What you consider to be the most successful and problematic aspects of your submitted work?
Throughout this task I discovered an interest in using found footage to represent somebody that I already knew so well. Having access to this content opened up a whole new dimension of portraying her personality, interests and life and I think that my use of these elements was rather successful. I uncovered that by using found footage I was able dive deeper into her story; I gained access to works that pinpointed what I wanted to depict however they were on a much larger scale of quality than I would have been able to capture myself in just three weeks. I especially found the Polaroid Commercial beneficial, as it was a way to show Tories love for old film in a unique and quirky way. Overall I believe I was able to represent Tori and all her amazing qualities through my coordination of found footage and original work.
On the other hand, aspects of my work that I found problematic included my use of sound/audio. I found it difficult to find the right type of sound (especially without using copyrighted music), Tori has such a big personality but she also has a very calm nature, I wanted to represent this combination with the use of audio. However unlike in Project Brief One where I was able to create my own sounds to reflect my own self, I fell short of ideas has to how to depict Tori, therefore I chose to fall back on larger pieces of instrumental music. Some may consider this too overwhelming in the piece however I find it builds the emotion of what is being seen.
Any key learning discoveries you made in terms of the creative possibilities of producing portraits?
I think that being bold and trying new things helped to create my portrait. I discovered that by going outside of my comfort zone (plain and simple) I was able to really represent Tori physically and emotionally. In terms of the creative possibilities, I think having the opportunity to use found footage increased my ability to produce an accurate portrait. Being able to experiment with any sound and visual recordings really expanded the choices we got to make in reference to creativity and freedom to express how we see another person and not just ourselves.
What you learnt in the making process that might be relevant to your broader development as a media practitioner?
I learnt to push my own limits and encourage myself to dive into the deep end, for example revisiting complicated programs such as adobe photoshop to enhance the outcome of my project. I also tried to motivate myself to use these programs and not be lazy in terms of how I fabricated my work. I chose to use photoshop to create one of the titles that appear in the piece, this is an example of pushing myself as I could have stuck to using a generic iMovie title; instead I dabbled in some past editing skills from VCE.
