trees are people too

What did I try to do?
I wanted to: convey my propositions, give examples of them, demonstrate what they might entail, and in doing so inspire involvement in video recording and publishing. I wanted it to be simple and straightforward, but also for it to look appealing and for it to showcase my own skills and increased knowledge on the practice of video and the opportunities the technology offers.

My manifesto propositions were quite broad and basic, so the manifesto project itself was laid out quite simply. I included the propositions themselves (albeit in simplified form) as text, as I did not feel I could depict them through the actual videos. Perhaps I was wrong, but because the concept entailed videos of everyone, everything, everywhere, everyday etc, it all got a bit noisy, and really needed to be given some shape and direction. To do this I implemented text and linearity – a bit conventional, I know, but i felt it necessary (and complementary) to the design of the piece.

The design of the project has come so very far, and has ended up miles away from where I first conceptualised it. This has been enlightening and enjoyable, and is something I could only learn doing a project such as this and learning to use tools such as ezedia. The process of shaping the project as I worked on it has been another experience of creative process that I have never had before and have thoroughly enjoyed.

Whether my manifesto speaks its propositions loud enough, I am not sure. I wanted it to be an inspiration for involvement in video, and I think I have achieved this with the aesthetic, although I am not absolutely sure I have conveyed the reasoning and passion behind the propositions enough. At the moment I feel so entrenched in it it is hard to be objective, but I will come back to it in time and reflect further. My idea has been reshaped so many times, and refined to fit the media and the creative tools I was using, but overall I am happy with the outcome.

In conclusion:

I am still not sure whether both the messages and the navigating tools on the piece are obvious enough. I may have been too presumptuous about my audiences knowledge/interest/attention span.

While this project looks pretty, and demonstrates technical ability, if I did it again I would have liked to develop the videos more, to further reinforce the propositions I was trying to convey. At times I also felt limited by the capabilities of ezedia, so in future would love to work with more developed software (on its way, I am sure), allowing a broader scope of options (i.e. stop and start an automatically started movie).

I have gone from loving this project to hating it, I have questioned the relevance of it and wondered if I ever really got it, I have been pleased and dismayed, but in the end I have again found the process of creating it very rewarding, regardless of whether I ‘got it’ or not. Somewhat selfishly, if this is all I have achieved with my manifesto, then I am pleased with that.