Blog 19: Class Reflection - What did you discover about yourself as an artist and filmmaker this semester?

I learned a lot.

It hasn’t sunk in yet that this class is over. We made six films in twenty (class)days! That’s insane. I figured out that if your motivation during the making of a film is to shoot something that’s not terribly embarrassing or something will look “right” to an audience, you’re going to make a shitty film. Instead, try to have fun and let your imagination run wild – you might make something you’re proud of. I had fun with all of these projects and I really only “phoned-in” one of them. (It was the sound project, obviously. I wish had listened to some of the other projects before I exported, because I would have known I needed to step my game up. Plus I was worried about being late for my stupid job, so there’s that excuse.)

I’m getting better as a director, I think. My plan originally was to find something to do other than directing (I guess because it’s cliché? Or I didn’t want to compete for the role?) and try different things until I really felt comfortable, but I now I think I’m set (haha pun Ihateymself) on directing. Sure, I’m not awesome at it yet, and I faced some of the same problems on film 6 that I did in FST 201 (losing focus, letting things go instead of being assertive about what the project needs, not being knowledgeable enough about lenses and lighting to fix problems quickly) but I’m gaining in confidence the more I do it. I still want to direct someone else’s script because, while the screenplay for Bropacalypse was the best material a director could ask for, I really want to interpret another student’s work. I kind of did that in 201 but first of all, we had to build the short around two pages of dialogue that none of us liked, and second of all, I didn’t “direct” that project so much as I ate pizza and said “action” “cut” and “that was great, but let’s do one more.”

The next challenge for me, I think, is to direct something with a cast and crew that doesn’t have their shit together. So far, I’ve only worked with awesome people who make me look good.

I loved this class. I wish I had gone more in depth with my blogs because I actually love writing, but I suppose most of the time I was still reeling and trying to recuperate on blog day, so I didn’t have as much to say. Summer semester is crazy. Making movies never feels like work. Hope I get to work with some of these guys again soon. Bye for now.

Blog 18: Microcinema Plan

I’m writing most of these final blogs after the fact, so it’s hard for me to remember how the planning went with these projects, and my memory of the microcinema is especially blurry. I remember meeting up with Cori to coordinate the different departments, gather loglines and footage, make creative decisions, etc. It was kind of a mess. Cori is always on her game and in control, which means that sometimes people – myself included – lean on her too much. There were a couple problems that I or someone else could have fixed that ended up in her lap. So, naturally, she was stressed and I was stressed. I guess I didn't understand my role and I don't think I did enough to help. I wish I had communicated with the departments better rather than assuming they were talking to Cori. I wish that everyone had submitted their footage on time. I wish I wasn’t such a wack MC. I wish we'd had cheese.

But, anyway, this was the first time any of us had ever tried putting on a film festival. And considering the time-frame, we did pretty well. I doubt the editing class noticed most of the hiccups. So not everything was on-schedule. So we didn’t have programs. So I got devoured by mosquitos. I still had fun and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Blog 16: Reflection - How did the idea/plan work out?!

It could not have gone better. Rehearsal was slow and I was tired and anxious to start shooting, but in the end we accomplished everything we were supposed to. The shoot itself was a breeze. Cori was our savior – she kept everyone on track and saved my butt on several occasions. James was an awesome dp and did great work with Natalie on the soundscape and editing. Kyndall got us some sweet wristbands and helped Natalie capture sound. Natalie was a good problem-solver and made sure our sound and lighting was right. Paul and Viet gave hilarious deadpan performances and were fun to have on set. These guys made my job easy and I would definitely work with them again.

This project in a gif:

Blog 15: What is your team's Blocking Challenge Idea & Plan

Our plan was to write some bromantic dialogue, shoot our scene in a locker room, and create an apocalyptic soundscape.

Blog 14: What did you discover today?

Working on the filmbeatz project, I discovered dappled lighting is really nice and shooting outdoors in the shade is infinitely preferable to shooting indoors under crappy fluorescent lights. Also: Knox is totally willing to make a fool of himself on camera.

Blog 13: Reflection on Rhythmic edit examples from class - What did you discover today?

Making rhythmic edits is another way of making short films that doesn't require a lot of resources. So that's nice. I think at this point no one in class has an excuse for not making films, since for this one all you need is a few clips and a way to edit them. I mainly see potential for comedy in these kinds of videos (it's all about... timing), so that's the direction I decided to take for my rhythmic edit. Although, I can see how you can make some kind of weird, poignant statement or completely change the context of the footage you're using (like in Alone, Life Wastes Andy Hardy). You could also make something much more sophisticated, like this King of the Hill edit: THAT'S MY PURSE I DON'T KNOW U! I'm also less interested in making an honest portrait of someone - I'd rather make something goofy.

Oh, and here's a cool supercut: Hell's Club.

Blog 12: Your Animation Progress

We finished the animation part of the project today. I was mostly right about the animating going faster for the rest of the way. I also got to work with sand, so that was fun. When I was animating, I made the butterfly’s path cut a skull into the sand, which I thought looked neat. We also cut up some magazines, which I didn't like as much, but I thought it looked unique. I discovered that I like working with sand the best. All we have left to do from here is put together the soundscape and put all the frames together in premiere.

Blog 11: Your Animation Progress

Today we made a butterfly burst from a cocoon and fly away. The animating went pretty slow and steady – we only got a fourth of it finished – but I’m happy with what we made so far. I think that the project is shaping up and we should get the last three parts done at a quicker pace now that we know the direction we're heading and how to lock into animating. I discovered that the charcoal erasures had a unique effect that made the butterfly look like it’s destroying the background as it flies.

Blog 10: Your Animation Progress

I really liked working with sand because it was quick and it didn’t get charcoal smudges all over my hands and face. Gouache was fun too; I liked how oil made tiny bubbles in the paint.

I discovered that when you lock into a groove, animation can be pretty fun and easy (Still takes forever though.) I think I like this way of animating a lot better than drawing on film because it's really hard to tell what you're doing when the frame is so small. You also don't have to try and draw the same thing every time and line everything up - you just erase the parts that are going to move - so it goes a little bit faster and more smoothly.

Blog 8: Reflection on Kentridge & Leaf's Animations/Interviews and Reading - - What did you discover today?

I liked that Caroline Leaf downplays the time investment associated with animation (I know I won't when I'm finished with this animation project). I thought it was funny, too, that Kentridge and Leaf have no interest in animating with computers because they prefer to get their hands dirty; I can relate to that, but I also like computers. Reading about these messy animation techniques and how immediate and improvised they are (you can't go back and change anything!) got me excited to start animating. I think I'm finally starting to grasp (three projects later...) how I can use abstract expression and "l'art pour l'art" and all that to just make something and not think too much.

Audio Picture Show Self-Evaluation

How does your final film convey the assigned sense description? Be specific in your thought process. We mainly took sounds that seemed "prickly" and put them on top of a base layer. We also combined some sounds - like different fountains bubbling - that didn't sound prickly by themselves but when combined, made a third sound that was prickly. And we panned most of the tracks to make the piece more jarring.

How could the piece be strengthened, technically and conceptually?
There were definitely three separate sections but they weren't necessarily a beginning, middle, and end. Also: we left most of the sounds "as-is" without any effects or anything.

What was the most challenging aspect of this project?
Finding prickly sounds.

How did you deal with it?
Not very effectively.

What did you discover through this project about making film?
If you rush through a project and try to "get it over with," you might not like how it turns out.

Blog 6: Sound Journals 1&2

For my sound journals I thought it would be appropriate to go to quiet places and try and pick out sounds that I would take for granted when not listening closely. So for the first one, I sat at a bench in front of Kenan yesterday morning. Once my ears adjusted, the environment seemed pretty loud. I could hear all the cars on College and beyond going by on my right, tweets and warbles from the birds in the trees, wind in the leaves, tires on asphalt, car doors slamming, quiet conversations and footsteps, humming from that weird building between King and Kenan, etc. It was relatively loud and rich with sound, despite campus being deserted. I was sort of disappointed, so I went to the library hoping to find a really quiet spot.

I went to the deepest, darkest corner of Randall, got out my notebook, and listened as hard as I could. Now, even during finals week - when every desk is occupied and people are sprawled out in the stacks, chewing on pencils, chugging iced coffee - the second floor of the library is creepily quiet, so I figured that a summer morning would be as close to total silence as I could get.

As soon as you make it up the stairs, it's like stepping into a vacuum. At first, it feels awkward to breathe because it seems so loud, but eventually you adjust and other sounds start to creep in. I could hear a clock ticking but I didn't see one anywhere. (Is there a giant wall clock upstairs that I just never noticed?) I could hear the air conditioning kicking on and off. Somebody was coughing and sniffing, and sometimes I would hear muffled laughing and talking but it was very faint. A man walked by and I heard his pants swishing. Most of the sounds I heard came from me: I was chewing gum and writing notes, so I could hear the lead scratching on my notebook and every noise I made when I shuffled in my chair.

Overall, I was disappointed because I didn't pick up any weird sounds or anything unexpected. I think next I'll visit some loud places.

Also, it made me think of this video.

Blog 5: Response to Listen Up Reading and Chion Reading - What did you discover today?

I liked reading about reduced listening because I'm interested in different textures of sound. That part of the Chion reading got me excited for the next project because it made me realize that we can capture sounds without worrying about their source: we can record whatever wild noises we want and once we're in the editing lab it doesn't matter necessarily where those sounds came from - it only matters that they sound complex, interesting, and add to the overall soundscape. I also liked that Chion talked about how we can remember people's voices without ever seeing their faces because it made me think of what it's like when I hear a band for the first time and guess what the singer looks like.

The Jim Cummings reading made me realize how hard it might be to capture ambient sounds and wildlife noises on campus without being interrupted by "human sounds". Oh well.

Blog 4: Reflection Film 1&2 - What did you discover about yourself as an artist through this process?

I don’t think that I discovered anything about myself as an artist that was surprising. I knew that sorts of projects aren’t my forte, and although I really like abstract and ambiguous short films and I can appreciate what Brakhage and others accomplish with these methods, I don’t know how to create that way. I’m used to expressing myself and telling stories through moving pictures with a more conventional approach (actors, script, three-act structure, etc.) I did have fun though, especially with the animation. 

When I was little I wanted to be a cartoonist and I made flash animations all the time in middle school. But I haven’t gotten any better at drawing and I’m too impatient to do it anymore anyway. That being said, it was fun drawing crashing waves and drowning stick figures.

Blog 3: Reflection on Magazine/Newspaper Transfers

This one was somewhat easier to wrap my head around because all the material was there and I just had to put it together. It turned out pretty ugly though: I cut up this weird drug ad and it ended up looking like regurgitated spaghetti. I also had a hard time cutting the strips into the right shape, so I ended up with less material to put on the film than I expected (and some of them disappeared or dissolved or something) and I had to cut up more magazines. The second time around, I hacked up pictures of cameras and cut the tape into really thin strips. I think that section will look better (or at the very least, less vomit-y) because there's some sort of a theme, rather than a mishmash of textures. It's hard to say whether or not anything I tried today worked without seeing it through the projector, but I have a feeling it will look like a garbled mess. It was fun though.

For the next project, I think having to stick to the elements theme is really going to help me stay on track and generate ideas quicker. I think limitations make you more creative; complete and total freedom can be paralyzing. Sometimes you need boundaries to reach and rules to bend to make your best work.

Blog 2: Reflection on Film Create/Film Destroy

Today’s project was fun and reminded me of kindergarten; I think it set the tone for this course pretty well. I tend to be inhibited and overthink everything, so it was a good experiment to get me out of my head and out of my comfort zone. For a project like this, you just have to go – you can’t hesitate. It’s like jazz or improv comedy: just start somewhere and keep saying “yes, and” and don’t stop. Sure, sometimes you hit a bum note, but once in a while you create something that would never have existed if you'd paused to think “is this stupid?” So don’t doubt yourself.

Now, all that inspirational fluff aside… I didn’t like what I came up with today. None of the images turned out to be all that interesting. I tried to go with the flow and “express myself” and so on, but mostly I just stared at the strips of film and scratched my head.

Other thoughts:

It’s hard to make something out of nothing.

Bleach is cool.

Doodling with a razor blade and carving hair and beards onto actor’s faces is fun.*

Yes, 24 frames are always only one second.

One second is very short.

*I mean photographic images of actors. Don’t mutilate actors; they’re people, too, technically.

Blog 1: Reflection on Maya Deren & Stan Brakhage readings

The readings from Maya Deren and Stan Brakhage really inspired me to go out and make weird, expressive films. The main idea I took from both of these is that often the best way to make a film is not to plan for months and stress but to just go out and do it: get your hands dirty and try anything and everything you can think of. I also found it really interesting how Brakhage put together his films through manipulating chemical processes and ripping everything apart to create something new. And as someone who knows next to nothing about actual photochemical film, just reading about how he developed all those crazy visuals is as interesting as the films themselves.