| Visual Metaphor Documentation -Final |
Concept & Story
What is the concept & the story in your project?
The concept and story in this project are about an Asian-American teen feeling lost within herself. More specifically it is the story of a teenager that is going through an identity crisis.
How were you inspired to create this project?
I was inspired to create this project mostly due to my partner Ryan as well as the friends I have in NYUSH. Most of the friends are Asian American and when I was speaking to them about this project most of them related heavily to our piece.
What is the ideation process of this project?
The ideation process of this project was thought up by Rocio. It started off as a visual metaphor for identity but slowly and slowly it morphed into something more. In the end, it seemed more like an internal monologue of an Asian-American teen with visual metaphors to support the dialogue.
Why do you want to explore this topic?
We wanted to explore this topic because I feel a lot of Asian-Americans or first-generation immigrants also have the problem of not being able to fit in. We wanted to use this video to tell that it is okay to themselves and not conform to the cultures they are from.
–Creation Process & Execution
Share your storyboard and describe how it helped you in your project.
The storyboard helped us a lot in the color part, some parts we did stop-motion animation, and the storyboard helped us figure out what we were going to put in each frame.
Describe the process of choosing a setting, shooting, sourcing materials, lighting, and directing (if applicable).
The process of sourcing materials was interesting, having to collect materials or wait until they arrived in the mail was a factor that we considered as a group. The setting and shooting parts were pretty challenging as well. To get optimal lighting was very important so we had to borrow a lightboard as well as choose a setting with an abundance of light.
Describe the challenges you encountered during the content creation process, and how you solved or overcame them.
One of the largest challenges we faced during the content creation process was choosing which item we wanted to exemplify our metaphor. At first, we wanted to use ping-pong balls and color them different colors. However, after consulting with our professor we decided it would be best to switch the item. After a day of thinking, we decided that using colored candies would be the best option. I think if it wasn’t for the feedback our classmates and teachers offered us we would have been stuck on this problem for longer.
Describe your editing & post-production process. You may share a few screenshots from Premiere about the editing techniques and effects you learned.
–Collaboration
Describe your own role and contribution to the project.
Ryan- My role was to make sure all of the equipment was borrowed and I had to take charge of bringing the equipment to the different sets. I also had to write up our documentation blogs as well as the ending blog. I also placed the audio into our project and was the one who found the actress for our project
Rocio- I was mainly responsible for the construction of some creative ideas and the planning of the visual effects clips. I conceived the entire metaphorical approach of the video, and was also responsible for the selection and preparation of the filming material, and then I planned most of the visual editing. I did most of the shooting parts and also the handwriting scene.
appreciation for the work your teammate did.
Ryan: I really appreciated the work that my teammate Rocio did. I feel like most of the creative burden as well as the video editing burden was forced onto her. If it wasn’t for her our project would really not have turned out as amazing as it did. If I had to chance to change partners I would still choose her.
Rocio: Ryan is very encouraging, our pre-shooting part is not very smooth, because all our painting and setting need to be set up from the drawing by ourselves, we redo them many times, but Ryan’s mentality is very good, always encouraging teammates, is the spiritual pillar. Finally, his audio clips also made an effort to make adjustments, I am very satisfied.
How did the collaborative process and exchange with your partner inform your project?
I feel like bouncing ideas off of each other at the drafting phase of the project was very important. Giving constructive criticism was very important and interesting. I also felt that this process allowed me to have trust in partners. Usually, it would only be me that did all of the work but now I know that if you choose a great partner then we could get equal work done.
Was there something you learned from your partner?
Ryan-I learned how to be efficient and how to become more hardworking. But I think the most important thing that I learned was how to not procrastinate and how to be more focused on my work. My partner really installed into my mind how important it is to take our project more seriously than I did and I really appreciate her for that.
Rocio-As said before, I learned how to chill down as well as how to be supportive, encouraging and communicative to my partner. I really appreciate my partner for always supporting me.
–Aesthetics & Results
Consider the aesthetics you choose to pursue your concept and story such as the following, tell us why do you think it is effective and you may also share your inspirations and references:
Camera language (e.g., long-shot, different camera angles)
Having different long and close shots of the candies and actresses allowed us to express our script’s emotion better. Having a close-up shot of the actress’s sad face really emphasized that inside she was sad and the close-up shot would emphasize that feeling more than a farther shot.
Color correction/adjustment
The color adjustment part of this project was very imperative. Since our project was very colorful we wanted to make sure that the more dull scenes of the actress were brighter. One feedback that we got right before the final was that some of our scenes were either too dark or too grey. We then had to white color correct those scenes to become brighter and fit in the tone of our project.
Tone/Pace of video
We wanted our video to be very slow-paced. Since the topic at hand is serious and sad we wanted our video to match that tone. By slowing down some of the scenes and using stop motion we were able to make our video very slow. Our background music was also very slow and it matched the tone of our video very well.
