Radiowaves and the Sea
A duet of escapism and hard reality
Film project, 8:03 min
Description
Over the course of five weeks, I made a project to convey the feeling of being far away from everyday life yet unable to escape it. The inspiration came while reading the news and filming in Carrapateira (Portugal), where I was on holiday.
- All shots were filmed using a Sony HXR-NX5R
- This project was made using Premiere Pro CC and Audition CC
- Special thanks to Daniel Niederöst for helping me record and arrange the soundtrack
- The music was composed by myself and recorded as well as arranged using FL Studio
Making of
Concept
This project required a new approach: I filmed all of the visuals before I knew what my video was supposed to be about. When I later decided what I wanted to express, the challenge was stringing my shots together in a way that didn’t look like a holiday slideshow:
- In a first step I drew a overview of all takes that I made in Carrapateira
- I then had to look for creative ways to connect different shots (for example, picking up the movement of a kite to transition to the flight of a swallow)
Storyboard
Using the above mentioned connections, I tried out three different structures of the visual story. I settled for the one with the numbers in red circles.
Sound design
This is the first project where I did all the sound design myself using Adobe Audition CC.
In a first step, I listed the most essential sounds in the video. However the most important part was deciding which BBC news items I wanted to use.
At that time, headlines were dominated by the controversy surrounding Brett M. Kavanaugh in the US and the ongoing Jamal Khashoggi case in Turkey.
I was able to record the musical theme courtesy of Daniel Niederöst, whose equipment and FL Studio expertise allowed me to use not only a grand piano but also an organ sounds.
I recorded the guitar tracks myself using my own instrument and Garage Band.
Criticism and reflection
To make sure the video wouldn’t be boring or confusing, I had it peer-reviewed, and kept adjusting the product.
While reviewing the video, it became apparent that people were focusing on different things within the project:
Some of the concentrated mainly on the visuals and didn’t much listen the podcast excerpts, others wanted to hear even more of them. My two tutors had different ideas as well. They both agreed that the project should represent the general feeling of not being able to escape reality (headlines etc.) and that I should concentrate less on specific news stories. They felt that the “message” of the project should still be relatable some five years on.
This concept sounded tempting but eventually I decided against it. I wanted this project to be a reaction to the events that were on my mind at that exact time.