For my final project, I would like to do a video work comparing women to elements of nature. I think video is the best medium to convey this because video will be able to catch the fluidity and subtle movement of the natural world. Some scenes I would like to capture are flowers, trees, a sunrise and ocean. I will focus on skin, hair, eyes and limbs and I plan on shooting several of my female friends of different ethnic backgrounds and physical shapes and sizes.
I plan to frame the shots of the natural world in a largely horizontal, landscape orientation and the shots of the girls as portrait oriented to show comparison. I also want to include masking techniques where I split the screen in half and blur the layers to further illustrate comparison. I like these two photos for inspiration because of the colors in them. The sunset photo has the pink and cream tones I think of as undertones in human skin. I like this photo of the girls hair because of the integration of the flowers, which I want to include in my piece as well. I like the length of her hair and one of the “actresses” in my video has a similar hairstyle so this photo is excellent inspiration.
One Comment
Make sure to test a few shots of how the horizontal and vertical images will work in sequence. There will be a strong shift in move from horizontal to vertical and see what works best. This may help you plan further shots.
I recommend seeking footage that connects your actors and sites not just formally (ie. similar color and similar shapes) and that also push far away from the stereotypes that abound about gender and nature. Push to find unique similarities in your pairings of shots that go beyond what the viewer might immediately think of.