Program Used: Adobe Flash CS3, Adobe Photoshop CS3, Audacity
Class: Media Studio: Imaging (Fall 2008)
Objective: The final project is a purposeful work which resonates a particular issue or idea you have a strong desire to create. It is a high quality project that will be the highlight for your portfolio website.
Artist statement: The song "We Are Winning" by Flobots asks listeners to open their mind to new ideas and chance while touching upon topics of politics and revolution. The Flobots relate the constantly changing world to a revolution and say, "if you are thinking, you are winning," which tells listeners that they are part of the revolution and that if they begin to welcome new views, learn from others, and think for themselves, they can make a difference.
In the music video that I created in Adobe Flash CS3, the spoken word segments (first and third verse) are filled with video clips of students and spontaneous events in their daily life. They are unaware of the revolution of change that is happening around them, and they continue to enjoy their lives unaware of the surrounding change. However, right at the end of the third verse, the last video clip portrays four students who have begun to open their minds ("once-occupied minds are activating/people are waking up/the insurgency is alive and well") and have decided to spread the message. They are shown holding signs, which come into effect later in the video.
The second and fourth verse show two groups, the robots and the humans, who learn to put aside their differences and share ideas. The short animation in the second verse portrays the two factions meeting at the middle of the battlefield. The humans put up a while flag to symbolize surrender, and the robots send in a plane that drops idea "bombs." These idea "bombs" are accepted by the soldiers and the two factions learn to communicate with each other, which symbolizes the sharing of ideas. “Alert the masses” is spelled out across the bottom, telling the audience that the humans and robots understand the importance of the sharing of ideas and that they have decided to spread the word. This is seen in the fourth verse, as two large groups of robots and humans meet at another battlefield to exchange ideas. The reaper overlooks the battlefield to symbolize the destruction that will occur if the ideas are not shared. "If you are thinking you are winning" drops out of the sky to reinforce the message.
The last part of the video shows a series of students holding up signs with messages, which had been foreshadowed by the students making signs at the end of the third verse. They represent those who have begun to share ideas and understand what is going on around them. For these images, I asked each individual to write their own sign, decorate it, and pose in whatever way they see fit to represent individualism and the broadening of their intellectual thoughts and ideas.
