DIASPORA

DIASPORA| Putting the 'Art' in Artemis

Putting the 'Art' in Artemis

Your challenge is to create an artistic work to communicate, inform, or inspire others about humanity's road to Mars. Your art may be in any form, including (but not limited to): drawing, painting, sculpture, computer generated 2D or 3D, music, film, music video, written or spoken word, dance, and textile.

Summary

“Diaspora” is a one person music video created entirely using NASA archival footage from the resources provided. It features different videos incorporated into one to inspire more people to explore space settlement and its future. It is a music video featuring the non copyrighted and royalty free rendition of Beethoven’s Egmont. “Diaspora” tells a story beginning with the construction of a jet which takes one to their destination in space, recounting the times at the Moon, the eventual settlement at Mars and finally, the role of the International Space Station and the members it comprises. The project has been set up and completed in the 48 hours of NASA SpaceApps.

How I Addressed This Challenge

“Diaspora” is a one person project created entirely using NASA archival footage from the resources provided. It features different videos incorporated into one to inspire more people to explore space settlement and its future. It is a music video featuring the non copyrighted and royalty free rendition of Beethoven’s Egmont.

I believe it is important as it recounts the journey that NASA aspires to embark on, with space settlements on the Moon and the Mars.

It was made with the explicit purpose to inspire the viewers regarding NASA’s mission. The choice of videos, the music and the editing has been done to enhance the viewers interest as much as possible in the activities covered in the video done by NASA.

With this video, I hope to achieve a sense of enthusiasm with the viewer, for the viewer to understand and empathise with NASA’s space settlement mission and finally, to contribute towards my interest in NASA’s activities and missions.

How I Developed This Project

As someone interested in the activities that NASA had to offer, I wanted to participate in SpaceApps to see whether I could contribute something with my skill set. I thus created “Diaspora” with an aim to inspire others to engage in the missions that NASA is embarking on. Initially, I wanted to create a storyline and a proper short film on the topic, however, my teammate with whom I planned that project backed out two days prior to the challenge’s beginning. I thus created this video all on my own.

Due to the lack of manpower available, I decided to make a video entirely out of the available NASA Archives. I scoured the Internet and downloaded as many videos of NASA as I could. As for the soundtrack, I decided to go with something classic as that is my preferred music.

The only problem I faced during the development of this project is the sudden backing out of my team, due to which I had to create this project alone. I made the video using only IMovie on my IPad and no other software or hardware was used.

It was the first project I created of this sort, which I found a rather enjoyable and enriching experience overall.

How I Used Space Agency Data in This Project

“Diaspora” is made using exclusively NASA footage, obtained from NASA’s archives and YouTube videos of NASA’s channel.

The data from NASA was incorporated throughout the running minutes of the video, with the only addition being that of the soundtrack.

All of the videos used in “Diaspora” come from the archives of NASA and the links given by NASA for the resources. All of the videos have been taken from the archives, the only addition being the music, which is Beethoven’s Egmont (Non-Copyrighted and Royalty Free rendition used with the permission of the uploader).

While the initial plan was to only use a part to the footage, eventually, I resorted to creating a project using entirely NASA imagery. This required me to search for nearly a day and a half to just gather the required footage and music. I believe it was because it was such a unique aspect of the project, I was able to utilise the resources NASA provided to the utmost extent. I believe it was also the exclusive use of footage which made accomplishing the main goal of this track easier- it allowed me to recount NASA’s pioneering achievement and inspire the viewer at the same time as nothing was added to these raw footages which NASA released, allowing for a better viewing experience and connection with the viewer.