12.1.10

Possible Video Project

Besides the musical ideas I have been considering and developing with previous posts, I was thinking about another project that would allow me to make a collaborative video that combines some of the knowledge and experiences that I have gained especially from my recent trip abroad in Italy. Today, I thought about some of the things that I have learned and I realized that I may have been wrong to pursue some of the concepts that I had been working on and I found a more elegant solution that might be more all-encompassing of the types of goals that I have with a video project.

One of the amazing people I met abroad was more positive than anyone I have ever met and he is currently a pretty successful painter. Maybe not by everyone's standards, but by mine he is the most successful and knowledgeable person I have come into contact with because he understands life and is not of afraid of anything that it gives him. He remains confident and understands how to make something into nothing, having been completely broke a number of times in his life and recovering to be at an even better stage in his life. He taught me to find something good in a bad situation. Sometimes he had terrible things happen in his life, but rather than quitting when most would, he saw hard times as an opportunity and looked to learn something from even the worst of circumstances because he adamantly believes that things happen for a reason and that everyone has the choice to improve themselves in each situation they find themselves.

While I was realizing how bad I felt for not completing my powerpoint presentation for my class pitch of ideas, somewhat due to technical difficulties and somewhat to my own lack of foresight and preparation, I had one of the moments that my friend described. I discovered an idea that was already in my head, but I just hadn't given adequate thought to. I realized a way to collaborate with friends even though I thought our goals would not line up before. More importantly I think my video concept will allow me to combine many of the ideas I was thinking into something more natural and rewarding to develop as a project. I never would have found this idea that I think is probably the best project choice if I had not messed up and felt terrible about it.

Anyway, I have been thinking of a lot of things since I have a great many ideas from all the stimuli my brain received in Europe, but I have had trouble organizing and deciding exactly which ones to pursue first and to put into my art so as not to waste them. Now I realize my video can combine many of them and the obvious thing to do all along was right in my thoughts. My video project can actually be the process of my organization of thoughts, concepts, memories and decisions how to continue from here. This may not be clear to those reading this post at this time, but I hope to flesh out the details soon.
My basic idea is to create a video that is somewhat documentary, somewhat scripted that shows things from my perspective and also incorporates interviews. The daily kind of interactions that I would film will show progress and other ideas that I have to sort out at the same time as the help I get from friends and use of the knowledge I have gained. At the same time, I want to use the video as a platform for my friend, who will hopefully collaborate on this project, to help boost the notoriety of his own endeavors around campus.

On a basic level, I want to make a video that is pretty humorous and enjoyable that people can relate to in a realistic, but exaggerated way. The best example I can give is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as in the clip below. It is a story about 5 self-absorbed characters who are realistic, but exaggerated to make hilarious storylines. I plan to highlight issues like cultural differences and change that I have witnessed to make other people more aware of them, but in a way that they can laugh too, and not think about the concepts they are internalizing as they learn from my experiences too. This way, I can share my benefits with others and get some people to laugh. Some of the stylistic aspects I envision come from another tv show I am fond of called trailer park boys. The beauty of this Canadian comedy is that it pretends to be basically what it is. It is in some way mockumentary as a tv crew is hired to follow a couple of guys around the trailer park to see what it is like in their daily lives. In this way, the cameras even become a part of the episodes in a clever way as characters, but also favorable in that they can use a very low-tech, low-budget kind of shooting style that makes the idea more believable and convincing at the same time. I hope to use some similar concepts in my own production.
IHRTLUHC
Jordan Severson



1 comment:

  1. It sounds like your study abroad has really changed your life. It's amazing how it can do that to you-- I feel the same way about my time in London. Are you going to try to incorporate the idea of change or anything like that into your film?

    Will you incorporate the documentary aspect into the scripted to make it all seem real? It sounds like a big project that will turn out pretty cool. I would suggest figuring out some sort of conflict, resolution, climax kind of thing for your film. If this is going to be a bit of an autobiographical piece that is the format that they all basically follow.

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