Project description/assignment. From the assignment description, "Concentrating on common everyday activities, create a video (90-300 seconds in duration) that primarily uses sequencing, pacing, editing and shot rather than dialogue, action, or music to construct a narrative that gives the activities poetic, visual and/or metaphoric impact and meaning. A pregnant pause is a full empty space, a meaningful lull in a conversation, or a delay in speech used to give time to consider the consequences of a statement. [The focus is on] pregnant pauses, [and] on the kinds of common, generally unnoticed activities that exist between the 'big' memorable events of our lives. [The assignment is] also...to primarily rely on editing [the] video to create meaning (as opposed to action, dialogue, or plot). Editing creates a 'third meaning' that exists in the spaces, the pregnant pauses, between shots."
Lateral thinking. We were asked to think of (1) a common occurrance, and (2) an everyday activity. For the first, I thought of the Sun setting over the hill to the west of my house. For the second, I thought of feeding the three cats we keep as companion animals.
From there, I began to consider the contrast between outdoor environments (where the Sun sets) and indoor environments (where cats are fed): The former is often peaceful (when you live in a rural area), and the latter is often noisy. Additional contrasts began to suggest themselves, such as the uneasy relationship between cruelty and kindness in the world, and the dissonance between doing something kind while thinking about, or listening to information about something cruel. Another is the contrast between the human and feline experiences of the same events.
These ideas were fleshed out in two "fieldwork" exercises. The first of these consisted of breaking both the common occurrance and the everyday activity into steps, and writing each on a card (see sketches). The second consisted of creating a storyboard based on an intermingling of the steps of both (see maquettes).
Sketches (click for full size). We were asked to break both the common occurrance and the everyday activity up into between 3 and 7 steps each, then intermingle these steps to create an interesting narrative.
Maquettes (click for full size). Once the storyline was established, we were asked to draw a series of more detailed sketches to create a storyboard.
Comments on the finished piece. I used a Sony digital SLR to record about 30 minutes of video. From there, I looked at each short segment and selected those that (1) best matched the storyboard concepts shown in the maquettes, and (2) were technically the best I was capable of creating with the technology available. From there, the selected segments were loaded into iMovie (an Apple application on my Macintosh computer), and strung together in sequence. Some were shortened. Fade-to-black transitions were added in between each video segment. The overall length of the finished piece is 4:00 (minutes).
Interpretation: The "macro" (literal) interpretation is fairly straightforward. A cat (named Rocket) is out in the yard in the late afternoon. He is called by my wife, and comes inside to take his evening meal. He and his brother (Lemonade) have to wait in the bathroom while the food is spooned onto their plates, because they can't control themselves if they see food being put on plates for them. The older, better-behaved female cat (Sabina) is not required to wait in the bathroom while the catfood is dispensed. The Sun sets as the food is dispensed, and the half-moon becomes visible in the sky. Rocket and his brother wait impatiently while the food is placed on the plates (they can be seen looking at the back of the door during the pregnant pause). All three cats are fed, and my wife closes the curtains against the darkened sky.
The "micro" (metaphorical) interpretation is quite different. Additional information to help with this interpretation is given in the sound track. The viewer is invited to listen to the news broadcasts in the background, and compare the messages they contain to the actions of the woman and cats in the video.
