"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

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