This month’s Gizmodo Video Challenge was to create a unique video utilizing reverse playback. The videos were pretty interesting, though I would say that there is little artistic value in the act of reversing a video. Rather, what takes talent, creativity, and skill is the ability to recognize that a particular event would be unique, surprising, beautiful, or in some way compelling when viewed backwards, and also the knowhow to film the scene in such a way that makes it enjoyable to watch.
I think if I were to do a reverse video, I would want to film an event which, when viewed backwards, can be as surprising and unknown as one would expect of a normal forwards video, where ever event is (chronologically) preceded by something you wouldn’t expect to have happened. Like a closeup of popcorn popping, that’s being heated in a pan, which is actually sitting in an oven, that isn’t on but is contained within a burning house. Yeah, kinda weird, but unexpected, and reveals the story bit by bit. Kind of like the movie ‘Momento’, where the backwards telling of the story is what made the story so compelling.
I also discovered a band called “Tryad”, a ‘global’ band consisting of musicians who collaborate virtually and who believe in free music; they distribute all their music for free under a “creative commons” license. I heard one of their songs in one of the videos. Have a listen!
Tryad – Lovely
