Thursday, November 5, 2009
Mystery Workshop Response
The mystery workshop had it's positives and negatives. The idea was really fun but I don't think that we had enough time to get all of this project done in just one class period. I felt a little jipped while making ours because as we were the second group to go, we didn't have enough time to work out our shot before we had to shoot it. We also didn't have time to make the second shot of ours (which was better than the first) into a 3d image unless someone stayed and did it after class. The idea was really cool though. And I like my 3d asian tiger cat mask. I wore it until seeing everything in red and blue gave me a headache. I'm excited to see our projects projected tonight.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The Yes Men bloblolboblol
The Yes Men was my favorite thing that we have screened this semester in 6x1. I thought the content was very entertaining and the way it was put together (mixed media) was aesthetically pleasing and had a function for including the outside material of the news interviews, animations, footage from their conferences, etc. I thought the guys in the yes men were really funny and their ideas about the reburger and the phallic costume were hilarious.. I can't believe that costume didnt get any reaction at the conference... I guess that just says that no one really pays attention at those things anyway. I really couldn't believe they were getting away with what they were doing. It was pretty shocking.. those guys really have some guts to get up there and present ideas that are that farfetched and ludicrous to groups of the most intellectual and influential people in these huge corporations. it was a lot of fun to watch. I was also shocked that people who extended invitations to the yes men to be SPEAKERS at these conferences didn't follow up and take the time to actually investigate the person they were focusing their conference around. It's nuts. I really enjoyed this film and I hope that we can finish it in class.. i think we still had twenty minutes or so left of the film.
This film relates to our assignments because like ours, it includes footage from multiple sources. this relates mostly to project #6, the found footage project. I'm looking forward to this project because I like editing and making videos that have some sort of meaning behind them which is typically more effective in the form of mixed media editing. I've started working on another video that is pro-animal rights, pro-vegetarianism.. kind of like my edit for your editing class, but it is also very different.. live action and news clips and things.. not just a random rant from youtube haha. Looking forward to it!
This film relates to our assignments because like ours, it includes footage from multiple sources. this relates mostly to project #6, the found footage project. I'm looking forward to this project because I like editing and making videos that have some sort of meaning behind them which is typically more effective in the form of mixed media editing. I've started working on another video that is pro-animal rights, pro-vegetarianism.. kind of like my edit for your editing class, but it is also very different.. live action and news clips and things.. not just a random rant from youtube haha. Looking forward to it!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Experience with the Saturday Shoot blolboblobbllolobolb
The Saturday shoot was a lot of fun!! I really liked working with the Bolexes. They are such simplistic film cameras.. it was definitely a lot easier than working with the Arri-S's or the CP16s, especially when it comes to loading the film and not having to worry about battery power.
My group did the one take where there was a body transformation between each pillar on the library ledge. We had extra actors from Genna's group, so we had six people to use as transformers. Instead of having everyone just walking from one pillar to the other, we decided to have a prop (skateboard) to show that it is supposed to be the same person throughout the whole thing.
Watching the footage back at the end of class was very satisfying to get to watch our footage right after we shot it. I was really happy with what we came out with, except that we didn't get to film the ending shot we wanted because our wind ran out on the Bolex. I like what it looked like when it was projected at 24 fps and had that aged Charlie Chaplin type look to it. I don't want to change the speed of it but I don't know if we really have a choice unless we just play it backwards. I'm not editing this one so it's not up to me!
My group did the one take where there was a body transformation between each pillar on the library ledge. We had extra actors from Genna's group, so we had six people to use as transformers. Instead of having everyone just walking from one pillar to the other, we decided to have a prop (skateboard) to show that it is supposed to be the same person throughout the whole thing.
Watching the footage back at the end of class was very satisfying to get to watch our footage right after we shot it. I was really happy with what we came out with, except that we didn't get to film the ending shot we wanted because our wind ran out on the Bolex. I like what it looked like when it was projected at 24 fps and had that aged Charlie Chaplin type look to it. I don't want to change the speed of it but I don't know if we really have a choice unless we just play it backwards. I'm not editing this one so it's not up to me!
Ideas for 48 hr Video Race
For the 48 hr video race, I am thinking about doing a stop motion animation with my Nikon D60. I plan on setting up a scene and having my camera on a tripod and then using my remote device to take photos while I move the objects in the frame. I realized after shooting the multi-plane animation that I really enjoy working with stop motion. It makes things possible that otherwise would not be possible. I have a few ideas of where to shoot the animation, but it depends on what the mystery object is to see how it fits in.
Another possibility is to use my webcam or scanner. I'm leaning way more towards the stop motion route though. I think that will be a fun project. I am excited to see what the mystery object is and to get started on this.
Another possibility is to use my webcam or scanner. I'm leaning way more towards the stop motion route though. I think that will be a fun project. I am excited to see what the mystery object is and to get started on this.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
2nd Response to Scratch Film Junkies
Going into this screening of St. Louise by the Scratch Film Junkies, I had entirely different expectations of what I was going to see. Having now experienced what these guys do for their films, I thought maybe I could relate a bit more to their techniques of filmmaking and style. I did like this screening much, much better than the first screening.
The first major difference I noticed between the Scratch Film Junkies and the films we made in class was the presence of a soundtrack. Kind of reiterating from last week's blog, I think the presence of a soundtrack adds so much value to the projected image and I think that this holds true to our screening tonight of the SFJ's. That jumped out at me immediately. I wonder what our film would sound like if we put music to it. What kind of music would we use and what would the tempo be like? I haven't seen the films made by the rest of the class so there really isn't any way to say just yet. In any event, I loved the song on this film by the Scratch Film Junkies. It was much much better than the first film by them that we watched. I remember that soundtrack being particularly ear-piercing and annoying.
One thing I noted that I thought was really cool in their film was the presence of words.. Like the title sequence. I was wondering how they did that. They only way I could really think of was a desktop transfer where they just printed the same logo over and over again onto many, many frames. Whenever words popped up anywhere, is that how they did it? The ones that were obviously not handwritten (or hand"scratched", I suppose). I thought it looked really cool. I liked it.
Something that they did that reminded me of our film is when they had the arrow and it spun around a few times. It reminded me of our 100 frame animations because that was the example of how to use the paper to divide up the number of frames and/or do the printer transfer. I'm pretty sure the example was a spinning arrow. (Also- I do not have a copy of this animation sheet for our film because I did a narrative type animation of the tree and bird and sun, so I didn't want to limit myself to 100 frames if I felt I needed more.. I think I did around 115). Their arrow was obviously much more stylized but none the less, it was the same idea.
I think I appreciated the Scratch Film Junkies' film a lot more this week, having had some experience in the techniques and practices that they use. Theirs was obviously much cooler than ours, but at least now I have a better understanding of what they did in order to achieve these films. If I were to make another "scratch film junkies" style film, I would definitely take some notes from those guys and maybe try a few more desktop printer transfers for title sequences and also inside the film.
The first major difference I noticed between the Scratch Film Junkies and the films we made in class was the presence of a soundtrack. Kind of reiterating from last week's blog, I think the presence of a soundtrack adds so much value to the projected image and I think that this holds true to our screening tonight of the SFJ's. That jumped out at me immediately. I wonder what our film would sound like if we put music to it. What kind of music would we use and what would the tempo be like? I haven't seen the films made by the rest of the class so there really isn't any way to say just yet. In any event, I loved the song on this film by the Scratch Film Junkies. It was much much better than the first film by them that we watched. I remember that soundtrack being particularly ear-piercing and annoying.
One thing I noted that I thought was really cool in their film was the presence of words.. Like the title sequence. I was wondering how they did that. They only way I could really think of was a desktop transfer where they just printed the same logo over and over again onto many, many frames. Whenever words popped up anywhere, is that how they did it? The ones that were obviously not handwritten (or hand"scratched", I suppose). I thought it looked really cool. I liked it.
Something that they did that reminded me of our film is when they had the arrow and it spun around a few times. It reminded me of our 100 frame animations because that was the example of how to use the paper to divide up the number of frames and/or do the printer transfer. I'm pretty sure the example was a spinning arrow. (Also- I do not have a copy of this animation sheet for our film because I did a narrative type animation of the tree and bird and sun, so I didn't want to limit myself to 100 frames if I felt I needed more.. I think I did around 115). Their arrow was obviously much more stylized but none the less, it was the same idea.
I think I appreciated the Scratch Film Junkies' film a lot more this week, having had some experience in the techniques and practices that they use. Theirs was obviously much cooler than ours, but at least now I have a better understanding of what they did in order to achieve these films. If I were to make another "scratch film junkies" style film, I would definitely take some notes from those guys and maybe try a few more desktop printer transfers for title sequences and also inside the film.
Chion Reading
Sound. As far as "added value" goes, I definitely agree that sound has the ability to enrich an image. There are a lot of films in my opinion that are more memorable for their soundtrack than acting performances or story line. Sound that engages the viewer on an emotional level, or empathetic sound, is, in my opinion, the most desirable type of sound. When sound has the ability to tug at your emotions, that is when you know the sound is great. One my favorite soundtracks is by Danny Elfman, the opening track of Sleepy Hollow when the opening credits are rolling. This track is so intense and definitely sets the mood and tone of the film and gets me so pumped for the movie I'm about to see. In fact, I think that most tracks by Danny Elfman are empathetic tracks.. they almost always tie into the emotion of the scene, and are not just randomly placed into a scene that doesn't really fit into the notes.
When I read the part of the article about the ear perceiving sound faster than the eye can process image, it confused me at first. I always thought it was other other way around. I think this is because when I think of sound vs sight, I think of a thunder storm and how you see a flash of lightning, and then seconds later you hear the sound. Then I remembered that that is about the speed in which sound and light travel, not how our body processes sight vs sound, so it began to make sense.
As far as sound and temporalization go, I find it interesting to think of sound being the temporal animation of the image. It makes sense completely, because rhythm creates beats which are entirely temporal. I think a movie that lacked a soundtrack would move very slowly because a lot of movies are pushed along by their soundtracks. I think an example of this is No Country For Old Men. Personally, I didn't like the choice to exclude soundtrack almost entirely from this movie. I know they did it to increase suspense because the sound wasn't dragging you along and hinting at what was going to happen and blah blah blah, but I thought that this made the film move much slower. Not a fan of this sort of thing. It definitely intensified the every day sounds of walking and doors closing and things like that, but the pacing of the movie was just too slow for me.
When I read the part of the article about the ear perceiving sound faster than the eye can process image, it confused me at first. I always thought it was other other way around. I think this is because when I think of sound vs sight, I think of a thunder storm and how you see a flash of lightning, and then seconds later you hear the sound. Then I remembered that that is about the speed in which sound and light travel, not how our body processes sight vs sound, so it began to make sense.
As far as sound and temporalization go, I find it interesting to think of sound being the temporal animation of the image. It makes sense completely, because rhythm creates beats which are entirely temporal. I think a movie that lacked a soundtrack would move very slowly because a lot of movies are pushed along by their soundtracks. I think an example of this is No Country For Old Men. Personally, I didn't like the choice to exclude soundtrack almost entirely from this movie. I know they did it to increase suspense because the sound wasn't dragging you along and hinting at what was going to happen and blah blah blah, but I thought that this made the film move much slower. Not a fan of this sort of thing. It definitely intensified the every day sounds of walking and doors closing and things like that, but the pacing of the movie was just too slow for me.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Reading Response
I think that narrative, linear animation is much more popular than experimental animation because that is what people know. Kids grow up on narrative animated features and televisions shows. Disney has made it's empire on mass producing narrative animations, but when you look at experimental animations, there isn't an animator that comes close to reaching that kind of popularity in mainstream society. I believe that this is because narrative stories tend to hold your attention better with curiosity of finding out what will happen next, compared to a completely non-linear film which are, to me, confusing and hard to follow. As for the artists, I think that the artists behind experimental animation have more creative freedom because they are not limited to the bounds of sticking within the narrative story. You can just do whatever pops into your head, and it is just written off as being "experimental". In a narrative film, it is much harder to get away with something like that. Experimental animation isn't really my thing when it is put up against linear animation. Who can resist a good narrative?
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