Before I edited this, I hadn't been invested in a video edit for a while. But once I started working on this "hype video" for my upcoming PCN, I started getting back into the swing of things. I packed in as much creativity with as little footage as I could muster from my resources, and I'm really proud of how it came out.
Here's the breakdown:
Song is Kanye West's "I Wonder". I was listening to almost nothing but Kanye for weeks, and just got into Graduation, and this song stuck with me for its grandiosity. The sample is absolutely perfect, the pace is mellow, yet brisk.
Kanye describes the song as the hip-hop version of U2's "City of Blinding Lights", in keeping with his consistent sound of "stadium-status" hip-hop. PCN is a stadium-style form of expression: it's live, it's lively, it's in front of you, it's colorful, beautiful, and utterly inspiring.
I used the "All of the Lights (Interlude)" in the beginning to sort of stir emotions with the text. I wanted a beautiful set-up that sort of gives something for the viewer to expect (another Kanye song), but then give them something else that's similar (a different Kanye song). The piano and violin simply work for me.
I wanted to start with an almost violent crash, despite being a relatively pleasant track. The initial snare kicks off the footage--last year's Tinikling performance, a fan favorite.
My idea was to shift footage with stuff in the same category. So 2013 Tinikling (two different angles) shifts with 2012 Tinikling, other cultural dances shift with each other, acting footage shift with each other, and Infinite PASAbilities footage shift with other ones in the past few years.
Tinikling has generally been a centerpiece of PASA's PCNs, thus I gave it the middle. Acting and other dances get their corners. IP footage needed four sides because of 1) the lack of footage to make another unique sequence and 2) the consistent balance and symmetry of all the IP footage.
The goal was to show Tinikling as a cog in the machine--that behind this amazing dance is many other amazing aspects to the PCN. I wanted it to come together in the end as a video mosaic of PCN. I wanted it to cut to the beat so your eyes were constantly working and that you can't catch everything at once, so you have to watch it again and again. It's overwhelming, but so is the show.
Showing footage from the past 3-4 years meant paying homage to our PCNs' rich history. I made a trailer-style "From the Organization that Brought You" sequence near the end just to show that this is something that comes consistently every year, and that the next one is near.
The segment of "I Wonder" where the verse style changes entirely is completely moving, and thus the style of the video had to change. I had the idea that I wanted to show "the full PCN experience." That it wasn't just the show or the day of that was PCN--it was every single moment leading up to it. I was careful to save all the backstage and run-through footage for this portion.
This is the part that is most rousing, thanks to both the footage and music. Going with every lyric and beat, I cut to different bits of nostalgic footage.
For those who've never done PCN, it gives them a look into the treasured moments of refining the show. It's the small, quick instances of people laughing, practicing, relaxing, being together, having fun, that will sell people into participation.
For those who've all ready done PCN, its a heartwarming reminder of what great moments come out of preparing the show. It's pure nostalgia. It's closer shots, more intimate footage, and just as important as the actual show.
It ends abruptly. And in 2 and a half minutes. It is over all too quickly and, I must admit, I wanted to make it longer. I tried working out ways to make it longer, which verse in the song could stay in so I could add more footage. But if I wanted the video to encapsulate the PCN experience, I had to show that PCN sometimes ends all too quickly, and you're left wanting more, but can't.
The "My Song" sample consists of the repetition of Labi Siffre's lyrics "and I wonder / if you know / what it means / to find your dreams." Thematically, the PCN story this year touches on pursuing ones passions over settling with complacency.
The lyrics also work as a metaphor for discovering what PCN means to the individual participant. Mainly speaking for those unfamiliar with PCN, it hints at the feeling of "wonder." It's a feeling most would understand when I point to the example of World of Color. It's a great feeling.
I'm really happy with how it came out, considering that none of the footage was shot by me, or shot with the intent of a promotional video.