So I forgot a blog... here is my last one.
I really liked watching this doc in class, I thought it was rather interesting how these guys got away with everything they did. We watched this in preparation for our final assignment, the found footage. The Yes Men did a lot of culture jamming and messing with peoples minds and that is awesome. Anytime you can make someone think you are ignorant or dumber than what you really are and then can throw it back in their faces makes me laugh. This is pretty much what these guys did the whole film and it was great. I did think there were times that some of the footage could have been cut because I felt like it just went on and on and some of the interviews or process to get from one point to another could have been skipped and they could have just moved there without the extra footage.
From what I heard and saw on my netflix, apparently there is another Yes Men in the works and it comes out later this year. I definitely think I will check it out and see what these guys get into next. It just goes to show you that anyone can do anything as long as they put their mind to it.
LWR.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Project Experiences
These are ranked 1-6, with one being my favorite and 6 being my least favorite...
(4th) Assignment One - Elements with film stock (scratching, printing, mag transfers, rayograms, etc)
For this project, it was my forth favorite. I really liked this project as the opener to the semester because it really set the stage for the class. We got to paint, scratch and do magazine transfers in class and learn new techniques using film stock. I had never done anything like this before and found it to be a lot of fun and stress relieving. It just took a while to get all of the footage spliced together and on a reel which I didn't like. I did try the film manipulation by printing on it and I thought this was awesome. If I had more time/ money/ ink, I would have loved to do more of this.
(2nd) Assignment Two - Rhythmic Editing
This was my second favorite assignment. Although it took me almost twelve hours to edit because I wasn't that familiar with Final Cut at the time and didn't know what I was doing, I learned so much doing this project. I learned how to be efficient in Final Cut as well as how to edit rhythmically. I really liked this style of editing and once I got going everything worked out great. I had great feedback from the class and I was really excited about this project. I would like to try this with one theme and see everyones take on it... it would be really interesting.
(5th) Assignment Three - 2D Animation with Super 8
This was my second to least favorite assignment. I like using the Super 8 but after the first hour of doing this we had ran out ideas and our footage just became retarded. Plus, Ross and I got stuck doing the sound scape for this project when we wanted to edit the Bolex footage. Luckily, Ross had a bunch of sounds on his hard drive so we just used them to create the sounds and the edit was pretty easy. We also had extra footage so we could cut some of the stupider stuff that we didn't want and it all worked out. Next time I would like to have planned this out more ahead of time so it didn't look so dumb.
(3rd) Assignment Four - Bolex Shoot
This would have been ranked higher if I would have gotten to edit this. Rob and Dan did a good job editing this, I'm not knocking them, I just wanted to edit this. We had some great footage with Fiberboard 72 and with Joselyn and my acting skills this was golden. Even though it was a rainy day, I truly had a shit ton of fun working on everyone's projects and I think ours turned out the best.
(1st) Assignment Five - 48 Hour Video Race
This was a tough decision to say it was my favorite. The reason I took this class was because of this project. But with certain circumstances like my computer crashing, having to work and go to school on top of doing this I was rushed. I didn't think I would have had time to do it all but even though I was late (luckily we didn't start on time) I got it done. And the outcome was great. I had a lot of fun doing this assignment and racing around like a mad man trying to get my footage. The only downer was how Joselyn stole my score.... cheatas.
(6th) Assignment Six - Found Footage/ Culture Jamming
This was probably my my least favorite assignment. I guess probably because I had to do pretty much the same thing in FST331, only this one had to be shorter. I probably could have gotten different footage for both assignments but it was much easier for me with everything going on to use the same footage and just do two different edits for each class. I found that audio levels on clips from youtube.com suck though and it through off some of my clips and they were almost unable to hear. If I had more time I feel I would have been more devoted to this project, but I kind of just did what I could in the time I had and tried my best. Just glad to get it done.
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Well... this is the end of the semester and the end of my blogs. I'd say its been fun, but it actually has just been a lot of writing... the fun times were in the class room. Anyway, this was a great experience and I am glad I got the opportunty to take sixbyone before I graduate. Good luck future sixbyoners... you have no idea what you just got yourself into.
LWR OUT.
(4th) Assignment One - Elements with film stock (scratching, printing, mag transfers, rayograms, etc)
For this project, it was my forth favorite. I really liked this project as the opener to the semester because it really set the stage for the class. We got to paint, scratch and do magazine transfers in class and learn new techniques using film stock. I had never done anything like this before and found it to be a lot of fun and stress relieving. It just took a while to get all of the footage spliced together and on a reel which I didn't like. I did try the film manipulation by printing on it and I thought this was awesome. If I had more time/ money/ ink, I would have loved to do more of this.
(2nd) Assignment Two - Rhythmic Editing
This was my second favorite assignment. Although it took me almost twelve hours to edit because I wasn't that familiar with Final Cut at the time and didn't know what I was doing, I learned so much doing this project. I learned how to be efficient in Final Cut as well as how to edit rhythmically. I really liked this style of editing and once I got going everything worked out great. I had great feedback from the class and I was really excited about this project. I would like to try this with one theme and see everyones take on it... it would be really interesting.
(5th) Assignment Three - 2D Animation with Super 8
This was my second to least favorite assignment. I like using the Super 8 but after the first hour of doing this we had ran out ideas and our footage just became retarded. Plus, Ross and I got stuck doing the sound scape for this project when we wanted to edit the Bolex footage. Luckily, Ross had a bunch of sounds on his hard drive so we just used them to create the sounds and the edit was pretty easy. We also had extra footage so we could cut some of the stupider stuff that we didn't want and it all worked out. Next time I would like to have planned this out more ahead of time so it didn't look so dumb.
(3rd) Assignment Four - Bolex Shoot
This would have been ranked higher if I would have gotten to edit this. Rob and Dan did a good job editing this, I'm not knocking them, I just wanted to edit this. We had some great footage with Fiberboard 72 and with Joselyn and my acting skills this was golden. Even though it was a rainy day, I truly had a shit ton of fun working on everyone's projects and I think ours turned out the best.
(1st) Assignment Five - 48 Hour Video Race
This was a tough decision to say it was my favorite. The reason I took this class was because of this project. But with certain circumstances like my computer crashing, having to work and go to school on top of doing this I was rushed. I didn't think I would have had time to do it all but even though I was late (luckily we didn't start on time) I got it done. And the outcome was great. I had a lot of fun doing this assignment and racing around like a mad man trying to get my footage. The only downer was how Joselyn stole my score.... cheatas.
(6th) Assignment Six - Found Footage/ Culture Jamming
This was probably my my least favorite assignment. I guess probably because I had to do pretty much the same thing in FST331, only this one had to be shorter. I probably could have gotten different footage for both assignments but it was much easier for me with everything going on to use the same footage and just do two different edits for each class. I found that audio levels on clips from youtube.com suck though and it through off some of my clips and they were almost unable to hear. If I had more time I feel I would have been more devoted to this project, but I kind of just did what I could in the time I had and tried my best. Just glad to get it done.
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Well... this is the end of the semester and the end of my blogs. I'd say its been fun, but it actually has just been a lot of writing... the fun times were in the class room. Anyway, this was a great experience and I am glad I got the opportunty to take sixbyone before I graduate. Good luck future sixbyoners... you have no idea what you just got yourself into.
LWR OUT.
6x1 Part Dos
If there was a sixbyonetwo, I would like to try using methods we did for the first six assignments and intergrade them all together. For example, have an assignment where we shoot with the Bolex and also have to use rayogram footage. I think this could be really interesting. Or having scratched film mixed with some 2D Animation Super 8 footage? Sounds good to me. I think we should have another 48 hour video race as well. This time have a few props, like one being something physical and another being something like a location. Just imagine a whole class trying to get to the same location within 48 hours and get footage? That would be awesome/ crazy. Or even if you have new assignments for this class, at the very end of the semester have them all be put together as one film five minute film. They can be spliced together or edited however; it just has to contain all aspects of the class up until that point. That way, when the semester is nearing a close people don't have to worry about trying to finish a project but instead just have to piece all of their work they have done throughout the semester together.
I also think that we should do some more of the stuff we did at the beginning of the semester like painting, magazine transfers and scratching. I think there are so many other possibilities here with film stock and we should futher explore it. Also with rhythmic editing, we could have to do it in half the time of the first or have a prop or theme. I don't know, I just really enjoyed this semester and everything we did so I wouldn't mind trying to do these assignments again with new material or modifying the assignments to make them new and exciting.
I would also like to try to shoot on the Super 8 outside in the dark once again. When we tried it this semester the footage didn't turn out and it sucked because Ross and I did leap frog among other cool shit that we never got to see. I put all of my time and effort in that and i got no payoff. I did get payoff in the Bolex project though as Joselyn got to beat me up and I got to chase after her and fall in puddles. What a fun day in the rain. Anyways, I am rambling now, but I definitely think that sixbyonetwo should be offered in the future and it should be like a "REMIX" type class where it is very similar assignments with a twist. Sounds like a good drink to me. Cheers.
LWR
I also think that we should do some more of the stuff we did at the beginning of the semester like painting, magazine transfers and scratching. I think there are so many other possibilities here with film stock and we should futher explore it. Also with rhythmic editing, we could have to do it in half the time of the first or have a prop or theme. I don't know, I just really enjoyed this semester and everything we did so I wouldn't mind trying to do these assignments again with new material or modifying the assignments to make them new and exciting.
I would also like to try to shoot on the Super 8 outside in the dark once again. When we tried it this semester the footage didn't turn out and it sucked because Ross and I did leap frog among other cool shit that we never got to see. I put all of my time and effort in that and i got no payoff. I did get payoff in the Bolex project though as Joselyn got to beat me up and I got to chase after her and fall in puddles. What a fun day in the rain. Anyways, I am rambling now, but I definitely think that sixbyonetwo should be offered in the future and it should be like a "REMIX" type class where it is very similar assignments with a twist. Sounds like a good drink to me. Cheers.
LWR
Sunday, April 12, 2009
48-Hour Video Race Experience
Our fifth assignment of the semester was the 48-hour video race. It began at 4pm Monday, March 30th and ended Wednesday night, April 1st, at the Cheese Sandwich Film Festival. We had a mystery prop which was "My God, It's Full of Stars," the line from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. We also had to have a cheese sandwich somewhere in our one minute film. With all of that, we also could not use any type of recording video camera or film. It had to be photo stills, animation, drawing, scratching, etc... anything that didn't record pretty much.
Coming into this project I was really excited because this project is what I saw last semester and it made me want to take this class. I also already had ideas of what I was going to do or at least how I was going to film it... which was with digital camera stills. And I was going to put them all in a "cartoon" effect to make it look unique. Well, before the project even began my computer crashed. Saturday night. I took it in Monday, when the race began, and didn't get it back until Wednesday afternoon. Once we got the prop I decided I would focus on three different parts that would relatively be around 20 seconds each of the one minute film. The parts where: glow-in-the-dark stars, people and signs with the stars to show how everyday people are "stars," and then drawings I did (similar to the 2-D Animation) that had the actual line ("my god its full of stars) in it. I latter was the easiest. The second part was hard because I had to randomly ask a bunch of people to put on this star and let me take a picture of them... it was fun though. And also when I put random stars on things like peoples cars and then ran after hoping no one saw me.... it made for a fun Tuesday afternoon. The first part, the glow-in-the-dark stars sucked though because without a flash and in the dark the stars didn't show up on camera. So I had to get creative and spin some glow sticks around to get some crazy pictures, but I think it still worked out.
So after I got all my footage, I couldn't do anything until I got my computer back Wednesday. I had to put the pics on the computer and edit them to the "Cartoon" look. Then I had to rush to the edit lab and edit it all together. By about 8:30pm I was adding my audio track and next was going to print to video when the computer froze. Apparently everytime I hit "save" it stopped working after about half way through so I had to restart at 8:30 (an hour remaining) at the half way point. I rushed to get done and finished at 10:15. I thought for sure I was going to be late and it would be over. Even though it took me four different computers and two different tape decks, I got it done and got there at 10:30 to find out we hadn't started and didn't start till about 11:15. I was just glad I got everything done in the midest of the choas that was going on that week and I think the final product was great. Except for Joselyn stealing my audio track for her one minute film too... ha. Anyways, it definitely was a great experience to do this! One of the funnest things I have had to do for a class.
LWR
Coming into this project I was really excited because this project is what I saw last semester and it made me want to take this class. I also already had ideas of what I was going to do or at least how I was going to film it... which was with digital camera stills. And I was going to put them all in a "cartoon" effect to make it look unique. Well, before the project even began my computer crashed. Saturday night. I took it in Monday, when the race began, and didn't get it back until Wednesday afternoon. Once we got the prop I decided I would focus on three different parts that would relatively be around 20 seconds each of the one minute film. The parts where: glow-in-the-dark stars, people and signs with the stars to show how everyday people are "stars," and then drawings I did (similar to the 2-D Animation) that had the actual line ("my god its full of stars) in it. I latter was the easiest. The second part was hard because I had to randomly ask a bunch of people to put on this star and let me take a picture of them... it was fun though. And also when I put random stars on things like peoples cars and then ran after hoping no one saw me.... it made for a fun Tuesday afternoon. The first part, the glow-in-the-dark stars sucked though because without a flash and in the dark the stars didn't show up on camera. So I had to get creative and spin some glow sticks around to get some crazy pictures, but I think it still worked out.
So after I got all my footage, I couldn't do anything until I got my computer back Wednesday. I had to put the pics on the computer and edit them to the "Cartoon" look. Then I had to rush to the edit lab and edit it all together. By about 8:30pm I was adding my audio track and next was going to print to video when the computer froze. Apparently everytime I hit "save" it stopped working after about half way through so I had to restart at 8:30 (an hour remaining) at the half way point. I rushed to get done and finished at 10:15. I thought for sure I was going to be late and it would be over. Even though it took me four different computers and two different tape decks, I got it done and got there at 10:30 to find out we hadn't started and didn't start till about 11:15. I was just glad I got everything done in the midest of the choas that was going on that week and I think the final product was great. Except for Joselyn stealing my audio track for her one minute film too... ha. Anyways, it definitely was a great experience to do this! One of the funnest things I have had to do for a class.
LWR
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Freestyle: A Whole Semester in the Dark
So.. we have a blog where we have to do freestyle, so I figured I'd talk about something that I find amusing relating to a certain class and/or certain professor. In this class, a class that I was relatively excited about taking when I was at the senior level, has been a complete let down. Now I'll be honest, I have learned some things in the class. We have done a few assignments here and there and did a few workshops that I found could be helpful in the future. But our final (and only) scene to film (from here on out I will refer to it as a "project" so I don't get too heavy into details), given certain days and times to film during class time, isn't encouraged to be done as good as possible, but rather "dogma" style. It's more about "process" than "product". Understandable, but I think it is a little bit of both, not one or the other. I asked to be able to do my "project" at a different time and have more people/equipment to make it look as good as possible. I am getting ready to graduate in the Fall and I would like to have something to show. I have been in FST 302: Doc and FST 495: Doc, so this is a chance where I get to work with a narrative (other than other student films I have helped out on).
I just am bothered that when I was denied of not being able to do it on my own and it's not about the product, the reason why is because it is "not fair to others". "We don't have enough equipment," was another one... I think if a student should want to go above and beyond to try their best it should be encouraged, not denied. If I have the means of doing it the best I can, I should. It is fair game to any student in that class and you would hope they all want to do their best, and if not they are not going to care enough to get upset if someone who wants to do it well does. That is why in a class you have people that get A's and others F's. Not everyone is going to try as hard as someone else and I don't think that means what is "fair" or not. Everyone has a chance to do this, but we are restricted. I even asked if I could do it during my given time and then again, that way the professor could help with the process and then I could later finish whatever we needed and make it decent. This was still iffy, but I think I am going to do it anyway. I am here, paying for my education and have access to this equipment and other tools that in a few months I will no longer be able to use. I think I should have the right to do it as best as I can because it will help out in the end. I mean, what is the worst that will happen? Will I get a bad grade because I did something better than what was asked? Or at least tried to do something on my own so I could get experience? I am not really sure, but this next week is going to be interesting, that's for sure.
LWR
I just am bothered that when I was denied of not being able to do it on my own and it's not about the product, the reason why is because it is "not fair to others". "We don't have enough equipment," was another one... I think if a student should want to go above and beyond to try their best it should be encouraged, not denied. If I have the means of doing it the best I can, I should. It is fair game to any student in that class and you would hope they all want to do their best, and if not they are not going to care enough to get upset if someone who wants to do it well does. That is why in a class you have people that get A's and others F's. Not everyone is going to try as hard as someone else and I don't think that means what is "fair" or not. Everyone has a chance to do this, but we are restricted. I even asked if I could do it during my given time and then again, that way the professor could help with the process and then I could later finish whatever we needed and make it decent. This was still iffy, but I think I am going to do it anyway. I am here, paying for my education and have access to this equipment and other tools that in a few months I will no longer be able to use. I think I should have the right to do it as best as I can because it will help out in the end. I mean, what is the worst that will happen? Will I get a bad grade because I did something better than what was asked? Or at least tried to do something on my own so I could get experience? I am not really sure, but this next week is going to be interesting, that's for sure.
LWR
Pablo Aravz: The World's Molotov Man
After reading both articles ("The Ecstacy of Influence and "The Molotov Man"), I have decided to focus on Pablo Aravz and the "Molotov Man" for my blog. Although I thought both articles were interesting, the "Molotov Man" made me think more and I think I took more out of it. The original picture, taken in 1979 by Susan Meiselas, was a depiction of a Sandinista throwing a molotov cocktail at a Somoza as they were leaving. The Somoza's were in control up until this point and on the day the photo was taken they were leaving power and the town in Nicaragua. Susan's original picture features Pablo holding the molotov in one hand and a assult riffle around his other arm. There are other people in the background. Pablo, then known as "Bareta," was doing what he was supposed to do for the Sandinistas. It wasn't a picture about a riot, but one of difiance. The Somoza's were already leaving so there was no fight or need to rebel.
When Joy Garnett got ahold of this picture she focused only on Pablo and only used part of his body for her painting. She focused on Pablo with just the molotov in hand. She used a picture that was for documentary purposes and decontextualized it for her own use. She did this because she was working on a Riot series that included many other pictures of people doing crazy things. She even said at one point one of the pictures she used was of a bunch of fraternity men jumping over fires. That picture didn't represent a "riot," probably just kids who drank too much and trying to have a good time. Susan's picture, once again, was not about a riot, but Joy took what she needed from the photo to make it "work" for her project she was working on. She used a variety of pictures, all of which I am sure she didn't get permission to use, but when she took them in her own way and modified them, decontextualized them, it became something completely different. Something new, and it was her creation. Just because she got the idea from Susan's photo doesn't mean she copied it or stole it.
Taking photos to use that were created for documenting and making them your own work shouldn't be an issue. It makes me laugh, actually, about this whole thing. I just watched a 15 documentary short called, "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" (made in 1986) and I bet that neither guys filming had to get permits to do this. They just brought their camera to the parking lot (and even inside to film the concert) and got away with it. Nowadays with all of the technology and scandals it seems like you have to go through a huge process for something that really shouldn't be that big of a deal. We are all people on this earth and we live in the land of the free so why is this an issue? It wasn't 20 years ago. With permission, copyrights, etc... its all blown out of proportion. I understand if someone makes a film that they want the rights to it or even write their own script it is theirs. Or if someone creates something and copyrights the idea, that is theres. But when it is something that is out in the open and free to one's own eyes, it shouldn't be an issue. Regulations are still unclear for most of this stuff and that is why Susan didn't sue Joy and probably would have lost the case even if she did. My favorite part of this article was when the author talked about "Well who owns the right to Pablo" and that is what it boils down to. If anyone should have claim over the picture, it should be him since he is the subject. Not the person taking it or modifying it.
Anyways, I liked how Joy's friends on the forum took the picture and spread it all over the internet and other ads, like promoting pepsi, because it helped show Susan, and I am sure other people as well, that it really isn't that big of a deal. No one should spend the money in court fees or anything else. If anything, Joy should credit Susan for the original photo, which she did, and call it a day. That's my opinion and I am stickin' to it.
LWR
When Joy Garnett got ahold of this picture she focused only on Pablo and only used part of his body for her painting. She focused on Pablo with just the molotov in hand. She used a picture that was for documentary purposes and decontextualized it for her own use. She did this because she was working on a Riot series that included many other pictures of people doing crazy things. She even said at one point one of the pictures she used was of a bunch of fraternity men jumping over fires. That picture didn't represent a "riot," probably just kids who drank too much and trying to have a good time. Susan's picture, once again, was not about a riot, but Joy took what she needed from the photo to make it "work" for her project she was working on. She used a variety of pictures, all of which I am sure she didn't get permission to use, but when she took them in her own way and modified them, decontextualized them, it became something completely different. Something new, and it was her creation. Just because she got the idea from Susan's photo doesn't mean she copied it or stole it.
Taking photos to use that were created for documenting and making them your own work shouldn't be an issue. It makes me laugh, actually, about this whole thing. I just watched a 15 documentary short called, "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" (made in 1986) and I bet that neither guys filming had to get permits to do this. They just brought their camera to the parking lot (and even inside to film the concert) and got away with it. Nowadays with all of the technology and scandals it seems like you have to go through a huge process for something that really shouldn't be that big of a deal. We are all people on this earth and we live in the land of the free so why is this an issue? It wasn't 20 years ago. With permission, copyrights, etc... its all blown out of proportion. I understand if someone makes a film that they want the rights to it or even write their own script it is theirs. Or if someone creates something and copyrights the idea, that is theres. But when it is something that is out in the open and free to one's own eyes, it shouldn't be an issue. Regulations are still unclear for most of this stuff and that is why Susan didn't sue Joy and probably would have lost the case even if she did. My favorite part of this article was when the author talked about "Well who owns the right to Pablo" and that is what it boils down to. If anyone should have claim over the picture, it should be him since he is the subject. Not the person taking it or modifying it.
Anyways, I liked how Joy's friends on the forum took the picture and spread it all over the internet and other ads, like promoting pepsi, because it helped show Susan, and I am sure other people as well, that it really isn't that big of a deal. No one should spend the money in court fees or anything else. If anything, Joy should credit Susan for the original photo, which she did, and call it a day. That's my opinion and I am stickin' to it.
LWR
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
My empty space... my rough theatre. x3.
First off, my computer sucks and I think I got a virus over the weekend so I am trying my best to do this without losing my patience. This now is my third attempt at doing this blog… Sorry if it is not as long as the others or what not… but I just am trying to finish it and get it posted at this point. Technology: love to hate it and hate to love it.
Onto the rough theatre. The article talks about the difference between the rough and the popular theatre. The rough theatre to me is like the basics of film making. It is a lot like 6x1 and the projects we do in the class. We scratch film, manipulate it, process it, and so on and so forth using the old methods to create a film. Films that would be considered experimental to most, but still a film. It is rough, much like the theatre described in the article. It is small, made up of tools and resources that are easily accessible. It is a place that doesn’t have the most eloquent seating and the stage is probably a small dirt area in front of the audience. Then there is the popular theatre. It is the more technical side of the film business and more popular. More people are familiar with it and it is what has the most success. The popular theatre has a huge stage, side balconies, and a huge area for seating for a vast audience.
My favorite part of the article is when it talks about the rough theatre, “If we find that dung is a good fertilizer, it is no use being squeamish; if the theatre seems to need a certain crude element, this must be accepted as part of its natural soil. At the beginning of electronic music, some German studios claimed that they could make every sound that a natural instrument could make – only better. They then discovered that all their sounds were marked by a certain uniform sterility.” I thought this was a perfect breakdown of the rough theatre as it talks about the dung being one of the tools that helped create this area and it worked. The dung, although it smells horrible, helped hold the sound from the instrument better than any other resource they could use. They took what they had and made it work. That is how I feel 6x1 is. We have six different projects and each one we use different resources provided, including our brains, to get creative and create our own version of the rough theatre. I am glad I got the chance to take this class and create my own rough theatre over and over, because before taking this class I probably would stay away from projects like this but now, it has opened up my eyes and I love it. I love my empty space.
LWR
Onto the rough theatre. The article talks about the difference between the rough and the popular theatre. The rough theatre to me is like the basics of film making. It is a lot like 6x1 and the projects we do in the class. We scratch film, manipulate it, process it, and so on and so forth using the old methods to create a film. Films that would be considered experimental to most, but still a film. It is rough, much like the theatre described in the article. It is small, made up of tools and resources that are easily accessible. It is a place that doesn’t have the most eloquent seating and the stage is probably a small dirt area in front of the audience. Then there is the popular theatre. It is the more technical side of the film business and more popular. More people are familiar with it and it is what has the most success. The popular theatre has a huge stage, side balconies, and a huge area for seating for a vast audience.
My favorite part of the article is when it talks about the rough theatre, “If we find that dung is a good fertilizer, it is no use being squeamish; if the theatre seems to need a certain crude element, this must be accepted as part of its natural soil. At the beginning of electronic music, some German studios claimed that they could make every sound that a natural instrument could make – only better. They then discovered that all their sounds were marked by a certain uniform sterility.” I thought this was a perfect breakdown of the rough theatre as it talks about the dung being one of the tools that helped create this area and it worked. The dung, although it smells horrible, helped hold the sound from the instrument better than any other resource they could use. They took what they had and made it work. That is how I feel 6x1 is. We have six different projects and each one we use different resources provided, including our brains, to get creative and create our own version of the rough theatre. I am glad I got the chance to take this class and create my own rough theatre over and over, because before taking this class I probably would stay away from projects like this but now, it has opened up my eyes and I love it. I love my empty space.
LWR
48 Hour Video Race... Flashbacks of FST201.
The picture to the left is an example of a picture I used in one of my FST 201 class that I edited in photoshop. I think I am going to try this technique for my whole project... I explain more in detail below.....
Assignment #5, the 48-hour video race, is what first interested me in 6x1. I saw all of the videos from last semester when I went to the screening for my FST 302 Doc film. I thought they were really cool and unique since the class couldn’t use any actual cameras or videos. At the time I wasn’t sure what 6x1 was but these minute films seemed really cool. I also spent time in editing lab working on my FST 302 Doc while Dustin was editing his 48 hour video race so he told me about it and he’s was amazing. I also helped Kyle with his when he did it. It was really cool seeing one of my friends write “cookie” in the air and take a photo of it, combining it with many others to make a story.
It reminds me of my days in FST 201 with Shannon, where before there was a time when FST 201 actually used real cameras, we had to shoot all of our project with digital photo stills all placed together to make a compelling story. At first I wish we could have used cameras to film with but this method helped me understand how film breaks down, frame by frame, and I think it was a good start to my film major. Now I get to go back to those days with this assignment and use types of media other than video or recording to do this. Since I enjoyed using my camera so much during FST 201 I have decided to use my digital camera for this project and do a combination of stills to make a story with the mystery prop and a cheese sandwich. I went to Jungle Rapids the other day and saw that they had three different booths to do photos but for 16 photos it was $3. So even though I think it would be unique and might have a cool turn out, I have to pass on that idea because of the cost. I also have a video recorder on my camera but I think that takes away the fun from the project because even though the quality is bad, it is still a way to record. Other ideas that we discussed in class like scanners once again can become to costly and right now I am not one to be spending much money. I am a broke college student, remember.
Another method that I am thinking about tying in with my digital photo stills is camera phone pictures. I have an application on my phone (no its not an iphone) that I can take a picture and automatically upload it online. So I can use a combination of phone photos and camera photos to make my project. I also think I might mess around with them in photoshop to see what cool stuff I can do to make it different from the average combination of photos. I think it will be fun and I can’t wait…. One more week! P.S. I feel like the mystery prop is going to be a baby toy or something… ha. Lets see if I’m right.
It reminds me of my days in FST 201 with Shannon, where before there was a time when FST 201 actually used real cameras, we had to shoot all of our project with digital photo stills all placed together to make a compelling story. At first I wish we could have used cameras to film with but this method helped me understand how film breaks down, frame by frame, and I think it was a good start to my film major. Now I get to go back to those days with this assignment and use types of media other than video or recording to do this. Since I enjoyed using my camera so much during FST 201 I have decided to use my digital camera for this project and do a combination of stills to make a story with the mystery prop and a cheese sandwich. I went to Jungle Rapids the other day and saw that they had three different booths to do photos but for 16 photos it was $3. So even though I think it would be unique and might have a cool turn out, I have to pass on that idea because of the cost. I also have a video recorder on my camera but I think that takes away the fun from the project because even though the quality is bad, it is still a way to record. Other ideas that we discussed in class like scanners once again can become to costly and right now I am not one to be spending much money. I am a broke college student, remember.
Another method that I am thinking about tying in with my digital photo stills is camera phone pictures. I have an application on my phone (no its not an iphone) that I can take a picture and automatically upload it online. So I can use a combination of phone photos and camera photos to make my project. I also think I might mess around with them in photoshop to see what cool stuff I can do to make it different from the average combination of photos. I think it will be fun and I can’t wait…. One more week! P.S. I feel like the mystery prop is going to be a baby toy or something… ha. Lets see if I’m right.
LWR
Sunday, March 1, 2009
On the Making of Fiberboard '72. (Bolex shoot)
Rain. Sweat. Dedication. Fun. More rain. Bruises. Losing my keys. Tons of wet clothes. And even more rain. All of these different words sum up my experience on Saturday with the one shot using the Bolex. It wasn’t the first time I used a Bolex (FST 302 doc for our parkour doc) so I didn’t get the chance to film but I don’t care, I just love shooting with the Bolex. I love the black and white grainy look; it reminds me of the 1920s and 30s and silent films. But anyways, on to the shoot…
So we started out helping Joselyn’s group with their project which was full of choreography and crazy dance moves all around. What made it even better was Joselyn’s costume box as I think it helped everyone get more excited and establish a “character” to portray in the shot. I feel bad though because we rushed the timing on it because we thought we only had 28 seconds to shoot when really we had a whole minute. Even though we did rush through it and every rehearsal we moved a second faster, I think the turnout was still really awesome and in editing they will be able to do some cool stuff to make it that much better. I just want to go on the record and say I wasn’t one of the ones to tell them to speed it up but when someone said 28 seconds I thought it was right because we were underexposing, or speeding up the film rate, so I thought the film would process faster… in my head it made sense but I was wrong. We all make mistakes though, and like I said their footage was still pretty good, even with the f-stop being off and the processing not turning out exactly as well as it could have.
After we helped them though we started our project. We were going for a Vietnam flashback. We wanted to have a couple, lovingly together, and when the woman finds out the man is a vet (Even though he was wearing a army jacket), she rages and proceeds to chop him, then beat him up with the fiberwood. She is running from his past and from the war. After we see this action, we see the Veit Cong in the woods creeping out. We go back to the girl who sees the man getting back to his feet and going after her. She escapes though. All of the Viet Cong emerge from the forest and chase after the man who was in war, he can’t escape it. The girl makes one final strike at the man and she is able to leave him and his past alone, as he will forever be tied to the war and unable to escape the battles he once took. Ok, so that is my personal meaning of it all, and it can be understood if watched closely or several times, but I believe the message is clear. I just want to say thanks to Joselyn for helping us out and being the female lead. Everyone should watch out for her tiger strike… it’s pretty crucial. After we shot it and processed (which it turned out well), we watched it in the negative version and I am satisfied with it. We only did two rehearsals before shooting as well so I think for only trying this out three times we nailed it. I can’t wait to take the footage into Final Cut and change the image to a positive and add sound and other craziness. This was probably my favorite assignment we have done so far because we all worked together as a class to help each other out and the ideas for the projects were great. It made the day entertaining, even with the rain. I know we probably won’t have time to do it again but I would have loved to do this without rain, I think we could have had a better turn out and more people willing to help. But by the end of the day everyone was wet and tired and we just wanted to get done with it all and get some food. One idea was even to just go to taco bell and film us eating tacos because we were so hungry. But we toughed it out and filmed what we planned. Like I said, be on the lookout for Fiberboard ’72, it’s gonna be an instant classic.
LWR
So we started out helping Joselyn’s group with their project which was full of choreography and crazy dance moves all around. What made it even better was Joselyn’s costume box as I think it helped everyone get more excited and establish a “character” to portray in the shot. I feel bad though because we rushed the timing on it because we thought we only had 28 seconds to shoot when really we had a whole minute. Even though we did rush through it and every rehearsal we moved a second faster, I think the turnout was still really awesome and in editing they will be able to do some cool stuff to make it that much better. I just want to go on the record and say I wasn’t one of the ones to tell them to speed it up but when someone said 28 seconds I thought it was right because we were underexposing, or speeding up the film rate, so I thought the film would process faster… in my head it made sense but I was wrong. We all make mistakes though, and like I said their footage was still pretty good, even with the f-stop being off and the processing not turning out exactly as well as it could have.
After we helped them though we started our project. We were going for a Vietnam flashback. We wanted to have a couple, lovingly together, and when the woman finds out the man is a vet (Even though he was wearing a army jacket), she rages and proceeds to chop him, then beat him up with the fiberwood. She is running from his past and from the war. After we see this action, we see the Veit Cong in the woods creeping out. We go back to the girl who sees the man getting back to his feet and going after her. She escapes though. All of the Viet Cong emerge from the forest and chase after the man who was in war, he can’t escape it. The girl makes one final strike at the man and she is able to leave him and his past alone, as he will forever be tied to the war and unable to escape the battles he once took. Ok, so that is my personal meaning of it all, and it can be understood if watched closely or several times, but I believe the message is clear. I just want to say thanks to Joselyn for helping us out and being the female lead. Everyone should watch out for her tiger strike… it’s pretty crucial. After we shot it and processed (which it turned out well), we watched it in the negative version and I am satisfied with it. We only did two rehearsals before shooting as well so I think for only trying this out three times we nailed it. I can’t wait to take the footage into Final Cut and change the image to a positive and add sound and other craziness. This was probably my favorite assignment we have done so far because we all worked together as a class to help each other out and the ideas for the projects were great. It made the day entertaining, even with the rain. I know we probably won’t have time to do it again but I would have loved to do this without rain, I think we could have had a better turn out and more people willing to help. But by the end of the day everyone was wet and tired and we just wanted to get done with it all and get some food. One idea was even to just go to taco bell and film us eating tacos because we were so hungry. But we toughed it out and filmed what we planned. Like I said, be on the lookout for Fiberboard ’72, it’s gonna be an instant classic.
LWR
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Really upset. Well Kinda. This beer tastes awesome.
Can't believe UNCW is getting rid of 6x1 next semester. Thats an outrage... just sayin.
By the way... Rhythmic editing is a bitch... but it was my first real edit by myself and I think it turned out pretty good... I'm stoked. And I feel more prepared for my midterm in editing on Monday... gotta love how that works out.
LWR
By the way... Rhythmic editing is a bitch... but it was my first real edit by myself and I think it turned out pretty good... I'm stoked. And I feel more prepared for my midterm in editing on Monday... gotta love how that works out.
LWR
Monday, February 23, 2009
Scratch Film Junkie all day long.
Last class we watched our second scratch film junkie’s short and have to give a response. So I kind of jumbled all of my notes together in single words and hoped to later develop them. This is my attempt. Be forewarned, none of this could make any sense, but hey, I’ll try.
Firstly, I felt more comfortable watching this one over the first one because I felt it was longer and had more variety of film manipulation but also I feel like I have a better understanding of what is going on and how they did certain things. Even though we have only done our first assignment so far, I feel much more familiar with this style of film and the techniques involved with manipulation. Now I am going to try and explain what I saw as I saw it on-screen. There were green fuzzy circles that to me looked like some type of weird superhero video game DNA strand. Then there were arrows that were transparent with an outline or completely white that moved around. I liked this part because I tried to do this for our elements project and it worked out pretty good except for the section that my printer missed. Of course the scratch film did it 10x better than I did but hey, one day, maybe. Then there was a man’s face with black circles on waves that had holes… it looked like more DNA strands. It was vertically based and horizontally based waves with random holes though and that looked really cool to do. I think the holes were just punched out but I am not sure how the waves were done. Interesting though. There was a section with something that looked like smoke. More circles with stars… scratch film junkies love their shapes. Then there were people dancing to the beat of the music and objects were masked with others. Also there was a variety of colors here that created some really cool frames.
One of my favorite parts was when there was old footage of a little boy shown and his body was distorted because half of it was on one frame and the other half on another but the frames were cut in half and then spliced together. It looked like the film was messed up or something was wrong but there wasn’t. The plane slowly moving toward the viewer and then taking off superimposed with other objects was awesome. I want to mess around more with film stock and scratch on that. I like having something going on in the background with the manipulation taking place in the foreground, it always creates something interesting to say the least. There were black and white lines toward the end that moved crazy on the frame, I think this was more scratching done. I loved the ending though with the man with the mask on, half buried in the sand, moving around like a tether ball on a pole. It shows the fun and good times in this whole short and it fits perfect because it is completely playful and entertaining but has no definite meaning, just like the rest of the film.
Well it’s the end of my blog, so I’ll wrap up with my thank you speech (the oscars did just occur, after all). Don’t worry it will be quick. I’d like to thank Thad Povey for his crazy mad creations and A Silva for letting us be exposed to this awesomeness and my parents for bringing me into this world. None of this could be possible with out you. Long live scratch film junkies.
LWR
Firstly, I felt more comfortable watching this one over the first one because I felt it was longer and had more variety of film manipulation but also I feel like I have a better understanding of what is going on and how they did certain things. Even though we have only done our first assignment so far, I feel much more familiar with this style of film and the techniques involved with manipulation. Now I am going to try and explain what I saw as I saw it on-screen. There were green fuzzy circles that to me looked like some type of weird superhero video game DNA strand. Then there were arrows that were transparent with an outline or completely white that moved around. I liked this part because I tried to do this for our elements project and it worked out pretty good except for the section that my printer missed. Of course the scratch film did it 10x better than I did but hey, one day, maybe. Then there was a man’s face with black circles on waves that had holes… it looked like more DNA strands. It was vertically based and horizontally based waves with random holes though and that looked really cool to do. I think the holes were just punched out but I am not sure how the waves were done. Interesting though. There was a section with something that looked like smoke. More circles with stars… scratch film junkies love their shapes. Then there were people dancing to the beat of the music and objects were masked with others. Also there was a variety of colors here that created some really cool frames.
One of my favorite parts was when there was old footage of a little boy shown and his body was distorted because half of it was on one frame and the other half on another but the frames were cut in half and then spliced together. It looked like the film was messed up or something was wrong but there wasn’t. The plane slowly moving toward the viewer and then taking off superimposed with other objects was awesome. I want to mess around more with film stock and scratch on that. I like having something going on in the background with the manipulation taking place in the foreground, it always creates something interesting to say the least. There were black and white lines toward the end that moved crazy on the frame, I think this was more scratching done. I loved the ending though with the man with the mask on, half buried in the sand, moving around like a tether ball on a pole. It shows the fun and good times in this whole short and it fits perfect because it is completely playful and entertaining but has no definite meaning, just like the rest of the film.
Well it’s the end of my blog, so I’ll wrap up with my thank you speech (the oscars did just occur, after all). Don’t worry it will be quick. I’d like to thank Thad Povey for his crazy mad creations and A Silva for letting us be exposed to this awesomeness and my parents for bringing me into this world. None of this could be possible with out you. Long live scratch film junkies.
LWR
Blogging on sound, Chion, and... HORROR!!
I know this blog is a few days late but I find it to be much more appropriate today then if I had written it the other day. In my Intro to Editing class we watched our cuts of Gunsmoke and discussed different aspects of different groups’ work. One of the main things we discussed was sound because of the poor quality from the footage we were given. Many times, the music and noise, or the anempathetic sound, was louder and over took the empathetic sound, or dialogue. The country western score was louder than the characters voices and it causes you to lose touch when them, similar to what Chion is trying to state in his article. Like Chion stated, “the ear analyzes, processes, and synthesizes faster than the eyes,” so if we hear music we have a certain feeling that we think will be evoked and when it isn’t it is misleading to the audience and can cause confusion.
In silent films, it was easy for them to work without sound because there wasn’t a disposition between time and space. Shot A always followed shot B, and the editing techniques were very minimal. The shot duration was much longer too so the audience could use their eyes to perceive everything in the shot, including the space and time. But because it takes longer for the eye to perceive all of this than the ear, that is why the shots were longer. With sound added, it created a new depth that could match different shots together, even if they weren’t in the same time and space, because of overlapping dialogue or music. If the silent film did have a score, it still did not have any voices in it and was there to just be a background or filler to the action. Most of the time the music was expressed through a piano or some other type of instrument and it was meant to help intensify the scene, whether it was suspenseful or comical. With the use of the audiovisual illusion, the illusion located first and foremost in the heart of the most important of relations between sound and image, it could allow for much faster movement and story development. Chion follows that definition with a question. He asks if the notion of cinema as art of the image is just an illusion, and I believe it purely is. Cinema used to be the art of just the camera and what was seen through the lens. It has evolved over time, just like everything else, and has many components that each seek their own attention to detail to create what nowadays is cinema. It is not only the camera; it is the actors and the emotion they display, it is the cinematographer getting the right angle for a essential shot, it is the editor slowly and masterfully piecing each part of the film together and it is the director, above all, to make the right decisions to get the movie where it needs to be. These elements of all work together to make cinema and many other aspects like sound editing or screenwriting that one might not see on the surface but cannot be left out in the process of producing a film.
I have not done background research on Chion but if I were to guess, I think he is a master in sound and editing. This article is a very elaborate and detailed analysis of sound and provides definitions and examples to help the reader understand what he is trying to explain. For example, the added value to sound is the expressive and informative value with which a sound enriches a given image so as to create the definite impression, in the immediate or remembered experience one has of it, that this information or expression “naturally” comes from what is seen, and is already contained in the image itself; I guess I knew what this was but never knew the right term. Even when Chion discussed horror films I found it interesting. It is almost the opposite of any other type of genre and how sound is made for the film. Instead of focusing on the dialogue and the emotions that are created through the text of the frame, it is the music and the noise that builds suspense and makes the scene tenser than one with lots of text. Hearing a girl running and screaming isn’t as scary as hearing the slow footsteps of the killer and their weapon dragging on the ground as they go after their prey. Sound can be used in many different ways but I thought this interpretation was unique because of how different it is used from any other genre. I just wonder if the “scream” that is always talked about still exists in films, you know, the one that is the universal sign for “this is a horror film?” I wouldn’t know though, because with the exception of a few, most horror movies these days have lost touch with what horror is all about. But that’s another topic, for another day. Until then.
LWR
In silent films, it was easy for them to work without sound because there wasn’t a disposition between time and space. Shot A always followed shot B, and the editing techniques were very minimal. The shot duration was much longer too so the audience could use their eyes to perceive everything in the shot, including the space and time. But because it takes longer for the eye to perceive all of this than the ear, that is why the shots were longer. With sound added, it created a new depth that could match different shots together, even if they weren’t in the same time and space, because of overlapping dialogue or music. If the silent film did have a score, it still did not have any voices in it and was there to just be a background or filler to the action. Most of the time the music was expressed through a piano or some other type of instrument and it was meant to help intensify the scene, whether it was suspenseful or comical. With the use of the audiovisual illusion, the illusion located first and foremost in the heart of the most important of relations between sound and image, it could allow for much faster movement and story development. Chion follows that definition with a question. He asks if the notion of cinema as art of the image is just an illusion, and I believe it purely is. Cinema used to be the art of just the camera and what was seen through the lens. It has evolved over time, just like everything else, and has many components that each seek their own attention to detail to create what nowadays is cinema. It is not only the camera; it is the actors and the emotion they display, it is the cinematographer getting the right angle for a essential shot, it is the editor slowly and masterfully piecing each part of the film together and it is the director, above all, to make the right decisions to get the movie where it needs to be. These elements of all work together to make cinema and many other aspects like sound editing or screenwriting that one might not see on the surface but cannot be left out in the process of producing a film.
I have not done background research on Chion but if I were to guess, I think he is a master in sound and editing. This article is a very elaborate and detailed analysis of sound and provides definitions and examples to help the reader understand what he is trying to explain. For example, the added value to sound is the expressive and informative value with which a sound enriches a given image so as to create the definite impression, in the immediate or remembered experience one has of it, that this information or expression “naturally” comes from what is seen, and is already contained in the image itself; I guess I knew what this was but never knew the right term. Even when Chion discussed horror films I found it interesting. It is almost the opposite of any other type of genre and how sound is made for the film. Instead of focusing on the dialogue and the emotions that are created through the text of the frame, it is the music and the noise that builds suspense and makes the scene tenser than one with lots of text. Hearing a girl running and screaming isn’t as scary as hearing the slow footsteps of the killer and their weapon dragging on the ground as they go after their prey. Sound can be used in many different ways but I thought this interpretation was unique because of how different it is used from any other genre. I just wonder if the “scream” that is always talked about still exists in films, you know, the one that is the universal sign for “this is a horror film?” I wouldn’t know though, because with the exception of a few, most horror movies these days have lost touch with what horror is all about. But that’s another topic, for another day. Until then.
LWR
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wells... on a Theory of Animation
Wells article was very intuitive. I have never really put a lot of thought into animation but after reading this article I feel it’s kind of a common sense thing, but it gives more details to one who doesn’t know much about animation. The article starts off talking about cel animation and how it has the most production value because of how it can be easily made and mass produced. Like most Disney movies in the past all of their animated films were made by cel animation, whether it was hand pencil-tested or computerized. Nowadays though animation has gone to a whole new level, especially with companies like Disney who team up with Pixar to make three-dimensional films. I will go into this later on.
Well first distinguishes the types of animation as either orthodox or experimental and how they are processed down the developmental line of animation. Orthodox animation has configuration, specific continuity, narrative form, evolution of content, unity of style, absence of the artist, and dynamics of the dialogue. There are distinguishable “figures”, such as people or animals that one can identify with. They have to succeed at a task or build off of their failures to capture the audience and reel them in. This creates sympathy for the character and hope that they will succeed. The music, sound effects, and score all help with the drawings, especially in chase scenes or scenes of conflict. Orthodox animation helps develop the character and establish moments, some comical, that the audience can relate to or feel some type of emotion. The style has to stay consistent. If it’s cel animated and two-dimensional, then it has to stay that way throughout. The use of close ups, medium shots, establishing shots, left to right pans, and moving up and down in the environment help with the narrative structure and style to create this type of animation. Also color, design, and editing techniques have to be consistent. Style is most important and so the artist has to stay out of the work unless it’s something like Duck Amuck which is a type of auteurist animation. Dialogue is key as well and it helps distinguish different characters. Daffy always lisps when he talks and says things like “that’s despicable”, Bugs is always superior with his speech and frequently says “what’s up doc?” while others like Elmer Fudd can be identified by his speech pronunciation like when he says “wabbits” instead of “rabbits.” There is also the difference between symphonic and carophonic. Disney uses symphonic which is poetic and operatic. Warner Bros typically uses carophonic which is urban and explosive.
The other type of animation is experimental. It redefines the body and rhythm and movement are in their own right. It doesn’t have figures but instead just various shapes and forms. It has its own conditions and languages and isn’t continuous. It’s also non narrative, displayed through abstract forms in motion, ambiguity, and it’s metaphorical. Different colors, shapes, textures evoke different moods and ideas. For example a dot changes into a circle. There is no style, everything comes together as one with a variety of different techniques through new effects and different modes. The artist usually is present too and they do this so they can make their animation personal and have individuality. It’s almost like a dream-state. Instead of dialogue, experimental animation relies on music to define the shapes, rhythm, speed, use of colors and language. It can often be poetic and sometimes silence is used to evoke a type of emotion.
Although I like the orthodox style and it is most frequent, I can’t wait until tonight so I can make some experimental animation in 6x1 to blow peoples minds and in the process learn how to make my own animation.. Fa sho.
LWR
Well first distinguishes the types of animation as either orthodox or experimental and how they are processed down the developmental line of animation. Orthodox animation has configuration, specific continuity, narrative form, evolution of content, unity of style, absence of the artist, and dynamics of the dialogue. There are distinguishable “figures”, such as people or animals that one can identify with. They have to succeed at a task or build off of their failures to capture the audience and reel them in. This creates sympathy for the character and hope that they will succeed. The music, sound effects, and score all help with the drawings, especially in chase scenes or scenes of conflict. Orthodox animation helps develop the character and establish moments, some comical, that the audience can relate to or feel some type of emotion. The style has to stay consistent. If it’s cel animated and two-dimensional, then it has to stay that way throughout. The use of close ups, medium shots, establishing shots, left to right pans, and moving up and down in the environment help with the narrative structure and style to create this type of animation. Also color, design, and editing techniques have to be consistent. Style is most important and so the artist has to stay out of the work unless it’s something like Duck Amuck which is a type of auteurist animation. Dialogue is key as well and it helps distinguish different characters. Daffy always lisps when he talks and says things like “that’s despicable”, Bugs is always superior with his speech and frequently says “what’s up doc?” while others like Elmer Fudd can be identified by his speech pronunciation like when he says “wabbits” instead of “rabbits.” There is also the difference between symphonic and carophonic. Disney uses symphonic which is poetic and operatic. Warner Bros typically uses carophonic which is urban and explosive.
The other type of animation is experimental. It redefines the body and rhythm and movement are in their own right. It doesn’t have figures but instead just various shapes and forms. It has its own conditions and languages and isn’t continuous. It’s also non narrative, displayed through abstract forms in motion, ambiguity, and it’s metaphorical. Different colors, shapes, textures evoke different moods and ideas. For example a dot changes into a circle. There is no style, everything comes together as one with a variety of different techniques through new effects and different modes. The artist usually is present too and they do this so they can make their animation personal and have individuality. It’s almost like a dream-state. Instead of dialogue, experimental animation relies on music to define the shapes, rhythm, speed, use of colors and language. It can often be poetic and sometimes silence is used to evoke a type of emotion.
Although I like the orthodox style and it is most frequent, I can’t wait until tonight so I can make some experimental animation in 6x1 to blow peoples minds and in the process learn how to make my own animation.. Fa sho.
LWR
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Cameraless Filmmaking... thus far.
Cameraless filmmaking thus far… well with the cancelation of one class due to the birth of little Silva and then the following week missing class because of going out of town, I feel a little out of the loop, but I will base this blog off of what I have experienced so far, although it may not be as much as others in class.
On the first day of class I didn’t really know what to expect, other than the 48 hour projects I saw at the screening last semester and one of my friends telling me to take the class. The first Scratch Film we watched was impressive in its own sense but I still wasn’t sure how it was made other than using paints and such on film strips. I wasn’t sure how it was all put together though and made into a five minute or so piece. Then we began our own filmmaking by first learning how to splice film and then scratch on it with sharpies, markers, push pins, hole punches and other cool tools to use. I felt like I was entering the arts and crafts of filmmaking and it reminded me of my days in kindergarten, which is nice in this time of my life when everything seems to be so serious and “it has to be done this way.” I know film gives one the opportunity to explore and try new things, but when taking classes you are only taught one way, the way the professors see fit to best educate you, but this class breaks those boundaries. You are open to try anything and everything, like Brakhage stated, to find ways to make camerless filmmaking.
The next week was even better as we got to cut out pieces of magazines and transfer them to our clear leader film strips and also got to use inks and oils to paint on. I found this really cool and loved every bit of it. I feel like these methods are much more sufficient to use when trying to work on our first assignment instead of just using markers like we did the first week. I am now more excited about using these methods to create what my partner and I feel represents “earth, wind, fire, and water” on the film strip. Although I missed last class and the workshop on rayograms, I am glad we will spend more time on it this week so I can get caught up to speed. I do feel, however, that the Brakhage article helped me understand rayograms and the process even though I haven’t done it yet.
So now comes the point of no return, moving into the future, and beginning our own work on our assignment after learning some cool techniques. We haven’t started on our project but I imagine over the next week we will get together and knock it out. I am still thinking of ideas of how to represent these elements and I think after tonight’s class I will have a better idea. I have loved every minute of this experience so far though and I am glad we have such a cool class/ professor because everyone seems excited to learn and partake in this experience. Until next time.
LWR
On the first day of class I didn’t really know what to expect, other than the 48 hour projects I saw at the screening last semester and one of my friends telling me to take the class. The first Scratch Film we watched was impressive in its own sense but I still wasn’t sure how it was made other than using paints and such on film strips. I wasn’t sure how it was all put together though and made into a five minute or so piece. Then we began our own filmmaking by first learning how to splice film and then scratch on it with sharpies, markers, push pins, hole punches and other cool tools to use. I felt like I was entering the arts and crafts of filmmaking and it reminded me of my days in kindergarten, which is nice in this time of my life when everything seems to be so serious and “it has to be done this way.” I know film gives one the opportunity to explore and try new things, but when taking classes you are only taught one way, the way the professors see fit to best educate you, but this class breaks those boundaries. You are open to try anything and everything, like Brakhage stated, to find ways to make camerless filmmaking.
The next week was even better as we got to cut out pieces of magazines and transfer them to our clear leader film strips and also got to use inks and oils to paint on. I found this really cool and loved every bit of it. I feel like these methods are much more sufficient to use when trying to work on our first assignment instead of just using markers like we did the first week. I am now more excited about using these methods to create what my partner and I feel represents “earth, wind, fire, and water” on the film strip. Although I missed last class and the workshop on rayograms, I am glad we will spend more time on it this week so I can get caught up to speed. I do feel, however, that the Brakhage article helped me understand rayograms and the process even though I haven’t done it yet.
So now comes the point of no return, moving into the future, and beginning our own work on our assignment after learning some cool techniques. We haven’t started on our project but I imagine over the next week we will get together and knock it out. I am still thinking of ideas of how to represent these elements and I think after tonight’s class I will have a better idea. I have loved every minute of this experience so far though and I am glad we have such a cool class/ professor because everyone seems excited to learn and partake in this experience. Until next time.
LWR
Monday, January 26, 2009
"A Moving Picture Giving and Taking Book" -Brakhage
Brakhage appears to be a very smart and creative man and this article is a prime example of his knowledge and imagination. I learned new things about a moving picture projection and new techniques of how to make a moving picture.
First off, I just want to say though that the article got hard to read and confusing at times because of how in-depth Brakage went into detail and I didn’t understand, but in the areas I did understand I felt it helped me learn from what we have already done in class as well as what we are about to start doing with “A Rayogram”. The article started out explaining the different types of leaders and I found that to be informative because I wasn’t too familiar with this information. The shiny side is the base side and the dull side is the emulsion side (or the stickier side). The sticky or emulsion side is the one you can scratch or mark on. To make sure it is on the right side, when you mark on the film it should leave a white mark on the strip. The film can either be double-sprocketed or double-perf’ed which means there are sprocket holes on both side or it can be single sprocketed or single-perf’ed which means the sprocket holes are only on one side. I found that the marking on the film has to be right to left because it is reversed from the original left to right but the top and bottom don’t reverse. There is a difference between moving picture projectors and viewers and I took some notes on that. I also refreshed myself with the projector as Brakhage went into detail about each piece on the projector and explained what they were there for. The flip-tempo is the speed at which a film strip passes through the gate (determined by the speed of the motor controlling all movements). Reminder: 16 fps is the silent speed and 24 fps is sound speed. The film strip has to be placed emulsion side down into the projector and line up sprocket holes so the film will play. I learned some new things on splicing and took Brakhage’s advice on trying new things, so with our first project I hope to find some new objects and methods to try out, hopefully I will find something cool. I’ll let you know. I also learned that masking is best to be done during the shooting stage, as per Brakhage. I also realized I need to get a good camera… I need to ask my mom if she has an old “8mm” camera so I can use it… all of my are automatic and that’s no fun. I have never paid attention to the A.S.A. level either nor knew what it meant, so I am glad I learned that. (For example, the average A.S.A. level is 5 for sound film and if it is a 5 it needs a lot of light to be exposed, so you could flash a light on it for about 2-3 seconds without ruining the film strip.) This can be also used to know how long to flash the light on the film with objects on it so they will become exposed. This is what “A Rayogram” is and I can’t wait to do it next class. Actually, I will be absent next class (out of town) so I will have to get my partner to show me but I feel that I understand the process. I also learned the difference between “Daylight” and “Tungsten” film and how using a blue filter over a light on “Daylight” can give a sky look… sounds cool. I want to try it. Another note I made, repeating something I stated earlier… Low A.S.A. (ex. 5) means low fstop (ex. 1.5) with a wide opening and needs lots of light and high A.S.A. (ex. 120) means high fstop (ex. 22) means not much light is coming through so it can easily overexpose. Reviewed fstops again for the thousandth time but helped me. Anyways, in conclusion, I found this article to be extremely helpful in that I both learned and reviewed information for this class. The only thing I would tell Brakhage is try to speak clearer because sometimes I feel he just rambles on about his experiences but sometimes he gets too detailed for the average reader to understand. But I did like his closing thoughts and optimism about people trying their own methods and techniques to be unique and successful.
LWR
First off, I just want to say though that the article got hard to read and confusing at times because of how in-depth Brakage went into detail and I didn’t understand, but in the areas I did understand I felt it helped me learn from what we have already done in class as well as what we are about to start doing with “A Rayogram”. The article started out explaining the different types of leaders and I found that to be informative because I wasn’t too familiar with this information. The shiny side is the base side and the dull side is the emulsion side (or the stickier side). The sticky or emulsion side is the one you can scratch or mark on. To make sure it is on the right side, when you mark on the film it should leave a white mark on the strip. The film can either be double-sprocketed or double-perf’ed which means there are sprocket holes on both side or it can be single sprocketed or single-perf’ed which means the sprocket holes are only on one side. I found that the marking on the film has to be right to left because it is reversed from the original left to right but the top and bottom don’t reverse. There is a difference between moving picture projectors and viewers and I took some notes on that. I also refreshed myself with the projector as Brakhage went into detail about each piece on the projector and explained what they were there for. The flip-tempo is the speed at which a film strip passes through the gate (determined by the speed of the motor controlling all movements). Reminder: 16 fps is the silent speed and 24 fps is sound speed. The film strip has to be placed emulsion side down into the projector and line up sprocket holes so the film will play. I learned some new things on splicing and took Brakhage’s advice on trying new things, so with our first project I hope to find some new objects and methods to try out, hopefully I will find something cool. I’ll let you know. I also learned that masking is best to be done during the shooting stage, as per Brakhage. I also realized I need to get a good camera… I need to ask my mom if she has an old “8mm” camera so I can use it… all of my are automatic and that’s no fun. I have never paid attention to the A.S.A. level either nor knew what it meant, so I am glad I learned that. (For example, the average A.S.A. level is 5 for sound film and if it is a 5 it needs a lot of light to be exposed, so you could flash a light on it for about 2-3 seconds without ruining the film strip.) This can be also used to know how long to flash the light on the film with objects on it so they will become exposed. This is what “A Rayogram” is and I can’t wait to do it next class. Actually, I will be absent next class (out of town) so I will have to get my partner to show me but I feel that I understand the process. I also learned the difference between “Daylight” and “Tungsten” film and how using a blue filter over a light on “Daylight” can give a sky look… sounds cool. I want to try it. Another note I made, repeating something I stated earlier… Low A.S.A. (ex. 5) means low fstop (ex. 1.5) with a wide opening and needs lots of light and high A.S.A. (ex. 120) means high fstop (ex. 22) means not much light is coming through so it can easily overexpose. Reviewed fstops again for the thousandth time but helped me. Anyways, in conclusion, I found this article to be extremely helpful in that I both learned and reviewed information for this class. The only thing I would tell Brakhage is try to speak clearer because sometimes I feel he just rambles on about his experiences but sometimes he gets too detailed for the average reader to understand. But I did like his closing thoughts and optimism about people trying their own methods and techniques to be unique and successful.
LWR
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
I'll admit it; I'm a Scratch Film Junkie
The first day of class was awesome... didn't know what to expect but so far I can't wait to do some more scratching and learn more. 6x1 is the arts and crafts class of Film Studies.
We started out the semester by watching Scratch Film Junkies and it was definitely an eye-opener. I felt like at first, through the blue and purple colors on the screen it was about sadness displayed through the mans expression on his face trying to find happiness. The face was covered in blue. I know that this isn't a narrative but it got me thinking more when the score/ music's melody increased. There were bars and lines going across the screen and it felt like chaos. The kids laughing lightened the mood and it seemed like they could bring happiness maybe to the man that was seen at the beginning. I thought the man was on a journey through crazy mayhem and through the kids faces and music that he was starting to find it. There were more faces of men that completely ruined the theory I was going for with the man looking for happiness so now I guess I'll just react to what happened after. Maybe this is showing his progression in life? I didn't get the kids playing with the birds or the woman at the end with the ribbon around her chest. I liked the different shapes used throughout though that were matched randomly with the bars and lines. I felt they helped create tension with the score. The use of a variety of colors didn't seem to provide any specific meaning because there was no group of colors used throughout like all darks or all lights, it was a mixture of everything. I liked the gritty look though and thought it was a cool effect. Can't wait to make my own!
LWR
We started out the semester by watching Scratch Film Junkies and it was definitely an eye-opener. I felt like at first, through the blue and purple colors on the screen it was about sadness displayed through the mans expression on his face trying to find happiness. The face was covered in blue. I know that this isn't a narrative but it got me thinking more when the score/ music's melody increased. There were bars and lines going across the screen and it felt like chaos. The kids laughing lightened the mood and it seemed like they could bring happiness maybe to the man that was seen at the beginning. I thought the man was on a journey through crazy mayhem and through the kids faces and music that he was starting to find it. There were more faces of men that completely ruined the theory I was going for with the man looking for happiness so now I guess I'll just react to what happened after. Maybe this is showing his progression in life? I didn't get the kids playing with the birds or the woman at the end with the ribbon around her chest. I liked the different shapes used throughout though that were matched randomly with the bars and lines. I felt they helped create tension with the score. The use of a variety of colors didn't seem to provide any specific meaning because there was no group of colors used throughout like all darks or all lights, it was a mixture of everything. I liked the gritty look though and thought it was a cool effect. Can't wait to make my own!
LWR
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