Assignment #5: video reenactment

For this project I chose to work with the video Lightning from Paul and Marlene Kos:



Here is my interpretation of that video:



I chose this video to work with because it seemed simple but complicated at the same time and also odd and experimental. It was filmed inside of a car, yet is focusing on the "observation of natural phenomena" which seemed like an interesting juxtaposition.

The main character looking directly at the camera while lightning flashes in the background and turning her head as it ceased. It does conjure ideas about what existence means if something cannot be seen. The camera, an object, is able to "see" what she cannot. 


On a more practical level- I was curious how many times it took to shoot or if they just got lucky on the first shot with the lightning. In general, I thought it was hard to take it very seriously because the character is so earnest but the subject is sort of maybe more whimsical rather than only serious. I wanted to play that up with my version. 


 As I was developing my idea, I wanted to set myself up with a little challenge - so rather than film a person with a camera I knew I wanted to animate a found object - a toy of some sort. The scene being in a car in the original that made me think of a set or toys- it just doesn't seem like a very natural scene- her movements appear somewhat stiff and mechanical which I think led to my thinking of toys and objects. I went on a hunt for the right toy- I had some ideas of a couple of different characters and Hello Kitty was my first choice but I didn't think I'd find one that would work- I just happened upon a Lego Hello Kitty with a rainy scene and knew that this was what I would animate- it was perfect- more than what I thought I would ever find. I used a simple point and shoot camera and brought the images into photoshop for initial editing and then Final Cut Pro for animating. Initially I animated her without any affects at all, you can see that version here:

I do like the simple version because it really focuses more on the mechanical movements but I decided it wasn't quite silly enough and didn't quite honor the original intent - so I added the lightning and then at the end a yeti peeking out from the bushes to emphasize the whimsy and fun of this line of thought.

 I had fun with it and I could see multiple versions of this with various things flashing in the background as Hello Kitty looks to the camera or maybe doing a series of animations with Hello Kitty toys and sound from other sources.