Author: hkg245

https://imanas.shanghai.nyu.edu/~cc5581/week09/video-project/welcome.html

Partners: Laura, Chloe

Concept:

In our project we wanted to convey the complex and multifaceted nature of freedom by hearing from a variety of students on their personal beliefs and experiences. To do this, we came up with an interactive platform that would begin with an introductory photo/video montage followed by an interface from which to choose from numerous interviews. After viewing a limited number of interviews (7) the user is presented with a final closing montage that weaves together additional present-day issues of freedom. The closing montage is entwined with Gabi Branche dancing, which is to her an expression of her freedom. We chose to make the interviews randomly scattered on the screen with a limited number of views so that each viewer would have an organic and unique interaction, to scripted by our presentation of each interview. 

Process:

In brainstorming our project we initially planned on have the interviews appear as floating balloons that escape as they reach the edge of the screen. The idea was for the viewer to only be able to view a random handful of the interviews and therefore each have a unique experience with our project. After getting feedback in class, we decided to make the videos appear at random but not as balloons, as this would potentially appear arbitrary to the user. To film the interviews we used two cameras, tripods, and a Tascam to improve sound quality and allows us to capture different angles simultaneously. I challenge we encountered in shooting and consequently in editing is that interviews cannot be “started over” or scripted. Because of this, there are instances where the interviewee pauses for a few seconds or might be momentarily distracted. We chose not to edit out pauses because we wanted the viewer to be assured of the authenticity and “rawness” of our interviews. We wanted to capture people’s beliefs the way that they naturally expressed them.

Reflection:

In hindsight there are a few things we could have done differently, such as giving our interviewees the questions beforehand so they wouldn’t have to think on the spot, or asking them to come to a quieter place to avoid background noise. This, however, would have given the interviewee a more formal or rigid impression of us and might have compromised how freely they speak. One thing I wish I had done from the start would have been to get an external hard drive because i spent a lot of time in the first half of the project trying to upload every file to google drive. We also did not clap at the beginning of the interview so as not to disturb people nearby, but this made it slightly harder to align the audio later. Having interviewees write down their names would also have made it easier later to make sure we spelled them correctly during the edition process. Other than minor things like that, we felt that the project went very well and that it generated interesting dialogue in the process of making it as well as in viewing it. 

In our project we plan to explore the meanings of freedom by hearing from a variety of perspectives. Our project begins with a montage of media historically related to freedom (see SCENE 1), followed by an interactive component (see SCENE 2) in which the user clicks balloons that explode into interview videos. These interviews feature NYUSH and study away students discussing what freedom means to them, why and when it’s important, and a time they’ve felt free. Lastly our project will include a closing montage (see SCENE 3) of current media and shots we’ve taken that relate to freedom in different ways. The montages the precede and follow the interactive interview component are meant to place the ideas that our subjects describe into a variety of contexts (some or which are socially and politically significant and some of which are not) to demonstrate the versatility and the ambiguities of freedom. A central question to our project is when is freedom constructive and when is it destructive, and how do our beliefs and understandings of freedom influence the way we conduct ourselves. 

SCENE 1

SCENE 2

SCENE 3

In this exercise we practiced converting the video files from our phones to .mp4 and editing two videos of the same event so that the sound is consistent even when switching between shots. Premium made the task very simple and efficient. Once the audio of the two clips are aligned, we can easily cut parts of the overlapping video to expose difference scenes to make the video of the bottle more interesting. This will be useful in our project because we will be able to view our subject from different angles without disrupting the audio. 

For our video project we are planning on exploring the topic of freedom, its various forms, and its significance to people from a variety of backgrounds. To do this we will conduct interviews people in and around the school and ask that they speak about what freedom means to them. Part of what we are interested in is the way in which each person will interpret the words freedom and what context they choose to discuss it in (ie freedom of speech, freedom of religion, physical freedom, freedom from family expectations, etc) We plan to begin with a montage of historical images pertaining to freedom and then introduce an interactive display that allows different video clips to be qued. We intend for our project to convey the breadth and variety of freedoms that some of us do and don’t have, and the role freedom plays in our decisions, intentions, and hopes. Our idea was inspired by Obstruction 3, which is for the creator to create whatever he wants. In this sense, freedom is overwhelming and the obstructions (limits to freedom) from before had provided a scaffolding upon which to build. Our project overall grapples with questions of the need for freedom/individuality versus obstructions/frameworks, and we hope to create a thought provoking web of perspectives on freedom itself. 

When I first saw that this video was assigned, I was curious because I had seen it before in a very different context. At some point early in the semester of my freshman year we watched this TED talk at a class gathering to think about how we understand one another. After rewatching it in the context of IMA, I see the TED talk also a call to action to creators of all types of media to be mindful of the stories they spin. Even when you yourself can only create a single story, you can create one that deviates from the usual single story and that tells another side of a truth. Hand in hand with our previous discussion about influence, it is easy for anyone creating media to create a story in the likeness of one that has already been told. A single story about Africa gets retold in part because the creators of new media base their story on the single story they heard before, and so the stereotypes propagate. The fact that her professor said her book was not “authentically African” also goes to show that when a new story is told in contrast to the usual single story, the audience might question it. It is tempting to choose to retell the single story that is already accepted and appreciated by the general audience, but it is more important– even the duty of media makers–to tell a story based on the truth they see, even when it may not resonate as well with the audience’s expectations. The reason these single stories are dangerous is not just because they don’t tell the whole truth, but also because they take away power and agency from their subjects and the audience of these stories ceases to see them fully as people.