Final video

VIMEO VIDEO LINK


I am happy with how my final video turned out. I believe I've captured some visually interesting footage that is consistent through out while also complimenting the poem.
Although the visuals and sound are very abstract and experimental I tried to make them as relevant to the words spoken as much as possible. It's really up to the viewer as how they interpret the footage and they can draw there own conclusions.
The use of sound is also an important factor in the short film. There is a contrast in the soundscape between loud and intense sounds to calm and soft. This is to mirror the narrators love for Annabel Lee and her abrupt death.

Materials and set up

Materials needed:

-Black ink
-Red ink
-Glass bowl
-Pane of glass
-Large white sheet to act as backdrop/background.
-Hair-dryer (to move the ink around the glass pane)


Set up:

The black and red ink

The bowl will be filled with water and ink will be dropped into it. I will film the result. 

I positioned the camera underneath the glass and this will give me a great view of the ink flowing over top.

Stills from final video

Experimenting with typography

https://vimeo.com/94447208

I decided to do a short test to see whether combining type with the visuals would enhance the overall film. Although the style matches the jumpy,jittery cuts of the video I think the type distracts the the viewer from the visuals and seems a bit unnecessary, so I didn't add any type to the film (except for the title screen).
But I thought experimenting was important for the overall process so it was worth while.

Raw footage

Raw footage 1
Raw footage 2

This is the raw, unedited footage of the experimental stage of the production.
Filling a glass bowl full of water and dropping ink into it was one technique. Another was taking a pane of glass, setting the camera underneath and film the ink running over the top of the glass.
I also changed the lighting conditions to achieve different effects e.g using one strong light source, coloured light, using a torch for a moving light source and an over head light.

I will use this raw footage to draw up some story boards.

Storyboarding

After I had captured all my footage I went through it all and selected what I thought was the best footage and the footage that could be tied most appropriately into the poem being read. 

I roughly painted these out in Photoshop. These storyboards helped as I now know what footage to include and what order it will be in, along with some other details. Like what sounds will be played along with the footage and what kind of edit it would have.  

Storyboarding challenges

Because I am filming ink and other liquids it is difficult to have a clear storyboard set out as it will be hard to anticipate how the liquids will look and flow. There will need to be a lot of experimenting so I can capture as much footage as possible so I can edit together the best footage captured.
The planning of how my film will be edited together will come after I have captured all the raw footage.

Tone, colour and editing style

The narrator's love for Annabel Lee was intense and powerful but also destructive as it lead to Annabel Lee's death. So the tone I will try to achieve will be set by the editing style and the use of sound. I will use abrupt cuts for a portion of the video while matching these cuts with loud jarring sounds. This will set and intense, violent tone that is abruptly cut, just like Annabel Lee's life was cut short.

Red is a striking colour often associated with love while also having connotations of violence and death ie. blood. I think the use of red is appropriate for this poem as it deals will love and death.
I will also be using black ink which will instil a sense of foreboding of the impending doomed love and hopefully reminds the viewer of the deep ocean at night.
Throughout the experimental piece I will also be using light to obtain various visual effects.

Edgar Allan Poe and 'Annabel Lee'

Theme choice: Love and Loss

Media choice: Experimental Video:

I decided to base my short film on the poem 'Annabel Lee' by Edgar Allan Poe, his last poem.  The poem's narrator describes his intense love for Annabel Lee, a love between them that  even angels became envious. This lead to the death of Annabel Lee, but their love still continues even after death. 

    The sea and water are prevalent in the poem so this will tie into the liquid effects in my film.  Although my film will be mainly abstract I will try to tie in what's being recited in the poem to what the viewer is seeing on screen. In other words my short film will be an experimental, abstract interpretation of the poem. 

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,

   In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

   By the name of Annabel Lee;

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

   Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,

   In this kingdom by the sea,

But we loved with a love that was more than love—

   I and my Annabel Lee—

With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven

   Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,

   In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

   My beautiful Annabel Lee;

So that her highborn kinsmen came

   And bore her away from me,

To shut her up in a sepulchre

   In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,

   Went envying her and me—

Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,

   In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

   Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

   Of those who were older than we—

   Of many far wiser than we—

And neither the angels in Heaven above

   Nor the demons down under the sea

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes

   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

   Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,

   In her sepulchre there by the sea—

   In her tomb by the sounding sea.

"Pacific Light"

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/07/pacific-light/

Russian graphic designer Ruslan Khasanov used ink,oil and soap to create these images. 

I will experiment with a range of materials to try and capture interesting patterns of different coloured liquids and inks.