Project 1 Critique

1) My project was called "Don't Take Life Too Seriously, You'll Never Make it Out Alive."

Taking suggestions from the class, I think that I could cut some of the duration of the blurring I used to make the work more compelling. I had the clips at about 7 seconds each, so I understand that 7 seconds of increasing blurring could get old fast. With this, I think attention would be held better and the climactic ending would be better appreciated. Also, I've wondered if tinkering with and altering the photos in photoshop somehow would have made them more compelling. I like keeping things simple, but I think some editing could have made an impact.

I think my video was successful in the way that the music and the photos worked in sync. I tried to keep the transitions and the effects in time with the music, which I think enhanced the effect of each component. I also think that the high contrast of the images helped add an air of creepiness to the piece. My goal was to create an eerie feeling, and I think that the contrast helped achieve this. Lastly, I used a piano and melodica for the music. The melodica is a strange instrument, which I think also helped create the eerie feeling.

Like I previously stated, the relationship of the sound to the images was very important in my piece. I made sure that the images were displayed and transitioned in time with the music. I think I was very successful with how I synchronized the music and images.

I edited my video by placing the images in order on the track first. I followed by adding my sound. While listening to the sound, I added markers to point out where there was a shift or change in the music, and I applied my effects and transitions in accordance with the markers.

I think that my sound was integral to the imagery. The sound helped the piece flow, and significantly added to the climax of the piece.

2) Watching my video without sound was weird, because the sound was so integral and weaved into the images of the piece. I had this idea for the sound from the beginning, so it's hard to think of changing the audio. I think that maybe I could use a more etheral sound in the beginning, like a flute or a harp. I think those intruments would also set an eerie tone. I also wonder if adding maybe some type of drum or bass instrument at the climax would work. I think it could add a bigger bang.