SCREEN - Final Edits - ART & FEAR
1.I have changed the audio completely. Instead of layering the voices on top of each other, I have place different audio recordings one after the other to make them flow. (image below)
Also, I have downloaded a wider variety of media news voices from different countries and mixed them with songs about “hand washing”, coughing sounds and others.
2.I have made applied transition between the videos to make them flow as I realised that that drastic separation between the videos was annoying to watch. Now, while the previous video is ‘dissolving’, the next starts. (image below)
3. While I had previously decided that the video should be on a loop, I have now decided to give it a beginning and an end. The beginning is the Brexit countdown ( in which I kept the original audio as I think is very powerful). The reason for this is because when this project began the media focus was all about Brexit, while subsequently it became about corona ( as it is shown on the video).
I have kept the jellyfishes at the end as supposed/apparent moment of quiet but is not. Although jellyfishes look very beautiful and peaceful are actually a symbol of the consequences of global warming, they are polluting the oceans causing destruction of sea life the as they can survive in any water, with low oxygen and they are basically immortal.
The viewer can come into the room anytime and watch the full video ( it is only 3 minutes) .
4. I have reduced the introduction text into a few sentences and wrote a small “please note” to notify the viewer about the satirical approach as I know that some people might take it as offensive.
However, I did not change the title! :
VIMEO LINK https://vimeo.com/417011350
5. Instead of using Artsteps to make a virtual tour of the mirror room ( which to be honest was impossible unless I knew how to use certain softwares), I have decided to use my craft skills :) to make my own mirror room by using 4 square mirrors, the computer screen to project the video and the 360 camera ( which thank god I had borrowed from Connor before the lockdown).
I put together the 4 mirrors with the tape and placed the open side in front of the computer screen and played the video. I placed the 360 camera inside the ‘room’ and controlled it through my phone.(images below)
The video was hard to export and edit but I managed to place and sync the audio to it and upload it to Youtube. If I could go back I would try to make it a better quality but I guess as a mock up it should be fine.(images below)
I would definitely used this technique in future!
LINK TO THE MIRROR ROOM https://youtu.be/yt7CNNkG6EM
ps:I have also tried to use mirrored one-way film, which is a material with the mirror on one side, and you can see through the other side. I bought it and I have placed the camera on the outside looking in (no camera inside the room) but it was way too dark!
6. CRITICAL SELF EVALUATION
I have to admit that making this project it’s been quite of a challenge.
First of all, when I started it I had no idea that we would be in these unfamiliar circumstances. However, it is exactly because of this situation, that has been unfolding week by week until now, that allowed me to experience “live” the evolutions of these events and record them.
My strength I'd say it is "to have known" since the beginning that I wanted this project to be about the current times, therefore the feel to make something responsive.
Initially, I felt inundated by a broader range of events (Brexit, Covid-19, Climate Change and more) and the plan was to represent exactly what was happening in my head. This is when I had the idea of making the mirror room, where the viewer would just enter it and have that overwhelming/disturbing/claustrophobic feeling that I have, being bombarded every single day by media news. It is been interesting to experience how quickly it all became about Covid-19 and this is when I decided to focus on it.
My biggest problem has been the constant unpredictable changes of events ( such as when Boris Johnson got sick with Covid-19) that made the process very slow and uncertain until the very end. Still, at this time, I am not sure if it will upset someone.
I realised where my weaknesses lie while working on the video and ( particularly ) audio technical skills. I am not sure this is because I did not have a proper introduction to them or is it just because is not for me. Either way, I have enjoyed learning Premiere Pro and I will keep practising with it as it made me realise how limited my skills as a photographer sometimes can be.
Organisational is always been my bigger strength, in fact, before the lockdown, I borrowed a Canon handycam, a 360 Insta camera, triggers and lights from the store. Without these, my project would have been impossible to produce. Also, I have used my crafty skills to assemble a DIY model of a mirror room to reconstruct what I would have done in the gallery space.
I only wish I had more time so I could keep documenting the end of this pandemic as I have been (accidentally) documenting it since the beginning.
The most fascinating aspect of this project is that I had absolutely no power over the development of these events so I just sat in my house, watch it happen it and record it in my own way.
Overall, it’s been an interesting, sometimes difficult and fun journey in which the comments and critiques given by my friends, family and groups tutorial have been crucial in helping me to comprehend my insecurities and be proud of my strengths.
