Evaluation of Video

Our video is based around the student protests over the rise in tuition fees.  It aims to persuade students to protest, informing them that if they put their head in the sand, the government will win.  It is designed to be played before the student protests of 08/12/2010.

The setting is mainly based around the Leeds College of Art, which is an ideal location due to the high student population there.  It shows two students on the eve of protest, looking seemingly worried but at the same time determined.  The time of day is also important, as the night scene gives a positive impression to their dedication to their course: working till the end of the day.

The music of choice was Kasabian’s Ovary stripe.  It is an instrumental that builds up to a climax, like the student protests of 2010, from a slow beat to an epic orchestral piece.

The people involved have the ideal student look: skinny jeans, messy hair, hoods etc.  Having them wear something different, for example a suit and tie, would spoil the mood and confuse the plot of the music video.

We have used metaphorical items, very briefly, in our video.  The toilets, rubbish bin and litter on the floor represent the trashy feelings student’s have towards the government.  The fire extinguisher is a reference to student’s rage towards the potential cuts, which needs to be extinguished with the right action.

I think a series of clips that stands out are the lift scenes.  Inspiration comes from James Cameron’s Terminator 2, where Schwarznegger’s character is shown exiting the lift in slow motion, with emotionless determination painted all over his face.  The lift is utilised a lot during the video, to reflect this iconic scene and to show the student’s tenacity to fight against the government cuts.

We have used the stop motion technique in our video.  This is inspired by the graffiti animation video by BLU, featured on my video blog.  I think this technique allows for much more experimentation than solely using a video camera.  The jittery effect it brings also reminds me of the older, traditional video clips from the late 19^th Century and early 20^th Century, which has a certain character in itself.

We used a variety of camera positions throughout filming.  We situated the camera behind the subject, up close facial shots and slow panning wide shots, as well as other techniques.  It adds diversity to our video, and prevents it from getting dull.  The use of the footage behind the person is a reference to students ‘turning their back’ on the government and walking away, after so many of them put their faith in both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in the May elections.

Our aim during the editing was to match the timing of the video with the music exactly.  There is a variety of pace throughout the music, which therefore means a variety of video styles, from quick transitions to slow motion effects.

The text slides we used are important in the persuasion aspect of the video.  We inform them of the date, time and location, and it also adds encouraging comments that could tip their views on the matter.

Transitions are limited to cut and fade.  The reason we chose to use these only was to keep the video tidy.  There was no need to use a chequered or dissolve transition, for example, so to add this for the sake of it would have no point, and add nothing to our video.

To progress with the video, we would go out and film the protests to create another video in response to this one.  I would like to create a video where numerous transitions, effects and distortions could be made to the film to create a ‘wacky’ piece.