Project 4: Poetics of Time (Process & Final)

Final Video

My final video, entitled ‘My Day in 60 seconds‘, is a project which shows 60 segments of 1-second scenes of what I do on a particular day.

 

 

Project Proposal

Project Title: My day in 60 seconds

Project Description

The project is a 60-second video sequence which showcases different activities happening throughout the day, from when I wake up to when I go to sleep. There will be a sound track of a ticking clock, each activity will only be shown for one second (the duration between each tick of the clock). Each tick will occur on an on-beat, the off-beat will include a single beat of sound of the particular activity happening, e.g. flicking of a switch, slamming a door close, pressing a lift button etc.

I was inspired by time lapse videos and other ‘my day in 60 seconds’ videos found online.

This project is a new concept and not a continuation of a previous project.

I intend to express measured along with edited time to the audience. Also, how sound can enhance the rhythm of the video.

One innovative aspect I would say is that I will approach it in a slightly different manner as described, having each scene only last one second, and according to the beat of the clock ticking. Unlike other similar videos that have each scene last a few seconds along with a music track, I want the audience to focus more on the beat of the soundtrack and the rhythmic vibe it creates.

Objectives and Activities of Project

I will be creating an estimated 60-second video.

It is a videography project utilizing an iPhone camera.

Dimensions are standard 16:9 aspect ratio resolutions of 1920 X 1080 pixels.

Equipment for Project

The project would require the use of a camera to capture each individual 1-second shots, in this case an iPhone camera, as well as Adobe Premiere Pro to produce the final video.

Installation of Art Project

The final video will be displayed on a laptop.

Process

Here is an example of something similar I will be doing,

However, one difference is that I plan to have mine more quickly paced (at 1-second intervals), with the underlying sound of a ticking clock. The reason why I decided on having my scenes as 1-second shots is because I wanted to incorporate sound and rhythm into my final video, instead of having a slow-paced video, I wanted a more fast-paced rhythmic video to express both measured and edited time.

Below is the initial list of scenes I planned out before I started filming. Along the way, there were a few changes and I had to add/ remove scenes.

  1. alarm
  2. toilet door open
  3. brush teeth
  4. toothpaste spit
  5. toilet bowl up
  6. shit sound
  7. flush
  8. shower on
  9. hairdryer
  10. hairdryer down
  11. spray deo
  12. gate open
  13. throw shoes on floor
  14. wood door close
  15. key lock
  16. gate close
  17. lift button
  18. tap bus
  19. bus ding dong
  20. tap out
  21. traffic button
  22. green man
  23. gantry tap
  24. train gate door open
  25. train door close
  26. guy snoring
  27. door open
  28. gantry tap
  29. fd door open
  30. put stuff down
  31. set up easel
  32. tear newsprint
  33. put newsprint on easel
  34. charcoal drawing strokes (start)
  35. charcoal drawing (end finished)
  36. put back easel
  37. fd door open
  38. gantry tap
  39. train door open
  40. train door close
  41. gantry tap
  42. tap bus
  43. bus ding dong
  44. tap out
  45. traffic button
  46. green man
  47. lift button
  48. gate open
  49. key insert
  50. wood door open
  51. put shoes inside cupboard
  52. close cupboard
  53. toilet door open
  54. brush teeth
  55. toothpaste spit
  56. clothes throw in basket
  57. shower on
  58. on aircon
  59. lights OFF

After that, I simply filmed each scene, taking note of a few aspects such as what I was wearing and most importantly, the time of the day.

The scenes will be filmed from my POV and hence it does not allow for any shots taken from a tripod etc.

I had to download some sounds online which I could not record, example, the honking of the car when I was crossing the road, I didn’t really want to purposely have a car honk at me, I would have to piss the driver off if that was the case. Also, the pooping sound was taken online, it was surprisingly hard to get a good sound of poop splashing into the toiled bowl.

Consultation 1

For the first consultation, I had to show Wen Lei a short concept of my video, to show the transition of the scenes and how the sounds appear.

Consultation 2

One problem with an initial version was that there were some scenes with a slight pause at the start, which made it look awkward as I was waiting to execute the action, rather than film it ‘naturally’.

Slight pause at the start, awkward
Continuous action, more natural

Secondly, I had to insert a couple more scenes between ‘ending class’ and ‘going home’ as it seemed too similar to ‘leaving home’ and ‘entering classroom’.

Challenges faced

One challenge was coming up with 60 scenes which produced a single or double beat which will fit with the rhythmic beat of a ticking clock. Once the filming was completed, stitching them together was relatively easy.

Conclusion

This project has taught me how to work with both aspects of time and sound, even though this project was time-based. The rhythm is important as it sets a pace for the audience for them to follow, in other words, creating causality via sound, that being said, if this rhythm is broken, the audience may get disoriented and lost.

 

 

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