This brief has been an interesting journey through applying the creative process in ways I have not yet encountered. In my experience, I haven’t had the opportunity to create a video where the content and narrative is open ended and the brief constrains only a vague idea. I have encountered such a process in design, however there always seemed to be process constraints as well. While there were process constraints in this project, they mostly revolved around skill and ability. For example we had to use Premiere Pro to edit and while this is a technical constraint it would have been my choice of editing tool anyway.
Through my video I have decided to depict two places in which I have invested a lot of time and emotion. I’ve lived in Melbourne for 20 years, and I’m only 21. We have a beautiful big pine tree in the centre of the front yard and I have spent countless hours beneath it. I know the branches big and small, the bed of seeds on the ground below and the way the lower branches create a sea of needles above. Most of all, when there is hazy days, there is a beautiful golden glow that creates awesome shadows and shapes. This is something I have, for a while, respected the beauty of, and intended to share. While this tree is tranquil and silent, our block is on a suburban street corner, and there is always traffic noise or city smells. The tree represents my connection with the city and the time I have spent here. However My family and extended family are from the country. My mum commutes each week 2 hours north to our two properties Mudgerabah and Adie’s. They’re close enough to visit for a day, but I have spent weeks into months on end up there with no intention of heading to Melbourne. It feels like I belong up there away from the bustling city, free to think and work hard. I wanted to show the raw sounds of the property and the movement of heading back to the city. I also wanted to show with the ute, the connection between the two places, especially the number plate’s Victorian slogan ‘the place to be’. I feel like the tree connects these two places and represents that even though I miss the Goulburn highlands, the city still feels like home.
If I was to repeat this task, I would elaborate in the depiction of suburbia. I would also develop a soundtrack that differs between the two places, and then resolves a melody in the imagery of the tree. I feel however the lack of music and the featuring of natural sound helps paint a portrait of the places that are close to me, rather than music which could be lost in translation.