- Maker: Athena Edwards
- Genre: Video Manifesto
- Level: Graduate
- Program: Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media
- Course: WRIT 5340: Multimodality & Digital Media
- Instructor: Dr. Eric Mason
- Semester Created: Winter 2021
Description:
When tasked to make a manifesto, a lot of subjects came to mind. However, one that is rarely discussed is how pagan and neopagan literature is rarely labeled as religious texts by bookstores. In fact, they are usually stored as far away from the Religion section as the store allows. These actions, which are most likely done to avoid outcry and avoid distinguishing between serious and superficial works, have been subject to discontent amongst the pagan community. These actions seem to suggest belief systems under the pagan and neopagan umbrellas are illegitimate religions, despite a long and painful history that saw the rise of majority religions that can span rows within the Religion section.
Reflection:
The extent of my knowledge in moviemaking has been Windows Movie Maker. And while I enjoyed this, making little home movies to commemorate major shifts in my life – it doesn’t have nearly the same capabilities as Adobe Premiere, the program used to make this complex and multi-layered film. Opening it up, I was a bit intimidated by all of the options available and how to make them function (snipping audios and clips were particularly painful at the beginning). I had to consider where best to place voice-overs and clips against the song to have the most impact. I even had to strategically cut out a middle section of the song in order to come to a timely conclusion (unfortunately, you can still kind of tell where this was done). I had to decide if transition effects between clips would add seamlessness or detract urgency. There were a lot of hours staring at the computer screen in order to get the details as aligned to my vision as possible. While this had to be adjusted in accordance to the footage available to me and my own camera skills, by using audio and clips available under creative commons licenses, as well as those of my own making, I hope that the simplicity, symbolism, and message resonates with audiences and inspires critical thinking about how everyday practices can impact marginalized groups.
