Abstracting Place Composition

I knew that I wanted to create a piece from within my house.  I just wasn't sure if I wanted to use my entire house or a singular room.  I searched high and low.  Then, I walked down into my basement and saw where my mom had hung wind chimes on my bicycle that had been stored hanging from the ceiling.  Just like that bike, I was hooked!  I couldn't get the image and sound out of my head.  It was so odd and intriguing.  I began looking around further and found quite a few other odd subjects.  I was also interested in all of the different light sources that were in my basement.  The variety of sounds caught my attention as well.  

As I collected footage, I found myself attracted to existing groups of objects that seemed out of place. For example, the wind chimes on the bicycle, or the fact that a Christmas tree was still up and it is almost March.  I also loved playing with light.  At first, I was just going to use a spotlight that my stepdad uses when working in the garage.  Then, I took notice of the different ceiling lights, light from the television, Christmas tree lights, and candles.  Sounds played a big role as well.  I am usually annoyed by the squeakiness of our ping pong table, but found it perfect for this assignment!  Also, I enjoyed the shrillness of the dart board sounds.  I used my mouth to make sounds in the panning scenes.  My absolute favorite sound, though, came from the woman on the television.  As a viewer, you are in the basement where you are so focused on objects, and then all of a sudden you hear a human's voice.  It definitely gets your attention.  

As far as manipulation goes, I cut up the panning around the room scene and distributed it throughout the composition.  I shortened and abstracted five second clips from various videos in between.  I added echos to sounds, as well as adjusted their volumes.  I created fade in and outs with the pen tool.  I also used the bad film effect on the entire piece to create a creepy vibe.  I also layered videos and adjusted their opacity.

I definitely feel that my piece creates an uneasy, unsettling, and confusing mood.  The clicking sound creates a lapse of time that, personally, makes me feel on edge.  The darkness plays on the fear of the unknown in the dark, and after you see a few of the objects I present, you know why that fear is there. For example, the Dopey figurine that once looked joyful, now has a sinister grin when spotlighted in the dark.  Overall, the piece is filled with anxiety because of the play on darkness, and the odd combinations of objects only add to the confusion.  At some level, I believe we all have a fear of darkness and the unknown.  At the beginning of this project, I had no problem being alone in my basement.  By the end of it though, I began freaking myself out watching the videos in the dark.  Needless to say, I got out of there quick!