Final Video

This is my final video and, surprisingly, it does not flow with my original idea. Throughout the editing process, I changed a lot of the concepts. Enjoy.

Images recorded April 11 between 6-8 pm and sound recorded April 13 between 3-4 pm in Glendale, WI.

Rough Cut #3 - Life vs. Death Combo

This rough cut is just a combination of the first two rough cuts. Once again, I am attempting contrast, except, this time, between both the images and the sound.

Images recorded April 11 between 6-8 pm and sound recorded April 13 between 3-4 pm in Glendale, WI.

Rough Cut #2 - Life vs. Death

In this rough cut, I am attempting to contrast the image of death (the gravestones) with the sound of life.

Images recorded April 11 around 8pm and sound recorded April 13 around 3pm in Glendale, WI

Rough Cut #1 - Flowers vs. Violin

In this rough cut, I am experimenting with contrasting the images of the flowers with the shrill sound of the violin. Hopefully this will give the flowers an eerie feel as compared to their normally cheery appeal.

Images recorded April 11 around 4pm and sound recorded April 13 between 3-4 pm in Glendale, WI.

Production Strategy

In my past drifts, I always explored wide open areas during the day and images with color. For my last drift, I want to do something entirely different; a closed in space at night. A particular area I have in mind is in Glendale, WI near the Bayshore mall. In this area, there is the mall, a park, and a secluded graveyard. The graveyard interests me the most because I think it would be a challenge to work with such repetitive materials (such as gravestones) and make it interesting, even though, technically, I'm showing the same type of image over and over. I also like the park right next to the graveyard because it gives it this interesting contrast of life and death, which I would like to explore.

For my image strategy, I plan on capturing images that contrast each other, particularly images that are very lively, with constant motion or vibrant colors, along with images that are 'dead' in a sense, such as statues in the graveyard and then contrasting those images.

I would also like to collect contrasting sounds. For example, I would collect the soft sound of the wind and contrast it with the shrill sound of laughter. I would like a mixture of lively sounds, such as voices and birds, along with soft, subtle sounds such as the wind.

Ten Questions

1. Are there monuments or interesting statues in the area?
2. Is there a significant difference in appearance between areas in daytime and at nighttime?
3. Is there a place that is completely silent? Or overwhelmed with noise?
4. Is there a place where sounds contrast each other (nature and techology, etc.)?
5. What is the strangest location for my drift? The strangest angles?
6. What is the most beautiful location for my drift?
7. Is there a place with great color contrasts?
8. Is there a place that has constant movement?
9. If I walk down an unknown path, where will it lead?
10. What is the most peaceful location for my drift? What is the loudest/most obnoxious place?

Drift Assessment #4

Describe your favorite experience, situation, place, or recollection from either of your Drifts. Be specific about what happened, how you felt, how you reacted, and why you think this particular experience affected you so much.

My favorite “place” was, during my second drift, on Lake Drive where I saw the creepy tree that determined my whole idea for my second drift. I thought the tree looked so scary, yet so perfectly beautiful at the same time. I made me see trees in a whole new light. I remember taking around 50 pictures of this tree because I wanted people to see it the way I saw it; it seemed like there was never enough ‘evidence’ that this tree was special. I think I was affected so much by this because my favorite genre of film is German Expressionism and this tree felt like a way for me to try to make my own expressionist film.

Drift Assessment #3

Describe three surprises or unexpected situations you encountered on your Drifts and in the days that followed. The surprise could stem from your expectations that conflicted with "on the ground" realities, cultural or social issues of which you were previously unaware, feelings and reactions that you did not expect to have, appearances and soundings of things you did not expect, good or bad outcomes of "on the spot" decisions you had to make, or the discovery of "deeper" realities in the materials you brought home. (Again, skip anything technology-related!)

When I began my second drift, I was not sure what my image capturing strategies would be. My first thought was to just take pictures of trees because I knew I could get a lot of footage out of it. So I started walking by trees, and the more pictures I took, the more I began to see the tree branches as hands/fingers reaching down to grab us. There was this particular tree that began to make me feel that way. It was on Lake Drive and it was one of the creepiest trees I’ve ever seen. From that moment on in my drift, the trees had a completely new appearance to me; they were no longer just plants but living forms that were bending over and trying to reach down to grab things with their branches. Even now when I’m driving by trees, I still think of that drift. A second surprise came when searching for my second image capturing strategy. While walking on my drift, it began to occur to me that I was constantly surrounded by signs. So, I thought, ‘Ok, I guess I can concentrate on signs’. I began to take pictures of every sign I passed and I began to think, ‘Wow, there is a sign almost every step, telling us what to do!’. You could not get away from the signs. I started to resent the signs, because, like any teenager, I didn’t like being told what to do. I started to get the feeling that the signs were controlling everything we did when we stepped outside our house; I realized that in our society, we are constantly surrounded by rules and regulations. A third surprise I had came in my first drift. I was recording the beeping sound a truck makes when it is backing up. I was concentrating solely on that sound. When I played back the recording, I found I had recorded a very clear recording of a bird singing. I decided to keep the bird singing in the recording with the truck because I loved the contrast of the sound; the contrast of nature and technology.

Drift Assessment #2

Describe, with details, two situations during Drift 1 and/or 2 in which you felt unusually peaceful, at ease, or contemplative.

One situation where I felt completely at ease was during my second drift. One of my image strategies was capturing trees at strange angles. I was walking back to my house and there are multiple trees that hang over my driveway. The sun was setting and it created this interesting atmosphere light. I decided to lay down with my back on my driveway and to just take a bunch of straight up pictures of the overhanging trees. I meant to only stay there for a few minutes, but when I got up, it was twenty minutes later. I felt so relaxed laying there and the color of the sky was that gentle navy blue that I kept saying ‘a few more pictures, a few more pictures’. I wanted to capture that color so much that I would not move and I felt so comfortable laying there, that I didn’t want to move. A second situation where I felt completely at ease was during my first drift when I was recording the sound car tires make when they move over the cracks of the road. It is surprising that I felt so at ease on a busy road, but the sound pattern the tires made on the cracks of the road was almost hypnotic. It was the same pattern over and over and my mind began to concentrate only on that pattern and then began to wander, or “zone out”. I easily got fifteen minutes of recorded sound because it was such a nice sound to listen to

Drift Assessment #1

Describe two situations that aggravated, bothered, shocked or otherwise stressed you during Drift 1 or 2. (Please note that the situation CANNOT be technology-related.)

One aggravation I had was during the first drift and I was trying to capture the sound of a flag flapping. I was walking by the flag when a gust of wind came by and I really liked the sound. So I got myself all set up to record the flapping flag and the wind decided it didn’t want to gust for about ten minutes. I refused to move from that spot because I knew the wind would blow the instant I walked away. Finally a gust came and right in the middle of capturing the sound, a car drove by, completely overwhelming the sound of the flag, so I had to start over and wait for another gust of wind. That leads right into one of my general aggravations; a louder sound passing by right as I’m recording a softer sound. Whenever I was recording a soft sound, like a wind chime or a buzzing electrical box, a car would always want to drive by, interrupting my recorded sound. A second, minor aggravation I had was on my second drift. One of my drift image strategies was capturing images of street signs. It was very difficult to get the right angles and straight on shots because, well, I’m short and the signs are very high up. I had to stand on snow banks, fences, and basically anything I could to try to get different angles besides the shot of the camera just looking up at the sign.