POLITICS.

You can watch my short here.

This time I wanted to try out the graphics on Premiere Pro. So I decided to keep the concept really simple and just use a combination of soundtrack and graphics. I thought about using political speeches and ended up considering “The Great Dictator” by Charlie Chaplin.

It was made in 1940, a time when the truth about what was really happening in Europe was not out. Nobody knew about the concentration camps or the extent of what was to follow. The US was still attempting to avoid getting involved, and even in the UK the politics were not what we now choose to remember.

In fact, the British government of the time said that it would outlaw this film’s exhibition in the United Kingdom, in keeping with the appeasement policy concerning Nazi Germany. (Wikipedia. Friedrich, Otto (1997). City of Nets: A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940s (reprint ed.). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. pp. 27–28. ISBN 0520209494.)

By the time production of “The Great Dictator” was finished the UK was at war, and all of a sudden, its theme was no longer unwelcome. I edited the speech to keep the relevant parts and keep it down to 60”, and I chose the concepts and words that Come to my mind when I think about politics.

I made an initial try, which turned out a bit messy because I had not really learned how to use the background and the titles. I put that aside and started plan B: same idea but more refined and nuanced, staying with the same colours and font throughout.