I am currently deciding what to do for the video assignment for ds106. So many things to try. I’m undecided as yet but wanted to share some old videos (made in 2007). These have been blogged before when I made them but the reason I wanted to include them as a ds106 post is because they illustrate two separate purposes…

I know that in the great scheme of video making that these are fairly low tech. But at the time I made these – I had never done anything like this before. What drove me was the need to get a message out into the ether. We had a tough time 4 years ago and had to fight alot. One of the things that helped me get through this time (in addition to my partner and son) was a re-discovery of phototgraphy, and a discovery of the flickr community. I was using my phototgraphy to try to educate people about autism because most of my son’s difficulties came from other people’s ignorance.

So as well as aphoto essay and a lack and white set on flickr I made a video using my photos and some music found on ccmixter. I think the music fits perefectly and I really enjoyed making it. I had a compelling reason to create this video – the message was really important to me. Alot of videos about autism on youtube are about finding a cure. This does not sit well with me (or particularly with some people with autism). If my brain is wired differently from yours then don’t assume it’s not a positive thing. Autism can bring a unique view on the world that leads to invention, and different levels of understanding. We should value it but we need to understand this to some extent in order to see the positve side. I am talking from my own experience of aspergers syndrome – so this is a personal view. However alot of the comments do reflect that others feel the same.

 


music by fourstones from ccmixter.org
Hamlet’s theme

That is not to say that the purpose of being creative and enjoying a process is not valid. It is and after making the first one I also made the following video. I had discovered this fantastic song on ccmixter and decided to use a range of my portraits to make a video. So I re-processed them all in black and white to create a consistency and add drama – in hindsight I think I should have made it shorter. It has no message like the previous one, but it is about capturing the essense of people through photography and the song – remember my name fits really well. ccmixter is brilliant as a resource – you support other artists and you know you are not breaking copyright.

I can hardly remember how I did this but pretty sure I just used the standard windows application.


music by Luke Tripp
‘Please just remember my name’