The Climate Changing Media studio has given me a greater understanding of the crises that we as a species face in relation to our environment as well as what it means for climate media to be both political and poetic. I hope that my video communicated the importance of ethical recycling and reusing of electronic goods, and I hope that it successfully commented on the wasteful nature of human beings, and how it it is detrimental to the health of our planet. I think the stark and confronting imagery of the e-waste dump site in Agbogbloshie, as well as the footage of the poor living and working conditions of the workers conveyed the tendency of western cultures to forget about the injustices and poverty that other people in the world face. I hope this imagery also conveyed the extent of the damage that e-waste causes to the land it ends up in, as well as the atmosphere and climate in general.
If I had more time to add to and work on the video, I think I would add to the portion of the video that focuses on Agbogbloshie. I think that the portrayal of the sheer mass and scale of the e-waste as well as the poor living conditions of the people living near the site were easily the most powerful and confronting parts of the video and I would really like to expand on that. I would also choose to expand the soundscape a bit more, especially in the first half of the video that focuses on the exporting and transporting of the e-waste to other countries. I think at times the video would have benefited from a more frenetic and overwhelming soundscape, to really impress the severity of the issues that the video discusses. But I also think that the video does benefit at times from the slower and less congested use of sound.
I think Seamus’ video project was very effective in communicating a distinct and important message. His video focuses on the everyday appliances and modes of travel we use that cause great harm to the environment, urging the viewer to think about their emissions and contributions to global warming. Seamus’s video creates a very poetic and nostalgic feel using predominately found footage from his grandfather’s super 8mm camera. These clips create a very comforting and nostalgic aura around the video, directly contrasting with the video’s confronting subject matter. This is effective as creating a personal and reflective aspect of the video encourages introspection from the viewer.
Cristina’s final video piece was also very effective at portraying the excessive waste of the fast fashion industry and how it ties in to the global warming we now face. The video was frenetic and fast paced, displaying numerous instances of waste and emissions during any one frame. This was effective as the viewer is bombarded with countless examples of the unethical production of clothing, and prompting the viewer to take more responsibility for where they purchase their clothing.
The studio website that I engaged with was ‘Demagogues, Doubters and Douchebags’. The pieces of work that I’ve seen from this studio focus on the adoption of footage, and how through use of different voiceovers and music, different meanings can be extracted from an unedited section of video. A particularly good example of this is in a video created by Ria Pflaum in which the same sequence of footage is used 3 times, but each time with a different tone and meaning. This is achieved through the use of different music and voiceover between each sequence. The first sequence discusses the die hard nature of Disney fans and what makes Disney as a brand so influential and special. The second sequence focuses on a person trying to reconnect with a friend after a fight, recounting the special times they shared at Disneyland together and how much it meant to them. And the third sequence focuses on the vast underpay that the employees of Disneyland are subject to. What makes this video interesting is that despite the fact that these three segments all use the same footage, they each carry vastly different subject matter, tones and meanings, showcasing the ability for a piece of footage to change through the additions and subtractions of different voiceovers and music.
Overall, the Climate Changing Media studio has given me the opportunity to think more freely on the issues that we all face in the form of global warming and climate change; it has given me the opportunity to educate myself and discover what is really important for me, as well as giving me the opportunity to become a more creative and competent media creator.