I chose “Indian Burial Grounds under the Lincoln Center?”, “Macaulay Rascals in Central Park”, “Security Guards”, “The Young Elder”, and “Lincoln Center Gone Wild”. The first video is interesting because two very different scenes were edited together to create a very strange effect. In the intro, there is a brief almost subliminal clip of a student eating a cupcake. In the next scene, the group is inside Lincoln Center, interviewing an employee and eventually bringing up the “Indian Burial Grounds”. The camera zooms in on the employee’s face in dramatic slow motion, and there is complete silence. Then, the camera cuts to a student’s face eating a cupcake, with melancholy violin music playing in the background, replaced moments later by fast electric Japanese pop music?
“Macaulay Rascals in Central Park” opens up with some 3d title graphics sliding across the screen. In their description, the group makes the case that Macaulay students do not exercise enough, and that Central Park is the perfect place to do so. The video is a series of clips illustrating various activities one can take part in at the park, such as: making snow angels, skipping down trails, and criticizing the “armies” of poorly crafted snowmen scattered throughout the fields.
“The Young Elder” was one of the more interesting videos. The group visited a Mormon church and interviewed a younger member. The question and answers in this video were genuinely interesting, and instead of filming the interview, the group put the audio of the interview over footage of the paintings that decorate the inside of the church.
“Security Guards” was about crime and punishment in the area around the Macaulay building, the final conclusion being that there wasn’t much. The group interviewed a CUNY security guard who some stories to share. They use title cards.
“Lincoln Center Gone Wild” extensively used many of the features of the movie program. It had animated titles, fancy transitions, maps, historical photos, music etc. It used these features of the program to provide historical perspective and convey relevant information about the subject. It is a good example of how to efficiently communicate through the “iMovie format”.
