Brainstorming & Filming Clips
Devan and I had a bunch of ideas going into this project and the execution is a lot different than a few of our original plans. The theme was speculative futures, but instead of going in the strict direction of "what is this were that?", we wanted to do a video that captured the feelings around having too many possiblities. We were interested in showing a lot of contrasting imagery, whether that was high tech vs. natural or simple/liminal vs. overly grand. We had initially thought about doing a comparison of many peoples lives within the same period of time. Like, what are many people doing within one hour or across different hours of the day. I made a playlist for inspiration, which we pulled a song from for our final video.
Idea Planning
Idea Planning #2
Once we had filmed some of our content separately, we went back to the drawing board to simplify our theme. We knew if would be a big ask to get a lot of people to film
for our project. I had thrown an idea around about a girl on her walk home. This developed from "what if she felt safe?" to "how can the simplest of journeys feel like the greatest endeavor?"
We met up to centralize the kinds of clips we'd want to see, so that when we did some work separately, everyting would still be consistent.
Editing Ideas & Themes
Editng Ideas
We had a lot of footage, so we selected a portion that felt right and made a plan to divide the work and come back together a couple days later. We also decided that some text, like internal monologue, could be interesting.
Text Layering Ideas
Editing
We knew we wanted the final cut to be a bit abstract, with jumpcuts, flashes, a mix of stills and videos, and high color contrast. We edited a bunch of clips separately, and then came back together to make a final product. We started by doing an audio cut, because we knew that the video would follow musical cues. Devan recorded a voiceover which would bookend the music. It was at that point we decided that we had two characters, a girl on an emotional journey and a caller trying to connect.
Filming Process (Olivia & Sarah)
Audio Cutting (Olivia & Devan)
After we finished the audio, we spent probably two days in After Effects. We lost a couple hours on Monday because some clips weren't properly backed up and we had to remake them (always triple check you have your content in three places kids). We cut the music down again because we felt like we may not have time to finish. In the end we didn't save much time, but the video did have a better flow because of it.
Olivia Rotoscoping in After Effects
Olivia & Devan working in After Effects
Execution
I'm so proud of our finished video for a lot of reasons. Devan and I worked really hard, and no matter
what we made, I was always going to be proud of that. But the cherry on top is that this film is really in line with my goals as a creator.
I'm really interested in reflective or contemplative pieces that are emotionally charged but remain more conceptual
rather than following a strict narrative.