Sunday, March 28, 2010

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.

Monday, March 22, 2010

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.