GMU:Computer's Cut/Mudassir Sheikh

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For my final assignment, I made use of the Python command “find_word” and worked with subtitles. Below is the step by step description of my process:

1-I started off by choosing the video of an interview with the artist Korakrit Arunanondchai. I chose different words like ‘space’, ‘time, ‘frame’, ‘therapy’, ‘real’, ‘change’, ‘connection’, etc. Then I analyzed what the clips with the same word were telling me. I went through the same process for a few other videos.

2- After going through this process, I realized what I want to convey can be better communicated if I choose the same word for each video.

3- Therefore, I chose the word ‘time’. All these videos show different artists talking about time metaphorically, literally, and conversationally.

4- First, I made the cuts with the Python script in Shotcut.

5- Then I exported these to Adobe Premiere and put them on the timeline.

6- In Adobe Premiere, I intuitively played with the arrangement of the clips, to establish connections between the words of each artist/academic. This was the most enjoyable part as by this point the connection between different clips slowly started to emerge.

7- By arranging and rearranging clips, and removing certain clips, the video brings out the different political, philosophical, and creative meanings of time for these people from diverse backgrounds. I chose artists that have inspired me over the years, but also artists from different generations (times!) and places.


Bach's Radiohead

I took a solo saxophone performance of Bach’s “Cello Suite1 1.Prelude” from YouTube, analyzed the notes, and then rearranged them using a midi file comprising of the melody of Radiohead’s song “Street Spirit”.



I used the Python script for ‘object detection’ with the CLASS “bicycle” to create this edit.

My source material consists of the unofficial music video for Boards of Canada’s "Everything You Do is a Balloon", which makes use of archival footage. The original footage belongs to a 1963 film titled “One Got Fat: Bicycle Safety”. It depicts a group of youngsters riding bicycles to the park for a picnic and documents the violation of various bicycle safety rules. One by one, the children are eliminated as they violate rules, and only one manages to arrive at the park.

I chose this video for its depiction of bicycles and dreamlike atmosphere.




This snippet is from a 1979 documentary about the Greek musician "Lasos". His music mainly comprised of synthesizers. I picked the word "patterns" with a meta approach, as we're literally looking for patterns when using algorithms to edit.