JustJerms

Here’s Pacific University’s Media Arts Club’s “Exquisite Corpse” project from last semester. The overall film consists of seven short minute-and-a-half pieces by seven groups (mine included ;P…. can you guess which is ours?). Each group has only seen the last 5 seconds of the group ahead of them. 

The concept of “exquisite corpse” originated from a Surrealist game in which one would take a drawing or word and continue to create a piece of art or story from that. 

This was a very personal project of mine. During the time I was making this, I was in a very low point. I felt that I was being overlooked and looked down upon as a person with not much importance. As weeks went by in the editing lab, I had no idea where else to go with this project. I realized that other people, somewhere, are probably going through the same struggles as I am, if not worse. So I wanted to make this for those who felt as if they were unimportant or insignificant. The struggles and trials we go through on a daily basis are meant to test us… to make us stronger. God always has a plan. For me, this trial was His way of telling me that I am important because I am His child… and so are you! 

My original concept for this project was to explore different formats and the effect each of them had upon the viewer. The concept was still intact, but the overall product became more than that. Each of the visual aspects to this piece are all meant to embody the overall theme of being looked down upon in society. Without the theme, this piece would just be a technical experiment, but it was a blessing to have something to say.

For this project, we were assigned to take a camera and film twice a day for a week. 

I love text, so I tried to incorporate that into this piece when I could.

This film was an assignment for our experimental class in which we were assigned to groups of two or three and we each had to share a dream we had. We then had to make a film about our dream and incorporate something from our partners’ dreams as well. 

My idea for this experimental piece was to purposefully limit my options on equipment, thus leading me to use what I had available… which in this case was my cell phone camera. I wanted to let myself loose with this project and see what would come out of it. The low resolution/ highly pixelated image produced by the Motorola Cliq really created an interesting feel to the film. Dreams feel real when we’re in them (just like Inception), but once we wake up, we only remember bits and pieces from them, or don’t remember at all. What we do remember is very blurred and distorted, and I felt that the pixelation in this film really helped show that.

DO DA DANSING!! =DD

My bro and I filmed this dance rehearsal to test out some of our equipment, and this is the final product. To be honest, this video would not have happened if my brother didn’t motivate me to come out and film, so credit goes to my brother! =]