Over the course of my time in Digital Portfolio 1, I was given the opportunity to explore some of the themes we had discussed at the beginning of the year. Despite the year being cut short and with me only being able to work on two different projects, I gained a solid grasp on what themes I tend to enjoy within my work. Now that I have moved on to Digital Portfolio 2, I intend on centering in my focus on one specific theme to explore throughout the year. The theme I have chosen for this year in Digital Portfolio 2 is the theme of "Looking Inward: The Human Experience."
Why Choose This Theme?
While at first "Looking Inward: The Human Experience" might seem outlandish considering the projects that I worked on last year, I feel that the theme of "Looking Inward: The Human Experience" is the next step in the style of film that I want to produce. My first film that I completed last year "The Game VS The World", was a fun experiment in creating something less serious. However, with the film being a comedic mockumentary, it lacked depth in its overall concept. In my opinion, there is a balance of entertaining/comedic elements and deep/creative elements within film, which I hope to find through working this year. While there are definitely exceptions to this balance of elements, the style of work that I am striving for this year mostly does take this balance into account. Creating realistic characters seems to be one of the most difficult things in my eyes. "Looking Inward: The Human Experience" focuses on characters, their struggles, their emotions, their place in the world, et cetera, and by choosing this theme I should hopefully be able to focus more on creating characters that are deep and fit within the scenarios around them.
What Made Me Want To Choose This Theme?
Over the past months, I have been consuming more types of media than I normally used to, and most of these shows and films have left me wanting to create deeper, more human stories. For some context, I'll list off a few examples.
Neon Genesis Evangelion/The End Of Evangelion
Neon Genesis Evangelion and its full feature length conclusion The End Of Evangelion on it's surface seems to be a typical anime story about giant robots fighting each other. This is what I had first thought it was about when I started watching the series, however, as the show goes on it begins to present itself and its characters in a darker and more introspective way. The show's protagonist goes from being a vessel in which the audience can relate to, to a sickening and depressed but complex character that the audience tends to feel ashamed in previously relating to. Seeing this breakdown over the course of the show and it's finale and how it slipped from being a "monster of the week" cartoon show to a heavy example of the human experience made me want to explore the human experience in my own work. (Link To Image)
Bates Motel
Bates Motel is a television adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho which I have previously spoken about in other blog posts. The plot of the story resembles the original film but focuses primarily on the characters and the relationship of Norman and Norma Bates. While the show does showcase some bits of action and gore like the original, the show mainly stands out as a character drama. Seeing the relationship between Norman and Norma, what makes them the people they are, and why Norman inevitably becomes the Psycho we know him as is what made me want to create something that focuses less on comedy or big action and more on the experiences that makes people who they are. (Link To Image)
Mini-THON and The Human Experience
Being this year's Mini-THON Technology chair definitely adds another type of work for me to incorporate this year. While most of the Mini-THON content that I anticipate creating for this year likely won't incorporate directly into my chosen theme, there is one video that I feel (somewhat) will. The Mini-THON documentary that plays on the day of Mini-THON is the largest, most complex piece of content that I anticipate creating and will likely incorporate the human experience. The documentary serves as a way to sum up the events of the months prior to Mini-THON and to hype up those participating in Mini-THON for the event the night of. While I could be entirely wrong, I feel that the final portion of the documentary, which describes the purpose of Mini-THON, can be drawn into my theme. Part of "Looking Inward: The Human Experience" describes why we do what we do as humans, and I feel that the documentary describing why members of Mini-THON do the work they do to help the kids falls under this theme (I could be entirely wrong here and just stretching to see if this can fit my theme, I am just trying to make everything come full circle).
Final Thoughts
Overall, I am excited to explore the theme I have chosen. It is definitely a change of pace from what I have done in the past. However, due to all the external factors from the shows I watch to how I feel in my personal life, I feel that exploring the human experience is something that is calling to me. The first project idea that I have for this theme should be a simple film about two people, their internal thoughts about themselves, and how they feel about each other. Hopefully everything works out for this project and I can creatively explore my theme through it and have a final product that I am proud of.
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