Video

Video as a media process feels very intimidating to me. I don't typically post on social media, and I don't enjoy being filmed, so my experience with it is very limited. It was also difficult to find a YouTube video I felt comfortable recreating, since most of the content I consume features someone who is fully visible on camera. I originally planned to make a short informational video about a few minerals in my rock collection, but couldn't find a good reference, so I turned to my friends for help! Here's what one of them sent me:

TikTok by @_ratatuje0.

View here: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZThb6cQ9x/

This is the video I ended up picking for my inspiration. I cannot resist a silly rat video, and neither can my friends, so Ikea rat dancing to Electric Zoo from SpongeBob it is! Besides, I have a few of the same rat plushies, so it was perfect! My first idea for recreating the original video was to add another dancing rat each time the music repeated. However, after downloading the video, I realized how short it was. The music loops about every 3 seconds and repeats 3 times, creating about 10 seconds of rodent screen time. My video needed to be 30 seconds, so I realized I would need to loop the music 9-10 times. Knowing that, I made a list of what the rat plushies would do during each loop to create a little narrative. Then I leaned my camera on a box, tied fishing line to all my characters, and began filming. Afterwards, I edited my videos in CapCut and added effects to enhance the chaos of the party scene.

Electric Zoo After Dark

Audio source: YouTube video by SpongeBob SquarePants - Topic.

View here: Electric Zoo - YouTube

I would say this project aligned most closely with my second learning objective: expanding my artistic practice and media literacy. Would I call my video creation a fine artistic achievement? Ummm... no. But I tried something new, created something joyful, and learned a bit about CapCut, which is super popular for creating TikTok videos. Incorporating CapCut into art instruction could be a wonderful interest-based learning approach for many students.