It's Hard to Explain - Evaluation

It was a lot of work towards the end, but my 3 Minute Wonder - 'It's Hard to Explain' is done!



I'd say it falls into the category of 'reflexive' documentary - Sure, it seems like a regular enough talking heads documentary, but I'd say the use of motion graphics to represent the different forms of synesthesia earns it its 'reflexive' status. Other than that, there's no questions from the interviewer or text (except for titles, credits and illustrative motion graphics). I like it being a reflexive documentary; smaller productions have to rely on experimentation and new ideas to stand out and I tried to achieve that as best I can.

I chose the topic of synesthesia, a sort-of rare condition involving someone's senses cross-communicating with one another because I feel as though synesthesia is not as well-known as it should be, and any small attempt to make it more widely recognised is a good thing in my opinion. More specifically I chose it because it's rather personal to me because I have synesthesia, and that probably provides a unique outlook on the condition.

Camera-work wise, I wanted it to appear as a by-the-numbers talking heads documentary, so I sat just to the side of the camera and had people talk to me directly to achieve the interview effect I wanted. I wanted any and all cutaways to be at the same time as the interview to keep it as contained and integrated as possible, this is the same reason why I used the motion graphics overlayed on camera footage. If I were to do another, similar documentary I'd use more cutaways - some wide shots, some more close ups, just to help disguise those jump cuts a little more.

Sound is undeniably the weakest part of my documentary, which is a real shame because I believe it's just as important as the visuals, and given more time and resources I would put a lot of effort into assuring everything is audible when it needs to be. That being said, I don't think Rose's interview could be improved at all, she sounds the clearest out of the three of us, with me being a close second (I think there was just a little too much wind with my interview). However, the conditions for Liz's interview were not ideal, it was raining and windy and the acoustics in the bandstand weren't great, so the audio quality for the interview was not good, despite my best efforts trying to doctor it in Audition. I think that was the main reason that the audio was No. 1 on the list of complaints about the documentary, along with the music getting louder towards the end and drowning out some of the interviews. I used one or two L cuts, in transition between two interviews as opposed to within one interview, and they didn't detract from anything too much.

Speaking of which, I'm really happy with the music. It was one of the first things to be decided, after I heard it on Soundcloud and emailed the artist for permission. Music is one of the more important things to me in a production like this, and I'm glad I got a song I'm genuinely happy with.

The editing is the crutch upon which my documentary leans upon, in my opinion. Without the flashy After Effects motion graphics, it wouldn't stand out nearly as much as it does. That being said, I'm glad I spent as much time as I did on them. Aside from that, I spent a lot of time organising clips so that they would be in time with the music - specifically, I knew I wanted the music to really pick up during that shot where the visualisation of the week comes out from the back of my head.

When I had the idea for that shot, it was my documentary's stereotypical 'money shot', the one moment where people would be a little surprised or 'wow'ed, and the music picking up at just that moment really adds to that effect. However, I do think I rather threw myself in the deep end as far as the After Effects is concerned with this shot. It just looks slightly tacky in motion and is my least favourite effects shot out of the lot that I did.

Leading on from which, my favourite effects shot would be the one just after, where the week is a ring around my head.

I'm really proud with how this one turned out, and would change very little about it if I had more time to do it. My only dig with it (and I really would be nitpicking) is I would have preferred that the rings cast a shadow onto me, but given my level of experience with the software and time constraints that just wasn't possible. But I'm not too concerned with that, because I still think this shot came out really well.

I was really focused on making sure that the graphics were integrated within the scene in all shots that featured them. This lead to certain little details that I'm unsure whether anyone noticed during watching them, the culmination of which was probably the bit in Liz's interview where you can see the blue '5' whizz past behind her, in continuity with the previous shot.

Aside from the motion graphics, I think I did well in structuring the documentary - it flows well and is clear who's answering what question and when without the need for titles. If I had more time I would probably add more small, candid shots in to just patch up the jump cuts, although as it is they aren't too jarring.

I didn't really include anything too specific with the mise-en-scene. I knew from the get-go that I wanted the whole thing to be vibrant and colourful like many descriptions of synesthesia, yet I'm pretty sure I dropped the ball on that one due to time constraints. Ideally, I would have had at least someone do an interview in a concrete environment with graffiti etc, as that's a perfect contrast to the fields of green that made it in, but logistically getting people out to such a location to film for 20 minutes tops would have been tricky at best.

Overall, I'm rather proud of this video. From the start of the project I was excited to do a video alone because then it would be something that was truly my own, but at the same time I was worried I'd fall behind without the motivation that one gets from having collaborative partners. If I were ever to do it again I'd want to get better-looking motion graphics, but everything else I am happy with.