SYNTAX

VIDEO

The main idea that I wished to explore in my video was the relationship between syntax and narration. Rather than simply creating a video that looks at the order of language, I decided to challenge myself and push this topic further by creating work that is applicable to today’s society, in connection to the evolution of technology.

A motivating factor for my subject matter was that it’s commonly forgotten that classic stories are evolving alongside the advancements of technology. Inevitably as generations pass, the way that these stories are portrayed and understood change over time. As a result, I was inspired to question what elements are being lost from these classic stories, which have increasingly become altered and now streamed through various devices. Additionally, I was interested in the way that books tend to have the ability to provide the reader with endless room for imagination in terms of visualizing parts of a story. Many story books have little to no images, and for those with imagery are portrayed in black and white. By way of contrast, new technology transforms theses classic narratives into something that is more pixelated and arguably “brain washing,” as the act of storytelling loses its intimacy and becomes one for the masses.

The video is primarily aimed at an adult audience, or those who are old enough to remember and connect with earlier editions of classic stories. The more notable formal qualities in my video are sound and colour. When considering sound, I had chosen to incorporate music from the original peter pan movie, to evoke a feeling of nostalgia and establish an emotional connection with the targeted audience. Additionally, I had incorporated audio clips from old advertisements to emphasize the push for new forms of entertainment other than reading. This was intended to highlight incoming technological advancements, and the pixilation of the imagery from classic stories. It is evident that the background music becomes higher in pitch as the video progresses, providing an increasing level of intensity as the moving image becomes more pixelated. Lastly, the decision to incorporate black and white filters and old-style scene transitions, was to convey the classical and enhanced feel that old stories had evoked. The online website The Visual Linguist states that both “syntax and narrative function to package meaning in ways that are linear and coherent.” Overall, this influenced my editing style throughout the video, to make the content appear to tell a linear story within itself.