A PORTRAIT OF CORDAE MATTSON: ARTIST
For the digital story piece I’ve chosen to do a portrait of one of my dearest friends, Cordae Mattson. I began the project with a few goals in mind: raise awareness for the little known diseases Cordae and many others battle (EDS, POTS, chronic Lyme, mold poisoning etc), identify art as Cordaes personal coping method, and capture some of the wisdom and mature generosity that Cordae has come to be embodied by. It has been a strenuous journey Cordae has taken from being a healthy, active woman studying psychology, to being bedridden for months in unbearable pain. Her tumultuous path to recovery has been materialized through her own willpower and expression of self- this I feel was a story that needed to be told. I had never made a project like this before, and therefore went in a little heavy on the material. As the draft stands now its over 4 minutes, and I’d like to get it under that 4 minute mark. When I began editing I had 64 minutes of conversation to sift through- were I to embark on this journey again I would try to be more concise in my questioning and directing of the conversation. However, I wanted Cordae to be comfortable talking about herself in front of the camera, and for this reason we chatted more as I tried to foster a conversational environment with someone who genuinely wanted to hear her story. While I wanted to call attention to Cordae’s plight, I didn’t want to wallow in it and have a sad digital story- that certainly isn’t how she is trying to represent the diagnoses! I wanted to be straightforward and blunt in some of the hardships, but keep her goofy and tough as nails personality peeking through. I tried to do this through images such as the one of Cordae dancing with her blood bag while she introduced what POTS is, and curating of footage so as to prioritize the sequences where she still smiles and even laughs at some of the absurdities in her battle. I chose to showcase photos of Cordae overcoming some of the doctors presumptions about her needing a wheelchair and heavy narcotics while she discussed this issue- see the photos of her hiking with her father and painting at a music festival. I sought out comic relief for the audience through methods such as text (long list of medications and psychololologist?). I also tried to pull pieces of Cordaes art that embodied the experiences she was describing through her monologue and share them then. The music I chose are two of Cordae and my own favorite songs, songs that we often listen to when talking for hours and are undeniably catchy and while mellow, still uplifting and provoke a light mood. I felt these were good comparisons to some heavier dialogue in which musical relief was needed. I was sure to include Cordae discussing the importance of her support team, and this was mainly to target an audience for my piece. The audience for this story ranges from those struggling with chronic illnesses and looking for both others to relate to with stories of triumph and hope, as well as the people who comprise support teams for loved ones. This support team could be for those suffering from a chronic illness, or any plight in their life that affects them. I wanted to convey the message that everyone has their own type of therapy(in Cordaes case, art), that everyone wants to give and get love and support, that you’re never alone, and finally that hope should never run out.
Questions I have include
Where do you think it drags on and I can trim a little off? Where do you feel yourself getting bored and needing to be pulled back in? Are there any points where the audio is choppy or volume is uneven? Should I add a narration or leave it to Cordae and the occasional use of text?