Life Is A Ride
Life is a ride is a self portrait video shot by a previous student. This video stood out the most because it was shot so well. At first I didn't know where he was going with the video, and then I saw the photos the character in the hospital bed. That's when it hit me.
The video is entitled, "life is a ride", because you never know where your life might take you. You may think you have everything planned out, but life can throw you a curve ball at any second. For example, this student used to do tricks on his BMX bike, and now he's paralyzed from the waist down. He even stated through text, that he wouldn't want it any other way. He's not going to give up on life because things are somewhat different and complicated than they once were. Another thing that I want to point out is that he constantly showed pictures of his family and friends. It was a rough time in his life, but he didn't have to experience this event by himself.
I completely understand what the author is trying to convey with this video. My life has been a ride as of late as well. When I'm not in school, I'm working and vice versa. Sometimes it's crazy to think about, but I just keep telling myself I have to moving forward. The finish line is in sight, but I'm definitely not there yet. Life is a ride is definitely the best video out of the bunch.
Color and Black/White
This self portrait video attempts to show the differences between color and black and white images. This video is hard to follow at times because I didn't know the symbolic meaning behind the images that were presented. For instance, there's a shot where the girl is clutching a stick with two butterflies on it. I don't know if that means the author enjoys embracing life or she has a hard time of letting things go.
There are some good aspects of the video though. The contrast between black and white was done pretty well. I think this would have been a better video if she left the color aspect out it the whole thing. There were only a few shots of sky which was shot with color. The video was dominated by black and white imagery. The items and objects she used seemed out of place for this video. I also think she would've made a better lasting impression if she didn't use music at all. With music and text absent, the viewer has to process everything on their own without any sense of direction. It's always a good thing to keep the viewer interested. Her transition from scene to scene was done well. They weren't abrupt and out of place.
After watching the initial video, it's hard to discuss the following videos because I expect all of the other videos to have that same level of fidelity and flow to them. This video is definitely worth a watch though.
Overuse of Text
This student made a video that had too much text in it. I felt like I was reading a book. This video had no sense of direction whatsoever, and the images were just random.
I don't think there's one part of this video that I actually liked. I don't mean to sound so harsh about this video, but I felt there was no point to the video. The student also incorporated this weird song that sounded as if was demonic in one way or another. That reason alone made it hard for me to follow the video. When you overuse text, it takes away any message you're trying to portray with your video. If you text when needed, then it'll be OK. For most people it's hard to watch film, and read text at the same time.
The student also reused some shots over and over. Whenever you reuse shots, they're supposed to symbolic. These shots didn't make sense at all. Now that I think about it, this video almost seemed as if it was a cry for help. The author constantly mentioned how he was alone, and he didn't know where he was going. I don't think I would ever put something like that in a video because I wouldn't want people to judge me. This video goes to show you that one small thing such as a song can change the overall effect of your video. There are better videos posted on the blog, and I would suggest that you don't spend too much time on this one.
On this post I feel as if you should of had more of an introduction to the videos you were about to discuss instead of just jumping in right to it, just a smoother transition so the reader knows what you are going to be discussing, also for some of the descriptions I had no idea what videos you were actually talking about since it never said, you just kind of went right into picking it apart which threw me off because I had no idea which video was being talked about. It seems that the first video Life is a Ride really touched and you understood the meaning of the video which you stated was "you never know where your life might take you. You may think you have everything planned out, but life can throw you a curve ball at any second." The next video you discussed I think was about the student who was trying to lose weight. You talked about the black and white aspect of it and that it was done pretty well which I agree, it was a pretty moving movie. The last video you posted about I has no idea which one it was.
ReplyDeleteVideo
ReplyDeleteYour comments about these videos were very brief but well written. The intro to life is a ride was short but also made me want to read more and discover what the actual video was about and what your opinions were. The second paragraph was also brief and didn’t give readers a sense of what the video was. Although the topic was very clear more descriptions about what was actual going on in the video would have given readers who didn’t see the video a better understanding. I can relate to you when you talk about your life being a ride. The constant non-stop schedule that most working college students have can be exhausting. The next video you critiqued, color and black/white is relatable due to the fact that you didn’t completely understand it. Although self-portrait videos can sometimes be hard to understand they can show meaning and deep feelings within a person’s life. I agree with the way you are using positive criticism and actually coming up with suggestions that could have made the video better. Your final comment on this video was very brief and a stronger ending would have been better. The last video about an overuse of text was hard to follow. Although you explain that the video had too much text you don’t go into detail about what the actual video was about. You did not have many positive things to say about this video which is ok but not describing actual content in the video makes it hard for readers to get an idea of what the video was all about.