The Saturday Shoot

I had such a great time at our Saturday shoot!  I think it is a great way to get the class involved together outside of actual class time.  Everyone had pulled together to make every aspect of the day flow. 

Our group was the first to shoot,  we had come up with a romantic musical idea for our 1 minute film.  It involved lots of choreography and precision from our actors, so we rehearsed the scene at least 15 times (or so it felt.)  I opted to operate the Bolex because I had never done so before. I began to feel like I was weight lifting with the heavy object after an hour of holding it! 

After a ton of run throughs we finally shot it, everything went great!  It ended a little before one minute, so we must not have wound it enough. Thankfully we didn't cut any of the story telling out. The only thing that wasn't caputured was the romantic kiss between our two love struck characters.

After we processed our film we went to help the other groups.  I was the lead actress in a "stalker" film where I get stalked around campus by an unknown person (or thing, or animal! who knows!) I never got to see this groups projected film, but I'm sure it turned out great.

Throughout the day it stopped feeling as though we were in class but rather just on a fun film set!

Video Race Ideas

I was really inspired by the scanned images of Andre playing the recorder in class. I love the idea of using scanned images and throwing in some effects on final cut it would make for some good visuals.  I would really like to incorporate scanned images, scanned textures of sort sort and some sort of animation on after effects for the video race.  I thought about using my iphone, and still might use it for a little bit of the project but I would like the majority to be done through more traditional animation ideas. I also have played around with a program called "Animation - ish," that would look good for this type of film.  But I never purchased it and was running off a free trial run so i'll have to see if I still have days left for using that software. I have always wanted to do an animation of animals using different objects and textures that I scan in for a film and think it would be a fun idea for the video race. However, realistically I would like more time to complete something like this.  As far as plot or story ideas go I am still trying to come up with a solid story to follow.  I probably will nail this down when I find out the mystery prop ( I guess you could say I work well under pressure.)

I want the tone of this film to be funny.  All of this will be happening in such a quick paced time frame, so I want to incorporate that feeling of urgency into the project, but still make it look sweet!  I think it I tried to make the film dramatic or sad the emotions would be lost and I would not be able to pull it off.

I have never done any sort of video race so I am excited to do this one.  I remember watching some of the 6 x 1 projects the summer class had done last year and they looked like it was a lot of fun to work on, and the end product turned out really cool and inviting! 

Cameraless whaa?

I really enjoyed cameraless film making.  This was something new to me that I had always wanted to try.  When we first talked about it in class I had all kinds of crazy animations that I thought would look cool on film.  Then when I actually tried to attempt the animations...well...lets just say they looked nothing like I had pictured.

I never actually got to paint on the film with oil, my partner did most of that - but I thought that part looked Awesome on the film! And when the film ran through the projector I could actually tell what it was and what part of the film that was. 

I tried to write out the phrase "Our Earth" with pieces of magazine letters.  I had thought that when this ran through I would actually get to read "our earth" and would be able to distinguish it.  Boy was I wrong!  I was so surprised when it played so fast, a bit disappointed, but it looked cool nonetheless.

I also had scratched out film to give the appearance of a tornado moving (for the element of wind)  This is something I could actually see when it was played.  It looked exactly how I wanted - I just wish I had scratched out more so it would play for longer.  My partner, TJ, did I great job with his stick figure animation.  I could precisely see the man doing actions.

I enjoyed all aspects of this project,  it was unique and creative and made me feel more like a experimental film maker.  I must also end with saying that it felt so sublime to be sitting on my couch with a nice glass of wine, scratching on some film, and watching the Oscars all at the same time!

Sounds of Harmony

When I was reading this article all I kept thinking about was the sounds in "The Ring" video.   I think you all know what I'm talking about if you've seen the film....creepy right?  I posted a video in case you don't remember :)  This is an instance where sound definitely plays with your emotions and feelings.   Sound has  a huge impact on cinema experience. If we were to watch a thriller or romance, and there was no score to accompany the image we would be lost.  As a movie goer I need that score, or sound of footsteps against snow - to get the full effect of the scene.

On the other hand, one of my favorite sounds in film is silence.  Silence makes the viewer think, and I believe it makes the audience take in the beauty of a shot.  In Visions we have just finished screening numerous undergraduate films for the festival.  One experimental is coming to mind that is completely silent.  If that were reversed I do not think the film would have the same effect.

 

Wells theory of Animation

I must admit that I have always been a huge fan of cell animation.  Maybe its the disney princess I long to be but I have always admired the work of that these artist.  I started watching other types of animation a couple of years ago and I do love these styles of animation.

I think that well's "unorthodox" animation is more of an artistic experience than the typical "orthodox" animation.  It seems that it challenges viewers to think more about what is being brought to the rather than cartoons and cell animation - which brings a more narrative experience and deals with telling a more simplistic story.

I do appreciate both art forms,  I enjoy the storytelling in "orthodox" animation, and also enjoy the creative artistic measures brought to me in "unorthdox" animation.  I am more of an orthodox animator, and choose to draw typical cell animation figures.  This class along with other art forms have let me experience other realms of animation.

Cameraless Filmmaking!

I had never really thought of the idea of cameraless filmmaking before hearing about 6x1.  I knew of it and that it was possible, but I could not really grasp how it was done.   Though we are fresh into the semester I feel like I have a more general knowledge about how it can be done.  I can't wait to see our finished projects!  Last week I worked on the rayograms while my partner painted on film.  I was surprised by how cool some of the film strips looked.  I especially liked the way makeup looked on the film strip.  It gave a cool blue tone to the film.  This week I will be experimenting with scratching and painting on the strips. Can't Wait!! I am also very excited to see how the matchbox camera project will turn out. These creative techniques have opened my mind up to a whole new world of film.

Synesthesia and cymatics

Upon finishing these very intriguing articles I have concluded upon the fact that - I want to experience Synesthesia!  I'm not saying I would want it around permanently (well depending on what the circumstances may be,) but to experience something like looking at a cat and smelling roses would be awesome! I found artist Carol Steens reaction to acupuncture eye opening.  It impresses me that she took her image from the brain and made a piece  of art out of it.  But I suppose tha'ts what the brain is -  a piece of art in itself.

If the science behind cynamatics is more unveiled to the population I believe this could be used in mainstream movies, songs, and art all the time. It is extremely thought provoking and like the creative technologist, Evan said cymatics is really a magical tool that I had never really thought about.  Now that I have a beginning working knowledge of synesthesia and cymatics I would like to try and work them into my film projects to come.