Evaluation: Project 1
The aim was to produce upto 3 short videos
of less than 5 minutes each using edited and altered footage of murmurations
(flocks of starlings) taken at Shapwick Heath Somerset. A yearly winter
phenomenon visible over the reed beds.
I was inspired by a video I had seen which
showed the flock of birds forming unpredictable sculptural shapes as they
settle before bed/at sunrise in order to fend of predators in the same way
schools of fish form 'bait balls'. The footage was mesmerising.
The aim of the videos was to try different
edits with or without sound, manipulating the footage where appropriate to
elicit different moods that I associated with watching the birds in flight
in-situ to produce 3 videos around the themes: anticipation/anxity, beauty and
surrealness.
I knew I wanted to concentrate on the shapes, movement and
contrast of the birds against the sky. I was unsure about using audio.
The aim was to obtain enough usable footage
that would not be too time consuming to view and edit. I used a digital SLR
camera with a zoom and portable tripod. The footage was filmed over 2 separate
dusks on locations in Shapwick heath in January. It was exceedingly cold, I had
not filmed birds in flight before, the murmurations last only up to 20-30mins
around sunset so timing and being responsive to the flocks was crucial.
The most spontaneous part of the
project was hoping that the tripod, film ISO and manual zoom setting would
manage to capture some usable footage. In advance I knew I wasn't ideally
looking to shoot traditional views of the murmurations in context, i.e , not
with recognisable trees/clouds/colour graduations from the sunset.
The main obstacles to producing a final
video were, my inexperience of editing and using imovie and my patience.
I used an instrumental video piece of music
by a friend that had a variable pulsing rhythm and varying crescendos and pace
to use as a skeleton to start putting video footage in order, practice editing
using varying speeds and reversal of film footage. This enabled me to play with
the options available. No usable audio was obtained from the original footage
as there wasn’t a technical microphone available.
It soon clear how mindboggling the number
of editing options would be. Without a narrative or storyboards (I was reliant
on the footage I managed to get) I decided to concentrate on using the most
visually pleasing footage. This was shots that I cropped to make sure only the
birds movements were visible, nil horizon or landscape features. Short clips
were used, this was down to creating a short piece but also due to the small
amount of usable footage that wasn't blurred/camera shake.
My patience was limited due to usually
being energised by chance results from spontaneous image making whether
drawing/printing or photos. Once I reminded myself that the
spontaneity/creative side had been influenced by my choice of
location/viewpoint and filming then I felt less frustrated by the need to be so
controlled and decisive about the final cut. After discussion with tutors,
paring back the number of possible editing decisions meant that I could
concentrate on just using exposure/saturation, speed, and desaturating the
footage, to produce monochrome abstracted video showing initially
unrecognisable moving forms that at some points are more obviously wing shapes.
The main hiccups were deciding transition
speeds, I filmed short segments with lens cap on to produce usable black
footage that I cut and pasted in between shots. Having not edited before I had
to guess from viewing the footage, what length of breaks in between felt right
and didn't detract or distract from the main footage.
Setting footage to music was constrained by
accidentally shifting the music out of synch with footage I had 'lined up' with
the changes in tempo and music and was a frustrating time consuming process
that I felt wasn't moving my project forward, so I concentrated on an abstract
piece.
I'm happy with the final footage that has
lasts just over a minute and a half, comprising of 5 separate views of flocks
at separate speeds and zoom. I felt I created a video that is a bit unnerving
from it's initial shot that does not clearly reveal it's context. The speed and
zoom of some of the shots can be disorientating but hypnotic. The lack of
colour and landmarks adds to the abstract quality.
I don’t think that obtaining more footage
to edit would have improved the final piece and would have made the whole
process more time consuming and complex. I've learnt how to edit and more about
the possibilities of using video, it feels limitless, requires patience,
planning and clear idea of what the end video should look like. By keeping a
video simple I think I got more interested in manipulating the visual effects
with different types of projection/installation. Exploring this will be my next
project.
