Reflection/Description

I remember crying in middle school because I hated the sound of my voice on a video I made. Although my dad is a photographer and takes nice photos of me I don't consider myself a photogenic person, and I never liked seeing videos of myself. Last year I started an Instagram account dedicated to my medical condition and wanted to bring awareness to it in fun and interesting ways so, after a time in my life that basically stripped away whatever self respect and anxiety about being perceived that I had, I started filming videos for Instagram and tik tok. Despite my most common comment being that I look like Mark Zuckerberg, I've gained a fondness for video. Over the past week or so of this course I've found myself using video, as I enjoy using it to do strange things or things that make people laugh. I don't want to be a photographer or work with video necessarily but I do find it fun.

For task 3 I taped my phone to the inside of my shin. I figured taping a phone to the outside of your leg in order to make a video was rather boring so in an effort to slightly subvert that idea I wanted to get my other leg swinging in and out of the frame. I was surprised by the video because walking feels very natural and smooth when we do it, but from the perspective of my left shin it's a very jerky process. There seems to be inordinately long pause between each step.

My idea for task 4 began when I walked by the usual litter of cigarette butts outside the school. I often do beach and neighborhood cleanups back home so I picked up a few different brands of cigarette butts (with a tissue) and arranged them. A broken snail shell inspired the idea of creating an arrangement of natural objects that mirrored the butts in composition and color.

My other image for task 4 shows the area underneath the sink in the studio illuminated by my camera flash.

My original plan for task 6 was to lie on the ground covered in crisps and film birds eating them off me (this worked once when I was 8 years old in hawaii and covered by a towel). Unfortunately the crows were too suspicious and the squirrels only enjoy being hand fed (and I think the pigeons just aren't too bright) so after about 10 minutes of lying prone on the ground at the park while people wondered whether or not to call the ambulance I got up and brushed myself off (of crisps). As I was walking away I had the idea to film the animals eating from the perspective of a crisp at the bottom of the bag. They were still a bit warier than I expected but it worked out much better (and it was less embarrassing).

The other task 6 item I added was not a video but I enjoyed these photos of a man repainting the road (taken with his permission).

Photo and Time Based Media Primer

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