6by1 Ratings

1=most fav. __ 48 hour video race. I really liked this particular project, because it gave me alot of freedom to create whatever sort of film I wanted. Working independently I found that I could really go deeper with my ideas, to find out what I really wanted to make. The limit of having the one weekend to produce it put me under pressure and forced me to work efficiently. I found myself playing with Ideas until I had to do something and then just rolling with it. Also, not knowing what I was going to do, made me work with what I had, which convinced me that I could make a quality film with simple tools available in my home.

2= Film manipulation. I loved this one because I think I learned the most from it. I have always worked digitally, and actually being able to handle the film strip, scratch it, draw on it, bleach it, cut and splice it was liberating. I always thought that film would just be ruined if you sneezed on it. It just encompassed alot of different techniques that I had never known about. The rayograms, the development, the magazine transfers were all very cool to learn how to do, and I think are useful tools for film-making. I would really like to work with it again, but now I know that I would, and I don't know if I would have discovered this on my own.

3= Bolex Long Take. Also I enjoyed this project because I think I learned the most from it. I had never worked with an actual film camera like this before, and using it was another liberating experience. Getting to know regular 8mm was also really great for me because I have an 8mm camera at home and really wanted to understand it better. I now feel confident that with it and will definitely use it in the future.

4= Recycled Footage film. I really liked this one because I have always had an interest in found footage films. I always like playing with these things to bring out new and unexpected meanings from them. Also, not having to deal with the production process allows you to have a lot more fun with the post-production. It also gives alot more freedom.

5- Multi-Plane Animation. I really liked it, and I thought the way that it turned out was very cool. I had final cut on it, and I think it was really fun seeing what I could do with the material we generated. But I think that there was alot of senseless bickering when we tried to actually produce the film which hampered our abilities. I think that groups of two would have been good enough, the whole time. Two members for the first half and two for the second.

6- Rythmic Edit. It was just a really tedious to organize those frame sets which is the only reason I disliked this one and because I had serious technical problems that made me extremely stressed. Other than that it was pretty interesting what came out of this project. Also, I am really good at measuring five frame intervals.

mystery workshop response

This was an interesting workshop. I had never worked with 3D before and it was nice to have some experience with it. I had researched it and knew how it was done for the larger productions with the polarization. The blue and red filter method that we used I tend not to like very much because of the loss of color and image quality. But that extra depth was actually quite cool. For the shoot, I tried to bring as many items As I thought I could that would give abrupt depth changes. The best thing we used was the rolling chair, skateboard, and the Heely's I wore. We didn't have a story plan or anything just to play with the depth as much as possible. Throwing the baseball bat in was a nice touch though. It gave the film a good event to center on. When the film was finally done, the moments when the three of us were rolling past each other were the best moments of the 3D effect. The Frisbee was a fail. It was cool to know how to do the 3D on my own. It wasn't all that difficult to do. Its not expensive to do, you just need two cameras. And I mean, I you can just move the single image over a little bit, which is i guess how they convert non 3D films into 3D. It was fun making the glasses too. It's nice to have them around for future projects. I wish that I would have been more involved in what we did to it on the computer. I don't think I could do it without any guidance. It would be really nice to have a written guide of some kind for future reference if I wanted to do another 3D project. It was very cool, and I can't wait to see it on the big screen. I think it will be alot better than on the computer screen.

6by1 part deux

If I were to design a second six by one I would probably assign a time lapse photography assignment in the first week and give the class all semester to work on it. they could condense footage from the entire semester or just from a week or a day. It wouldn't matter which route they took only that it be done by the last class. I would also probably make it more like a 2 minute film-making class. One because I think 6 by 2 sounds cooler and because I think we could have more ambitious projects with two minutes to play with. I would also throw in some classical animation for the students to try, because we never touched on it in six by one. I think I would make another rhythmic edit project, but with this one the order of the cuts be up to the filmmaker only that there would be no cuts longer than 30 frames. Also some 5, 10, 15, and 20 frame cuts in the film. There would be a project where the students would have to make a film using still pictures that they find on the internet. The other projects would be strictly film-based. Films would be made on 16mm, super 8mm, and 8mm. There would be specific dates along the way when these would be worked on. A development day, a screen day, a manipulation day, a cut day, and then a final screening day. A multi-media project would be fun, students would have to generate a performance. Film could be used, but other elements would be required to add into the performance. Live actors, light shows, live musical accompaniment. Something that would bring the process of art making to the forefront of the event. Another project would have to use the flicker effect.

The Yes Men and Recycled footage

The way that the yes men took the George Bush and WTO websites and spun them to make them express what they believe the organizations were really about was much like the way that someone takes old footage and re-contextualizes it. Actually all of their portrayals of the WTO are alot like the re-contextualized footage from things like T.V. sheriff and the trailbuddies. The main difference being they are not using actual footage, they are performing the actions of the a live presenter of facts and skewing them. Instead of the artists having to take what the presenter already performed and making it into something else. They cut out the middle man and make the performance what they would intend it to be. They become the presenter and create the performance.

Molotov and Ecstasy

The Molotov Man is an interesting case to consider it seems that the image that was taken became something much larger than anyone could imagine. In the image resides a deep emotion felt by a particular subject which resonates in many situations. The original context is overpowered by this emotion conveyed in that moment. That emotion could be translated and superimposed on many situations. That is why it can be so easily taken out of context, placed even in the situation of advertising. But what the image conveys is still present if set all by itself. Quite simply there is a conviction in this man that has drawn him to fight to protect it. The context of the situation pales in comparison to the raw energy of the image. The raw energy of the image has caused it to take flight, not the context in which it is placed. Not that the context is not deserving of it's connection to the image, but does this image lay only in service to the context? As the ecstasy reading seems to validate. Artists draw on all kinds of sources to inspire thier work. I think that it is only human to do so. Our mindsare like corkboards and we tack all sorts of experiences on those boards. Many of these experiences are not our own. How can we learn without calling upon the knowledge of our predecessors. For a piece of music there are only so many notes that can be played, before they must be repeated. The alphabet only has so many letters, and the dictionary so many words. There is a finite number of combinations in any creative brew. So if one must call upon another's work in creating their own. I only see this as a testament to the effectuality of that work. If the meaning of that work is construed by adding extra value to it then it only testifies that the original meaning was withstanding enough to contribute to the recontextualization givin it by its new appropriation.

The Saturday Shoot

This Saturday shoot was pretty interesting. There was alot of planning and preparation that went into the shot because we only had one shot at getting it right. It made me pretty nervous when we came down to actually on the footage. We rehearsed several times, which was dangerous for me because I was using a trip and fall gag for my character. We had to cater to accessibility to make sure that nothing would interrupt our scene. When I arrived, sorry was a little late, everyone was sitting at the bus station by Randall parkway. My first concern when I got there was that the traffic would be way to heavy for us to shoot there. I knew the cameraman was going to have to go into the street if we were going to get the shot we wanted. We had to find a new location so we trekked over to the bus stop in front of King. That location worked out great. We were able to explore the space rehearse multiple times and it even inspired the trip and fall gag that I threw into it. It wouldn't have been the same if it would have been at the other location. I was a little surprised that we were able to get everything done before 4 pm. The shooting the processing and the transfer, all done in less that 4 hours. The film that we ended up with wasn't quite what I imagined it was going to be during shooting, and nobody laughed at my fall gag, but it was still fun making it(the film-not the fall). We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day to shoot outside. The clear sky gave a us great lighting. I enjoyed being creative with the 8mm camera for a little while. I tried to do some fun things with in camera editing. Changing one person into another, and just selecting interesting little bits of my classmates interactions. I am looking forward to seeing that footage. Overall I had a very exciting adventure again in the sibyoneiverse.

Chion Reading

The correlation of image and sound.

Wells Reading

The range of animation is so broad it can be hard to classify. This article attempted to break down and describe dimensions between two varying extremes in animation practice. One extreme was the "hyper-realist", typical of Disney animation, the other being the "non-objective", as in an Oskar Fischinger or Jordan Belson animation. Wells also describes the terms and conditions of each camp of animation. Their differences are very much similar to the distinctions between a live-action Hollywood and experimental films. One reaches to maximize the narrative clarity and the other disregards it for freedom. Developmental animation is used to describe any animation that utilizes elements from each of the extreme forms of animation. In the Hyper-realist and what Wells describes as orthodox animation the stimuli of the animation has specific intended relations to real world objects. What he calls configuration. Like Daffy being a duck, or the sound of Bugs bunny chomping on a carrot. All are predetermined to be indicative of real world images or sounds, although the capabilities of the characters and objects can sometimes to extremely unrealistic. Above all, narrative is what is intended to elicit emotional responses. In the non-objective and experimental form there is no intended correlations to the outer-world. Instead abstract images and sometimes sounds, or music, are intended to elicit emotion. Lines, shapes, colors, rhythm, movement all become determining factors in what makes the drama of the animation. The orthodox animation has a team of people working on each film which leaves the role of the artist out for the experimentalists to pick up. The assembly method of the orthodox animation requires a unity of style between the various portions of the project to generate an overall complete piece. The experimental tries to use multiple styles which is more capable of a single artist. While the experimental film often draws attention to the colors, shapes, and textures used to make the film, the orthodox animation tries to mask these things in attempt to maximize its narrative content. What it boils down to is that the orthodox form constricts itself to narrative clarity and serves that purpose as well as profit the best that it can. The experimental strives for total freedom in exercise of artistic inclinations.

Cameraless Filmmaking Experience Thus Far

This has been the funnest class I think I've taken in college. It's been kind of like arts and crafts. I mean I was literally fingerpainting the film in class last week. Not that I wasn't expecting direct film manipulation to be an intricate process I am finding it a little taxing. It takes some intense concentration to make deliberate alteration to the 16mm frames. It's hard to tell what this film is going to look like exactly when it gets projected, but I'm excited in anticipation for when that day comes. I constructed something at home that would allow me to view single frames. Its basically a light inside a box with a frame sized square cut into it and a picture frame glass on top of it. This has helped me the most with the analyzing and manipulating the print film stock and will likely come in handy with the rayograms once it has developed. The magazine transfer class was my favorite workshop. I found this article on Willie nelson that I used to make my transfers. There was a picture of a wall that had all of Willie's albums on it and they were the perfect size for the frames. I chopped them all up and threw them on the tape to transfer thinking that it would turn out to be a nice little montage of Willie Nelson memorabilia. It didn't even come across. I think I might have seen a subliminal blip of Willie nelson's face. That experience showed me just how quickly the frames are going to go by and is a good lesson to learn before moving to my animation and the rest of this project. I had never used film for any projects before this, so I feel like this is an very valuable experience for me. I also think that this may be the best way for me to learn about the material of film. In the future, whenever I shoot and develop film I feel like I will be more confident in myself.

Synesthesia

I think it’s strange that our reading didn’t point out the role of film in synesthesia aside from a short mention of Fantasia. I think the subject is very interesting as a tool for eliciting emotions, because it is the combination of sensory stimulants that creates a particular emotion. When you view a painting, particularly in abstracts, you are only able to interpret it visually, but that’s not what gives it emotion. For some it depends on how that painting stimulates your other senses. If the artist heard music when making the painting does the viewer hear music when they see it? In most cases they do not, unless they themselves are a synesthete, and the experience is not likely to be the same as the artist. But when a song is put into the hands of a filmmaker like Oskar Fischinger, or Norman McLaren they can give you a work of art that can dually be received by both eye and ear. That gives the audience a synesthetic experience comparable to the artists in creating the visual art. In this way it seems the role of film is particularly important in reproducing a synesthetic experience. But is it more important that the synesthetic experience take place inside the person or can exploiting multiple senses at once be considered a synesthetic experience?

Since the arrival of sound, and before that with live musical scores, there has been multi-sensory stimulation in the cinema. There have been attempts to elicit the other senses of the film audiences, with techniques that give the audience the touch of the film they are in. I am reminded of going to Paramounts Carowinds and going on the 007 ride where the seats moved while the watched a short action sequence. It made you feel as if you jostled about with the camera and at one point a bomb explodes on the lake and a spritz of water dampened the audience. If the world of film continues in this direction eventually we may end up with something I read about in the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. There is an “All Super-Singing, Synthetic-Talking, Coloured, Stereosopic Feely. With Synchronized Scent-Organ Accompaniment.” (Huxley 200). This instrument is described like a movie that can induce all of the senses to feel. This idea verges on the Bazinian myth of total cinema as well as a perfect multi-sensory stimulant art-form. That would give you the opportunity to feel range sensual stimulants congruently, but would that count as a synesthetic experience? Even if you believed it was real? Because the signals are not being translated by your brain, they would have to be translated for you. If that is the main criteria for a synesthetic experience it is likely that drugs will be the only option for that sort of personal experience if you are not a synesthetic perceiver.