Last Blog - Rate All 6 Assignments

1) Multi-plane Animation

The multi-plane animation was my favorite assignment because though quite tedious, the experience was really cool from filming to editing. I have seen many stop motion animations but this was the first time I had ever gotten to make one myself. I have a new understanding for the patience needed for these types of projects, and a definite appreciation for those who spend months making full-length animations.

2) Bolex Long Take

The Bolex camera in itself is really awesome. I’m really glad we learned how to use it and I hope to work with one in the future. This assignment falls in second place though because the process was the most fun, which is surprising considering it was our Saturday shoot. It was really cool to work on stuff as a class and help other groups with their projects.

3) Freestyle

The freestyle comes in third place because having the freedom to do whatever we wanted with our film was really awesome, and being able to use a new technique in our own way resulted in me coming up with ideas for future films I make. I also like that we discusses ideas as a class because I never would have come up with some of those things on my own.

4) Direct Film Manipulation

I really liked this assignment and I enjoyed learning how to use many different techniques on film stock. I honestly had no idea what I was doing the whole time but I think the end result was pretty cool to see.

5) Creative Crowdsourcing  

The crowdsourcing assignment was really interesting. I had never even heard of the Johnny Cash project before now and to be able to contribute to something like that was awesome. The only thing that was difficult for me was trying to think of cool things to draw on the frames, especially considering that I have no drawing ability whatsoever.

6) Rhythmic Edit

Last but not least is the Rhythmic Edit. This one was pretty fun to shoot and to edit, but not my all time favorite. I didn’t like watching the one made of me multiple times in class because I’m really awkward on camera but ultimately the sequences were cool to edit.

Bolex Long Take – Saturday Shoot

Despite this shoot falling on the only Saturday I would’ve had off this semester, I am happy to say that I had a lot of fun working with the Bolex camera and with other groups.

For our long take my group decided to shoot me as the villain, throwing a water balloon at an innocent pedestrian then upon realizing the stranger was backed by an odd posse ready to seek revenge, I started to (in a less than average pace) run away as the group (running in the infamous Charlie Chaplin walking style) chased me and pelted me with water balloons resulting in my surrender. Choosing what to do was actually quite difficult as my group tried bouncing around ideas that had somewhat developed story lines and locations, while also trying to think of an interesting live sensory component to bring to class. Ultimately we ended up going in a different direction and we came to the conclusion that we wanted our film to be unrestricted and comedic. It was cool to use more people from the class in our film and I am interested to see how things turn out in the editing process.

On top of shooting our own film, most of class got to participate in one of the other groups’ films, which was really awesome. I honestly have no idea what their shoot was about, all I know is that there was a couple ‘vigorously’ making out and that we all got to put on fake blood and die in the fountain. All in all I’d say the day was a success and I would gladly spend another weekend doing another project like this.

What is your rough theatre?

My rough theatre is found in the realism and spontaneity of live performance. As someone who has been a part of the theatre world since I was 14, I am used to being on stage and just going with the flow. Which is why I related to this article’s idea that with live performance, you can never completely plan and prepare everything. You cannot go back and reshoot a scene if something goes wrong, you cannot anticipate every action and later edit things together to get the result you want before showing the audience. Theatre is completely in the moment, and rough all around. This is especially true with improv performances, where the actors do not use a set, or a lot of props, or a script, they just use whatever pops into their heads or what they draw from the audience. There is a truth to performances like that that fascinates me. It is interesting to see how people work in the moment, and really react to one another, as in real life we do not get a script, we have no idea what someone will say, how they will react, or any idea of the end result. I like the concept that we discussed in class regarding how children perform without reservations and for no reason but just to do it. I love watching old home videos from my childhood with me and my siblings or friends, and find the innocent curiosity and pure joy in each video captivating. As I am slowly learning more about filmmaking, I have found myself trying to discover and use unscripted realism and spontaneity in my work as I feel those are the relatable moments that unite us all as humans.

Assignment #1: 16mm Film Manipulation Response

The first manipulation assignment was both challenging and exciting. Considering that this was the first time I'd ever touched film stock, learning multiple ways to manipulate it was a bit intimidating. I found the 100-frame animation to be the most difficult as it took a lot of time to accurately draw my idea, and even then I could only hope that my image would appear clearly and flow through the frames as intended. My favorite process of manipulation was when we learned the rayogram technique using unexposed film. In another course I had read about Man Ray’s rayographs but I did not completely understand the process so actually getting to create one myself was very exciting. It was interesting to figure out how to use the materials we had in class to convey the classical elements, and it’s safe to say that my film is a bit outside the box. Looking back on it now, I definitely got carried away scratching and hole punching the film and to be honest I just smeared a whole bunch of the ink colors together because I thought it looked cool. All in all, I found the entire process fascinating and I’d like to continue learning how to manipulate film. Ideally I will gain a few artistic abilities and my future manipulations will have a clear message or theme rather than resembling a piece of art found in an elementary classroom or on the side of the road. Ultimately I really enjoyed this assignment, and I feel I learned a lot from the work we did.

Week #4 - R3 Media Response

The topic for this week is crowdsourcing. I believe using crowdsourcing as a method to create or fund a project is really smart. The idea of unifying a variety of voices and perspectives on one topic or to meet one common goal is extremely interesting and I believe that it enhances the projects’ potential. Crowdsourcing acknowledges the fact that there will always be someone out there who thinks of something you didn’t and uses it as an advantage. By having that wide range of input, the project itself becomes more meaningful and has a higher chance of reaching more people, which in turn means having a bigger impact. In the video we watched for this week, we learned about Wikipedia and how it functions. It is interesting to think that there has always been a stigma regarding the lack of credibility of Wikipedia articles, especially among professors, to the point where the site is not acknowledged as a usable source for academic papers. Despite this negative belief, I find that most people, myself included, use Wikipedia for quick information on many topics. I particularly enjoyed the article about Cloud Filmmaking, I was highly impressed with the company and how the company’s crowdsourcing approach is also a big factor of their outreach goals. In the article it mentioned how our species learns and empathizes through storytelling, which I believe is completely true. We always share things about our lives through social media, especially now that we have the technology that we do, and it is fascinating how Cloud Filmmaking is using that aspect of our modern society to connect people from all over the world.

Week #3 - R2 Media Response

This week our reading discussed the idea of sound and listening. Sound is one of the senses that people don't always fully pay attention to. You hear sound but you must listen to truly perceive it. Acknowledging the importance of sound and utilizing it to create situation and provoke emotion is an essential part of filmmaking. In one of this week’s videos, David New used subjective interactivity to convey the importance of listening. He showed how easy it is to disregard ambient noise in our everyday lives and how important it is to just stop, listen and take everything in. In the second video for this week Justin Boyd discussed his process of capturing field recordings and mixing them with found objects to create original art works. I was particularly interested in this technique because it pushed me to think about how I could manipulate certain sounds to communicate my way of perceiving in the films that I make. In the reading for this week we learned about acoustic ecology from R. Murray Schafer, which he states aims to accentuate the delicate balance between organisms and their sonic environment. In this article I was intrigued by his term “sonic sewer”, to describe the overpopulation of sound in cities, and I was shocked to find out that companies, like Harley-Davidson, are copyrighting their sounds. I also would like to participate in the listening activity that Schafer uses with some of his students as I feel I need to learn to really step back and listen more than I do. In the second article, the most notable aspect for me was the idea of acoustic activism. I find it really interesting to think about and consider all of the sounds in everyday life, from manmade to natural ones, and I had no idea how extensive the research on sound interactions could be.