For the video story, I’m looking to create a narrative based on rain. More specifically, I’m probably going to convey a shift in a protagonist’s perspective (probably their relationship to nature and/or themselves), through the lens of rain, all the while mirrored by changes in the natural landscape that also result from the rain. The strongest candidate thread I have so far is to make a short story about someone who’s feeling down, goes for a walk, gets caught in the rain, and finds the experience unexpectedly invigorating or eye-opening.
The location I’d probably like to stage this at is UMaine, since I have had many walks here under inclement weather, some of which I found to be a similar emotional experience to the narrative I’m thinking of. In particular, a more austere and water-responsive location like the trails around the DeMerritt Forest and/or leading into Old Town could be a good setting.
The 3-verb outline for the story will be Protagonist’s Outlook Shifts Because of the Rain, with the rain likely being both a literal force in and a metaphor for the dynamic in question.
The two models I’m thinking of right now are the 10 Towns in Japan video and the Mile an Hour video, both from our class viewings (one from an upcoming week). I’m interested in these models for how they treat specific subjects relevant to my concept, namely how they depict passing through different geographic areas and ambiences (and inclement weather) for the former, and recreation on trails/roads (with lots of cinematographic models thereof) for the latter.
The biggest challenge I anticipate with this project is capturing at the right times given that the videography relies on rain for at least a good chunk of its duration. I would only feel remotely comfortable picking this concept during such a rainy time of year as we’re in now, and I part of why I opted to add UMaine (or its outskirts) as a setting was because I wanted somewhere that’s reachable and not too far away during those rainy times.