Katie Wahl
I created two videos pertaining to the soul: one to investigate, one to inspire. The first, Soul Searching, was a four minute documentary on what I believed the soul was and the second video was a four minute trailer for Splitters, a potential film project that I hope to create with an actual crew and professional cast. This project is an exploration of the idea of a soul, and using the medium of video narrative I intend to convey the concepts of duality, humanism, fate versus free will, and the notion of choice.
Artist Statement:
My name is Katie Wahl and my ambition is too big for this tiny world. I live, breathe and dream about films. While I sleep, my dreams have dramatic camera angles and an impressive score, constantly berating my mind with inspiration. I find myself split between Hollywood conventions and artistic influences. Since I am aware of both styles, I will one day be able to meld them into a whole new style; one that appeals to the idea of “entertainment” yet will hold more sophistication and ideals than an egg cup.
Resume:
Selected Images:
Process and Learning
At first, this project was a rocky road. It seemed like nothing would work out; from actors disappearing, storyboards not working, and the script being a huge mess, it seemed everything was going wrong. The original idea to have the first fifteen minutes of my planned film (Splitters) was thrown away at the midpoint, and replaced with the idea to make a piece about what I think the soul is (later this became “Soul Searching”) and a three to five minute trailer about Splitters.
It was incredibly difficult to do all aspects of a film, even two so short as these: writing the scripts, making the costumes, scouting for locations, auditioning actors, doing photo-shoots, planning camera angels, making storyboards, designing characters through sketches…in an essence I was a one person film team. Making a trailer for a film that did not exist was also a mind-blowing task, inasmuch as I had to somehow think of all the scenes in something that wasn’t even conceived.
I learned that weather, especially Michigan weather, is incredibly unpredictable and forces a person to think more creatively about how to solve a location problem. Since time was of the essence, shooting had to be done quickly. We (the group of actors and myself) found a place to shoot that was not as damp as others, and I had to modify a plastic bag to keep the camera safe from rain. As a learning experience on the whole, it was amazing to actually delve into every aspect of film and video making. Finally I got a taste of being a director…and I loved it.
After over 38 hours of editing, the piece ended up coming out fantastic. I learned about the flimsiness of unpaid actors, the tediousness of script editing and storyboard making, and how to bring a concept more concisely to life with perfect planning and organized thoughts. I have never written a script for any of my videos prior — I would simply improvise the words on the spot. But seeing the ease that writing a script created, I now know the value of it and will use this skill for my future.
Above all else, I gained a pride in myself; knowing that I can do every aspect of making a film is one that lifts a huge weight of doubt off my shoulders, and places me high on a pedestal of self confidence and sense of self worth.
