Evidence of Contextual Research
Every aspect of my initial idea for this project is interchangeable and the options available are almost limitless, so here, I intend to take a look at using different options to see how it affects the message and meaning of my final piece.
Subjects: representations of life- The sole purpose of the objects in the tank is to represent life and nature in this world, which is why my initial thought was to use animals, plants, fruit, vegetables, etc.
Fish: http://theeverydayanimal.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/the-goldfish-dynasty.html
A fish was my original choice, as a fish in a fish tank seems natural and fitting which caters to the idea of nature being polluted and industrialized, however issues getting a fish and also permission to have fish on university campus made this option impossible, also, dropping ink into a fish tank with fish can be harmful to the fish, and working around this issue would've either cost a lot of money or required video editing to a degree I am incapable of at this time, which lead me to finding ideas to represent life in a less literal and more figurative, metaphorical sense.
My next thought was to use fruit and vegetables, as this will be easily accessible and will be allowed on university campus. However I needed to choose fruit that is interesting aesthetically, fits into the fish tank and will be seen as a representation of life. As pineapples have been brought into the social media spotlight for respective cultures thanks to the band Glass Animals and their song Pork Soda: https://youtu.be/8RkJhJcfOnc, this was one of the first ideas I thought of. While pineapples are no doubt, a very aesthetically interesting fruit, its difficult to say whether viewers would understand the meaning of the piece if the pineapple is being used as a representation of life.
I attempted to maintain a similar sort of size as a pineapple for following ideas, which lead me to the thought of a watermelon, and while this also is a somewhat interesting fruit aesthetically, and would also fit with the size of a pineapple, it has the same cons as the pineapple, in that, whether it portrays the idea of life to the viewer is difficult to determine.
This idea stemmed from the thought that the objects need to represent life in a more obvious, literal sense. Using a potted plant would allow for a variety of options, in terms of actual plant, size, pot, etc. However, unless I used a fake plant with the insides of the pot all being stuck inside, the contents of the pot would most likely float out and mess up the pure, clean, aesthetic environment, and while this problem has a solution, it may be difficult to find the right product I need.
This being the most outlandish of my ideas so far, I feel this is an interesting way to represent the animal kingdom and its place in nature and the artificial treatments of it, also it can fit with the pattern in size, however I feel as though this is the least obvious portrayer of the message and is most likely to confuse the viewer.
This is definitely the most obvious representation of life and nature, however if I used this along with any of the other ideas such as the pineapple, it wouldn't make sense and look like I'm trying to recreate Spongebob's neighborhood. If I was to use this idea, I think I would have to change the lighting and environment to a blue, oceanic sort of feel so that it could specifically represent the pollution of the the sea, which could be followed by a sequence of pieces shots representing the treatments of other aspects of nature.
Subjects: representations of life- The sole purpose of the objects in the tank is to represent life and nature in this world, which is why my initial thought was to use animals, plants, fruit, vegetables, etc.
Fish: http://theeverydayanimal.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/the-goldfish-dynasty.html
A fish was my original choice, as a fish in a fish tank seems natural and fitting which caters to the idea of nature being polluted and industrialized, however issues getting a fish and also permission to have fish on university campus made this option impossible, also, dropping ink into a fish tank with fish can be harmful to the fish, and working around this issue would've either cost a lot of money or required video editing to a degree I am incapable of at this time, which lead me to finding ideas to represent life in a less literal and more figurative, metaphorical sense.My next thought was to use fruit and vegetables, as this will be easily accessible and will be allowed on university campus. However I needed to choose fruit that is interesting aesthetically, fits into the fish tank and will be seen as a representation of life. As pineapples have been brought into the social media spotlight for respective cultures thanks to the band Glass Animals and their song Pork Soda: https://youtu.be/8RkJhJcfOnc, this was one of the first ideas I thought of. While pineapples are no doubt, a very aesthetically interesting fruit, its difficult to say whether viewers would understand the meaning of the piece if the pineapple is being used as a representation of life. I attempted to maintain a similar sort of size as a pineapple for following ideas, which lead me to the thought of a watermelon, and while this also is a somewhat interesting fruit aesthetically, and would also fit with the size of a pineapple, it has the same cons as the pineapple, in that, whether it portrays the idea of life to the viewer is difficult to determine. This idea stemmed from the thought that the objects need to represent life in a more obvious, literal sense. Using a potted plant would allow for a variety of options, in terms of actual plant, size, pot, etc. However, unless I used a fake plant with the insides of the pot all being stuck inside, the contents of the pot would most likely float out and mess up the pure, clean, aesthetic environment, and while this problem has a solution, it may be difficult to find the right product I need. This being the most outlandish of my ideas so far, I feel this is an interesting way to represent the animal kingdom and its place in nature and the artificial treatments of it, also it can fit with the pattern in size, however I feel as though this is the least obvious portrayer of the message and is most likely to confuse the viewer.
Sealife Toys: https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Ocean-World-Sealife-Plastic-Toys-Set-8-Toy-Animals/1124190099?iid=151230232211
This is definitely the most obvious representation of life and nature, however if I used this along with any of the other ideas such as the pineapple, it wouldn't make sense and look like I'm trying to recreate Spongebob's neighborhood. If I was to use this idea, I think I would have to change the lighting and environment to a blue, oceanic sort of feel so that it could specifically represent the pollution of the the sea, which could be followed by a sequence of pieces shots representing the treatments of other aspects of nature.
The next component to choose is the substance being dropped into the water, the 2 main functions of this part are to be aesthetically interesting and to represent death, decay, pollution and artificial treatments of nature.
Ink is my first and favourite choice because, the use of black ink, compared to the colours of the subjects in the tank will provide a very contrasting aesthetic and will definitely do well in representing the pollution, decay and death of nature. The ink also has a very slow, cool interaction/movement when it's in the water.
Food colouring: https://youtu.be/Bz02z4GSS0k
Food colouring is another interesting choice, it has the same sort of consistency as the ink, however I feel like depending on the colours I used, it might not do as well in representing death and decay and pollution. Although, an interesting characteristic of food colouring is it is a bit thinner than ink meaning, in the water it spreads more and is less opaque.
While this is definitely an interesting concept aesthetically, oil doesn't exactly give off the impression of pollution and decay in the way I want it to be represented. The sort of golden colour of the oil and the way it bubbles and rises doesn't properly encapsulate how bad and dangerous and damaging the pollution of nature is.
This is another unique and interesting option. If I was to instead use a darker set and use milk as the substance then the colours would be inversed and this would definitely provide a cool aesthetic for my video, however, I feel as though milk, being white, gives more of a pure, clean symbolic image, so this might not be the right choice.
Tonic Water w/UV: https://youtu.be/UqEn1dNUsvc
The use of tonic water and blacklight will no doubt create an extremely different and intriguing experience, the fluorescence of tonic water would give a more nuclear aspect to the message of pollution, which in itself is an interesting, and possible route to take, however this would demand finding an ultraviolet light which, if the university does not already have, would require more time, money and effort than I have been afforded for this project, also the effects of mixing water and tonic water are unknown to me and I don't have the materials to experiment myself and there are no videos documenting such online. Also, the brightness of the tonic focus will leave the subjects out of focus in the background, which may take away from the message.
Another piece of this film to consider is the audio. There is no set purpose for the audio to serve in the video other than to enjoy listening to while watching this video, this means that there are a lot of options to what I can choose and what it will provide for the viewing experience.
Erhu is an ancient chinese instrument that creates a very nice, flowing sort of sound which I felt lent itself to the flow of the substance in the water, also the emotional, sad sort of mood of the music fits with the whole message of the decay of nature, another thing is that I feel the natural sort of sound and mood it generates acts as an interesting juxtaposition to the message how nature is slowly dying.
Another thought on this was to have this music but reversed: https://youtu.be/dVghKkDYUK8
This creates a very interesting and different tone to having the regular music, which I feel might lend itself to the point of artificial treatments of nature and industrialization.
Unknown Song: https://youtu.be/D6aoJNqt1MQ
My next choice was a song I found while researching different substances I could use for this project, the song is part of a royalty free video of oil being poured into water in slow motion. I liked the song a lot, and even though I could not find the song itself, if I was to use it I would have to use the audio from the video itself, which may cause problems depending on the length of my video unless I cut and loop the song to fit the video. I feel as though the song has a very electronic, artificial sound which definitely lends itself to the whole artificial treatments of nature theme.
Swoon - Chemical Brothers: https://youtu.be/REOd_hgjhic
This idea came from listening to the previous choice and it led me to thinking of other alternative electro sort of songs. This is a song I've known about for a long time and I felt that, in the same way as the previous song, it lends itself to the theme of artificial treatments of nature.
Soulwax - Krack: https://youtu.be/WfufrJcLwWs
This is yet another song choice stemming from the same train of thought as the previous 2 songs. A very unique, alternative, electro wave sort of genre that compliments the message of the piece.
Bassment Jaxx - Raindrops (Doorly Remix): https://youtu.be/4Dz6m6zvPXw
Another product of the same thought as the previous 3, this is another electro, dubstep, sort of song. However this choice, I feel, has more emotion in the beginning of the song and in the lyrics throughout which lends itself to the sad message of the video. Also, in particular, the lyric 'Raindrops' fits with the drops of ink.
Dialogue about the environment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cc8E3BWOqA
The idea of using various dialogue of people talking about pollution, climate change, global warming, industrialization, etc. obviously completely reduces the problem of not getting the message across and it also changes the dynamic of the video itself in comparison to the use of music. I could either find and use one whole speech on the topic such as Leo DiCaprio's speech for example, or I could have a sequence of brief reports and opinions on the matter like the first half of the linked video, before the speech.
Ever is over all - Pipilotti Rist: https://youtu.be/-gd06ukX-rU
Another song, however this one, I feel is a very alternative, sort of genre-less song. It has a very dark, ominous sort of mood which I feel adds to the effect of the video, however, some of the sounds of smashing and stuff throughout sort of don't fit with the video and will definitely break the immersion.
Sun Araw - Deep Cover: https://youtu.be/A-s9LdQPXF4
Again, similar affect to the one above, alternative, powerful bass, wavey sort of feel that caters to the motion of the ink.
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