The editing process was broken up into two parts for me, initially I started collecting footage off of Vimeo. Where I did my foundation degree we did a re-mediation project where we took existing footage and used it to create other meaning, I used the chrome add on Vimeo Video Downloader to download video from vimeo. In our development meetings with Mik and Liam, we discussed re-appropriating video footage and agreed that it was the best use of our time on the project, given the scale of what we wanted to achieve
Using my research I looked for videos with similar themes, I also looked within my personal experience to find footage I thought suited the project.
As someone who experiences depression and anxiety, I was aware of the difficulties in representing depression in video format, so I went very literal with my video choices. I think that to avoid confusing the issue it is important to be transparent in the representation of depression.
I use Final Cut Pro for my editing, so I imported all of my footage into my project. This screen shot shows my project folder with all of the files I used. I didn't rename them so I could see what footage had been useful to me, and what I hadn't used. A difficult part of the project was the render time, because all of the clips were different levels of quality some clips took seconds to render and some clips took hours, it was a long and arduous process where I had to be working for long periods of time, because lots of the time was waiting for renders.
I wanted to have a visual representation of the audio, because for me, some people are visual and some people are audible thinkers, it is important for me that both groups of people are able to connect with the project.
This is my time line for my project in final cut pro, you can see the markers where I've marked changes in the audio sounds, in order to be able to edit to them, I didn't want the video to be too sharp because it went with my theme, so I've been very open with my markers and just used them as approximations. I created initially three different videos, and in the end we didn't use one of them because the insects whilst common motifs in mental health delusions were not appropriate to the project. I created three minutes of common prison footage which was used in the piece with the minute of footage Jamie had, and we put this on a two minute loop, which went on throughout the eight minutes of audio. I also created four and a half minutes of video that directly went with the audio.
Within this I took all of the colour out of the clips, and used filters to create warped imagery of the videos which in the end had a nice effect for me. It was reflective of my own experience of mental health sometimes making life feel like a television show you are watching but are not really part of, and that separation but also immersion in it. The idea that you can be making important decisions and put in difficult scenarios such as being in prison, when you are mentally ill is a very harrowing thought to me.
