Sunday, February 17, 2008

That Darn Assignment Part Deux

Hmm ok. Now for part 2 of this (READ: The Update)

So i've actually got some new photos added in (be prepared for another video with the same annoying background music). HOWEVER, i've also stumbled upon another great idea - based on something i watched on Star Sports the other day. I'm thinking of following the background music dispersed with narration format. Comments please *grin*

Anyway, that aside, here's the latest version of the video. It includes other places outside of school. I also intend to finish it off with a scene similar to the opener (so that the whole thing appears as 1 session of reminiscing).

p.s. if anyone needs inspiration check out this video and this one too. Its REALLY good (not to mention being my inspiration for my assignment - in terms of approach, not topic).

Tip: Press the play, then press pause to let it load. Go to someone else's blog to do your commenting and come back when its done (but don't forget to come back!)


15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you have a great storyline going on. The pictures in the beginning showed sadness (the letters, gifts, when were depressed). However i think the rest of your pictures didn't really portray it clearly enough? Were your pictures supposed to express loneliness?

Plus i realised that your pictures didn't contain any people in it. Is there a reason for it? Personally for me, i feel that one of the ways to express loneliness in a person is to take the picture of a person who looks lonely. Eg. a person sitting on a bench, or a person reading a book on his own? Basically, taking pictures of single people doing some form of activity on their own. =)

Anonymous said...

I think it's because these are specific memories shared by you and your ex. So to the rest of us we don't see much relevance of it to us.

I suggest you could 'hire' a girl to act as your ex? Like you two can sit on the benches together in one pic, perhaps in black & white, and then in the next pic, in color, the bench is empty. Think the feel of sadness would be stronger. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Chris,
I like your idea of finishing the video off with a scene similar to the opener. However, I feel that to make the whole thing appears as 1 session of reminiscing, you should start off with your character staring into space and perhaps end with someone else shaking your character out of his daydreams.

Also, I agree with what Rebecca said. To portray loneliness, the best way will be to show a person being alone. In the pictures that showed at the end, I could only see various items/scenes and they do not seem to express any meaning.

Perhaps you could add people into the video? That would add a human touch and create empathy. - Xueli

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I thought that probably you could have some text or some description going on at the beginning of the clip so that one could understand your video right from the start? Cause actually i didnt really understand the story in the beginning. but, nice song =)

Pei said...

Chris~ I don't like the music and then the narrative part butts in like the video you provided. It's distracting. May be you wanna narrate with the background music altogether? Contradictory to what Rebecca feels I think the empty spaces works out fine for your part. I could sense it. Someone commented on using an actress... I don't think you will do it right. And I would say not to use it. It's bad and the other is it's like the aftermath of a broken relationship so don't think you should include. And I guess what you want to portray is the emptiness more than recalling the good old times aye?

Anonymous said...

Similar to what the rest have commented, I do not really get the feel of loneliness you are trying to portray. Especially the series of the benches pictures.

Perhaps you could get some one to pose as your gf and you sitting at the benches Followed by the next scene is her gradually fading away. Guess that will portray a better feel of loneliness and sadness.

In addition, i feel that currently your .mov has a lack of human touch, is very cold. Just a suggestion here, instead of ending the story with two paragraphs, you could narrate yourself. I believe this will make your .mov more meaningful and touching especially if you can narrate it with a sense of sadness

Ting said...

I like the idea of your story because it's very different. Pictures wise, I am able to get the story in the beginning. I think the song played a huge role in telling your story:)May I know where did you get your song from? Perhaps you could let the music fate into silence than having it shut off all of a sudden.

Mark said...

Although I think both ideas work, i.e. with or without actors, I say the choice is yours, I quite get the sepia transitions hmm but perhaps you could desaturate the photos at the second part to look sadder.

Also, I think that for some of the shots theres a odd black space, which are interweaved with the photos that are full screen, to me if feels just a little odd, maybe if u could put all the photos full screen or separate the two?

Anonymous said...

I can feel the sadness in your video. And i think without the girl charcter would be better. Does the empty spaces hold some memories to you? That's how I interpret the empty spaces and I think it works fine. The song is also nicely fit with the theme of your story.

Calm the mayhem within me said...

Hey i think the music is nice, but convey a feeling of missing someone.. instead of the anger you tried to portray last week at Valentines Day... Perhaps the visuals can focus more about the end of a relationship, so that we can see the story better, and feel for the character better, instead of items that symbolizes the relationship, because it may not be known to the audience. =)

hui ting said...

I thought that your song is a little unsuitable cuz i was expecting something like a really sad, sad song. Also, I think there should be some shots of you interacting with the inanimate objects, like looking at the letter, with your chin resting on the table and sadness in your eyes?

But other than that i guess you story is working out well.

Yishun Christian Church said...

Hey chris, i would say a good effort for a draft. The song fits the whole feel of the video in terms of its lyrics. The words at the end aptly summarizes your video. Which is a bittersweet kind of a first love experience.

However in terms of retaining attention and capturing my eyeballs : ) it din fare as good. It felt a little monotonous towards the middle and the reason for the monotony was that there were essentially only 2 types of photos. 1, letters and stuff that she gave you. 2, places which the both of you have gone before. You could try exploring using words and blank spaces to bring variety into the video.

: ) cheers mate

jazzy said...

i feel you need a bit of text to explain some of the photos. otherwise, i feel you will have to finish the entire video to get to know what do the photos mean in the beginning...

and also i saw the video ending... but the music just cuts off... not sure if it's just on my platform. maybe you wanna check and fine-tune that part?

chr1s0ng said...

OK.... i THINK there's some problems.

1. The song was a "placeholder". Maybe i didn't quite make that clear in the post (though it was in the previous one so i actually shouldn't have expected you all to have read it). Mainly it was to help me get the right feel. sorry about not clarifying that... and if you're wondering, its called "Light in your eyes" by Blessid Union of Souls. And yes, it is copyrighted (and hence will not appear in the final video).

2. Getting someone to model is, personally, a BAD idea. i'm sorry if it comes across as being too strong, but yes, i have no intention of doing that.

3. Ok the pictures probably need reworking. the fact that you guys didn't quite manage to relate them to the theme means there's something wrong with them somewhere (dang!). Granted that most of them bring back personal memeories, but the point i guess is making something for eveyone else, not just me.

4. Right now everything's still flexible. I guess the music interspersed with narration could work. it all depends on the words. The other option of course was composing my own music. i'm still experimenting with those midi programs.

5. There should be a number 5. I'm thinking about it.

Anonymous said...

Hi Chris:

You can consider to have the song lyrics to display when you showcase the video. But knowing that we need royalty free music it will be tough.

Otherwise words would be good to have so that audience can understand the video better.

Are the quotes by you? You can consider putting like the opening and closing like " ".

Great work!