Project 1: Define a Space (description)

New York is known for its hustle and constant motion, filled with a diverse combination of people who are just trying to combat the speed of the city. As people who are so familiar with the motion-filled landscape, we are often desensitized to the details around us. In our project, my partner and I will be zooming into a different aspect of New York in detail, hoping to capture moments of peace within the bustling and busy city. To evoke this form of tranquility, Bianca and I chose to focus on aspects of nature in the concrete jungle. The characteristics of the city’s nature differ from what the larger idea of “nature” is, and we wish to link together examples of New York’s natural scene to exhibit a form of peaceful escape.

To accomplish this task, we hope to film the areas around Central park located near Hunter that bring moments of stillness in contrast to the speed of the city. Some examples include capturing shots of nature such as the plants including the grass and trees, as well as what wildlife we can find in the water. We’d also like to value the inanimate objects in the park as well, such as the details in the rocks and the bridges or land near the bodies of water. We hope to make the majority of our shots to be still, in hopes of portraying peace and stillness to the viewer. Our choice of sound will most likely be still and calming, to match the anticipated emotion. By bringing attention to the details so quickly overlooked, we hope to accomplish a sense of that peacefulness in the city, something the city-dwellers seek out for a mental check or as a form of escape. Though we might be focusing on the details, we are connecting a bigger landscape in the park to create a peaceful space in the mind of what is most likely a typical New Yorker.