Shameless plug for Leniency

I recently did a project that did not exactly meet the requirements set forth by my instructor.  In this assignment we were supposed to use our own footage to make a 1-2 minute video.  After shooting a lot of video, going through three separate ideas, and scraping all of my own footage I decided to do something far more interesting to me.  I created a video using found footage that I felt far more comfortable with.  I think the video is compelling and interesting, even though it did not meet the requirements for the assignment.

 

The Harbingers

This got me thinking about why we set such rigid requirements for students?  Does it really matter what medium was used, or what subject matter was displayed?  Should we be more concerned about the connection to their own work or what this work is saying?  In my art education department they are constantly preaching the "Big Idea" concept, isn't that what we should be concerned about?

Sure I could have made a clunky, nondescript video that was uninspired and not really what I wanted to do, but I felt that methodology was destructive to my creative process.

Most of my classmates backed me up (Thank you guys since you are probably the only people subscribed to this blog) which was appreciated.

I do not know the grade I will receive for this project, regardless I like my video and I know it will stand up to the scrutiny of an art review process far better than what I was required to do.