- Maker: Bilal Amodu
- Genre: Video Presentation
- Level: Graduate
- Program: Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media
- Course: WRIT 5340: Multimodality & Digital Media
- Instructor: Dr. Eric Mason
- Semester Created: Winter 2021
Description:
This video is a manifesto about the nature of transition and change, and was assembled through Microsoft Power Point, a presentation software Audacity, an audio editing software and Shotcut, a video editing software. As the multiple platforms imply, the production of this project involves curating and formatting audio, video and images to create a unified multimodal message. The message’s primary audience are readers and viewers anxious about their lives in a post-pandemic world.
Reflection:
This project began not as much as a manifesto as the writer’s attempts to seek a reassuring message during a time of national and personal change. The project originally was intended to function as a compilation of advice assembled from various commencement addresses, yet this premise was abandoned when I realized that I did not possess the knowledge or skillset to capture and edit clips from videos on YouTube (at least not yet).
With some guidance from Dr. Mason, I then decided to focus on what commencement addresses symbolized, and one theme that continuously emerged what that of transition, of departing from one stage of life and entering another. I have always had a personal obsession with transition and change, and the past year has presented many opportunities to satiate this expression. During the past year I witnessed significant changes both a global scale and a personal one, which lead me to recognize the complicated relationship between past, present and future, and explore popular culture and public figures for any insight about where I could go next. This had allowed me to collect a small trove of transition related quotes from a variety of figures and sources. During the drafting stage of the project, I listed all of the quotes I could recall with the hope that I could somehow represent them visually.
I originally envisioned this project as featuring a collection of memes , though I did not know of an appropriate receptacle in which to store them. When approached Dr. Mason for insight, he recommended that I use Microsoft PowerPoint to create the images, which I could then use to produce a video. Given that PowerPoint was a platform with which I was highly familiar, I seized the opportunity.
The manifesto is divided into three sections, Past, Present and Future, to convey the multiple time periods one inhabits when in transition. I sought to represent the concepts of time visually in each section. The past section features the quotes individuals positioned towards the left, the part of the page or screen that is often read first in Western print tradition. I also used black and white photographs and grayscale to represent the past as a memory, though my decision to restrict the color grey to the past did pose design issues in formatting the color and background of the other slides. The slides in the present section are formatted with a solid blue background with the figures positioned near the center, while the slides in the future section are formatting with a background image relating to the quote, to convey the future as something to envision.
In addition to the three time periods, I also sought to present a contrast between light and dark imagery, which I represented through my choice of image juxtaposition. The title slide for example contains a lit bud juxtaposed with a darkened fall branch. The juxtaposition also catches the yellow leaf before it falls, and the green bud before it blooms, to convey a liminal state that exists between two stages.
Once I completed the slideshow, I proceeded to format a video. I originally considered exporting the PowerPoint as a video and presenting it as a final product, yet ultimately felt that the images needed narration, and decided to edit the video myself. I had never edited a video before, and this initial experience was both dauting and informative. I learned how to manage content across multiple tracks, adjust the length of a frame and how to transfer a PowerPoint slide into an image, which I had done often to cope with errors I made when designing the presentation.
One of my primary concerns is the length of each frame. I am concerned about how long each frame should have been, considering that nearly all of my slides feature test. After a Google search, I followed the advice of someone on an online public forum who recommended timing myself reading the text on each frame and adding three seconds as a margin of error. However, I am still concerned that the length of each frame may be too long. I also am concerned with how I balanced the influence of my voice in relation to those whom I quote. Although the project is significantly comprised of others’ quotes, my own understanding of them is articulated in the voice-overs that play during the composer’s note and the title slide of each subsection, perhaps my attempt to insert authorial voice into a project where it would otherwise be absent.
Given that this project was my initial attempt at producing a video, it is far from perfect, and could be improved by a greater awareness of visual transitions and effects. I could also explore my use of circular shapes in each frame to represent the quotes individuals and the concepts they address, and consider how lighting and brightness affect how well a text appears on a background.
As mentioned earlier, this project was my attempt to confront the changes I observe around me. During the process of assembling this project I learned new skills, used new techniques, and became more aware of a technology as a medium of communication. This project helped me to embrace my obsession with change and use it to expand my skillset. During the course of this project I realized that I want to edit more videos, and spend more time learning about the digital platforms available to me. The production process has helped me envision and consider new possibilities for my future, and I can only hope the project itself can inspire its readers.
