The subject of my Day in the Life video is going to be me. To make this video strange, I am going to reverse all my footage so my day is completely backwards. Think Coldplay’s “The Scientist” video without the brutal car crash. I want to make my day seem as normal as possible, and still show how disorienting it is to see actions being done backwards. I especially want to play with gravity here, by dropping or spilling things. Because of course, in my final video, they will be falling back up into my hand. One concern I have with this video is sound. In my test footage, any spoken word was also played backward. I will either try to film everything with little to no spoken word, or possibly play bits of the sound forward. This, however, is something I plan to tackle in the editing process; depending on what sounds the best.
In order to create my video backwards, I plan to film everything normally and then reverse it in the editing process. I found that my script became very confusing when I tried to explain it backwards, so I am going to describe my video scene by scene, as I’m going to film it. Then, to see what my video will really look like, just reverse my scenes and all the actions I am doing. My storyboard also shows my video in the backwards timeline that it will be shown.
The opening scene is me in bed and my alarm clock goes off. I wake up and get out of bed. Next, I am in the bathroom brushing my teeth. Then I am back in my room, putting on a sweater and jacket. The movie then cuts to my feet, where I am putting on my shoes. Then I am going to pack up backpack, putting my computer and notebooks inside.
Next, I am in my kitchen, making coffee. Then I will film the coffee brewing and when I edit, I will fade from an empty pot to a medium-filled pot to a full pot. This will show the elapse of time without five full minutes of coffee brewing. As my coffee is brewing, I will write a note to my roommates, letting them know I am going to the library and will be home late. When my coffee is finished brewing, I will pour myself a cup. The next scene is right outside my house, where I will drink a bit of my coffee before accidentally spilling it. There will be a quick cut to the close up coffee cup on the ground as the coffee spills out. I think this scene will look very cool when it is played backwards.
Then there will be a fade and I will be walking into the stacks in the library. I will find a table and then unpack my things. Then, similar to the coffee brewing, I will write a paper, but fade from a blank word document to a half filled page and then finally to a full page. I will then pack up my things and leave the library.
Next I will show myself heading back into my house and heading up to my room. I will then hang my backpack up, take off my jacket and get into bed. The final scene will be me turning off the light above my bed.
Of course, when edited, the first scene will be me turning off the light, although it will appear that I am turning it on. The beginning may look like a normal movie but soon viewers will realize that this is not an ordinary day in the life.