Phobia

DxArts 201 W09 Assignment 'Recycle'

My Assignment piece is titled 'Phobia' and deals with fears.

- The Inspiration -
It was mainly inspired by a certain aspect I receive from art pieces or performances that would leave me with a sense of unease or discomfort at the end, or an idea that I wouldn't be used to seeing in a museum.

For me, those works of art remain more prominent in my mind simply because of its sensation of taking me outside of the limits of my very own comfort zone. An example of artworks that gave me this unique sense of unease was 'The Rape of the Sabine Women' in the Henry Art Gallery's 'Adaptation', which effectively used a dark space, video, and the placement of speakers to achieve a very disconcerting effect.

- The Concept -
In 'Phobia', I tried to represent different common phobias that many people might share to varying levels of extremeties, such as Claustrophobia, Xenophobia, Dystychiphobia, or to the deeper levels of fear such as that of loss, the unknown, or of being completely alone. I hoped to achieve a similar effect to 'The Rape of the Sabine Women' by presenting and then taking away from the viewer sensations of sight and sound to the point of discomfort in not knowing what may happen next.

*Please note - I was very much aiming for an affect rather than a narrative or storyline.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Phobia
• fear

[silverbolt89]

Wow! I'm definitely getting a creepy "The Ring"-like vibe from this! The ambient ghost noise in the background amps up the tension tenfold, running with the backwards beeps from the beginning. I agree that I want it to be longer, but that's what makes this so effective: you evoke a feeling in the audience that is unplesant, but leaves them wanting more of it. Very good control of the viewers!

Overall: Fantastic video! I have no critique to give!

[morsigne925]

I think you did start to get at what you were going for, but I also agree with the comments that it could be longer - it felt to short to really develop what you were after enough. Adding more would also let you play around with more ways of getting across the sense of discomfort you're talking about. I think you do it well at a couple of points (like the subway) but you could have a wider range of ways to get that feeling across, if that makes sense.

[joshmusicbox]

The video definitely creates an eerie mood, but it didn't make me uncomfortable.

[TheGreatExperience]

I agree that the video could have used more content, but there are things that you did well. Building of tension at the very end with no release (I thought something was going to jump out at me) the audio was key for this. The house with the fire superimposed on it was not effective at all: too literal and was illustrating but not evoking (the concept mentioned in class). The subway shot, because of the pacing and zoom (and was it backwards?) EVOKED a sense of unease that I could not explain.

[Ne0mega]

see, we totally had time in class for your video. ;o) Agree below, it was short. I liked everyone backing from the subway, and the music set a good tone, but I really didn't get any of the phobias, except perhaps agoraphobia.

[Lampsonice]

I think that you really achieved the concept you were going for. The video gave me a huge sense of discomfort (in a good way!) and agitation from the beginning. My only critique is that I wish it lasted longer. I wanted the feeling of discomfort to last for a little while more. Perhaps you could have included the doctors? That can be pretty scary. But overall this is my favorite video in our class.