Interviewed by: Kris
The similarities in your use of sounds for the first video is very interesting. They are all quite eerie (specifically the whispering and music box), even when the video seems playful. It sort of pulls the piece together and creates an overarching theme. Is this what you were going for?
For the first video I was going for an eerie almost horror film feel. I’ve always felt shivers when I hear music boxes even though it’s supposed to be innocent and for a child. I especially wanted to contrast to the playful and comical faces I made in some of the clips. It’s very easy to laugh at those moments so I wanted to use the sound to try and flip the emotions of the viewer.
The sequence of your clips definitely tells a story. It seems you want the viewer to really hone in on each visual and pay attention to detail. However, you then make those details difficult to understand (specifically the writing and the cloudy mirror.) Do you think your sound complements these visuals?
The whispers in the first version of the video add to the murkiness surrounding the clips with the cloudy mirror and the mirror with the words written on it. I used sounds of someone walking on glass and nails running down a chalkboard for these same clips in the second version of the video. The effect I think is the same although in the larger sense of the theme, the videos differ with the soundtracks.
I’m definitely interested in how you used your camera in the shots with your facial expressions. How do you think this helps the viewer understand your intention for that particular scene?
The video is to show self-awareness of oneself through the mirror. The visual presence of the camera in the shots helps to enhance the feeling of being watched and watching yourself in the mirror.
The two soundtracks are completely different.The first soundtrack makes your video eerie and quite creepy, while the second soundtrack is playful and lighthearted. Is there a particular direction you wanted to go thematically? And do you feel you’ve accomplished that through the different soundtracks?
As mentioned in the beginning I wanted to go in the direction of a horror film teaser for the first video. For the second video I used natural sounds of objects that associated with the actual physicality of the shots such as the tearing of paper for the clip where it looks as if I’m peeling my skin off my face. It’s meant to be a little uncomfortable for the viewer.