The manifestos are basically clips that would be seen online of Ben Wright promoting his cause. The aim was to make Ben seem mysterious and still keep the audience guessing as to if it was him or not and careful lighting would do this. Thinking of a backstory for these they need to feel as though they feature and are written by Ben Wright (in his early 70's) but that due to the funding coming in to the organisation he had a creative young team of technical people working on them to create them.
The web would be an excellent resource for Wright and he is appealing to a wide audience. However the target audience are younger the next generation who will inherit the problem and are likely to be more pro-active about the subject so they will need to appeal to this age group predominantly.
I have selected three in what I imagine were a landslide of Vlogs online as this would be a great platform for Wright to promote his cause. The three manifestos need to build in intensity and ferocity as they evolve and Wright resorts to stronger language and calls to action when he realised that passive action is not working. The first will be a simple introduction to the fact that he is back. The second will outline all of the issues that need to be acted upon and fingers will be pointed. The third will be a frustrated call to arms urging people to rise up and act on the issue. Also it will threaten to expose his incriminating information on the governments and the fossil fuel companies.
They currently fit into the running order of the video installation like this.
1: Local TV news piece. Set up the issue and backstory.
2: Online manifesto 1. Introduction and back.
3: Online manifesto 2: Selling key points as to how the public have been hoodwinked etc.
4: Documentary/Interview. Confrontation interview with Ben wanting to promote his cause whilst his interviewer is really after the dirt and scandal of the story.
5: Online manifesto 3. Call for action.
All three of these manifestos were shot in a similar style two cameras and recorded twice to offer a variety of shots to cut together to play with pace and add interest to them. They were all shot in a black studio and the first two are lit only by a key light and back light to keep Wright looking mysterious and hidden and hopefully keep the question of is it really him still alive. The only difference being the third where he has now come out of hiding and dose not need this tactic. I have outlined the editing styles below.
Online manifesto 1. Introduction and back.
Short at only 45 seconds and a slowish pace but some cuts between different shot sizes. Once I had edited the actual manifesto video I put it within the Blog that wright had been using to promote his cause. I had built this earlier and I simply put the video in a layer over the top. This was to not just show the video but to give the impression it lived online to add to to the authenticity.
MANIFESTO 1 FINAL from Jon Saward on Vimeo.
Online manifesto 2: Selling key points as to how the public have been hoodwinked etc.
Over 2 minutes long and a little more cutty as Ben is more passionate and trying to sell his message. Cuts between cameras more than manifesto 1. I have not included that here for now as I am unconvinced that it is need in the final piece.
Online manifesto 3. Call for action.
1 min 30 secs minutes long and a much more cutty. Ben is angry, forceful and on a roll aggrieved that the movement is still making no traction. many more cuts and harsher cuts to give it edge. Once I had edited the actual manifesto video, as with manifesto 1 I wanted to not just show the video but to give the impression it lived online to add to to the authenticity. In this instance I built a fake youtube page which took a while but the watched count and branding worked well in my opinion to create a real authenticity. To finish I simply put the video in a layer over the top.
MANIFESTO 3 FINAL from Jon Saward on Vimeo.
The finished edited pieces worked quite well but did seem overlong. I think in trying to keep what I took out of the script to make that work I simply decided to add it in here as I liked it and due to the work put into writing it. The real issue seems to be with manifesto 2 which is very long. 1 is much shorter and 3 pacey so it is not so noticeable. 2 may be surplus to requirements.
Shortening and adding GV's.
To try and enliven the manifestos I did try and shorten them. This was tricky for 1 & 3 as they rely on everything that was in them. But I did manage to shorten 2 but I still feel it may not be necessary. I also tried adding in GV's and archive footage. this did make them more interesting but did detract from Wrights please and message and it was hard to find GV's for all areas. I personally prefer him on screen rather than the same old Global warming images we have seen a hundred times.
The Global Warmning logo
I added this to the start of all of the clips. I was considering doing something a bit more clever and animated but that take time to do and more importantly would also extend the length of the manifesto pieces themselves. In order to keep it clean and the length down i went for a very simple logo. I did try it at the beginning and the end but with Wrights last line send off felt that they were not needed at the end and this kept the length down too.
Adding Music
One issue that I feel the whole piece needs (perhaps excluding the TV News piece) is more light and shade. Wright is coming across a little staid and I feel that this could turn the audience off as he bangs on about global warming. I tried experimenting with a music bed under the manifestos but this detracted from what he was saying. Thinking back that the technical team behind the production of these in their fictional universe are young and the target audience are young I thought some fun could be injected through the music.
So I researched lots of songs that had the lyrics hot in them that people may be familiar with. Yes this is a little tacky and not like Wright but I love the irony of using them and it does inject a sense of energy. The music is pop in genre and bouncy so works contrapuntally and in contrast to the video and the message. I feel it does not detract from the seriousness of the message as it highlights the light and shade of the fun music and very serious message.
Another plus of the music will be in the gallery when my work is screened it will inject some energy and hopefully interest in my work and get people interested.
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