Relativity

My third video project for DXARTS 451. The premise was to adapt an excerpt from a text into a 3 to 5 minute short film using sound, color, and diegetic (in camera) sound.
Unlike my last project (Video Haikus) this concept took a lot of effort to wrap my mind around. The article I was given is from a book called Einsteins Dreams.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein%27s_Dreams
The excerpt that I was assigned spoke of two different perceptions of time: mechanical time and body time. Mechanical time is rigid and structured. People who follow mechanical time have a set schedule that they do not deviate from where the rate is unchanging. Body time is the exact opposite. Time is perceived by them not as a strict, never changing tempo, but rather flowing and unpredictable.
There is one quote from Einsteins Dreams that stood out to me above all others: Time moves slowly for those moving quickly. My original idea was to create a narrative of a man who goes throughout his day and experiences both kinds of time due to his actions and how he perceives events; morning routines would move at a set rhythm, but having fun with friends would speed time up while passing an attractive girl would slow things down. This idea proved to be too predictable and it was scrapped.
After reading the quote more carefully, I decided not to adapt the article so faithfully. Instead, I chose to create an abstract piece, forgo the narrative, and create feelings and emotions. This is my first non-narrative piece and I found not following a story was extremely difficult. The film developed as I chose specific actions that I would speed up or slow down based on their original pace. Objects moving quickly (such as the swings or the guitar) would be slowed down and objects moving slowly (such as the chess game or the origami) would be sped up. This decision was based on the one quote mentioned above.
My actress in each of the slow scenes was asked to smile and have fun (which she did a fantastic job of! ). The footage is completely candid and none of it is scripted. The guitar is layered under ambient noise that I captured from the park to signify that time is moving normally, but time moves slower for her as she is moving quickly on the swing and the merry-go-round.
The mechanical time scenes were chosen for their strict and rigid actions, and the time it takes to complete them. Each task is tedious and takes some time to finish. They are sped up because they are slow actions, but also because if they were at normal speed they would take up the entire length of my film! The soundscapes were created from scratch to really set the feel of a rhythmic and mechanical event. Each of the three vignettes have different sounds and beats attributed to them.
The entire piece is called Relativity as a play on Einsteins famous theory and how we perceive time is relative. Enjoy!

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Relativity
• perception
• time
• slow
• fast
• einstein's dreams
• percieve
• abstract

[andresdrk]

Great experiment! You did great at transmitting what you want to. Aside the time manipulation of the events, the scenarios chosen for recreating the quote you were given had a major visual impact enhancing the experience; colours were determinant!. I'm glad you chose not the predictable idea for mapping the text into the video, I liked you explored and gave a different perception. You're doing a great job, keep on going! PS: actress was seriously cute! Pretty visage!

[xXCALLOFCHUYXx]

looks nice