The best video that actually outlines why I was orchestrating the project is the one I made to mark Day 100.

For this day and video, I decided to produce a short reflection on the days already passed that would also serve as an overview for why I was doing the project in the first place.

Admittedly, it was also a lot easier to produce an introduction video for the project once I had already shot some other footage that I could cut into the video to prevent it from purely being a talking head video.

The project doesn’t quite have 365 individuals videos because there were some busier days I ended up skipping (and for those gaps I ended up making summative videos to cover the missing days).

But there are 316 videos which make up the project and they exist in a variety of lengths and form of presentation.

Diversity and experimentation of filmmaking form is exactly what I was going for with the project.

But producing differing types of short videos each and every day did make the project more demanding on some days more than others (and this is also why I ended up skipping 49 days of the project).

For some videos, the video I posted up was just a single shot of something that had happened on that day.

It could be something as simple and short as me reading a book in bed…

Then there were the multi shot videos which could still be quite simple, just with a few more shots to present the day’s occurrence…

Then there were the more intricate multi shot vids which required a little more thought with the editing in post-production…

Then there were the much more dynamically edited videos which required even more time to make…

Finally, there were the highly experimental and very dynamically edited videos that always took the longest to make.

This following one is a meta-video that not only includes the earlier Day 028 video, but also includes the actual editing of this video…

Here’s another meta video which includes footage from the Day 028, Day 038 and Day 044 videos. Crucially, it also includes footage as from The Miracle of Crowdfunding project which was another filmmaking project I was working on concurrently to this one…

There were also some videos that were multi-screen videos or included footage that had been speeded up which could also increase the post-production time…

I did always endeavour to post each day’s video on the day it was shot, but there was sometimes a backlogue that would all get posted days later if I had had more demanding videos to produce.

Again, this is why I ended up skipping 49 of the days/videos of the project.

Certainly, towards the end of the project, where most of the skipped days are located, you can tell that I was getting really burnt out with it.

Filmmaking and getting to grips with short form video making formed a big focus in my BA (Hons) and I wanted to develop it further with my 365 FRAMES 2015 project.

I’ve always enjoyed filmmaking and wanted to hone my craft further, but, more crucially, I wanted to refine my ability to produce short and engaging video content as this is very useful for marketing purposes.

Practicing on a regular basis is a most definitely a prudent means of becoming a very discerning and efficient video maker.

But maybe not every single day because then you just start losing the passion for it.

I certainly did and I needed a long break from video making by the time I got to Day 365.

Not all the footage I shot has been posted online, far from it!

I shot A LOT of footage for this project.

That was another time-consuming element of the project – deciding which bits of footage to use each and every day.

One of the reasons I ended up shooting so much footage is because I was able to go mobile and be much more spontaneous with the filming for this project.

I realise that sounds ridiculous when you consider that everyone now has a smartphone sitting in their pocket which is capable filming and editing and posting high-definition videos anywhere (provided there is enough battery power and mobile data).

But I did this project in 2015.

Smartphones had only been around for a few years at that point and I was one of the late adopters.

I didn’t get my first smartphone until 2017!

But for this project, I filmed the majority of it on an iPod Touch 5.

The iPod Touch is basically just an iPhone, it just lacks the phone part.

But, in addition to being a carrying of the user’s iTunes library, the iTouch 5 had two camera and was able to run Apple’s Appstore apps, which included video editing ones.

The camera on the back was a 5 megapixel one more than capable filming 1080p high definition video.

And the camera on the front was a 1.2 megapixel one capable of filming 720p slightly less high definition video.

So the iPod Touch 5 was a very convenient and pocketable filming and editing device.

Filmmaking is a highly creative technology and it is even more so if it is something you can do in the instant you get an idea.

Up until I got my iPod Touch 5, I had been shooting most of the 365 videos on my iPad Mini and few shots had also been captured on my small digital camera.

I ended up getting the iPod Touch 5 because I wanted a more pocketable version of my bigger iPad Mini and a device that had a better video capture quality than my digital camera.

I also didn’t want to get a smartphone at that point, so the iPod Touch 5 was the perfect device for my needs.

But like all Apple devices, it only lasted a few years.

For the conclusion of my 366 photography project, I had edited together a slideshow presentation of all 366 photographs together with the audio and some footage from my reflective commentaries on the project in which I discussed the philosophy behind the project.

I also created another montage reflection video for my 366 project using all the unused photographs I captured for it.

I had planned to do something similar at the close of my 365 video project.

My thinking had been to produce a video essay from the daily footage I had posted online.

Although I would not have used all the footage because it would have ended up being several hours long.

Rather I would have edited down the posted footage into a more compact form that would have showcased my progression as a shortform filmmaker and would also have explored the self-reflexive nature of capturing your daily life in an experimental fashion.

So essentially the 365 videos would have been the workprint version of what would eventually have been a much more streamlined and engaging summative video essay.

I set myself two rules for the final summative video essay…

1. I was only allowed to use the footage I had posted online; I was banned from using any of the discarded footage.
2. I was not allowed to film any new footage or narration; I could only use what was within the posted videos.

The video essay would have used Day 025 has its inspiration and narrative spine.

The final summative video essay would also have been in a similar style to the more experimental and dynamically edited videos of the 365 project.

I was always very interested in the self-reflexive, interfacing and philosophical nature of capturing ourselves and then posting them online as part of a much bigger mosaic.

The final summative video essay would have very much explored this concept in relation to my own self-reflexive experience of capturing my own life and posting it online as one big mosaic throughout 2015.

But I never got round to editing that final summative video essay.

I had absolutely no desire or energy to it immediately following the close of the project at the beginning of 2016.

Beyond that, it just drifted further and further away from me.

But that isn’t to say I won’t ever get round to editing it together.

In still find myself thinking about it from time to time.

I didn’t actually end up editing together the final summative video for my 2012 366 project until the close of 2014 (in preparation for the start of my 365 project in 2015).

I had considered including the edited together summative video essay as another components of my Creative Technologies Sandbox.

But the time for doing it always seemed to elude me when I had so many other pressing things to be getting on with.

But that isn’t to say I won’t ever get around to it.

I may yet find the time and the inspiration to piece it together.

Watch this space.