Wk 5 – Project Brief 2

In my second media artefact, I attempted to further convey the themes of ‘exploration’ and ‘youth’ that I focused on in Project Brief One.

The editing process assisted in this endeavour as I experimented with the speeds of each clip, creating what I feel to be my streams of consciousness – highlighting the notion that I seem to be thinking and feeling a multitude of things at a time. The commentary used features my two intoxicated best friends and is a result of asking them the question, “If you had to describe me in one word, what would it be?” Using such narration was a way to truthfully represent myself as these two girls (who also appear in physical form in the video) know me almost better than I know myself. Their dialogue has been deliberately spliced and overlapped because often when recalling a conversation, one only remembers the ‘best bits.’ The fact that they had also consumed alcohol signifies that they unashamedly spoke the first words that came to mind about me.

Personally, I find that the least successful aspect of this piece can be exhibited through certain clips that I’ve selected. I’m not entirely satisfied with all of them, particularly the last shots of my sister and her friends playing around with the sparklers – to a degree it’s a very cliched symbolisation of youth. In stating that however, I feel as though one of the artefact’s strongest elements is segment ‘II,’ whereupon the images of my friend’s mouths and eyes blend with the flashing lights to provide a somewhat grimy feel. I all too often idealise the adolescent years and I wanted to evoke a sense of rawness – this is how it really is. For this motive alone, none of the clips themselves have been ‘touched up’ so that all the colours, blemishes and shadows reflect the accuracy of reality.