For this assignment we were required to create a "photo essay" based on the vimeo project of the same name:
"Whether it's guys dropping in on thirty foot waves, a family's first trip to Disney World or a plastic bag floating aimlessly against a brick wall, moving images have excited or comforted all of us at some point. What we're perhaps less accustomed to is the power of still images. More specifically, series of photographs set to sound, used to tell a story. We frequently see this used in online journalism. I suppose you could call these "slideshows," but it would be more appropriate to call these "photo essays."
I choose to do my photo essay on a day of a plate - from cupboard to kitchen tops, food being put on it, food being eaten and finally being washed after dinner. I wanted to do this as I felt it was a unique ideas - something different, that not many people would have thought to do.
The shots:
Shot 1: the reason i photographed the plate in the cupboard was to make it seem as if that was its home so at the end when the plates put back into the cupboard they know its home and its the end of the film. i like this shot because it makes the plate seem alone even though its with other plates, then in the next few shots when the food is put on to the plate it makes it seem happy. i wanted the shots to make it feel like the viewers were actually taking the photos in a 1st person perspective.
Shot 5: this shot shows the full plate of food and when bit by bit it gets eaten, i decided that instead of showing where the food is going i would just eat some and take the picture which gives the film the feel of 1st person as if they were they're.
Editing: i edited this film so it looked a bit like a slideshow but still seemed as if it were a film, i did this because it keeps the audiences attention. i changed the length of the clips to a second a frame so that it was snappy but still gelled together which gave it the movie feel. i used mainly close ups so it made the viewer seem like they were there taking the photo, and this was noticed by my peers who complimented me on it.
Music: 'Food Glorious Food' the reason i used this song is because the video is about food, it all so ties in well with the black and white shots because its an old classic song and black&white is usually associated with old films. the music to this video makes the video i feel because with out the music people watching would just think ohh wow its a plate of food but with the music it adds a happy atmosphere to video.
Feedback:
The feedback I received from my peers in the class was good. There were suggestions as to how i could improve my film such as taking more shots so it could be longer. Some people said the music fit well with the video and the fact that its old music on a black and white video makes it stand out. Alex liked the stop animation because it told a story.
