Behind the Scenes of Festival d’Avignon - Annotation
This post discusses a video document:
“Dans les coulisses du Festival d'Avignon : Le Festival d’Avignon en chiffres.” Youtube, uploaded by TV5MONDE, 11 July, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxNcO0PabEk
The Festival d’Avignon has released a video series to accompany their 2017 season entitled Dans les coulisses du Festival d'Avignon which showcases various “behind the scene” elements from the running and producing of said festival. This particular instalment focuses on the statistics of the Festival d’Avignon and — like much of the series — uses bright infographics as well as short clips to create a fast-paced, informative video. Each entry in this series begins with the same opening sequence; each word of the title flashing across the screen, overlaid on top of the program cover and subsequently the festival logo. This is followed by the title screen, featuring the recurring look of modern white text, with a highlighted red word, on top of a black screen and clips from the festival. This is followed by a shot of layering posters from past festivals before the specific material begins. This recurring sequence, lasting ten seconds and underscored by a distinctive, upbeat set of digitalized notes, creates a recognizable unifying opening to the series that seems to echo the style of the festival. It is rapid, colourful, and has a digital edge, indicative of much of the modern and cutting edge work that the festival produces. The video itself, lasting just under two minutes, gives an overview the information found on the festival website (http://www.festival-avignon.com/en/artistic-project)including statistics on ticket sales, shows staged, artist and audience attendance, history of the festival, and spaces used.
The highlighted statistics show the importance the festival places on its widespread success (both in popularity and finance) as well as showcasing how imbued the festival is within the city by interviewing citizens. The video would show people on the street attempting to guess a specific statistic, usually underestimating, before a shot from the festival would play, and a voice over and text would reveal the actual number. This method emphasizes how impressive the festival is, as it exceeds the “common man’s” expectations. The visual basing of the video also makes it accessible to the many non-french speaking audiences who might wish to be more informed, highlighting the international aspect of the event. Between the video’s methods, and the material it covers, the Behind the Scenes series showcases the feel and importance of the festival d’Avignon, with its emphasis placed on cutting edge, international shows, and a successful, modern festival experience.
