So I showed the video to my parents tonight. They responded kind of how
I expected. My mom said she liked it, but didn’t really react much to
it, My dad was critical of it in the sort of arbitrary,
non-constructive way that tim can sometimes be. Underneath all his hot
air, however, he did touch on some ideas that I want to think about
more.
He didn’t like the quotation at the beginning of the film, because he
said he didn’t feel compelled to think about it again by what happens
during the film.
He suggested that I use some quote from Christopher Columbus’ journal.
I think that this is a bad idea for a number of reasons, but I think his
initial criticism is valid. People get the allusions to Christopher
Columbus, but they don’t always get the quotation or how that, as it
relates to the Christopher character is the main theme in the movie. I
really like the quote, and I think it suggests what I want the project
to mean, but I could see how the rest of the video doesn’t build upon
that theme clearly enough.
I think pretty much the only way (and given our conversations from as
early as the providence trip, the right way) to address this is through
added narration both at the beginning of the film, and maybe throughout
the film. To me, this should be the main priority for when you get
back. We should just sit down together over some coffee and decide what
we want to do.
Talking with my dad also brought up an interesting question. Who are we
making this film for. I mean, some of the themes are a direct extension
of my experience as a youth and my time spent in columbus, but I guess
I’d like the film to make sense to other people, or rather be meaningful
to other people. I’d even like it to be meaningful to people who aren’t
punk kids, or aren’t kids, or don’t live in Columbus. If it fails at
“reaching” any of these groups, I’m not terribly upset, but it would be
nice if we could get our ideas across to as many people as possible.
So, my question to you is:
Do you think our video is thematically accessible to a wide range of
viewers?
If not
Do you think that matters?
or
How can we clarify our intent in order to improve the accessibility of
the “message” of the project without being ham-fisted?
Maybe I’m taking things too seriously, because lord knows, my dad can be
an idiot. But I guess I just feel that if we can make people like my
dad (in my mind, the worst-case scenario viewer) at least clearly
understand our intent (though not neccessarily agree with it or identify
with it), the video will be better for it.