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Woman with Computer

Editting

To edit I used the Adobe Premiere Pro application. As mentioned in the ‘planning’ section, I wanted the interview footage to be the main focus of the video. However, when it came to post-production and reviewing all my clips, I realised that the plain white background and little change to background did not make for a very entertaining video despite the interest and importance of the audio. I knew I wanted India’s song ‘Lost at Sea’ to be a recurring feature within the video, I did not use the song to structure my edit but I made the effort to increase the volume at certain points to highlight certain parts of the lyrics which related to parts of the interview. I know the use of music in anthropological content can be a little controversial, which some critics arguing that it makes videos seem more ‘cinematic’, more align with Hollywood productions than independent, anthropological film. However, I do not regret including the song into my video as I feel it only supported what was being said in the video. The song (written and performed by India) exhibits symptoms of India’s anxiety and panic attacks through a different medium that complimented the video.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and strict restrictions on movement, I had to rely fairly heavily on third-party content to break up the footage I had shot. In some cases this really benefitted my video as I was able to find footage that I would not have been able to film myself and I was able to edit it into the narrative well. In other cases I found it very restrictive as I had little control over what I could find, I struggled finding clips with actors that resembled India in anyway. Although this may not be a overt issue, but for me it removed a layer of authenticity from the video and removed the personal style of the way I was presenting India’s story. Because of this, I used a lot of cross-fade edits in the video, to disguise sections of the third-party clips so it did not seem completely out of place for the video.
At the 5.00 minute-mark in the video I attempted to include a ‘pulsing’ edit to mimic a heartbeat. I wanted to make the video feel a little bit more immersive and resemble the memory India is re-telling. The style of my edit I kept in mind throughout the editing process was to make it appear like a memory. The cross-fades, the cut edits, the differing levels of opacity in the visuals: I wanted it to appear dream-like, as if portraying India’s mind while she retells her experiences.

Editting: Intro
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