"FOR THIS FILM ESSAY, I CHOSE TO EXPLORE THE THEME OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM USING CLIPS OF MY OWN SHOT ON A DIGITAL CAMERA (INSPIRED BY BERKLEY, 2014) AND SECONDARY SOURCED CLIPS. AS THE VIDEO PROGRESSES FROM THE ‘HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE’, TO ‘GRASSROOT MOVEMENTS’ AND THE ‘DIGITAL AGE’, THE BACKGROUND MUSIC BECOMES MUCH MORE UPLIFTING. I CHOSE THE SONG “EARTH” BY RAPPER LIL DICKY DUE TO ITS THEMATIC RELEVANCE TO THE CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM. WHILST BEING HUMOROUS, IT IS ALSO POIGNANT AS IT CALLS TO ACTION FOR CLIMATE ACTIVISM, MAKING IT AN APT CHOICE FOR THE SUBJECT OF MY ESSAY- THE MUSIC BECOMING MORE UPLIFTING SIGNIFIES A SENSE OF OPTIMISM FOR THE FUTURE. LINKING BACK TO BARTES (P.155-164), WHO DISCUSSES THE CONCEPT OF THE "TEXT" AS OPPOSED TO THE TRADITIONAL NOTION OF THE "WORK". THE "TEXT" IN LITERARY IS AN OPEN, PERFORMATIVE FIELD OF MEANINGS AND SIGNIFIERS, REJECTING THE IDEA OF THE AUTHOR AS THE SOLE ORIGIN OF MEANING: PLURAL, INTERTEXTUAL, AND SUBVERSIVE OF FIXED CLASSIFICATIONS. READING A "TEXT" IS AN ACTIVE PROCESS OF PRODUCTION WHICH RESISTS BEING CONSTRAINED BY AUTHORITIES, THEORIES, OR METALANGUAGE. THIS THEORY CAN BE APPLIED TO FILM (ESSAYS) AS THE "TEXT" IS SEEN AS AN OPEN, PERFORMATIVE FIELD OF MEANINGS WHERE THE VIEWER, LIKE THE READER, ENGAGES WITH THE FILM TO INTERPRET AND DERIVE MEANINGS. WHILST THE FREE PLAY OF LANGUAGE COULD BE PARALLELED IN THE VISUAL LANGUAGE OF FILM, RESISTING CONSTRAINTS OF TRADITIONAL FILM THEORY AND EMBRACING THE POTENTIAL FOR INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY."

[EXTRACT FROM MY SELF-REFLEXIVE COMMENTARY]​

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SOURCES:

Berkeley, L (2014) ‘Tram Travels: Smartphone Video Production and the Essay Film’, in M. Berry & M. Schleser (eds.), Mobile Media Making in an Age of Smartphones. New York: Palgrave Pivot.

 

Barthes, R. (1977). Image, Music, Text. Translated by S. Heath. London: Fontana Press.