A Moment in time

Time...

A moment in time, that's what I was trying to create.

Everything came together beautifully. I was happy with the final product.

When I got to the shooting location, I was impressed by the volume and intensity of the water that cut through the location. I had intended to use the town run and river, but I did not anticipate how much I would like the footage I got from there.

I had intended to use the river as a series of cut scenes, coming from a studio with a black background where a man was setting up potted plants; but when I arrived at the rivers edge, I was taken aback by how beautiful the scene was.

The original intent of the project was to show a moment in time, and the moment I envisioned was one of that brief transition between early and mid spring. While I had thought to use special effects to help show that transition, I revised that notion when I saw how interesting the river shots looked. The water flowing kept a steady movement, almost an inevitability; much like the onset of spring.

Another bonus that came from the river shoot was that there were many plants budding at the town run's edge. I experimented with rack focusing, and feel that I captured the element of change with those shots.

Overall, this was a challenging, but very fun video to make.

Critique of "Whistle"

"Whistle"... what worked, and what didn't:

After finishing my music video, I have to look back and decide what worked and what didn't work about my video.

I ended up making a different video that I thought I would. My original goal was to show a moment in time. I envisioned it being told through using a studio with a black canvas, with a man setting up trees and props that would turn into life-size trees through special effects (using a lot of fading and rack focusing). After reviewing the footage I had from my outdoor location, and having used the studio for another project, I decided to cut out the portions of the video that had the studio. (For a review of my artistic intent, click here.)

Review of effects:

The rack focusing worked; it really helped set the scene, and get across the idea of the revelation of the moment in the mind of the viewer.

The ambient sounds worked. I had to fill the left channel on all of the shots of the town run, and adjust the levels so that the sounds were consistent, and so that they didn't overwhelm the music.

The camera movement worked because it fit into the feel of the video. The video has significant movement; but this is okay because it keeps interest in a scene that would otherwise get boring. I intentionally used a small steady-cam rig instead of a tripod, because I knew that there needed to be movement to keep interest and to enable natural looking transitions.

The music itself worked. I was very happy with how the music turned out because I produced it myself, and I'm often very critical of my work; however, I think that the music fit the scene well. One effect that I was pleased with was how the music seems to express open space; this was achieved by cleaning up the EQ of the song and adding a reverb (which I did with Garage Band).

Overall, the lighting was good. Believe it or not, I didn't adjust the lighting of the shots by the town run. For me, this helped reinforce the point that good set-up can save you a lot of work. The only place where I adjusted lighting was on the first and last clips; I wanted a little more highlighting on the water as the ripples played across the screen.

The editing was good, meaning that the cuts made sense; I successfully edited on an aspect-to-aspect revelation of the scene. I was unsure that this would work, but I was very pleased with the result. One thing I might have done differently would be to experiment with artificial blurring; I tried to capture all focusing effects with the camera itself, but it would have been interesting to see what artificial focusing is like.

Another aspect of editing that I like is that there was a clear beginning, middle, and end. With a non-narrative format to the music and editing, I feel that there needed to be a clear structure to the video. Maybe in future projects I'll attempt to make a non-narrative video without the three part structure; but for this project, I think the structure worked.

The colors worked; most of the footage was good to begin with, but I edited the beginning and end shots to change the tint to a warmer color. This was done to highlight the water, and also to differentiate the beginning and end from the middle.

Finale

Once again we've come to the close of a semester, as such, it is necessary that we should review the literature and concepts that we've been exposed to over the course of the semester.

Discourse is an invaluable tool to society, but is artificial.

In my previous blog post, I argued that Synesthesia is either the basis for communication and building signification, or at very least is an integral part of it. In coming to a conclusion about the discourse and aesthetic style known as Music Video, we must remember that aesthetics are a human construction. In remembering that aesthetics are an expression of a naturally occurring phenomena, we are reminded that perceptions are built and; therefore, should not be taken for granted.

A perception can, and does, reveal truth about the world; but at the same time, you have to remember that the means and codes of communication that build that perception are not in of themselves 'truth'. Expression comes from an understanding of perception; and an expression must always make assumptions about the world - this is the nature of a discourse.

And discourse enables great things to happen. Discourse is the process of building ideas; it could be argues that discourse encompasses the mythos of "scientific progress"; where each generation of scientists builds on the ideas of the previous generation. It should be noted that this is a myth, and that scientific progress does not often occur along a strictly linear progression; but it is still a useful metaphor for how discourse works.

The three S's

Signifier Signified, and Synesthesia:

What is Synesthesia? Synesthesia occurs in as an experience where one sense picks up data from another (seeing texture, for example 1). I maintain that synesthesia is the basis of building significance.

Signification is constructed out of signifiers. A signifier is any thing that points to something else. Signification occurs because human beings love to learn; and what's more, we love to associate data or an experience with something in order to use that information later. This is either a survival technique, or something that is innately part of being human; whatever the case, this seems to be a universal experience 2.

Having a favorite song helps us make sense of the world, or how the world ought to be. In listening to a favorite song, we find that our emotions are stirred, and that we begin to associate imagery (or experience) with what we are hearing. This is a level on which we all participate in synesthesia.

But is synesthesia really the process of building significance? It can be argued that because we don't have the language to describe a new thing when we first see it, we borrow other words and ideas to help us explain to someone else (or ourselves) what we have just experienced.

Even if synesthesia is not the basis of building significance, it nonetheless is in integral part of the process of signification.

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Sources cited: Williams, K. Why I [Still] Want my MTV

1 - On page 184, Williams describes the senses that are activated when watching Music Videos. Many of the phrases that come up in reviews of music video are expressed in terms that line up with synesthesia.

2 - On page 175, Williams discusses how the phenomena of synesthesia is a universal experience, but how the scientific and cultural community has rejected it for some time; however, research has been done to conclude that synesthesia is, in fact, universal.

Is this real life?

Reality... is a tricky thing.

One might argue that it is impossible to express, and is only available by living it.

Existentially speaking, we cannot create reality; we simply are in it. Although, I am making the assumption that, my reader, exist (which has to be taken on faith, I'm sure).

Why bring up such an existential problem in this blog? The answer is this: When we create media, we are referencing reality. Even ideas that come to us in dreams, fantasies, etc, are based on reality (perhaps in that they are not "as things should be" that is, they seem unreal).

More often than not, when creating media, our aim to to go beyond referencing reality... We are attempting to create something that expresses a truth about reality. This often comes about in the guise of "seeming" real; creating a work of art that resonates with the "image"(1) of the thing itself.

Flip it around:

Here's the catch: We forget what we are watching. In reading this far into my post for today, you may have forgotten that you are staring at a computer screen. I don't say this to seem "far out" or deep, I merely wish to point out that learning about media changes that way you see media (2).

In creating media, one is forced to move from criticism to expression; and this move cultivates an awareness of how unreal the medium is. A painter may be filled with emotion while creating a work, but feel nothing afterwards, save an echo of the emotions when present when the work was created.

I often find that, since working at a television station; I can no longer look at live television the same way... I am too familiar with the processes that are going on behind the scenes to simply watch television (3) as I used to. On a side note, this annoys my friends and family to no end when I pick apart details of a show while they are trying to watch it.

Final word:

Knowledge comes with a price. Ignorance my not be bliss, but neither is knowledge.

If you are to become a media critic, know that you will have to give up the way you once looked at the world. But then again, things are pretty cool on this side too...

Source cited: Williams, K. "Why I [still] want my MTV: Music and Aesthetic Communication"

1 - As Williams notes, in most criticism of Music Television, the visual side is emphasized sometimes to the exclusion of the aural side of a music video. On page 134, Williams notes that music more closely reflects the mental "image" of an object or scene than sight does.

2 - This happens in expression and criticism, because you take the position of a creator instead of a consumer; which is a more active role. This holds true not just for music video, but for media criticism in general. (I don't have a specific source for this, I just feel that this holds true)

3 - On page 144, Williams cites Zettl who draws attention to the fact that a directors job is to direct attention. When you study to become a director, you become aware of the tricks used to direct your attention.

Video Music

A video expression, of a musical expression.

That's what music video is all about.

- My thesis on Video Music.

Music:

Music is a way of expressing oneself. People who create music often get lost in a reverie of rhythm, beat, repeating emotion, and a psychological stillness accompanied by physical movement. If you watch a musician while she or he plays, the musician is apt to close the eyes, tap the feet, and bob the head while playing.

This movement can be attribute to there being more than one experience happening at once for the musician. The musician is in a place playing an instrument, but at the same time, they often describe the feeling that they are transcending the space they are in. This happens with audience members as well; a sense of transcendence and harmony with the music (1).

Video:

Given these phenomena that are present when creating or listening to music; one then may consider what is going on when people are producing a music video. That sense of transcendence is, arguably, what many creators of music videos are seeking to capture while crafting the set of images to associate with the music.

Crafting the images is done very carefully, as dissonance in imagery and music will break the sense of reverie and transcendence... suddenly, the audience is no longer 'seeing music'. The synesthesia that was occurring comes to an end, and the audience changes the channel (2). Therefor, it can clearly be seen that people who put video to music seek to capture the true 'visual' sense of the music.

Video Music:

While we may readily realize that there is someone creating a video to match the music, we tend to forget that what we are seeing is an expression of an expression. Music video style almost always exists in this form; which might be why we are able to identify a music video when we see one (3).

The reason I say "Video Music" instead of "Music Video" is because the video is adapted to the music... not the other way around. To fail to recognize the music of a music video is like ignoring the visuals of a film in favor of its soundtrack. It just doesn't work.

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Source cited: Williams, K. "Why I [still] want my MTV: Music and Aesthetic Communication"

1- Page 97 of Williams book describes how the downplaying of the musical dimension of music video, and focusing solely on visuals, has left the medium misunderstood.

2- On page 93, Williams describes Sut Jhally's analysis of Music Video; noting that for Jhally, MTV is the "blurring" of advertising and program. Without the effective transmission of programming/advertising (i.e. the video) the audiences' interest is lost.

3- On page 100, Williams writes that "Music-visuality is... the interplay of sights and sounds, music and visuals, whereby sights dance to the sounds of music and sounds appear visually." This is an important observation because we can identify this phenomena when we see it; and being trained to look for it, we cna critique it.