the 48 hour video race was fun. I used my girlfriends digital still camera and shot in movie mode. the footage looked very nice but the hard thing was focusing on my subject...a little frog.
For stills, it has a macro feature...but unfortunately it doesn't have that feature in video mode. i liked the classes projects especially the ones in which the blocks were very much a part of the story...evidence that the story and video was thought up and shot after the mystery props were revealed.
the blocks as a mystery prop worked out great...and for future props, anything from the dollar store toy section would work out good.
The screening party was lots of fun. however, it was disappointing that the neighbors complained about the noise and that we had to limit the volume on the screenings and performances.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Yesmen & editing
The Yesmen DVD clips we watched in class made me want to pull some sort of international pranks like that... in fact since watching them, i have been thinking about websites i could i buy now while the person or corporation is small and either sell it for a bunch of money or tamper with their lives. Its encoraging that they were never arrested for any of the stuff we saw them do. I do wonder about what the reaction of the real WTO is. Ive been looking around for the DVD so i can watch the rest of the stuff.
The rhythmic edits came out good. a couple things i noticed that I liked in several of them are a variety of shots. high, low angles, long, medium and close ups. also various locations added another variety of shots to the mix so almost nothing was repeated. It was. It was cool to see everyone's daily lives sped up and cut together very fast and rhythmically.
I just finished and exported my 48 hour video race video. It came out OK...I always have a better image of things in my head, and sometimes that image is unreachable so im learning to let go and accept. Im excited to see how the rest of the class used their blocks my guess is that a lot of people (including me) spelled something out with the 3 letters...just a guess.
Its sad that the semester is over and the class aswell. I enjoyed this class so very much because of all the projects and hands on learning we were able to experience. I learned a lot and have a couple films I plan to submit to the Student Screening.
The rhythmic edits came out good. a couple things i noticed that I liked in several of them are a variety of shots. high, low angles, long, medium and close ups. also various locations added another variety of shots to the mix so almost nothing was repeated. It was. It was cool to see everyone's daily lives sped up and cut together very fast and rhythmically.
I just finished and exported my 48 hour video race video. It came out OK...I always have a better image of things in my head, and sometimes that image is unreachable so im learning to let go and accept. Im excited to see how the rest of the class used their blocks my guess is that a lot of people (including me) spelled something out with the 3 letters...just a guess.
Its sad that the semester is over and the class aswell. I enjoyed this class so very much because of all the projects and hands on learning we were able to experience. I learned a lot and have a couple films I plan to submit to the Student Screening.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Post Thanksgiving Screening
In preperation for our 48 hour video race, before thanksgiving my roommates and I decided that we should each make films to screen after thanksgiving. In our films, we had to include the line of dialog, "watch out for that Axe". I didnt bring a camera home, i used a program that records whatever is on your screen... this is what was on my screen... The Golden AXE
In the end, none of my roommates finished their films...but Annie made her first film and what i nice film it is.
http://anniesegrest.blogspot.com/2007/11/few-days-before-thanksgiving-break.html
In the end, none of my roommates finished their films...but Annie made her first film and what i nice film it is.
http://anniesegrest.blogspot.com/2007/11/few-days-before-thanksgiving-break.html
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Giraffe Crane
A couple weeks ago we got to set up the crane at Cinepartners. We got to control it and ride in it. This is some footage i shot while on it.
Friday, November 16, 2007
13
Having most of my classes cancel because of the festival was an excellent addition to the fun packed week of Cucalorus 13. A step up from last year, the unlimited student pass let us get into any film and tons of other events so that we could take full advantage of everything Cucalorus had to offer. Attending Ten screening blocks and many festival events and functions, as well as using the shuttle, I am proud to say that I used my pass to its fullest.
The Veal Shorts block on Thursday afternoon contained five short films in which I noticed a common theme of “Location”. I picked the Veal shorts because of my immense love for the meat of a slaughtered baby calf. Well, not so much. I actually wanted to see Shannon’s film 29 places I Once Called Home and because I had seen Fridays at the Farm before and wanted my girlfriend to see it. She cried. Fridays at the Farm stuck out to me because the medium in which he told the beautiful story was uncommon and I can imagine very time consuming. The film also had some very amazing time lapse images of plants growing and leaves changing. I had so many questions for the film maker, it was a shame he wasn’t there. Well actually, even if he was there, I probably wouldn’t have been able to ask them anyway. The host/MC probably would have asked all the questions he wanted asked then talk about himself for the rest of the Q and A session. He did this with many other film makers who wanted questions from the audience. From this film I learned that just because you have access to certain things, doesn’t mean you should use them. Really examine your subject and determine what would capture the essence of it the best, then use that method.
Shannon’s films I also enjoyed. It was interesting to hear the recollections of memories by different family members accompanied with images of the locations. The fact that there was a timed aspect to how long each location stayed on screen added to my enjoyment. I like secret elements to films. A film that I did not like too much was Occulted. Almost 20 minutes of shaky camera street shots in London, it had no apparent plot, or goal while also being aesthetically ugly and way too long. The only reason I know anything about what it was about is because I read the description in the film festival book. This is exhibition that the film shouldn’t rely on, but should only compliment the audiences’ understanding of the film.
When I heard Control was playing at Cucalorus I immediately marked it on my calendar, because of my great love for Joy Division and also because I had read about some of the awards it had won at Cannes film festival and also about the filming process of the feature film. The film is about the life of Ian Curtis, singer for Joy Division, who hung himself at age 23. The creators of the film did a wonderful job at casting and creating a film that looked like the 1979. Many of the locations and band performances looked like band authentic band photos of Joy Division. I read that they shot this film in 35mm color film to achieve a smooth non grainy look, and then digitally rendered it to black and white to capture the time era. Although the outcome of Ian’s life is well known thus making the film ending predictable, the film kept my attention until the end by using artistic shots, and wonderful musical performances. It was a good homage to this great band and confused front man.
The experience of this year’s festival was awesome. Graciously someone gave my girlfriend a student pass so that we could go to all the screenings together. Like last year, I thought it would a be fun time of seeing films and hanging out, but this year was a step above last. The films seemed to be very exceptional this year. I liked the films I saw more than I like those I saw last year. Along with an opening festival, I was surprised that there was a shuttle from UNCW to the venues. Lucky for me I live at UNCW so I had a free taxi downtown all weekend. We went to the opening festival and played on the bouncing slide several times to keep warm. We also spent several nights at Jengo’s playground where the free open bar made us appreciate the free shuttle even more. It was there that I met a few film makers who had films in the festival. I watched Monster Camp and was able to talk with the director briefly afterward. Dancelorus was fun and inspiring for both the upcoming installation project and my life in general. I would love to create something like that with my girlfriend and submit it next year. My least favorite part of the festival was the fact that so many of the films sounded so good, and I wanted to see them so much but could not because there was so many screening at one time. I like the new addition of Lumina to the screening venue as it made it easy to view a film close to home.
Overall, I am very happy with my experience this year and am very inspired to create my own films. In fact, my mind has been thinking of new ideas since the festival, its been hard to sleep. I very much hope to submit a film to Cucalorus next year so that I can feel as though I contributed to the magic of the festival. Or at least volunteer and become part of the network of friends that seemed to be running the show. Advice to festival goers next year; spend all day there. Pack a lunch, dress warm, and cancel all plans for the week. Print out business cards and be ready for fun. For the festival runners, I think everything went very well, however some of the screenings had limited seating. Is it time for some larger venues or floor seating?
The Veal Shorts block on Thursday afternoon contained five short films in which I noticed a common theme of “Location”. I picked the Veal shorts because of my immense love for the meat of a slaughtered baby calf. Well, not so much. I actually wanted to see Shannon’s film 29 places I Once Called Home and because I had seen Fridays at the Farm before and wanted my girlfriend to see it. She cried. Fridays at the Farm stuck out to me because the medium in which he told the beautiful story was uncommon and I can imagine very time consuming. The film also had some very amazing time lapse images of plants growing and leaves changing. I had so many questions for the film maker, it was a shame he wasn’t there. Well actually, even if he was there, I probably wouldn’t have been able to ask them anyway. The host/MC probably would have asked all the questions he wanted asked then talk about himself for the rest of the Q and A session. He did this with many other film makers who wanted questions from the audience. From this film I learned that just because you have access to certain things, doesn’t mean you should use them. Really examine your subject and determine what would capture the essence of it the best, then use that method.
Shannon’s films I also enjoyed. It was interesting to hear the recollections of memories by different family members accompanied with images of the locations. The fact that there was a timed aspect to how long each location stayed on screen added to my enjoyment. I like secret elements to films. A film that I did not like too much was Occulted. Almost 20 minutes of shaky camera street shots in London, it had no apparent plot, or goal while also being aesthetically ugly and way too long. The only reason I know anything about what it was about is because I read the description in the film festival book. This is exhibition that the film shouldn’t rely on, but should only compliment the audiences’ understanding of the film.
When I heard Control was playing at Cucalorus I immediately marked it on my calendar, because of my great love for Joy Division and also because I had read about some of the awards it had won at Cannes film festival and also about the filming process of the feature film. The film is about the life of Ian Curtis, singer for Joy Division, who hung himself at age 23. The creators of the film did a wonderful job at casting and creating a film that looked like the 1979. Many of the locations and band performances looked like band authentic band photos of Joy Division. I read that they shot this film in 35mm color film to achieve a smooth non grainy look, and then digitally rendered it to black and white to capture the time era. Although the outcome of Ian’s life is well known thus making the film ending predictable, the film kept my attention until the end by using artistic shots, and wonderful musical performances. It was a good homage to this great band and confused front man.
The experience of this year’s festival was awesome. Graciously someone gave my girlfriend a student pass so that we could go to all the screenings together. Like last year, I thought it would a be fun time of seeing films and hanging out, but this year was a step above last. The films seemed to be very exceptional this year. I liked the films I saw more than I like those I saw last year. Along with an opening festival, I was surprised that there was a shuttle from UNCW to the venues. Lucky for me I live at UNCW so I had a free taxi downtown all weekend. We went to the opening festival and played on the bouncing slide several times to keep warm. We also spent several nights at Jengo’s playground where the free open bar made us appreciate the free shuttle even more. It was there that I met a few film makers who had films in the festival. I watched Monster Camp and was able to talk with the director briefly afterward. Dancelorus was fun and inspiring for both the upcoming installation project and my life in general. I would love to create something like that with my girlfriend and submit it next year. My least favorite part of the festival was the fact that so many of the films sounded so good, and I wanted to see them so much but could not because there was so many screening at one time. I like the new addition of Lumina to the screening venue as it made it easy to view a film close to home.
Overall, I am very happy with my experience this year and am very inspired to create my own films. In fact, my mind has been thinking of new ideas since the festival, its been hard to sleep. I very much hope to submit a film to Cucalorus next year so that I can feel as though I contributed to the magic of the festival. Or at least volunteer and become part of the network of friends that seemed to be running the show. Advice to festival goers next year; spend all day there. Pack a lunch, dress warm, and cancel all plans for the week. Print out business cards and be ready for fun. For the festival runners, I think everything went very well, however some of the screenings had limited seating. Is it time for some larger venues or floor seating?
Monday, November 5, 2007
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Positives From Roughness
Well Im having some trouble remembering exactly which reading I did for each class. I have three classes in Leutze 107 and two are very similar perhaps because they are taught by a couple. Anyway, the reading from last class, If i can try to remember, was about how some of the purest art is appearing in the most unlikely of places. Where its not encouraged or commonplace. Also about the roughness of low budget film.
Money in many cases, not just in art, can potentially be the fatal or ruining device for a person or piece of art. When money becomes the motive of things, the creativity is lost and the motions become routine; a routine to make money. this is sort of how i see many Hollywood studios. Like article said, there are fantastic films being made all around without using a million dollars to make and they're not being shown in the huge theatres. Instead they are being made on minimalist budgets and by people who we don't expect to make great films, not the elite of Hollywood. this model is also seen in sports often as well. A wonderful player gets signed to a big team and gets a huge salary, but his performance goes down and armatures playing for their love of the game become better than the pro.
However, the other way around, having a large budget can also encourage creativity by allowing the artist to complete the visions he or she has without worrying about money.
Money in many cases, not just in art, can potentially be the fatal or ruining device for a person or piece of art. When money becomes the motive of things, the creativity is lost and the motions become routine; a routine to make money. this is sort of how i see many Hollywood studios. Like article said, there are fantastic films being made all around without using a million dollars to make and they're not being shown in the huge theatres. Instead they are being made on minimalist budgets and by people who we don't expect to make great films, not the elite of Hollywood. this model is also seen in sports often as well. A wonderful player gets signed to a big team and gets a huge salary, but his performance goes down and armatures playing for their love of the game become better than the pro.
However, the other way around, having a large budget can also encourage creativity by allowing the artist to complete the visions he or she has without worrying about money.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Suitable for Death
The Haunted Hallways video I made this year.
some online help from Andrew Kramer at videocopilot.net.
The video played at the beginning of the haunted house to set up the story theme of the haunted house.
i went through it saturday night. It was pretty scary.
some online help from Andrew Kramer at videocopilot.net.
The video played at the beginning of the haunted house to set up the story theme of the haunted house.
i went through it saturday night. It was pretty scary.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
At the farm
some reflections about last class and whats going on:
THe scratch film junkies film was nice to watch, i could recognize some techniques that we had practiced in class and used for our manipulation projects, but i could also see a lot of effects that I just don't know how they did them. which is cool. I think experience and experimentation is the way to create at their level. It is also good to see the film projected, because the visual effect of projecting a hand manipulated film is very different than that of looking at the actual film strip.
Fridays or thursdays at the farm was an awesome film. what a cool medium (digital stills) to create such a detailed film...and the subject was also very interesting and inspiring. Ive been writing down some ideas for the 48 hour film race later this semester. the ideas are about what medium/tool i can capture video or stills with. there are a lot at my disposal that qualify. So im excited.
been pretty busy with other projects, midterms, camping trips, jobs, and other things recently. next week i hope to have another Mormon Monday video up.
THe scratch film junkies film was nice to watch, i could recognize some techniques that we had practiced in class and used for our manipulation projects, but i could also see a lot of effects that I just don't know how they did them. which is cool. I think experience and experimentation is the way to create at their level. It is also good to see the film projected, because the visual effect of projecting a hand manipulated film is very different than that of looking at the actual film strip.
Fridays or thursdays at the farm was an awesome film. what a cool medium (digital stills) to create such a detailed film...and the subject was also very interesting and inspiring. Ive been writing down some ideas for the 48 hour film race later this semester. the ideas are about what medium/tool i can capture video or stills with. there are a lot at my disposal that qualify. So im excited.
been pretty busy with other projects, midterms, camping trips, jobs, and other things recently. next week i hope to have another Mormon Monday video up.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
seeing sound
Just read the article by Chion, pretty insightful stuff. In my sound recording class, we have listened to a scene from a film with all of the some 6 tracks on solo. without them, the cuts are very apparent, and some tracks like the ambient track hid the cuts better than the dialog track. the follied sound effects seem out of place and at wrong levels when played by themselves. but all together the scene flowed well with help from the dialog.
another thing that helped me be more aware of sounds like what Chion is talking about is the sound logs and recordings that we did in Shannon's experimental class. It definitely helped me listen better.
by the looks of this reading, Im guessing we are doing some sort of sound scape for the next assignment... maybe it was said in class already. Thursday afternoon, I ate some old fish and spent several minutes of class throwing it up in the bathroom ...badnews.
another thing that helped me be more aware of sounds like what Chion is talking about is the sound logs and recordings that we did in Shannon's experimental class. It definitely helped me listen better.
by the looks of this reading, Im guessing we are doing some sort of sound scape for the next assignment... maybe it was said in class already. Thursday afternoon, I ate some old fish and spent several minutes of class throwing it up in the bathroom ...badnews.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
the Good Earth
Ive past this building driving several times and always wanted to look it over up close. From 40, you can barely see it through the mess of vines and trees. My girlfriend Annie and I went to get some shots of the building.
I made some sounds in REASON.
here it is.
I made some sounds in REASON.
here it is.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Sheena is a Pole Dancer
this is an animation my girlfriend Annie and I made last year. We had a barbie with no cloths, so the possibilities were limited. She did the G.I. Joe's voice, and I the dancer.
song by fischerspooner
song by fischerspooner
Theory of Animation
Starting at the bottom, because its the most fresh in my mind. I just watched "a colour box" it was definitely not the "orthodox" animation that the reading described. There seemed to be no narrative, or characters. However, the advertisement aspect of it is very interesting.
Regarding Orthodox animation, and the common goal of hiding the materiality of the art is fascinating to me. I imagine that many kids today...as they watch a cell animated movie, dont even think about the fact that those images were drawn...and each one. Even the older aged may not comprehend. I am always amazed and curious about how the amount of time it must take for the team of animators to animate an feature length and how much another person added to the team could detract from that time.
anyway, here is the link to Len Lye's "a colour box"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaYi6FlB4cw
or search on youtube
Regarding Orthodox animation, and the common goal of hiding the materiality of the art is fascinating to me. I imagine that many kids today...as they watch a cell animated movie, dont even think about the fact that those images were drawn...and each one. Even the older aged may not comprehend. I am always amazed and curious about how the amount of time it must take for the team of animators to animate an feature length and how much another person added to the team could detract from that time.
anyway, here is the link to Len Lye's "a colour box"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaYi6FlB4cw
or search on youtube
Monday, September 3, 2007
Transfer
On the east coast, in North Carolina, in Luetze Hall, on the desk where we transfered magazine images to film. The tape did not stick all the way to the film, this caused problems on the reel.
the images were way cool
and went by very fast
Magazine transfer was fun to do as a class.
the images were way cool
and went by very fast
Magazine transfer was fun to do as a class.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
eye
This is a still from our class video... just a little creepy.
Its an eye, for those who dont see it.
Its an eye, for those who dont see it.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
scratch
thoughts from today's class:
Excited to be doing some production stuff in school now.
I really liked the Scratch Film Junkies' film. I liked the variety of it. like the different shapes and patterns. The favorite thing was the 3/4 circular image where the missing pie piece is rotating around. it reminded of this winnie the pooh movie i watched part of in Japan where pooh has this crazy dream and elephants are singing to him about eating too much honey or something. there were like clocks flying around like the shape in the Scratch Film Junkies' film. It was pretty psychedelic and creepy, maybe worsened by the fact that Pooh's voice was actually a Japanese womans voice and the elephants old angry men.
As far as the Brakhage films go, I had seen several of them before. I felt as if many of them were very similar in mood, colors, and patterns. Pretty amazing about how inventive he was with the medium, but I like a large variety of shapes and colors...especially to convey different moods.
Scratching the film was awesome. I'm excited for the first project and also to get some cheap film and scratch it up.
Excited to be doing some production stuff in school now.
I really liked the Scratch Film Junkies' film. I liked the variety of it. like the different shapes and patterns. The favorite thing was the 3/4 circular image where the missing pie piece is rotating around. it reminded of this winnie the pooh movie i watched part of in Japan where pooh has this crazy dream and elephants are singing to him about eating too much honey or something. there were like clocks flying around like the shape in the Scratch Film Junkies' film. It was pretty psychedelic and creepy, maybe worsened by the fact that Pooh's voice was actually a Japanese womans voice and the elephants old angry men.
As far as the Brakhage films go, I had seen several of them before. I felt as if many of them were very similar in mood, colors, and patterns. Pretty amazing about how inventive he was with the medium, but I like a large variety of shapes and colors...especially to convey different moods.
Scratching the film was awesome. I'm excited for the first project and also to get some cheap film and scratch it up.
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