Personal and Creative Journey

The creative and personal journey I have taken in making the trailer has ultimately been nothing short of fulfilling. There were many bumps and hurdles along the way however this has strengthened my resolve and has made me more prepared to face potential future challenges head-on.

I teamed up with Irene Natal, as we both had similar interests in climate change and the environment. We knew early on that we hoped to make an interactive, experimental project about this topic, and its implications in London, which involved virtual reality (VR). Our project gradually morphed into a VR walk around London, in which questions are asked to the participant and depending on the answers given, the visual and audial landscape shifts negatively or positively. The participant would realise what impact the accumulation of individual negative actions can have on the environment, and would be encouraged to participate in our online campaign “Save London”, either by donating, campaigning, or joining in our events such as tree-planting. We took inspiration from the idea of “transmedia” (telling a story across multiple media platforms) for the latter part of the project, as linking the project across media landscapes anchors it in reality (Laurichesse, 2017).

With regards to pitching the project, we decided to make a mini-trailer as we thought the feedback we would get from this could be invaluable when we came to make the full-length trailer. We hoped to demonstrate atmosphere we would aim to achieve and see how this came across to others. Much of the feedback was incredibly insightful, for example someone pointed out that having science-fiction elements such as aliens in the trailer didn’t work as it detracted from reality. We did not have the correct vibe, imagery or music to create a successful science-fiction experimental trailer, such as that done by Sabrina Pena Young (2016). Therefore we removed this aspect from the final trailer.

For the final trailer, we hoped to shoot a 360-degree walk through a London park using GoPros. Unfortunately we weren’t able to acquire GoPros and instead were given Canon XF100s. The situation was worsened as we were unable to use Unity to replicate the VR experience, and could not film on certain locations we had hoped to due to closures. We had to find a new way and method in which to get our message and the game dynamics across – so we took inspiration from “Virtual Hike” videos on YouTube such as the one done by Tall Sky (2016). We replicated, to an extent, the sound of nature and shallow breathing while on the walk. However we included the sound of heartbeats to emphasize the fact the game focused on the individual and their actions, and what they alone could do to improve the environment.

We also took inspiration from Ørsted (2016), a global green energy company that also made an interactive film about climate change. The film demonstrates how terrifying nature can be when juxtaposed with the comfort of “home” and as such elicits an emotional response from the viewer. This further encouraged us to emphasize the fact the film takes place in London, which is home for many.

All these factors provide the participant with a way to view how their individual choices affect the world’s ecosystem. We acknowledged that saving our planet takes individual actions, which speaks to the idea of agency (the ability for one to act and “see the results of their decisions and choices” (Murray, 1997)). Exploring agency is highly suited to interactive pieces, and as such complimented a lot of what we hoped to achieve. As such, the nature of the film (interactive) and the message itself compliment each other well – this was highly satisfying to produce.

Disaster struck when it came to editing the piece, and I unfortunately had a bit of a creative crisis. A lot of the hurdles I thought I had overcome only seemed to multiply and get worse with each new problem, and I became upset with the way the original project was morphing into something completely different than I’d envisaged. However with the help of my teammate, I managed to succeed in the end.

This project has been quite the process, and I have developed both personal and creative experiences. Thanks to the project, I have stopped buying shampoo and soaps in bottles and instead get everything in solid form. Creatively, I have had experience in Adobe Suite and with cameras, as well as invaluable experience working in a creative team.

Bibliography

Laurichesse, H.  2017. ‘Anne Besson, Nathalie Prince, Laurent Bazin, dirs, Mondes fictionnels, mondes numériques, mondes possibles. Adolescence et culture médiatique.’ Questions de communication, 31(484-486).

Murray, J. 1997. ‘Hamlet on the Holodeck’. p. 126. The Free Press.

Filmography

Ørsted 2017. Love your home [Video File], retrieved from http://loveyourhome.orsted.com/#en

Pena Young, S. 2016. MNEO Experimental Sci-Fi Film [Video File], retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3uLhDZCEqU

Tall Sky. 2016. Virtual Hike: 2+ Hrs Around a Mountain Lake, Forest, Lava Beds [Video File], retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhQzl6L78qg