video essay: desire
This project is a collaboration film making of video essay. In this project, we are three team members to discuss a topic. Our goal is to present how we comprehend a word, Desire. We need to make conversation to gain everyone’s idea, and put them together. TO SEE THE WHOLE VIDEO.
On these shots of shooting foods, we also tried sausage ( obviously), eggs and apple. All of them are main characters of our video essay. Because we want to show sex in an obscure way. But then we met a problem that is the whole video was too boring to watch. We have to use more interesting techniques of expression. At the same time, we were watch a lot of videos made by other artists.
I am not so interested in film unless it is a music video. So I was mainly watching music videos to get new idea. When I was playing this video, my collaborators seem so attracted. Liu said, how about to use split screens just like it? We both agreed. We tested some way to use split screen with those shots we took.
Because I have not clipped any video before, so my work is more like giving idea and making schematic diagram. I was also working on the BGM.
I wanted to make a mysterious feeling at the beginning, just like how human realized their desire. I also added some drum to make a rhythm, which can help the frames going, It was very personal just because I like drum in rock more than the other musics. Moreover, I used some audio material from my first collaboration project in CertHE, visualization of sounds. I reversed these audio materials and putted them into the end of the BGM.
Video was edited by Zhou’shun Zhang. He shot a girl’s body and face, make it to be together with tomato and apple. Make the suggesting of sex more clear. He told us that he want to do some montage with sexual shots in other movies, to make the whole video multiple. Thus we made some experiment with a famous movie Raise the Red Lantern, a film by Chinese director, Zhang Yimou.
Raise the Red Lantern is a 1991 film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li. It is an adaption by Ni Zhen of the 1990 novel Wives and Concubines by Su Tong. The film was later adapted into an acclaimed ballet of the same title by the National Ballet of China, also directed by Zhang.
Set in the 1920s, the film tells the story of a young woman who becomes one of the concubines of a wealthy man during the Warlord Era. It is noted for its opulent visuals and sumptuous use of colors. The film was shot in the Qiao Family Compound near the ancient city of Pingyao, in Shanxi Province. Although the screenplay was approved by Chinese censors,[the final version of the film was banned in China for a period.( From wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raise_the_Red_Lantern)
We picked this shot, which is the character’s bedroom. In Chinese culture, a red bedroom always symbolizes that the owner have just married. The red means happy, and breeding. The red bedroom is a suggestion of private things. So Zhou’shun put it at the beginning of video, as an intro.
However, when we finish the first draft. All people in our group felt that this shot is a little bit abrupt in this video. I gave a advice that we can cut more shots from other movies, that is how to make video unified.
Nymphomaniac is a 2013 European two-part erotic art film written and directed by Lars von Trier. The film stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgård, Stacy Martin, Shia LaBeouf, Christian Slater, Jamie Bell, Uma Thurman, Willem Dafoe and Connie Nielsen.
The film told, that on a snowy evening, middle-aged bachelor Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård) finds self-diagnosed nymphomaniac Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) beaten up and lying in the alleyway behind his apartment. He takes her back to his home and, over tea, listens intently as Joe recounts the story of her libidinous life. Seligman, a highly educated but cloistered man, connects and analyzes Joe’s stories with what he has read about. Seligman’s favourite hobby to read about is fly fishing, which is why he has the fly fishing hook on the wall and this is how their conversation begins. Throughout the story he parallels much of what she has experienced with various methods of the sport.（from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymphomaniac_(film))
Zhou’shun find some shots that record how main characters make love, he think we will need their happy, or nervous face when they were in the biggest Gluttony.
Honestly I don’t like these shot that much. Because I think the way it presents sex is too steed. My ideal shot should be more suggesting. My collaborators seem that they like it, so we did not change it.
To reflect on this video essay, I would like to say that no one in our group was approved. We also had autocriticism, and considered why this video is not promising as our expect. We pointed out some disadvantages of this video.
1. The main line of this video is not so clear. I think it was because of me. I did not make a good BGM to lead the whole rhythm of the video. Thus the collaborator clipping can not work smoothly.
2. We did not perform perfectly of our every ideas. To illustrate as split screen, the final effect looks still a little bit stiff. We did not add more original great shots either.
3. I think the shots from other movies are quite unnecessary. Because they make the whole video less unified. I prefer adding more original shots to replace them.
4. Our group communication is the most significant thing, but we did not make it better. Most of our ideas were stuck in our minds, we could not make them out and let everyone in group know.
5. Our using of technique are still unskilled. It limited our performance on our video essay.
Last, this is how we made this video, and I hope we will do better in our next project. Thank you for reading.