It was to use and of course, it was under the manual settings. Most of the time, my shots ranged from 1.4 – 5.8 in terms of the aperture. This is due to the set being in low light conditions and the Sony lens (1.8/35) that I’ve used does a good job shooting in low light.
5. Post-production: Once again, this was another smooth process due to the observation being straightforward. My editing was sequential because during production, I filmed everything in order according to my own observation. The only thing few things I made changes for was the order of the observation itself – as heard in the beginning of the video, “…bright, blood orange colour”, I went straight to second line of my observation because I thought it was the most appropriate in accordance to the visuals. That goes for the rest of the lines of my observations within my video.

To be completely honest, I wasn’t too sure what components this ‘advanced video’ piece should entail because we lacked brief for it. I initially thought that it was just going to be the simple video piece and that this advanced video piece would be for the next assignment. Despite this the little mishap and the time pressure, I still managed to produce this video that I am satisfied with. I know within myself that I can do a better next time with better preparation.

Otherwise, my original intention for this video is to stay true to my personal experience, reminding not only myself, but the audience of what it was like to bleed from your ears.