Video A — Pecha Kucha

Having taken a hiatus from video editing, the first assignment for this course—the Pecha Kucha—allowed me to delve back into the filmmaking process. In the video, my goal was the convey the dynamic of Joel and Clementine’s early relationship in 60 seconds using 10 6-second shots from the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Truth be told, I still find this video to be one of my strongest works in this course, as it’s simple and to the point, yet carries a pathos that both viewers and non-viewers of the film can capture and understand.

Video B — Multiscreen

While most film/online video content we absorb use the ‘full screen’ to immerse us in the viewing experience, the multiscreen video presented an opportunity to highlight the editor’s perspective and creative vision. For my multiscreen video, two parameters I imposed upon myself were to use different shapes to bound my shots and to work with white space as opposed to the typical black backgrounds on our editing software (I felt this would give each shot more visual ‘value,’ as there’d be less to hide behind). Combining the works of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Chungking Express, and Blade Runner 2049, this video’s strengths lie in its variety of editing techniques combined with thematically or aesthetically related shots to create an immersive viewing experience for my audience, despite the co-existence/overlap of various shots throughout the video.

Video C & D — Deformations

After reading through and perusing all the deformation techniques reference in Jason Mittell’s “Deformin’ in the Rain: How (and Why) to Break a Classic Film,” I was sold on this deformative double feature assignment. Deformation A made use of Zach Whalen’s Image Macroanalysis in Javascript (imj) tool. This resource took all the frames in a given shot and produced a barcode-looking visual with the predominant color palette of each frame. This was then used as the background for my Deformation A, and when combined with spatial deformation, creating a super fascinating interpretation of the opening sequence from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. One of my favorite parts of this first deformation was in certain shots, the use of spatial deformation brought more focus to Joel than in the original shots (i.e. @ 2:06 & 2:27). Deformation B overlapped both the sound and visuals of 7 different shots where Joel and Clementine are together, building over the course of the video. What stood out about this deformation was the effect created was very representative of the theme of memory throughout the film. As memories blur and flee away from Joel as he’s trying to have Clementine erased from his memory, this deformation captures that feeling ever so perfectly, spotlighting another short but impactful video in this portfolio.

Video E — Videographic Response Essay

After watching Lidia Mtz-Sierra’s video essay on color psychology (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujKNa0fsGfk&t=3s), I was intrigued by the use of a dominant color in film shots to convey certain feelings and/or emotions. With this in mind, I wanted to deviate from Mtz-Sierra and test whether the colors in Blade Runner 2049 portrayed the same feelings/emotions she found across 50+ films (as in, was her video essay generalizable). Additionally, I wanted to see if I could discover any other feelings/emotions associated with colors not mentioned in the original video essay. The decision to use Blade Runner 2049 came from the fact I had watched the film the week prior to this assignment, and the colors used were something that stood out to me throughout the viewing experience. In the process of making this video response essay, I used the Stroke’s song “The Adults are Talking” (a lot of beats) to guide the tempo of my editing—helping me achieve a final product that deviated from my previous video exercises, which were generally slower tempo and more pathos/narrative-driven. This video is my favorite of the portfolio, as it shows versatility in editing techniques (multiscreen, epigraph, and supercut elements), flows well, and serves as a strong standalone piece anyone could watch and instantly grasp the gist of.

Video F — Final Videographic Essay

Heading into this final project, I knew I wanted to focus on the concept of growing up. Because I’m graduating early and technically only have 2-semesters left at Middlebury now, I’ve started questioning the various facets of adulthood and whether I’m well-suited to take on these grownup responsibilities or not. With my college years slowly coming to an end, I wanted to create a video essay that I could watch in the coming years as I prepared to head off into the real world. When contemplating what film/television shows to use to guide my work, Bee and PuppyCat and Adventure Time came to mind—both children’s cartoons that discuss adult responsibilities and problems in a family friendly manner. Ultimately, I chose to work with Bee and PuppyCat because I was less familiar with it (I hadn’t seen it since ~2017) and the concision of the series (with Adventure Time, I would’ve had to source footage from 238 episodes of 10 seasons, which felt impractical). In the process of making this video essay, I decided to take a gamble and use voice over to introduce my topic, followed by guiding text for the remaining content. The goal of this video essays was to a. present a dilemma in my life and b. show how the videographic form of Bee and PuppyCat has helped resolve/lessen this problem in my life—being the fear of adulthood. The use of a ‘field guide’ to approach my argument was a nice creative touch on my end, and the typeface used resonated the very youthful and playful energy of the series. Overall, my final video essay highlights my narrative capabilities in film making and serves as a marker for this point in my life where everything is moving so fast, yet I haven’t caught up with the reality of soon being an adult. Truly a fitting conclusion to this video portfolio and eventful semester.