This is the hardest blog post I’ve ever written in any Silva class ever. Picking your favorite 6x1 project is like picking your favorite child. This kind of filmmaking is so personal that it’s difficult to think of one project being inferior to another. When I finally put this list together I realized that the favoritism lies with the assignments or their guidelines; my favoritism resides more in my ultimate pride in the final outcome of the piece.
I loved working on every single project. I wish that I would’ve given myself more time with all of them, and that this was the only thing that I had to do all semester. I think it would’ve been interesting to see how much better I could have been with a little more time and more attention to detail. That being said, I plan to rework many of these films—if for no other reason than so I could feel less uneasy while watching them.
So, here it goes. Drum Roll Please…
6. Recycled Footage
I got spend hours deciphering the crazy, manic, coked out madness that is Charlie Sheen, and give the president the power to call him a jackass. Who else gets to do that for a homework assignment!
I approached this project wanting to do something more fun than I usually do. I don’t consider myself to be a terribly serious person in real life, but my films always tend to be more serious side of things. Unfortunately, it didn’t really accomplish what I hoped it would stylistically. I like the style of the film from about 42 seconds until the end, but the first 41 seconds didn’t really work without music underneath. I tried to manufacture a beat from frames of Sheen’s dialogue, but it wasn’t suitable for the rhythm of the edit. I really wish there was a culture jam class/unit where we could discuss a methodology. How much would it cost to bring Aaron Valdez in for a workshop?
5. Cameraless Filmmaking
Ok, this was a really cool assignment. I would’ve never thought about coloring on film or scratching making an entire film! It was so cool. I loved working on this. The only thing that sucked is that I missed some of the group meeting times because of a death in my family. I really plan on exploring this technique further.
4. Multi-Plane Animation
The pictures up on facebook say it all. I came into class, played with food, squished a tomato, and shot on film. It was super cool, but I wish that it would’ve come out better. I did enjoy playing up the cheesy aesthetic in post, but I wish that we would’ve framed things better and made better use of our 3 planes.
3. Rhythmic Edit
This was a really cool project. My immediate instinct was to give this assignment a documentary feel, but I decided to just shoot Cassandra in her natural habitat instead. I really enjoyed the visual music feel given to this style. Also, this is probably the coolest soundtrack I’ve ever built.
2. Long Take
Lord of the Flies Weekend was awesome. I love hand processing. It’s my favorite thing, and the fact that I got to shoot and process on the same day made it even cooler. Also, since I had more experience than most I sort of got to do a bit of leading, which was really cool experience since I want to teach.
1. 48-Hour Video Race
This is one of the coolest films I’ve ever made. I played with the idea of making a more traditional self-portrait style film, but I really enjoyed the aesthetic that I managed to create using household items, my face, rubber ducks, and photoshop. I wasn’t in love with how abstract the film was at first until Andre and Cassandra both told me that I managed to make them feel like they were drowning. Mission accomplished.
Showing posts with label Cassandra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cassandra. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Epimetheus
What more can I say about cameraless filmmaking?
It was pretty awesome. I really enjoyed it, and it wasn’t as tedious as I had originally expected. I thought it was going to be days and days of my life devoted toward the end of making something beautiful happen, but it was really just an afternoon pouring over my film strip and letting my imagination do what it does best (run amuck).
Are there some things I would change? Absolutely. That’s just the nature of art though. No matter how good we get at it we always think there’s something better—if we are no longer able to learn from our mistakes then we aren’t doing it right.
I colored my rayograms rainbow colored, and it looked really good in my hand. I was sad to see that it didn’t look as cool on the projector. My thought is that given more film to cover that it would have the desired effect, but I won’t know for sure until I stretch the film out in Final Cut. It would be a really cool to try in the future, and I know that I plan to further experiment with rayograms if I can find a project that requires it.
I would really like to do a rhythmic edit with manipulated film—even though it would be really expensive. I wonder if there’s a good way to repeat the same cycles.
I wish that I could have tried printing directly onto the film, but I missed that class so, I didn’t really understand the concept when I talked about it with my group. Cassandra and Barrett were both quite successful with their printing, and it looked really cool.
The scratching and manipulation from thadpovey was a little above our skill level. I really enjoy the texture that their manipulations yielded. I felt that mine lacked a certain amount of texture despite my scratching and the feel of the film in my hand.
I guess ultimately, the lesson that I’ve learned is bigger is better and more is more. In order to achieve texture and use of the whole frame in the name of giving new context to either the film or clear leader is to really go nuts.
This assignment was really fun and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I can’t think of another class where you get to take old film and make brand new beautiful things.
It was pretty awesome. I really enjoyed it, and it wasn’t as tedious as I had originally expected. I thought it was going to be days and days of my life devoted toward the end of making something beautiful happen, but it was really just an afternoon pouring over my film strip and letting my imagination do what it does best (run amuck).
Are there some things I would change? Absolutely. That’s just the nature of art though. No matter how good we get at it we always think there’s something better—if we are no longer able to learn from our mistakes then we aren’t doing it right.
I colored my rayograms rainbow colored, and it looked really good in my hand. I was sad to see that it didn’t look as cool on the projector. My thought is that given more film to cover that it would have the desired effect, but I won’t know for sure until I stretch the film out in Final Cut. It would be a really cool to try in the future, and I know that I plan to further experiment with rayograms if I can find a project that requires it.
I would really like to do a rhythmic edit with manipulated film—even though it would be really expensive. I wonder if there’s a good way to repeat the same cycles.
I wish that I could have tried printing directly onto the film, but I missed that class so, I didn’t really understand the concept when I talked about it with my group. Cassandra and Barrett were both quite successful with their printing, and it looked really cool.
The scratching and manipulation from thadpovey was a little above our skill level. I really enjoy the texture that their manipulations yielded. I felt that mine lacked a certain amount of texture despite my scratching and the feel of the film in my hand.
I guess ultimately, the lesson that I’ve learned is bigger is better and more is more. In order to achieve texture and use of the whole frame in the name of giving new context to either the film or clear leader is to really go nuts.
This assignment was really fun and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I can’t think of another class where you get to take old film and make brand new beautiful things.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Oh, Mr. Wells
Wow. Wells hates narrative animation.
I had a feeling this reading was going to remind me of the Hans Richter piece Shannon assigned in the experimental class, and I was right. I remember wishing I had a more visceral reaction to the reading—Cassandra had it covered though, and I wonder if she will have a similar reaction this time around.
Poetry was my first real artistic outlet. It was the first time something came to me that I had to capture. Poetry can mean many things or nothing just like experimental animation; however, Wells believes that the attempt of an abstract animator to attach deeper meaning negates the art all together. I’m not sure that I agree with him.
I grew up with the Looney Tunes and Disney cel animation. I was very fond of both of them. Being born to the first generation that was truly saturated in Cartoon Network, I spent most of my life with narrative animation, and I really enjoyed it—I still do when the mood strikes.
That being said, I realize that these cartoons are not necessarily the highest form of animation, but that’s not to entirely negate what these animators are doing. Sure, some of them are simply repeating the same styles that were there before them and they will continue you to use them without any thought of innovation—such is the nature of art when it exists within a capitalist system—but some of these commercial animators are attempting innovations, no matter how small they may be.
I think Wells does make a valid point, but I guess I’m just too tender hearted to accept the harshness of it. We can’t all be Van Gough! Some of us are just the guy doing caricatures on the corner. Maybe that does diminish our artistic output; maybe not being politically charged/controversial/provocative/abstract means that we are less than those, who are cutting edge. Who am I to say? I just know that even the guy on the street corner is making art no matter how low an art form it may be. It’s a beautiful thing that made someone feel something even if it was just a fleeting chuckle.
I had a feeling this reading was going to remind me of the Hans Richter piece Shannon assigned in the experimental class, and I was right. I remember wishing I had a more visceral reaction to the reading—Cassandra had it covered though, and I wonder if she will have a similar reaction this time around.
Poetry was my first real artistic outlet. It was the first time something came to me that I had to capture. Poetry can mean many things or nothing just like experimental animation; however, Wells believes that the attempt of an abstract animator to attach deeper meaning negates the art all together. I’m not sure that I agree with him.
I grew up with the Looney Tunes and Disney cel animation. I was very fond of both of them. Being born to the first generation that was truly saturated in Cartoon Network, I spent most of my life with narrative animation, and I really enjoyed it—I still do when the mood strikes.
That being said, I realize that these cartoons are not necessarily the highest form of animation, but that’s not to entirely negate what these animators are doing. Sure, some of them are simply repeating the same styles that were there before them and they will continue you to use them without any thought of innovation—such is the nature of art when it exists within a capitalist system—but some of these commercial animators are attempting innovations, no matter how small they may be.
I think Wells does make a valid point, but I guess I’m just too tender hearted to accept the harshness of it. We can’t all be Van Gough! Some of us are just the guy doing caricatures on the corner. Maybe that does diminish our artistic output; maybe not being politically charged/controversial/provocative/abstract means that we are less than those, who are cutting edge. Who am I to say? I just know that even the guy on the street corner is making art no matter how low an art form it may be. It’s a beautiful thing that made someone feel something even if it was just a fleeting chuckle.
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