Saturday Bolex Long Take

Saturday Bolex Long Take

     Today we had our Saturday shoot for our Bolex long take; the forecast was for 60 percent chance of rain, so I was a bit worried about our big day being cancelled. I even made sure and bring a raincoat and a few umbrellas, but luckily we didn’t even have to use the foul weather gear we’d all brought just in case Mother Nature was in the mood to make things a little more difficult.

     I have to admit it was a little scary going into this challenge without our faithful leader Andre, and in the back of my mind I was a little afraid something might go wrong. But once again everything and everyone cooperated with our efforts of expedient, and efficient filmmaking. Just as planned everyone in class came together as a team and worked as one like a well-oiled machine.

     While setting up for the shoot, processing and video transfer everything went extremely well and in no time we were all out in the field ready for several practice runs and blocking for the real deal. That process took up a majority of the allotted time for shooting and both groups I worked with ended up shooting there real take with about five or ten minutes left in the one hour and fifteen minutes designated for getting the shots done.

    Then, once we were done with the shooting, we went inside and hand processed the film. This part of the job turned out to be pretty sketchy, because a lot rides on this very important aspect of the process to actually making the hard work put in come together. If we didn’t properly expose the film we shot then all could be lost and all of the time we spent on it would have been entirely in vein.  As far as I could tell by the negative exposure everything turned out pretty well, but I guess we won’t really know how it turned out until we actually get the digital version back. I hope it looks good and if it needs fixing that it is manageable in post.

      I had a really good time today shooting and the four hours between 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM really flew by, It seemed like we were only there for a brief period of time, This means I must have had fun, like the old saying, “time flies when you’re having fun!“

48-Hour Video Race

48-Hour Video Race

     After reading over the assignment guidelines for the 48-hour video race, I ‘m very excited about this project. I’ve heard about these types of races in the past and have always wanted to enter one, but haven’t had the chance. I was trying to go over different things in my head to capture video or make my film. It’s a pretty difficult task for me to think of any techniques for capturing video without using something with the word camera or cam in or ones that you haven’t already discussed. I was leaning towards using my cell phone, it actually happens to have a very nice camera on it (720p I think).  I would possibly like to do something that gives the perspective of my dog Clarence. Sort of like a day in the life of Clarence, but somehow told through his eyes.

     I was also thinking of using Maya, After Effects, Flash or Toon Boom and maybe doing an experimental animation piece that taps into the viewer’s subconscious. I’m envisioning something with odd creatures in a parallel world and maybe using some effects plug-ins and an underlying soundscape to help set the mood or tone of the film. I feel like this could be pretty fun to play around with these effects and plug-ins and see what kind of cool, odd or interesting things that they may yield.  You could even incorporate a little bit of each of these different styles together to make something that is totally off the wall.

     I was also thinking about doing some sort of time-lapse footage with my cell phone camera, I need to figure out how I’d go about keeping the camera totally still to take the photos though, maybe I can make some sort of makeshift tripod or something. It would possibly be cool to incorporate something like this into the experimental piece as well.

     Another idea I had was using the XBOX 360 Kinnect, it has a camera on it that takes footage of you while playing Kinnect games or for web-chatting as well. I could do different poses in front of the camera and bring them into FCP or After Effects and see what I can come up with. I’m still not quite sure what I’m going to do yet, but there are plenty of options. That means the opportunities are pretty much endless, just as long as you keep an open mind and think outside of the box.

Thoughts and Experience on Assignment 1 (Camera-less Filmmaking)

Thoughts and Experience on Assignment 1 (Camera-less Filmmaking)

 The camera-less filmmaking assignment we had for our first assignment was really fun and I enjoyed it thoroughly.   Honestly though, it left me feeling a little uneasy working in such a small area on the filmstrip (frames) and not knowing what you're end result will look like until you view it in class. I was little worried how it would come out because we weren't able to view it while or after you were making the film unless you had a projector of course. When we viewed the film on the projector I was very pleased overall and thought it turned out to be pretty sweet. 

 The pacing was definitely different than what I had imagined, everything seemed really quick. I wish I had drawn out and scratched several more frames on some of the animations I had done, so that they would have lasted longer. But when it’s a quick flash of animation or image, there is a subliminal message feel to it. Making the viewer ask himself, did I just see that?

 It was fun experimenting with different camera less filmmaking techniques. The layering of multiple techniques really gives the film a unique, funky effect and really makes the possibilities endless depending on the imagination and creativity of the filmmaker. One example of this in our film was using the rayograms but where we’d twisted the rayograms w/contact printing on it, we filled the clear space in with magazine and newspaper transfers as well as coloring it in with some oils and paint We also did some with Sharpie colored markers which turned out to be a cool idea. 

 I shared my film with a friend of mine who is also a Film major. He hasn't been lucky enough to take 6 x 1 yet and he seemed pretty impressed by our film. So much so that he asked if he could use it in his documentary that he's working on this semester. Needless to say that positive feedback from him made me feel even better about the end result.

 I really enjoyed seeing some of the other group’s films too. From the ones I’ve seen I feel like everyone put in a lot of time, planning and effort into what they were doing. I was pleasantly surprised at how good all of them came out. I could definitely see myself doing more of this type of filmmaking in the future. I love the anticipation of seeing the end result; it’s like getting a surprise on Christmas morning.

Chion and Cummings Readings on Sound

Chion and Cummings Readings on Sound

The readings by Chion and Cummings on sound remind me of the old question, “If a tree falls in the woods and nobody hears it, did it really happen?“ We as humans sometimes take our sense of hearing for granted. Have you ever watched a thriller or scary movie with the sound muted. If you have then you know that the film is no longer scary or tense, but becomes somewhat comical. This is the point of Chion’s article on sound.  Chion’s article says it well when it exclaims, sound helps temporalize the image by normalizing and stabilizing of film projection speed. Just like his point about our ears being able to perceive sound quicker than our eyes can figure out what they are seeing. It’s something I never really thought much of before when watching a film.

Sound very important in the making off a film. The choices you make for sound in a film really depend on what type of film you are making. If you are making an experimental film and want the viewer to feel disoriented for instance. Then you may want to use sound is non-sync or possibly sound that has nothing to do with the actual images being displayed upon screen. Sound can make or break a film; it needs to help guide the viewer/listener in the direction the director intends to take the film journey.

The article by Cummings made me think of an interview we did the other day for my documentary I’m working on for 495. We were shooting in the subject’s backyard, it was a beautiful non windy day outside and he has some nice scenery in his yard so we framed up a good shot and went with it. It was a good thing that we had lavalier mics though even though it wasn’t windy, because the road out in front of his house turned out to be very busy thus being very noisy. Being such a sunny and pretty day out it must have been perfect conditions for a motorcycle ride, because it seemed like about a million of them went by.  We were going for the nice light, “Natural “ outdoorsy ambient backdrop of sound for our interview and instead we got the loud, obnoxious and abrasive, sounds from the motorcycles and traffic.  We haven’t captured the footage yet so hopefully the lavs will have eliminated some of the background noise, if not our good interview will be lost. 

Side note: Why are motorcycles sooo loud anyway? I find them very annoying because of that. I have my windows opened right now; I can hear the soothing and calming sound of wind blowing through the trees and then out of nowhere…wheeeee wheeeeee wheeeeee wheeeeeeeeee wheeeeeeeeeeeee.  A motorcycle ruins it!

Wells/ AnimationReading Response

Animation Reading Response

I always loved animation since I was a child, Disney and Saturday morning cartoons like Hannah Barbera or Warner Bros. were at the top of my list of favorites, and I can remember them like it was yesterday. It was always a way to escape from the real world and make believe.  I really think animation is a cool way to make films due to the fact there are so many interesting ways/ mediums to create them.

 I took three 3d animation classes in the last three semesters here at UNCW and studied the principles of animation with the extremes and in betweens; there truly is a high degree of difficulty artistry to being a good animator. There is a lot more to it than people think and to become a great animator must take years and years.

This article really made me look at animation in a new light, instead of thinking as animation as strictly narrative, there is also a whole different aspect of experimental animation in which you can be as off the way and creative as possibly creating a whole new dream state kind of fantasy land. I like that you don’t have to stick with one medium of animation in experimental animation as well, for instance you can use cell animation, claymation, and 3d animation all in one film if you like so that you can give different feelings or moods to the scenes for the viewer.

The statement by Wells that experimental animation wants it to look more like Visual Music, is reminiscent of Brakhage and like minded avant-garde artists. I also see this type of musical feel in some of Disney’s films such as Fantasia.I also like how Wells described orthodox animation as prose and experimental animation is more poetic. I can definitely see his point in even some of the animations we’ve screened in this class so far this semester.

When I graduate in may I plan on having more free time to focus on becoming a better all around artist/ animator,  it's something I’ve always dreamed of doing.

My Thoughts/Experience with Cameraless Filmmaking

I really enjoyed the experience of working on our cameraless filmmaking projects thus far. I love the fact that we are actually working hands on with the celluloid. It gives it a true organic feeling as opposed to working on these types of effects in the digital world.

I like how we jumped into it the first week of class with scratching on film. After watching a lot of Stan Brakhage, Naomi Uman and others in History of Avant-Garde, I would often wonder how the actually went about manipulating their film stock to achieve their desired effects. Getting to do it myself really put things in perspective and made me think what I need to do frame to frame to make and image I had scratched move. It’s really the same concept as doing and animation in a program like Toon Boom or Flash. Every frame must be a little different from the one prior and you must do the math for 24 frames per second to time out how long you want the movement to take to get to the desired place. I also like the fact that you really don’t have to make things very complex; you can make your creations more simple or abstract, because there is no right or wrong way to show your vision.

I loved doing the magazine and newspaper transfers as well. It was sort of like being in art class and making collages, but on a much smaller scale being that your canvas is only this tiny piece of film. When we got to see what our creation looked like when played through the projector I was pleasantly surprised. The colors, shapes, and textures that we created in such a short period of time were beautiful. I can see where you could use this process in making something very elaborate if you took the time to plan it out properly.

Doing the Rayograms, totally made me look at filmmaking in a new way. It gave the x-ray look to the objects we place on film, which I thought was really awesome. It’s great how you can get something so cool on film from such a simple process and concept. It only took about ten–fifteen minutes total for each of out five foot pieces of film. I saw so pictures online of various Rayograms where people used their hands and bodies on the film to create the image. I haven’t got to do the painting on film yet, that’ll be this week for me. I’m very excited to do so, it’ll add yet another tool to my cameraless filmmaking tool kit.

This experience really made me look at filmmaking in a new light. It makes me realize that the options to this type of filmmaking are virtually endless, depending only on your imagination and creativity.

Synesthesia & Cymatics

Synesthesia & Cymatics

 Synesthesia comes from the Greek word together; it is a neurological condition in which one sensory or cognitive pathway is stimulated which leads to an involuntary experience in a secondary cognitive pathway.  People with this condition are known as synesthetes. An example of this would be how people see different numbers or days of the week for instance as being different colors.

 Synesthesia in art is basically art forms that blur the senses. The art forms can include or combine visual music, intermedia, music visualization, experimental or abstract film, paintings and audiovisual art. I had the luring of the senses a lot last semester when we screened many of the films in History of Avant-Garde. Some of these films showed screeching or obtrusive sounds some even use the sounds police use for riot and crowd control with a mixture of underlying subliminal dialogue and images alongside flashing colors on the screen Some of these films cause people to have seizure’s especially those with a history of epilepsy are advised against watching some of them.  

 Cymatics comes from the Greek term for wave. They are uniform patterns produced on liquids or gels type substance through he us of sound waves. This is much like waves in the ocean being produced by storms or under water forces such as explosions, shifting fault lines or earthquakes, which produce enough energy to displace the water in the form of waves and patterns. Like the way a swell looks like corduroys on the horizon. The more shallow the water the more pronounced the wave becomes. Like that of the trays or pans used in Cymatics experiments. I think the study of Cymatics is very important and may unlock some secret code to the world and the underlying power of things we never considered important before.  Dolphins use sound wave and frequency’s to communicate and maybe aliens do too like in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. By studying Cymatics may be unlocking the keys to the universe? Cymatics is bringing matter to life with the use of sound waves. It’s amazing the way the patterns of sound waves look like things we find everyday on earth like snow-flakes and starfish, maybe somehow there is some direct correlation of the two.

 Both Synesthesia & Cymatics remind me of a new trend among young people today called i-Dosing or digital drugs.  This is where people put on headphones and one sound or frequency is played trough one ear and another is played through the other ear. This is supposed to create a state of euphoria or blurring of the senses for the user. This is sort of a mixture of these two topics.