I enjoyed how the video was introduced by cutting different shots to the beat and each shot seemed to make me curious about what was going to happen next.
The beginning of the video is simple shots of what usually happens during the festival, but smoothly the story drifts from talking about the music and partying aspect to a spiritual search.
The storyline wasn’t the only thing that was intriguing but also the shots. The shots were simple yet thought provoking. For examples, at 1:18, the subject is centered as she is staring up, with a deep depth of field focus, contrasting to 1:37 where it’s a closer shot of a face and has a shallow depth of field, which leads the viewers eye immediately focus on the subject.
Another great shot is at 1:35, the use of a lower angel and a wide lens helps the viewer take in everything that’s in the frame, from the contrast between the shadow and light to the motion in the frame.
Another technique that I would like to start adding to my own videos is the ‘sound leading picture’ technique. We see the the editor use an L-cut at 3:26 to 3:42, where the image changes but the audio continues. In this case we hear the fire static popping and hissing before the smoke slowly sneaked into the shot.
The action/reaction technique at the end of the video was also a great reminder that it’s nice to see the people’s reaction.
This video has a variety of shooting techniques, such as wide shots, extreme tight shots, pans and more, but what really makes this video special is the story and how it is presented.
I have a co-worker that attends this event annually. I never knew what it was until now, and I think this is an outstanding way to get clarity in life and to take necessary steps to heal oneself . There were a ton of great things in this piece. What stood out to me was the audio from the fire, the long-shots of the fire, and how the fire cast a red-ish orange glow on the attendees. I love pieces that evoke an emotion, and draw me in as if i were there.