It’s what we mean.
As media makers we provide a fluid canvas for complex stories to be communicated through visual narrative that affects emotion rather than a mere succession of creative imagery open to any interpretation. It is the journey from information to meaning.
In our documentary work neither information nor truth should be confused with meaning.
On its own, information is neutral, and meaning involves emotion. Meaning therefore, is the understanding that is generated within us, whatever the originator of a message intends. FPP visual narratives are meant to document, display and preserve real stories of real people. These stories provide readymade communicative contexts that are lined up in to a concise, clear and conceptual representation of a complex subject matter.
Only through meaningful narratives are we able to convey the experience of objectivity, which makes them more effective in engaging viewers to change than just providing “objective” data and explanatory knowledge.
The projection of meaning is not an experience, but knowledge. Meaning is experienced as an empirical property of the perceived.
As visual media makers we document the stories of the people in our videos as they reveal them to us. Our documentaries are visually communicated to our audience by the people in our videos unlike a literary text which could manifest itself into an imagined, representational illusion that readers can create for themselves, and can vary greatly from reader to reader.
Because our video productions are seen, heard and felt our visual approach relies on simplicity: Reduce the obvious, add the meaningful.
The journey from information to meaning is what matters.