Statement of Agreement
JET Program, Japan, Video September 20th, 2003
Statement of Agreement
view Quicktime .mov (25mb)
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The subject of this post is the song used in the video I finally completed this evening. After going over it several times and tweaking things here and there, it’s done. “Killing All The Flies” is by Mogwai, from their album “Happy Songs for Happy People“. I have listened to it so much this week that I am surprised I have not died tired from it. It has staying power.
I have spent most of my days in my room. I started getting into the project last Monday, so I’ve spent each day working on my video to some capacity.
The piece contains a bit of everything: things I received from my students while in Japan, digital stills and video from both my digital still and miniDV cameras. It was very frustrating at times to get things just to work, but I knew enough to workaround any problems with using the different formats. With all said and done, I’m happy with the final edit.
It’s got very little “video” considering, but it’s something I was meaning to work on since I got back. I spent a good amount of time this week working on it for output to miniDV video, so now I have a work that looks fantastic on a TV screen. In the future, I hope to put the video onto a DVD once I have the means.
If you watch it, please leave comments/feedback either here or at The Hindsight Project. I hope you enjoy it.
September 21st, 2003 at 11:23 am
Pretty good vid. The panning on the photo currently under your about section felt a little awkward. The rest of the panning worked well though especially as the song (depressing! need a defibrilator, stat!) picked up pace on the drumbeats.
Given how somber the song is, I’m curious how the whole video would look in greyscale or something monochromatic.
September 21st, 2003 at 1:14 pm
I had thought about the notion of keeping it black and white, too. But I felt that some of the images were too good to pass up on color.
September 21st, 2003 at 3:25 pm
Whatever the sentimental equivalent of a funny bone is, you just hit mine! Congratulations on a moving — and mostly still — video.
September 21st, 2003 at 8:28 pm
Nicely done, with good choice of music. I actually liked how you blended the stills with actual video…gives it all a sort of “scrapbook” feel.
September 22nd, 2003 at 5:43 am
Nice work. It felt a little bittersweet. (But nostalgia always feels bittersweet to me - something about the past being, well, past, I suppose.)
September 23rd, 2003 at 12:38 pm
I’m glad you didn’t choose to do it in B&W. Generally, it’s a good idea to stay away from B&W unless you shot it that way originally.
September 23rd, 2003 at 3:38 pm
I ultimately decided that B&W would have ruined the beginning as already something in the past, when it shouldn’t be to the viewer until the very end.
September 24th, 2003 at 8:33 pm
That was really nice. You should send that on DVD to your class in Japan.
September 25th, 2003 at 9:37 am
James, that was thoroughly FANTASTIC. You really captured the year in a fairly brief video.
Btw, this has done nothing to alleviate the feeling of longing for Japan I’ve carried around with me since I left it.
Very, very good. Social Dave is right, you should sent it to your classes in Japan.
September 25th, 2003 at 2:14 pm
If I had the means to put it on DVD, I would. The final project was output on miniDV and it looks fantastic. I would also put all my previous projects on it and mail out the DVD to anyone who would cover the cost of the media and shipping.
Like I said, if I had the means…