Reaction Video to Marshall McLuhan's Notions of Space and Time

This video is related to both Marshall McLuhan's notions of space and time and to one of his overarching themes of his book, The Medium is the Masssage. The video references McLuhan's ideas of space and time in that it reflects his idea that new information is rapidly being replaced by even newer information. The calm water in the video is being overtaken by the escalating rushing waters shown in end scenes. My video also reflects McLuhan's ideas in the first couple scenes. These clips depict a calm mindset. I thought this was appropriate because McLuhan suggests that taking our hectic lives away from all that we are exposed to each day is beneficial for us.

The video reflects McLuhan's argument in his book that over time, technology escalates and becomes somewhat overbearing and out of control. My video reflects this theory in how the river water  mimics what technology has become over time. The water starts out subtle and calm, just as technology and inventions started out. An example from the early stage of technology or communication would be the writing of letters back in the "olden days". As the video progresses the rushing water becomes more rapid and dominant. These middle stages are a reference to technology such as the radio and television. The final scenes of the video reflect the current stage of technology that our generation is experiencing such as the internet, kindles, and ipads. Just as the rapid rush and escalating sounds of the water seem to cause an overwhelming whirlwind, today's technology is also overwhelming and taking over the ways in which humanity used to live. This escalation of technology is exactly what McLuhan predicted in his writings.

For my video I simply shot a variety of scenes along the Fox River. As my journey carried on I ended up at one of the damns along the river where my final scene is shot. Some of the sounds on the video are the actual sounds from my footage, but I also added sounds from options that were on Final Cut such as the birds chirping in the background and differing sounds of water flowing. However, the final scene consists of only the original footage, which is an aspect of my video that I really like. I chose to use transitions because without them the video was simply too choppy.

This was my first video that I have ever made. Overall, it was a long, difficult process that I encountered many problems with. However, I am happy with the end result, and I look forward to bettering my skills in video.