To start conceptualising my video for assignment 1 I mocked up some storyboards to help me remember my ideas and effectively communicate how I wanted each shot or edit to be done.

When I started I found it challenging to create an idea that was non-narrative based while expressing myself. My first few ideas were all too narrative dependant so instead I started focussing on types of edits to use that could inspire subject matter. Below are images of my first rough storyboards that emphasised match cuts.

RoughStoryBoard1	RoughStoryBoard2	RoughStoryBoard3

At this point, I was conflicted because I wanted to convey that my behaviour and workflow can often be quick and erratic but using super shortcuts meant I would have to shoot tons of footage to fill the 2 minute brief. In the third image above you can see I started to develop the idea that the animation could enter my head (via hair transition) to show the high energy, then exit to reveal a slow environment to contrast myself with my surroundings and remind myself to not get too caught up in thought.

Drawing the illustrations larger would help me include more detail so in my second storyboard I repeated the process with more detailed drawings and more written notes for camera and editing work:

DrawnStoryboard1	DrawnStoryboard2
DrawnStoryboard3	DrawnStoryboard4

There's a little bit of crossing out around frames 7, 8, & 9. I wasn't sure if I wanted a boring transition through the hair or some crazy upside-down tilt thing. I feel like this might have to be something I shoot both ways and choose while editing just because it's hard to say what it will turn out like and how easy it is to shoot.

This storyboard was alright but I wanted to make a final cleaner and more descriptive version so I used Procreate to digitalise and finalise my first storyboard. While it is more polished it is still subject to change after shooting or editing...

Intentions:

Begining

To build on the idea of "How I feel when entering the course" I wanted my self-portrait to not only reflect my interests and hobbies but also my work habits. The introduction sets the scene as an autobiographical story. In this shot, I wanted there to be an emphasis on my eyes and hair as they would later progress the story. Because most of the colour in the scene is on a grey scale my hair being black already creates tonal contrast. Reactive attention is also inherent in the movement of my eyes in a still scene.

Jumping straight into a match cut demands attention and suggests a thematic connection, the head-to-popcorn comparison could be interpreted as a reaction to an overload of information in day-to-day or student life. The couch sequence relies on jump cuts to highlight a stylistic rejection of continuity in temporal connection. I thought about how often the person is the subject in a jump cut and their surroundings are changing, I flipped this trope to make my living room(a symbol of movies) the constant and myself as the gauge of time. Reflecting that while I enter a new stage of life I may never stop consuming film content.

As the camera zooms through my hair(a characteristic of myself often assigned to me) I wanted the viewer to enter my mind. The following 8-9 shots show the busy, unpredictable and fast-paced way I tend to work, primarily I wanted this section to represent my enjoyment of a range of mediums for creative practice, secondarily I used match cuts to show the back-and-forth nature of my workflow. I considered that the editing could have been done to make each line trend in the same direction or each clip play a part of one long line but I ultimately decided against that because I like the back-and-forth metaphor and how the video leads the audience's eye.

My inclusion of the piano acts as a J cut and makes the non-diegetic sound diegetic for a couple of seconds. I'm unsure if making the music continue makes that shot also an L cut? maybe like an upsidedown "T" cut?... ⟂ cut?

Middle

Most of the clips have face value... e.g. I like playing the guitar although in the final one there is slightly more meaning. The Kendama is a traditional Japanese toy, emphasising my interest in Japanese culture, It also supports the message/metaphor of the video around needing to step back and relax rather than getting caught in my head. In this same scene, I also tried to frame my busted shoes, torn from stubbornly not buying skating shoes🤦‍♂️ but revealing my colourful socks🤗.

In the second half of the video, I wanted to drive home the message that getting in touch with my environment, whether it's through people hobbies or places, is my way of calming down and how I expect to navigate my way through entering this course. Using clouds as a subject was an easy way for me to slip in a reaction shot while also staying on theme with nature. Finally, after shots of my local theatre(from the W1S1 important places video) and footage of friends or books, I wanted to finish the video with a reactionary close-up to wrap up the autobiographical message.

Pacing

I considered how the flow and rhythm of the video could feel and what it could mean. The beginning starts slow but picks up pace(in terms of the clip duration) during the movie-watching montage. Then the contrast between the fast pace of the 'in head' shots and the slowness of the 'environment' creates meaning. Juxtaposition in editing should emphasise pacing and symbolism. match/jump cut ≠ slow fade/fade to black

Music

The sound design will definitely play a large role in the emotion of the video. I would love to compose the music myself but because I lack confidence in my music ability I think planning the shots and edits first and then composing the soundtrack will be easier for me. Synchresis will be very important in the production of music. Because I have more non-diegetic sound I'll be attempting to align the music with motion or cuts/edits to give emphasis and add an element of predictability or rhythm.
I've written some notes on the storyboard but generally, I think I'll just have to feel it out.

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