Hi Caroline! Looks like you had a little trouble with the embed code. We'll have to take a look at that later. But I was still able to see the video just fine if I copied the URL into the browser. Others should do the same.
A few thoughts on this video: I really appreciate that you used the recorded audio of the fountain to create the rhythm in the soundtrack. This constant rhythm really holds the piece together for me. It starts out in a nice place where I can tell the abstract image is from water, but I have no context for where the sound is coming from or what body of water this must be. Then when we cut to the fountain (0:19), we have the reveal of what the image is composed from. While you keep it out of focus to keep the image abstract, I think this image is a little too recognizable to maintain the level of abstraction the video begins with. After this reveal, I feel like the video falls a little bit flat. It seems like there isn't really anywhere else for it to go; there are no surprises left. If this occurred 3/4s into the video rather than so close to the beginning, it might hold our interest a bit longer, but I feel like you've shown us your hand a bit early.
Because the image is so recognizable (we see cars passing by, green trees, etc), it doesn't quite have the quality of visual music, which is fine, but I begin to read these images associatively, which is a very different process from reading it as a flat image with abstract movement as its primary strategy. When the relationship of images becomes associative (ie, they begin to build meaning by their arrangement with other images), they begin to need more variety in order to produce something meaningful. You can think of this process as much like drawing a bubble map, but you have to have a lot of bubbles in order to begin mapping their relationships. Right now there's just not a lot for the images to build on. Also, the editing is quite minimal, so there's no buildup of rhythm besides the constant sound of the fountain. My other critique would be on your shooting. This might be the kind of video where using a tripod (at least for some of these shots) might be a good idea. The movement of the image is erratic in such a way that it's easily recognizable as being hand held, and it attracts our attention to the camera and the process of shooting. This can be useful at times when this is meant to be part of the meaning of the piece, but right now it's not functioning that way. So the piece is in a bit of an awkward space. It either needs to become more abstract, or it needs to be built up more so that it has a more overt "thesis statement" or something it wants to accomplish (for instance, something that it can say about water, or fountains, or something like this. a meditation of some sort on these or similar ideas. Leighton Pierce's Glass, that we watched in class, is an example of this.) Something else that could help this is also adding more variety and layers to the audio. While the rhythm of the fountain is nice, it might make it that much stronger to layer some other sounds over this. Perhaps you build a sound collage of the sound of cars going by with this constant rhythm beneath, or add the sound of people walking by. I don't know, but it could get more complicated. The same with the image track. This is a good start, but you can push it farther to make it much stronger.
I enjoyed the first part of the video, where we're zoomed in on an abstract image. The audio of the fountain helped connect the visual to something in the real world, and I think that was well done. At first I liked the shot of the fountain too, but after seeing cars pass and seeing the fountain shoot stream after stream of water, I got bored and lost my connection with the video. Perhaps a rearrangement of the visual sequence would make the effect more meaningful? Shoot different angles of the fountain, or at least splice up the video to where it's not one single shot of the same thing over and over again, that way you'll keep the viewer's attention.
I liked how you focused on one common theme for your project. It was cool just listening to the sounds of the water. I liked how the sound was exaggerated and kinda of echoey- it made the noise sound really crisp. Its also a good idea i think to explore one subject like you did with the fountain. I think focusing on one subject can make people get a little more involved and creative with it. overall I enjoyed watching your video!
I think you have a lot of potential with the film you have here and it would interesting to see what kind of things you can do with it. You should consider using some more of the things the editor can do and see what happens, like slowing down some of the clips, or altering the color or scaling the clips.
The sounds are really nice. They are distinctly water but it's not exactly obvious at first as to how the sounds are being created. Once we realize it comes from the fountain, however, the video loses some of its mystery. Maybe trying more edits or layering of clips before revealing the fountain would prolong the suspense.
I also like the repeating sound.. maybe try something where, subtly, you increase the pace at which that fountain sound is repeated...kind of upping the tempo over the video. Just an idea. Other than that I'd just mess with filming other stuff / finding some clever ways to hide what youre filming.
I love that while the water is clearly the sound of water, the more you listen to it the more ambiguous it gets. It almost seems to turn into a very pleasant crackling. I think you could use some more techniques to keep the noise source less easily identifiable. Some layer with your footage could be really neat too.
I really liked the simplicity of this video. It really captured a sense of tranquility that reminded me of a natural setting like the ocean. I liked the part where you panned up around 1:00 or so and showed the background which I thought had a nice color pallet. The water shooting up into the shot added a nice effect. I didn't really like the cuts however because I thought that they were to sudden. It would have been nicer if it was just one long shot. Overall it was not very abstract and your method of shooting was fairly obvious but it made a very nice, calming video.
Hi Caroline! Looks like you had a little trouble with the embed code. We'll have to take a look at that later. But I was still able to see the video just fine if I copied the URL into the browser. Others should do the same.
ReplyDeleteA few thoughts on this video: I really appreciate that you used the recorded audio of the fountain to create the rhythm in the soundtrack. This constant rhythm really holds the piece together for me. It starts out in a nice place where I can tell the abstract image is from water, but I have no context for where the sound is coming from or what body of water this must be. Then when we cut to the fountain (0:19), we have the reveal of what the image is composed from. While you keep it out of focus to keep the image abstract, I think this image is a little too recognizable to maintain the level of abstraction the video begins with. After this reveal, I feel like the video falls a little bit flat. It seems like there isn't really anywhere else for it to go; there are no surprises left. If this occurred 3/4s into the video rather than so close to the beginning, it might hold our interest a bit longer, but I feel like you've shown us your hand a bit early.
Because the image is so recognizable (we see cars passing by, green trees, etc), it doesn't quite have the quality of visual music, which is fine, but I begin to read these images associatively, which is a very different process from reading it as a flat image with abstract movement as its primary strategy. When the relationship of images becomes associative (ie, they begin to build meaning by their arrangement with other images), they begin to need more variety in order to produce something meaningful. You can think of this process as much like drawing a bubble map, but you have to have a lot of bubbles in order to begin mapping their relationships. Right now there's just not a lot for the images to build on. Also, the editing is quite minimal, so there's no buildup of rhythm besides the constant sound of the fountain. My other critique would be on your shooting. This might be the kind of video where using a tripod (at least for some of these shots) might be a good idea. The movement of the image is erratic in such a way that it's easily recognizable as being hand held, and it attracts our attention to the camera and the process of shooting. This can be useful at times when this is meant to be part of the meaning of the piece, but right now it's not functioning that way. So the piece is in a bit of an awkward space. It either needs to become more abstract, or it needs to be built up more so that it has a more overt "thesis statement" or something it wants to accomplish (for instance, something that it can say about water, or fountains, or something like this. a meditation of some sort on these or similar ideas. Leighton Pierce's Glass, that we watched in class, is an example of this.) Something else that could help this is also adding more variety and layers to the audio. While the rhythm of the fountain is nice, it might make it that much stronger to layer some other sounds over this. Perhaps you build a sound collage of the sound of cars going by with this constant rhythm beneath, or add the sound of people walking by. I don't know, but it could get more complicated. The same with the image track. This is a good start, but you can push it farther to make it much stronger.
I enjoyed the first part of the video, where we're zoomed in on an abstract image. The audio of the fountain helped connect the visual to something in the real world, and I think that was well done. At first I liked the shot of the fountain too, but after seeing cars pass and seeing the fountain shoot stream after stream of water, I got bored and lost my connection with the video. Perhaps a rearrangement of the visual sequence would make the effect more meaningful? Shoot different angles of the fountain, or at least splice up the video to where it's not one single shot of the same thing over and over again, that way you'll keep the viewer's attention.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you focused on one common theme for your project. It was cool just listening to the sounds of the water. I liked how the sound was exaggerated and kinda of echoey- it made the noise sound really crisp. Its also a good idea i think to explore one subject like you did with the fountain. I think focusing on one subject can make people get a little more involved and creative with it. overall I enjoyed watching your video!
ReplyDeleteI think you have a lot of potential with the film you have here and it would interesting to see what kind of things you can do with it. You should consider using some more of the things the editor can do and see what happens, like slowing down some of the clips, or altering the color or scaling the clips.
ReplyDeleteThe sounds are really nice. They are distinctly water but it's not exactly obvious at first as to how the sounds are being created. Once we realize it comes from the fountain, however, the video loses some of its mystery. Maybe trying more edits or layering of clips before revealing the fountain would prolong the suspense.
ReplyDeleteI also like the repeating sound.. maybe try something where, subtly, you increase the pace at which that fountain sound is repeated...kind of upping the tempo over the video. Just an idea. Other than that I'd just mess with filming other stuff / finding some clever ways to hide what youre filming.
ReplyDeleteI love that while the water is clearly the sound of water, the more you listen to it the more ambiguous it gets. It almost seems to turn into a very pleasant crackling. I think you could use some more techniques to keep the noise source less easily identifiable. Some layer with your footage could be really neat too.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the simplicity of this video. It really captured a sense of tranquility that reminded me of a natural setting like the ocean. I liked the part where you panned up around 1:00 or so and showed the background which I thought had a nice color pallet. The water shooting up into the shot added a nice effect. I didn't really like the cuts however because I thought that they were to sudden. It would have been nicer if it was just one long shot. Overall it was not very abstract and your method of shooting was fairly obvious but it made a very nice, calming video.
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