A Video Storyboard

Who would have guessed that the video/song I shared in class would provide me with an entire storyboard worth of inspiration?! I ended up completely visualizing all of this about an hour after class... and I'm really excited about making it happen.

How to read this storyboard:
Italics = my main points as listed in the post below.
* = description of visual elements
♫ = self-explanatory, I think. (see footnote)
& = word-for-word voiceover, (if I've thought of it yet)/talking head voice

1: New media create new ways of knowing ourselves.
-we can experience our past selves as strangers and contemplate their "artifacts"

*Since this bit will be mainly about how Project Mortified illustrates this view of "the past self as a studyable stranger", there will be footage of someone pulling out old picture albums or shoeboxes from a closet, followed by clips from Project Mortified shows
♫ set to the simple piano intro of the song, looped as long as necessary to make this particular point
& explanation of this view if the bifurcated/fragmented self, possibly a review of points already made, just to put things in context, a "refrain", if you will.


2: We experience ourselves as anonymous in many contexts
-we often feel like strangers
-when we feel like strangers, that is who we need to connect with

♫ This section will cover the most complexly layered parts of the song, letting each part build up until it's thick with noise and melodies... and ideas. ("You are in the way/I don't want to be a bother/don't get bent out of shape" all at once.)
*I'm going to need stock footage of crowded city streets for this part, maybe some footage in the library of so many people in a small space, but none of them interacting with each other. White text on black between video clips will detail where "feeling like a stranger" comes from and when it happens. The interest in things made by strangers (Found Magazine) will come into this part. Screen recordings of comments on that site will appear here.


3: changing realization of the self in this context (like in the PostSecret community), the consistent sense of self is violated.

♫ As the layers fade out, going back to the solo piano part, (giving it a simple, but empty sort of feeling).
* the more insightful postcards will appear, followed by clips from a few of Frank Warren's talks, explaining the connections on PostSecret. Text (white on black again) will explain my insights of those connections. A screen shot of the "I had all the support I needed in the heart of a stranger" text will also appear.
& "In the presentation and maintenance of all of these facets of the homeless, flattered, saturated, and re-coded self, it is no wonder that there are things we might not know about ourselves."

4: art, creativity, and community then become necessary to bring about and express these changes in our identity.

♫ At this point, the electric guitar part bursts in with the repetition of "you see me/you see me, yeah" and goes on til the single end note.
* With the guitar riffs, a sort of rapid-fire photo montage of "connections"... The YouTube vlog from my trailer will appear here. Not completely sure what else yet, but it will contain my points about our ability to connect deeply AND ambiently/pervasively through the media of online art. If I can figure it out, I'll go back to the "city crowd" shots, and zoom in on certain faces in between showing secret postcards. I'd like to end it with the same "we're all so connected... I desperately wish we knew it" postcard with no sound but the final notes of the song.
& "All of a sudden, it just woke me up! And I was like... oh my god, this is real! There are real people out there, those people on the street have feelings and thoughts too, and they have secrets too."


Footnote: I chose "In the Way" by Two Seconds Away because the words seemed to fit so well with this idea. The first layers of lyrics are very reclusive. I feel that they emphasize the distance and isolation that come with feeling anonymous.
The powerful ending verse reverses that, and reveals a direct connection to the listener... or whoever the song was written to. Since that part of the video will show how we're connecting, how we're noticing each other, it (like I said) just fit. (By the way, if any of you were interested, that music is available here.)

-Katie