Creating contact, distance, and point of view

constitutes a context for the represented participants; by the use of sound and visual effects; and by the use of written text to substantiate and clarify their intentions and interpretations.

The relationship between the two girls can be seen as friendship, just as the storyline can be regarded as about being accepted or finding friendship. The digital video is thus open for interpretation and can in this sense be referred to as poetic. However, as illustrated in the analysis, there are signs in the coda that the issue at stake is homosexuality, with the most explicit reference in the written comment “Thanks to Karin Boye (who was homosexual)”

accompanied by the sound effect of applause and cheers. The represented participants, the setting, and the students’ references to homosexuality refer to explorations and reflections regarding identity that are characteristic of adolescents. Thus, the digital video brings up identity explorations, exemplified as, but not limited to, revealing one’s sexual orientation, among adolescents.

example of this is the use of direct eye contact in the students’ video.

In the first scene, just as the girl has turned around to face the group of people and witnessed their reactions, she turns and looks directly into the camera before she runs out of the frame. This direct eye contact certainly “demands” something of the viewer and creates a relation to the viewer of being present, but as a distant observer.

The other situation in which the students are clearly addressing a viewer is in the last clip. After the sequence of “failed scenes”, the students have placed a comment that rounds off the video: “Thank you to Karin Boye (who was homosexual)”. This functions as a metacomment to the viewer on a matter the students are eager to emphasise, which is also referred to as “imaginary contact” (Kress &

van Leeuwen, 2006). It serves as a comment on their interpretation of the poem as dealing with the issue of showing one’s true self regarding sexual orientation. The comment in written text, in combination with the sound effects of applause and cheers, suggests both an attitude the viewer should take towards the issue and the students’ own standpoint.

The sense of distance in the students’ video is maintained by the use of camera movement, or in this case the non-movement. The stand-steady camera might create a distance, as compared to a camera that moves with the represented participants to create an urgency and immediacy in the relation to the viewer. The creation of distance, or actually closeness, is also noticeable in the use of frame shots and angles. The viewer moves closer the further on the digital video goes, creating a notion of “getting closer” by the use of frame shots. The distance to the viewer often follows the norms of social relations when it comes to determining the distance we keep from each other.

Regarding (moving) images, this translates into size of frame; where close-ups suggests an intimate or personal relationship, a medium shot suggests a social one, and a long shot suggests an impersonal one (see Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 148; Jewitt & Oyama, 2001, p.

146). In the students’ video, the first scene is filmed using a full shot, as if observing the situation at a distance. The feeling of distance and detachment is also supported by the use of a slightly higher angle

is often associated with power relations (see Jewitt & Oyama, 2001;

Iedema, 2001a; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006; Öhman-Gullberg, 2009), although in this case it is more likely to support the feeling of distance. The distance and detachment between the represented participants and the viewer is further established in the students’

choice of horizontal perspective (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006); the body of the represented participant is often angled away from the viewer either in profile or in a back view.

In the second scene, where the girl is sitting on the bench while the other approaches, the distance to the viewer is not as great as in the first scene. The scene is filmed in a full shot; the represented participants are closer, but still at a clear distance from the viewer. In addition, they are shot in an oblique angle from behind, which enhances the notion of detachment and distance (see Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 148); in the students’ digital video, the sense of distance is often maintained by filming from an oblique angle or from behind.

The last scene, where the two girls are standing facing each other, is framed in mid-shot. This creates a feeling of getting closer to the represented participants, and although the girls are filmed in profile their facial expressions are clearly noticeable. The girls are also filmed at eye-level, which indicates equality (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006, p.

148) and by this inviting the viewer closer. The frame shots used portray a clear distance from the beginning of digital video but as it goes along the distance is reduced.

Sound is also used in creating distance, or actually closeness. The use of the sound effect of the pounding heart creates intimacy, both physically and emotionally, a sense of “being so close I can hear your hear beat”. By other means, distance is further reduced in the “failed scenes”. By including these deleted scenes, involving laughter and frustration and including glimpses of the work in progress, it creates a more personal relation between the represented participants and the viewer. The students also use sound effects in the digital video to suggest a certain viewpoint, such as the use of applause and cheers that greet the last clip with the text “Thanks to Karin Boye (who was

homosexual)”. The students, thus, use sound effects as a means of creating both a certain viewpoint and perspective on how the viewer is positioned in relation to what is viewed in the students’ digital video, as well as in creating closeness and contact to the viewer.

The analytical concepts of contact, distance, and point of view are, as illustrated, intertwined. The use of camera angle is used both to suggest a certain perspective on what is represented, and as a resource to create distance and closeness. Consequently, point of view holds meaning potential since, as a resource, it allows the students to offer certain viewpoints on the issue. However, point of view as meaning potential does not mean that is it possible to say what different points of view will mean exactly, but it is possible to describe the meanings they will allow image producers and viewers to create; what kinds of relations between viewers and the digital video. The sequencing of clips and scenes also holds meaning potential regarding point of view, since the way of sequencing the clips and scenes also narrates a certain perspective, creating a narrative structure to be viewed in a certain way. This temporal aspect is one of the central analytical concepts regarding the compositional level, and will be elaborated in the next section.

In short, the analysis on the interactive level shows that the students’

digital video is addressing the viewer from a certain point of view with a variety of resources. This is noticeable in the students’ use of horizontal and oblique camera angles to create but also reduce the distance to the represented participants; by addressing the viewer as well as commenting on their thematic interpretation in written text;

and by the use of sound effects, such as applause and cheers to emphasise a certain viewpoint and standpoint. By these means they are explicitly taking stand on an issue, expressing a clear standpoint and opinion. A prominent finding is also the students’ use of different semiotic resources to create contact and distance. They use variation in frame shots to create and reduce distance; they use the sound effect of a pounding heart, which creates intimacy and closeness; and they include failed scenes that serve as a meta comment to both the video but also to their own working process, which reduces the distance from the viewer.