An Instagram and TikTok account that I have been following for quite some time now is @gardenstatejournal. The account is run by 21 year old Dylan Walsh and primarily features videos of Melbourne, whether that be its suburbs, streets, people, fashion, food or culture. His videos aim to evoke an appreciation for Melbourne through candid, lo-fi videos capturing everyday moments of the city and its people. His videos display a nostalgic portrayal of Melbourne, set to soft, soothing music and feature scenes such as footpath embraces, couples crossing the street and friends chatting on benches. The videos have a slow pace and meditative tone as they capture mundane activities with a glorified perspective. His videos are inspired by 70s New York cinema aesthetics with muted tones and grainy textures. He mentions he has “always admired directors like Martin Scorsese and Sidney Lumet” (Watson 2022). The colour grading on all of his videos is really beautiful as well as drawing out the warm tones but not feeling oversaturated at all, in fact, it feels as though a slight fade has been applied to his videos, giving them that vintage look.
A video of his that I want to primarily focus on for this task is one that is pinned on his Instagram “on a rainy day in Melbourne” posted on August 31st, 2023. As you can probably guess it features a snapshot of people going about their daily lives on a rainy day in Brunswick, Melbourne. The music behind the video is “Somethin’ Stupid” by Frank Sinatra, adding a soft warm ambience to a somewhat chaotic video of people running down and across the streets. Each shot averages for about a second yet the video doesn’t feel rushed. He uses a pan or zoom in most of his shots, though he has a few static shots in the mix. This makes the film feel as though it’s constantly moving forward, there’s always something to look at and as soon as you have taken in the visual information of one clip it moves onto the next. The use of pans are effectively used for clips of people moving fast due to running or being on a bike, we are able to feel as though we are moving with them and feel included in the little snapshot of their day. Dylan has used multiple editing transition techniques within the video such as cross dissolves, fades, direct cuts and split screens. This gives the video some character and diversity as opposed to every clip transitioning the same way. He very cleverly uses elements within his videos to transition into the next scene such as a tram driving past the camera allowing him to cut to the next clip. I would love to experiment more with this kind of filming and techniques in future projects.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cwmc9FpPdNb/?fbclid=IwAR2lv2-WSLNNIROG_eFGtQgStEMwHOZbxUEA9gHeDsJGEoUCw24tnrki_K4
Watson M (2022) Meet the ‘Scorsese of TikTok’ making Melburnians fall in love with their city, The Sydney Morning Herald, https://www.smh.com.au/culture/art-and-design/meet-the-scorsese-of-tiktok-making-melburnians-fall-in-love-with-their-city-20220824-p5bcfz.html, accessed 20 March 2024.