Project Ratings

1 = Anaglyph
This project was highly enjoyable. My group was awesome, and I enjoyed shooting and editing this project the most. Though, we cut out a lot of the film's narrative flow, it came out rather good. This is definitely a film that I'd like to re-edit and show to my friends because there is about 30 sec narrative missing from the 1 minute version. 3D is still a concept that I'm not sure how on board I am with it.
2 = Animation
I've always wanted to do animation, and though choppy because of our experience, the product turned out nicely. I wish I had had time to edit audio for this project, but the shoot was fun, and it is definitely something that I want to do again.
3 = Cameraless
Our first project allowed us to directly manipulate film stock. This was probably the most unique project that we did. I had never even used film stock, and I learned a lot about it in this project. Truly eye-opening experience.
4 = Crowdsourcing
This was similar to the Cameraless, but we are individually doing a small percentage of the entire actual production (I understand that that is the point). Also, I'm not hating on the original video; I thought it was really awesome. However, due to the way it was shot which caused it to be difficult to make out the frame composition, I thought it was a poor choice for the Crowdsourcing project because we're supposed to retain outlines.... I think the final video will be a cluster-fuck of people's abstract color vomit.
5 = Bolex
Though using the old camera was another great experience, and being the cameraman was also really cool, this shoot was thrown together and developed in two hours. It was over before it started. Also, what we did was simple and made no sense.
p.s. I think it is funny that everyone utilized water in this project.
6 = Media Fast
This was thrown together in the same time as the Bolex, only there was no cool camera use. Also, we had to go w/o technology or media for 2 days. That was not fun even while keeping oneself busy. The video was also due the day after it was assigned so there was little planning, and after its showing, 10 hours later, it was shown and forgotten.

Rough Theatre

The rough theatre is a concept that, although not formally acknowledged, has been used in many films, particularly, low-budget indie and student films. These films are tethered to reality for more reasons than their subject matter. Some of those things include improvised lines, impromptu sets and props, and errors made by the cast and crew. These things may be a reference to the local area or the use various objects to convey different meanings. Generally, when something goes awry or audio added in post being super overrated, the crew tends to "improvise." This is what is called rough theatre. It does not take away from the art of the medium, but instead adds to it. I think that this is a concept used constantly that is seen as natural to the story. It is something that only the cast and crew know is happening in their film that the audience may not catch.

I couldn't write this last night (6/4) as I had a Midterm today. Anyway, one kind of has to really appreciate the history of film which includes the film stock that was exclusively used before digital recording. Though deeply tedious, working with the film stock opens up possibilities. I want to do animation at some point, and I can clearly see that 100 frames at 24fps is next to nothing and impossible to make out specific movements. I'm sure that working on 35mm would be much easier and could be more detailed than the 16mm that we used.
The technique we learned are only slightly applicable to modern film. By that, I mean that most of the film manipulation was so other worldly that it would look out of place in a Classic Hollywood narrative. However, these techniques could be used to express deeper thoughts and emotions in the characters. Confusion and disorientation could be shown through the scratching of the film stock. Magazine transfers and painting can show a barrage of color during an emotional point of the film. Though I don't know how I would use these effects while shooting the rest of a film digitally, the techniques we used are definitely a unique addition to any film.

When I go to bed in my apartment, I always turn on an oscillating fan at the foot of my bed. The fan serves a few purposes: keep temperature cooler, provide a steady, harmonic ambient noise, and buffer other noises. The harmonic sound of the fan turning side to side slightly lowers the intensity of the fan's noise when it is as far left or right as it will turn. I like that the sound is constant and consistent from night to night. I like to think that it helps me sleep. What is more important is my next point. The hum of the fan provides a steady noise that is not penetrated by distant or soft sounds like traffic, the TV in the other room, or people talking upstairs. It also acts as a buffer against anything louder than that such as loud music or people yelling outside.

Ambient noise is not a typical thing that I pay attention to, though, outside of my fan at night. When I think about it, there's almost always a constant noise whether it be the noise my bike makes when I pedal and the wind, or my teachers' or peers' constant lecture/discussion, respectively, of course, and if I'm home, I play music, talk to people, watch videos or play video games. I try not to listen to the silence. I have a roommate and a girl friend, but sheer silence in their absence gives an environment of lonesomeness (that couldn't have sounded more pathetic). Should I also mention that I'm easily startled by loud, unexpected sounds? F*ck the modern horror genre.

On Youtube, there is about an hour long documentary about the savant Daniel Tammet. He goes through official studies to test his mental capacity. One of the tests is based on how he can calculate huge numbers in a short time in his head. After easily completing the tasks, the researchers had a conclusion that a logic part of Tammet's brain was directly linked to an image part of his brain. Thus, when Tammet was given any number or equation of numbers, Tammet saw the everything (including the answers) as mental images. For a TED talk, Tammet briefly described his abilities and showed the audience that not only could he calculate large products, but he could also see words as color.
I would love to see the world this way, if only for a single day. I find reading very difficult as I get easily distracted and I constantly look for something else to do while reading. If I perceived reading a book a looking a canvas of artwork (similar to Tammet) I think that reading out of a text book would be slightly bearable, even if it is slightly bland compared to a poem. Color always makes things more interesting. Though I've had unfortunately little experience with it, my ultimate goal is to work as a cinematographer. I feel that I work better with the medium directly than trying to visualize what I want. Perhaps the vivid colors in the mathematical and lexicon world perceived by Tammet would make him an exceptional filmmaker, but alas, his passion lies elsewhere.

The film of extravegant color and scraping on the film fit to the notes of the jazz song playing. Although they're not coordinated by the exact note (mostly) the colors, patterns, and the oddities were brought into play during specific and fitting times in the music.The music's tempo and instrument defined and added to what was happening on screen. In contrast, yet in continuity, when instruments stopped, the screen went blank.Different objects danced around. Sometimes colored sploches moved around. Lights seemed to move sporadically, but when they came to a halt, they formed a solid vertical bar in relation to the note being played at that time. Once, many of the lights spots buzzed sporadically during a short flurry of notes. There were words at the end of the last sequence. [I used the last 30 seconds of time to complain about how I have ten minutes to walk across campus and eat lunch]