Originally, I wanted my project to be a collage consisting of images of areas of Merton. I showcased this idea through the creative output session we did at the start of the year. Though the creative output showcases my idea well, the actual idea itself felt too vague, and people wouldn’t get the most out of the project if they had seen it at the exhibition. So, instead, I thought that creating videos containing participants talking about their favourite places in the borough of Merton, along with images of the places, would stand out more to the audience, making them learn more about the borough.
For the first part of the crits, I prepared a video using the editing software CapCut, containing two participants. I asked them through a WhatsApp group chat to record themselves answering the questions I asked. Which were their 2 favourite places in Merton and why? Along with the clips of the participants, I searched online to find images and clips of the areas they mentioned to align with their explanation, so that the audience can see what the places look like. Along with the video on the screen, I printed out images of maps containing Merton and areas to give the borough some sort of identity when I presented it.
After hearing feedback, I figured that the question I asked the participants wasn’t significant enough to get more answers from them. It makes sense to ask them about their most memorable area in Merton, meaning they’re more likely to tell us their memories of their childhood through what they’ve done in the area, like playing football or making friends.
For the 2nd part of the crits, I decided to film and take pictures of areas in Merton. And create a video where 2 people tell us their most memorable place and give a memory of that area. Due to the unavailability of some of the participants, I decided to tell my most memorable place and a specific childhood memory, as I also grew up in that area. Along with the video, I produced several images through Canva showing areas in Merton, along with quotes on why they’re memorable to people.
My supervisor appreciated the idea of images I've taken of areas in Merton with quotes scattered around on them. The quotes contain people's memories of the area through what they have experienced. Which lead me to produce more of these images using canva and get answers from more participants so that I could include more areas of Merton for the project.
I decided to stick with the question I asked one of the participants from the 2nd crits from answers as it was more likely to get more answers out of the others so that I could film longer videos and add more voice audios to them if the choose to answer my question that way.
Here are the 3 posters I displayed for the 2nd part of the crits. The poster received positive feedback from my supervisors, who encouraged me to produce more posters on Canva. I printed the posters on A4 paper and placed them around the screen of the TV screen which showcased the memories of two people. For the final exhibition, I will print them at a larger size, along with using other tools provided in Greenwich that will make them stand out when on display.
After the second Crits, I went on to film more locations of Merton based on the answers I received from more participants. I went to Wimbledon, which is the most well-known part of the borough, to film and take pictures of a football pitch and the common, which is a large park split between Wimbledon and Putney.
While shooting at a Football field in Raynes I thought of the idea of including images me or my friends have taken near or at the location when we went to hang out. Because we have been to his filed many times to play football, we have images in the group chat that has not gone away. So I decided to film in specific areas of the field where we spent the most time in and where the images I have available taken so the memories stand out to be more special than it already is.
