(Assessment 1) Initiative post: From the beginning
I began making media as most do; playing around with consumer equipment and being drawn into the allure of making something where there was nothing before. I think this desire to make and create is inherent at some level to all people.
So it was in 2008 at age 10 that I made my first “film”. I would describe it as documentarian in nature but with a very narrow thematic scope.
The background for making this clip was complex. Indeed, it almost came out of a sense of competition with a fellow student. For a whole two years, it became the custom of my primary school to enforce a strict ban on eating lunch outside. This, we were arbitrarily informed, was due to a number of students being allergic to wasp stings, and thus eating outside had the potential of attracting them. It is only know that I realise the ludicrous nature of this rule. However, this meant that for the first ten minutes of lunch time all students were kept indoors. It was at one point that a student began to make short clips for the class to watch during these times. They were simple photo slideshows made in a very rudimentary editing software called windows movie maker. Ashamedly, I admit, the desire to prove my ability played a small role in my motivation to try do the same. However, my drive to make this first clip primarily was sourced from the wonderful feeling of making something for others to enjoy.
So I left class one day with a strong drive to make something to show at lunch time to my peers.
I wanted what I made to be something they likely hadn’t seen before, but I had little idea of how to achieve this. However as is often the case, exploring and investigation bear fruits.
Earlier that year I had received the single best birthday present of my childhood: a Canon Powershot G9 point and shoot camera. As is the case with early prosumer cameras, this one was saturated with obscure features hidden in illogical menu systems. Somehow, the decade-old Michael took a liking to sifting through menus and stumbled across a time lapse feature. It was then that I learnt about how setting the interval between frames determined the playback speed of the footage. This was my first introduction to the concept of frame-rates; the fundamental characteristic of the moving image as opposed to stills. It was also my first experience of editing in a very basic software, only later going on to discover Premiere. Prior to this I had absolutely no comprehension of what video was or how it was captured. This first project, now nearly a decade old, marked a turning point in my life. I did not realise it then, but it started a journey that has been ongoing ever since and I have every intention of continuing it for the rest of my life.
Almost ten years later, I have continued down this path and I am still creating documentaries. Although still nowhere near an end goal, I nonetheless am still motivated by showing people stories they have neither heard nor seen before. This reflects in my latest works:
Sawdust Bureau – Documentary By Michael Firus from Michael Firus on Vimeo.
Bespoke – Documentary By Michael Firus (Extended Cut) from Michael Firus on Vimeo.
A Prickly Affair – Documentary By Michael Firus from Michael Firus on Vimeo.
I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration
My Website: https://michaelfirus.com/
My Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/user26828385
My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michael.firus/?hl=en
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