XII

Rate my 6x1 (6 = least favorite, 1 = most favorite):

Rhythmic: 6
This was interesting because you could take a variety of shots and cut them together to form a visual beat. I liked how it had a pattern of 5, 15, 5, 10, 5 and that we could play with the image variety but I didn't like watching these as much because of the jumpiness in the edits.

Recycled: 5
Just because I have done it before in Intro to Editing. I liked the FLxER VJ show, that was fun.

Long Take: 4
The Saturday shoot I was not looking forward to but once we got out and blocked our shoot it became a blast. We had so many crazy things going on and the weather cooperated with us. It was the "Lord of the Flies" experience because we were without our leader but I feel we all had enough of a grasp on what we were doing to get it done and done well.

Cameraless filmmaking: 3
It was fun working with film and making it my own. I liked scratching the film and coloring it with inks. The biggest problem I had was the tediousness of having to manipulate each frame and that each frame was so small it was a lot of work for only a few seconds of show.

Video Race: 2
Was fun but I had to cram it all into on day because the day before I was working on a service project. My scanner failed so I went to my backup plan of making a computer animated film. I liked this one because of the limited time we had to make it and the mystery prop was a fun touch.

Multi-plane Animation: 1
This took a little extra time in class but constructing a stop motion animation was a blast. I personally love animation more than anything because you can create something out of literally nothing. That day we found what materials we had and made a story about the last days of a dinosaur and a few alien friends. Each member added ideas and contributed to making a fun experience.

XI

Normally I don’t like 3d movies. I don’t feel 3d adds anything and I would just rather watch a normal film without paying a $3.50 extra charge because the film is in 3d and I need their highly sophisticated dinky plastic glasses to view this extravaganza. But when we made our 3d film in class it was a fun experience.

I started by making the 3d glasses. These babies are classic red and blue lens 3d glasses, very retro. I think of them similar to the ones the goon in Back to the Future wore as part of Biff’s crew. Why someone would where 3d glasses all the time I don’t know? but they are cool.

After that it was time to shoot. We got the dual cameras set up and in line down the hall. We quickly thought of things that would emphasize the 3d depth we wanted to achieve. The plan went me, Dana and Sheena would stand at the end of the hall. Dana and I would wave these filters around toward the camera and Sheena would spin a filter like a flag. Then Timmy and Ian would “close the gate” with two black filters. D, S and I would move forward and wave the filters in the same pattern as before, each time moving closer to the cameras. The end would have the gate open toward the cameras and Sheena spinning her filter like a color guard’s flag at the cameras as well.

This whole sequence took a few run-throughs to get down and then we shot it in three takes. Then quickly as time expired in class we ran through the process to change the video we shot to 3d in After Effects. I was a neat process and I would like to take some time with it myself to try it on my own. But for the project we had our three takes but they weren’t labeled, so when my group opened two up to use, the two eyes were from different takes. I hope whoever has the footage corrected the problem and has a file I can take for my own collection.

Overall this was a great experience once again. I don’t know if I’ll ever use it myself but I liked that I had the chance in this class.

(On a side note: I know Hollywood is always going for the “realism” experience but even depth of field with 3d doesn’t look like normal depth of field. 3d separates objects onto planes and I can see that one object is on a separate plane than another but the object itself is still flat. 3d needs to become more rounded if it wants to compete with reality.)

My 3D glasses.

X

I thought the Beet Stretch of Beethoven was very ethereal. The notes were the correct pitch but they lasted for quite some time longer. It reminded me of moving in slow motion and being able to see each individual movement of a person running; it really breaks the music down into its components. The slow motion effect reminded me of watching the film Baraka where there are shots of people from all over the world moving in a slowed down manner. There is no dialogue but a sound track does fill in non-diagetically. I felt like an ant on the side of a ball. To me from that perspective I see the world but not the whole world. To me the world is flat and I can walk in any direction and it’s the same. But if I back up and get perspective on where I am, I can see the world is not flat but in fact round. That’s the difference in listening to Beethoven’s symphony at normal speed and the Beat Stretch speed of incredibly slow. I began to zone out and the music became part of the background of my world. I wasn’t listening to it, just like the sounds of traffic or people’s murmurings. But eventually I would catch myself and realize the music was still playing and listen to the notes as a crescendo build. This reminds me of walking down Chancellor’s Walk and then becoming aware of the sounds and noises around me and then I begin to pay attention to the world around me once again; for instance a conversation between two people as they walk to class. This kind of sound really takes you in and then the body adapts to its presence and you forget about it, or it just fades into the back of your mind. But then it does jump back into your consciousness at times. But I found it difficult to simply listen to for a full hour. I’m a patient person but just hearing a note and then a few minutes later the pitch changes or the volume builds takes its toll on the concentration portion of the mind. It’s just not doing enough to keep the mind’s interest but it can’t be simply ignored either. I think the purpose of Beet Stretching Beethoven is to take something that people know and make something new or look at/hear it from a different angle. Make it new again.

Screen Capture from Baraka (1993)

IX

People use what they like in their art. If they see an image or hear a sound or a line of dialogue that catches their attention, they may use it in their own work. Now the question is: is this plagiarism? In my opinion people can borrow and re-imagine anything they want as long as it’s not a direct copy of what some else has created.

This was the case of the Molotov Man. An artist found the photo of a man throwing a Molotov cocktail. She painted her own work based on the photograph. Later she finds the photographer of the photograph wants credit for the source image and for the painter to pay to recreate to painted work. In my opinion, the photographer has a right to the photograph, but no right to the painting based on the photo because the painting is a re-imagining of the original work and not a direct copy of the work.

The same is said for in the other article, where writers take lines from each other’s works and utilize them in their own novel as text or title. They may be using the words as a reference to a work by another author they admire or they may simply like how that formation of semantics functions. They are not stealing from the other author, because anyone can put words together to form these sentences, but they are re-contextualizing a phrase in their own unique way.

We have already done this in class with the first project. Taking filmstrips and scratching and coloring the enamel, we re-imagined the film sequence and made it our own based on something that already existed. We did not simply pass off what was already on the strip as our own work.

We will do this again in the found footage/recycled project. We will take film or video and edit it with the purpose of creating a new context and meaning diverging from the original’s (most likely entirely).

So this question of ownership of image or phrase I feel is limited to the original work and that work as it stands. Any modifications to the original cannot be held accountable as infringing on copyrights because it is in fact not a direct copy and it is not trying to pass as the original work.

Joy Garnett's Painting

Susan Meiselas's Photo

VIII

The Saturday shoot went very well. It was cloudy for the entire shoot and didn’t begin to rain until we were all wrapped. I was even surprised we got done on time at 4 pm without Andre. We followed the shooting schedule pretty closely and helped each other out.

For the shoot I operated the dolly (wheelchair). It was my first time doing that. It was fun. I had to work on pacing and walking backwards.

Our long take shot was of Timmy starting at Deloach and walking towards the camera along the “mini Chancellor’s Walk” between the library and Kennen. As he walked random people would come up to him and change his costume or pelt him with water balloons or tennis balls, oh yeah and there was a monkey. We took the whole hour and fifteen minutes to set up props and block out the action. Then in the last minute we shot the thing. After the four or five practices, we had a good single take.

After the shoot I took the camera to the black box to process. I’m glad I got to do this because I don’t know if I will ever again, so I’m glad I got to do it once. Andy and his group were finishing processing before I got to the room. He stuck around and walked me through the process. Working in the dark was hard because we only had the one red safe light and it doesn’t have much of a range. I dunked the film in the developer and he images began to appear. I thought it was cool how I could watch the film develop from seemingly nothing. After fixing the film I rinsed the strip a few times and then took a look at the frames. They really developed well; the images were nice and sharp. I could make out the building and Timmy.

I helped Barrett set up the digital camera for the video transfer and then went out to help Group 3. Theirs was simpler and needed less people. After that we came in and loaded the projector and saw our film come to life. It looked amazing. This was the first time I have shot on film so projecting it was a fun experience. The take did cut off before we wanted but that’s fine because what we have works. We watched each group as they projected theirs and each one looked cool. I can’t wait until we finish and polish them up in Final Cut.

VII

There are a number of ways to create a film without the use of a camera, we have used a few in class. But one of the main ways is through digital or computer means. PhotoShop or AfterEffects allow an artist to tell a story without a camera. Also a scanner isn’t a camera in the sense that it looks at an object line by line and then recreates each line into a picture, instead of simply taking in the entire image at once.

As far as story, I feel I could tell a normal story in a different way with cameraless filmmaking or if I’m feeling really clever make a story up surrounding the reason to make a film without a camera. I am leaning toward making an animation of a man who can change forms based on his environment.

For example: the man is walking in the hot sun, the world melts and he swims in the liquid. To move around better he grows fins. He swims deeper until he reaches the bottom of the “ocean” and begins falling through the air. His fins turn into wings and he grows feathers. He lands in a tree and sleeps. A blizzard comes in and to keep warm the man grows a thick coat of fur. Snow sticks to the fur and he becomes a giant snowball and rolls down a mountain growing larger and larger. He crashes at the bottom and the sun comes out melting the snow creating a pond. The fury man walks out of the water onto the land, now to hot under the sun he sheds the fur and walks off.

It sounds like a long process but I feel each part will only be a few seconds long. Only long enough to recognize what he’s doing and then move on to the next step in the sequence. I think it’s a simple story with some interesting twists. And depending on the mystery prop maybe something new can be added to the story to make it even more crazy and fun.

I’m looking forward to this project and a way to expand my filmmaking repertoire. I think I will use a combination of techniques through scanning textures and images to using computer animation software like AfterEffects. I also feel sound will play an important role in portraying how the character is feeling and the environments he’s passing through.

VI

Cameraless filmmaking has been a fun experience. It’s a new way to use old footage, by scratching or painting on it, and to use new footage, with rayo- and photograms. It was interesting in that I was making a film without ever seeing what it truly looked like projected. Once we finally got the projector and camera set up to transfer the film to video I got to see my creation unfold. I was surprised by how cool the film looked projected and by the animations that came to life. The barrage of colors and textures was really interesting. I enjoyed the twisted film I had placed over my filmstrip for the photogram. The spiral on the film took up about twenty frames, and this could be clearly seen as the film’s original picture corkscrewed around itself. Another surprise came when the blackleader I used to scratch shapes and my animation into was projected. The 16mm film used two frames per image, instead of one frame to one image. When projected every other frame was either of the man’s head or of his feet. It created a strange flicker effect. The bleached portions were probably the strangest sequences of the film. The bleach was applied to the inked/oiled portions of the film. This application muted the colors and changed some of the colors to strange shades of themselves.

I feel we followed the theme of "earth, wind, fire, and water" well. Sheena created the earth and wind and I did the fire and water. I used a lot of reds and blues of course but I made each wavy and fluid because each of these elements flows. I wanted lots of movement and to create a “flowing” sensation. I liked how the rayo/photograms came out, and overall I enjoyed making and viewing the film.

If I could change anything I would have worked on the magazine transfer more. The magazine strips I used were done hastily and not given enough time to stick to the filmstrip. I think when we tried to project some of the magazine strips slipped and scrunched up, almost jamming the projector. I also would have tried to keep the perforations and the enamel side of the filmstrip consistently on the same side. When we were finished compiling our one minute reel, we realized some of the strips were backwards or flipped so we had to take the time then to correct them. But this was a learning experience and I feel we fixed our mistakes well and have a good film to show for it.

V

Sound is half of modern cinema. The visual is the dominating half, but without the sound the audience losses the context for the images they are viewing. Just like a shot in a film has composition, the sound of a shot has a similar composition. Sounds have directions, where they came from and where they’re going. While a shot is limited by its frame, sound encompasses all that is around the camera. It helps show was the frame leaves out. Sometimes a person’s voice, or a struggle. And this action we cannot see but hear causes our brains to construct what took place. Often, to our surprise, the action we imagine is far different than the actual event. Maybe the filmmaker knew he or she could not create something dramatic or visually, but aurally they knew the audience was smart and could show the audience with their ears a better show.

For example, we see murder scenes everyday on TV. A robber walks in to a bank and shoots a few people and runs away with the money. We could see him walk in and then each victim being shot and then his exit. Or, we see the robber enter the bank, with the shot frozen on the entrance, we hear the robber’s demands and then hear s few shot fired and screams. Then the robber runs out the door fleeing the scene. In the first example, the audience knows exactly what happened inside the bank and the sounds are present just because they are expected to be there. There is less suspense in this first sequence because the audience sees everything as it happened, and the sound neither adds nor subtracts from the experience of the event. However, in the second sequence with the shot of the bank from outside, the sound is cueing the audience to what is happening inside. They hear gun shots and screams and are left to interpret what happened inside. The suspense and drama are heightened because the audience is not entirely sure what is going on, they are only receiving half the information.

Therefore sound is a neglected piece of cinema which is often forgotten, but is easily as important as the visual image itself. Both are used by an audience to formulate the action of a scene and construct the mental and physical space of a scene and define the interacting elements of that space.

IV

There are two predominate schools of thought on animation: it’s either orthodox cel animation, or unorthodox experimental animation. They each have similar characteristics, but they oppose one another in intention, method, and material.

Cel animation is used by large studios like Disney to produce narratives, with character, story and plot. These animations are clean, and usually do not draw attention to the fact they are animations. Studios utilize a large number of animators and other personnel to create the completed film.

In contrast, the experimental animator often works alone. Plot and narrative are not of interest to these animators. They see themselves as artists, creating some abstract meaning from color and shape on a strip of celluloid. They often show the process of which the animation is made in the film itself, a kind of reflexivity. Experimental animation is also not locked into the flat two-dimensional form of cel animation. Many times these films mix 2D and 3D in constructing a new world of meanings.

My thoughts on these two opposing forms are: I enjoy each and I feel each has its appropriate uses. The first is obvious for storytelling and mass appeal. The second is better at searching for new meanings and discovering a new method for animation. I see each as artistic and important in understanding the other.

As far as bringing this understanding of modes of animation into the classroom setting and using each form, I am doing each this semester. In this class, we are mainly using the abstract to create interesting one minute films. In 495/497, I’m continuing my work on a narrative animation about a cat and mouse. Seeing both sides of animation allows me to think more outside the box in each instance. Sometimes one thing I learned in one class helps my animation in the other.

III

6x1 has been a fun class. I have enjoyed getting to work with actual film in our first few in class exercises and for the first one minute assignment.

Scratching off the enamel and leaving my own mark on the film’s surface was great. I didn't see it as destroying some else’s work, but as expanding upon what they created and making something my own. I liked making patterns and then being able to watch them emerge and come to life through the projector.

With the magazine transfer, I took an image of Robert Downey Jr. from Tropic Thunder and some other random shapes and carefully placed the images onto the tape. After cutting the tape into strips to fit the 16mm frame and soaking them in hot water, I taped the strip to a section of clear leader. The strip was maybe twenty-five frames. When we played the class’s composited reel in class, for that one split second I found my strip.

I’ve also worked in the Blackbox with Rayograms and Photograms. These were fun because I finally got to do some photography. I laid out my pattern or beads, spaghetti, screws and quarters on the unexposed film. The whole time I wasn’t quite sure how it would come out mostly because I was working under the red safe light and in the shadow of the table. Then in the blink of an eye, the room lights flashed on and then off. Photographic processes were at work in that half a second and I was eager to view my results. With the lights off, the class huddled around the red light. We then watched the chemical process of developing film. Now the only film I’ve ever seen develop is that instant photo stuff where the camera spits out your picture and in a few seconds the image comes through. This process however was much quicker. Dunk the film in the first chemical and bam! an image. Then clean it off in the water and let it sit in the last chemical so the image will stay when the lights come on. It’s fascinating to me how this all works. How the light creates an image, how that image is then made visible, and how that image is kept from dissolving into the light, is all really interesting.

This course so far has helped me think outside the box in terms of creating a work of film art. There are many other ways to make a movie beyond the usual shooting through a camera lens. In fact cameraless filmmaking combines the photographic nature of film stock with the natural human desire to create art by drawing or painting. I’m looking forward to painting my film in class this week.

II

Synesthesia happens when a person observes a stimulus using a different sense than is usual to observe a particular stimulus. For example, seeing sound or seeing a color associated with a number or letter. This phenomenon often combines senses or crosses them, allowing synesthetes to sense the world in new ways compared to the average person.

In science, synesthesia is a neurological condition where stimulation of one sense leads to an involuntary stimulation of another sense. It can’t be controlled and many people with the condition aren’t even aware they have it because it is perceived as normal to them. It has also found to run in families, which means it’s a genetic trait (congenital synesthesia). Non-genetic “adventitious” synesthesia can occur from a variety of sources, for instance: psychedelic drugs, stroke, temporal lobe epilepsy seizure, or from blindness or deafness.

In art, a number of artists try to recreate the synesthete experience by painting the colors of sounds. One famous example of this is in Disney’s Fantasia. What’s important to take from this is, we as artists can take this concept of synesthesia and cross-sensory perception and use it in our work to visualize what we thought we could not.

One final concept to discuss is cymatics. Cymatics looks at the visual patterns of a sound wave. By taking a solid medium like a metal plate and placing an amorphous solid medium like sand on top, and then by transmitting a sound wave through the metal plate, the sand clumps together into complex patterns. Changing the frequency causes the pattern to change form. Cymatics literally is visualizing sound.

With each of these concepts at my disposal, I can turn my head and look at the world from a new interesting angle. I can visualize the colors and shapes of sound. Seek out new patterns. And give the audience a synesthetic cocktail of sensory miscommunication.

I

Response to in class Video
The green dots at the beginning reminded me of lightning bugs hovering around in the night sky. I enjoyed the kaleidoscope effect of shapes (squares and circles) transforming into flowers and other patterns. They moved with the rhythm of the clanging beat, almost like a fireworks explosion. The blackness left behind cleared the way for the next explosion of colors. Sometimes an image lingered, almost burned into my vision, on the blackness. It was a strange thing to see from a film. The same effect has happened to me before when seeing fireworks or another bright light and then closing my eyes. The last image of the light remains present in my vision in the darkness.


Why do I want to take 6x1?
I want to take this class because in my almost four years at film school I have never touched film. I’ve used digital cameras to film many shorts, and in my track, animation, I’ve mainly used a computer to create moving works of art. I want to get my hands dirty. I want to touch the physical medium of a series of images and physically manipulate them. I also desire to explore other ways to tell stories or convey emotions through abstract means. In general I feel experimental filmmaking gives an artist the necessary room to create meaning through the abstract. In narrative or documentary filmmaking the artist is restricted to making the story clear and accessible to most viewers, which in a way is what the viewers want. But with experimental filmmaking, the meaning of a piece can be expressed in a complex way, not necessarily (and very often not) straight forward. I feel by taking 6x1 I can throw off my shackles of continuity and flex my creative muscles. I can challenge myself to think in new ways, create new meaning with old material, and construct new bridges between foreign ideas. The 6x1 environment is ideal for this growth: a dedicated nest of film students, learning to fly and flap their wings, about to jump out into the world on their own, all will fall, a few will catch a breeze, most will hover, and even some will soar, but they’re all seeking a few last tricks on how to live.