Cucalorus

Another solid year of films at Cucalorus. I was unable to fully immerse myself into the festival like last year but still caught enough to satisfy my appetite. I saw:
That Evening Sun
Mississippi Damned
House of the Devil
The Port Salut shorts
and Big Fan.

My favorite film was "She's a Fox". I thought it was one of the best shorts I've seen in a long while, from start to finish, it was flawless. I talked to the filmmaker afterward and he answered all questions I had about Chapman University, where he went for grad school, and certain aspects of his film. The atmosphere of Cucalorus is always great, laid back, energetic, outgoing, intelligent. It's always a great time to meet people and discuss film. I thought the entire block of shorts in the Port Salut program were amazing. Chip Hackler's "Two Hours in the Dark" received a standing ovation, which added all the more to atmosphere and my perceptions of it. The ovation was sincere and joyful and I was very happy for Chip. I also liked the short, "Nous". It depressed the hell out of me, knowing the outcome of this man, in his forties, and seeing him during a period of bliss, in love, happy. The image of a man dying, alone, with his memories of love locked behind a refrigerator door has stayed with me. I thought the film worked great blending the holiday footage with the facts of life. If the man in the film, on his holiday, had known then, what end was to become of him, what would he do I wondered.
Also, the short, "Small Change" was a very solid short as was the other film about a letter which escapes me. Both films, told a story in less than five minutes, which is no easy feat.

"House of the Devil" started off great, the opening titles, the set up of, the suspense. BUT the suspense dragged on and oN and ON. Finally, the "blood" which supposedly was to drench 75% of the frames came and in five minutes the entire "conflict" if you call it that was resolved and the audience was left with a cliffhanager.

Disappointing.

It was my last year at Cucalorus and I'm glad I was able to see so many great things. It truly is a remarkable event.

My Rough Theater

My rough theater would look like this:

It would be dark and personal. It's the kind of theater that encourages viewers to see a matinee and then sneak into a completely different film. It's the kind of theater where one leaves, often lost within oneself, within one's own thoughts.

Of course I would have another theater, and that would look like this-


This theater would be fun and goofy. It would bring out the child in all of us. It would encourage uncontrollable laughter, it would contain a rule where viewers cannot cross their arms ever, it would be silly.

Mystery Workshop Response

Fun as always!

I've never worked with 3D animation, and it was a fun new experience. I wish I had been able to think of a creative story to tell, or something unique. Also, I wish I was good at arts and crafts. My 3D glasses were nearly lost, barely salvageable. Luckily, Mark Eaton cut the glasses back to their most basic form. After that I added a little top hat and I had something. It was Saved.

3D appears to be the wave of the future and I was happy knowing, while watching the final product, that I could do it. However rough it turned out, I could do it, and I think that is something I am really learning throughout this course, that anything can be done. It might not be great at first, but most attempts aren't, as long as I keep working hard I can perfect whatever my endeavor my be. I'm also taking another look at what film tools are in my tool shed and what can be added to that shed of film tools. The means by which you tell a story should reflect the story itself, and when one has the power and the knowledge to wield many tools, they have choice when they begin production.

I am not and have not been the most knowledgeable person in the editing room, and I liken my mindset in the editing room to my mindset towards the weight room in high school. I played football throughout high school and unfortunately had to participate in wrestling my freshman and sophomore year. Both of these sports required time in the weight room to improve the body's strength. My older brother and I share similar frames but, unlike myself, my older brother spent a lot of time in the weight room and in turn excelled at both sports, finally receiving a scholarship to play football at a DI school, but I never spent that time and thus never bulked up. I was weak my freshman year of high school and I got deterred from going in because everyone older than me could put up a lot of weight. I think that's what happened to me in college with the editing room. Instead of working harder at my weaknesses I gave up and turned to something else. What I turned to was acting and I have done that the majority of college. For that reason, I haven't really felt like a filmmaker throughout college because I've created so little, but through this class I have created multiple projects that I am proud of and through these projects I've eagerly jumped into the editing lab and I've become stronger. I have more confidence when I say I am a filmmaker now, because I have projects that I created to back it up. I also am gaining confidence to undertake new technologies.

Overall, good stuff.

Rights of the Molotov Man and Ecstasy of Influence

Cryptomnesia! I always wondered if there were a word to describe that inkling I get when a creative idea feels to familiar. Usually when I feel those inklings I back off from the idea or adjust until I feel safe. Growing up I performed a lot of improv, at school and then at the Second City in Chicago. It was a great experience, something I often think back on, recall what I learned and then apply it to what I think it is relevant for. The reason I bring improv up is because of this Cryptomensia.
In improv the mind is circulating a million thoughts. A performer is listening to their partner(s) and responding. One only has a few seconds, in which the brain must discover and forefront the strongest or the funniest possible thought. In this high pressure environment, I've experience cryptomnesia. My mouth has exploded with a word, my body has performed an action and during the ensuing laughter something clicks. There is that gut reaction of something vaguely familiar, a deja vu of sorts. Often times I would discover, a line, an action, or maybe just the delivery came directly from a SNL skit. Or from a line in a movie. Upon realizing it, I felt like a fraud. I enjoy creating, and therefore I always try something different whenever I get the inkling of cryptomensia. But this cryptomensia is unavoidable. It happens and I don't think their should be any punishment for it. When the problem I also think of George Harrison and "My Sweet Lord", which sounds a lot like The Chiffons "He's so Fine", or The Strokes "Razorblade" and Barry Manilow's "Mandy". In both Harrison's song and The Strokes song, there are chord progressions which match another song, what happened? George Harrison settled court and lost some money, the strokes never play razorblade. I don't think Harrison should have lost money, and I don't think the strokes should stop playing razorblade.
I think that its a new piece, new art, and should be respected as such.

The Yes Men

The Yes Men is a hysterical documentary that raises questions about the WTO and big business, raises questions about apathy and/or complacency as inhabitants on Earth or more specifically consumers in society, raises issues that many viewers would never care to think about.

I actually saw Yes Men when I was in High School and I forgot all about it except the phallic suit. I vividly remember laughing on the floor.

It's funny how it exposes the apathetic attitude within people, I'm guilty as well. We become so focused on our lives, next appointment, next task, next night out, that we find it easier to say the word "yes", to accept what we're fed and continue on in our lives. It's the easiest thing to do. What scars me about the film is comparing the business event in Rotterdam and the student event. The students begin to catch on, they ask questions, they begin to get upset, which is great. University is the time to ask any and all questions. It's a time to learn. There is a freedom. What confuses me, is why some adults, maybe a majority, continue to carry these freedoms into the world. Does society or the work force deter one from asking too many questions? Maybe, maybe there is a fear of losing a job. We have one life, and when we find a great job we don't want to part, and maybe in turn we sacrifice freedoms, or beliefs to more easily fit into the middle of the curve.

I'm not sure what I'm getting at.

The culture jamming aspect was great. The ideas they conceived and the execution of such were ingenious. But one thing I'm beginning to ponder is the effectiveness of comedy within political and or social commentaries. I feel like sometimes, we are distracted by the comedy. I for example saw the movie four years ago and the only thing I remembered was a man in a gold suit with a phallic television extension. I didn't remember the message at all. The idea was funny, the speech prior to the reveal and during its exposition were near perfect, and its shocking view of the audience members reacted. But in the end, I, as a viewer, four years later don't remember what point they made. I've seen numerous other docs on the WTO and big business and I remember something from them. Sometimes, they are the scary details, but in any event I don't know how effect the movie is.

One Saturday Morning

Limitations limitations, the presence of limitations. Saturday was a lot of fun and relieving in many ways. I filmed with my 495 project everyday over fall break and the amount of pre-production necessary to accomplish the task of filming a 10 minute short with only three weeks to do so, was physically and mentally exhausting. I'm still feeling the lingering effects. During those weeks I continued to surprise myself with a stupidity commonly associated with children left behind in kindergarten. I wasn't able to comprehend a square hole from a circle and thus I continued to pound my triangle peg without any progress.

The Saturday shoot was a relief because I had to accept what I was given. I wasn't allowed to call for another take, I wasn't allowed time, to ponder themes, motifs, symbols. I wasn't allowed precision, I wasn't allowed perfection.

Films aren't finished they're abandoned.
This, I believe is particularly true for the narrative form. In experimental, you can work alone, be a scratch film junkie by yourself, mold a project for as long as you wish and in the end you may still have to give up but you will know that you had the ability to work it to your desired perfection.

Narrative is different. It's impossible next to impossible to work a project all alone. You need other people and their hand in the process. Narrative in sports terms would be football, where playing one on one occurs infrequently in adulthood, where as a team you work as one, where everyone has a responsibility to tackle problems. Experimental would be like tennis, one on one is preferred but doubles is great too.

In general, I'm still trying to figure experimental film out, and in what capacity I can use techniques unique to the form, in creating a style that is unique to myself and the films I create.

Long takes are something I shall try now more than ever to incorporate. They are definitely exhilarating.

Ideas for One take

I had an idea that I've been mulling over. Now I've never filmed anything at UNCW, or in my life for that matter, which included a gun. But on this occasion it could be necessary. The basic idea, stems from the idea that everybody is someone's son, or daughter, and I wanted to convey that. Unfortunately the only creative thing I can come up with-my brain is fried this semester-is this:

Idea 1:
Camera starts on the right side of Figure A
Camera finds left side of Figure B

Start: xcu on the eyes of Figure A and pull back to cu on the face framing them on the right side staring off screen left. Then down the persons neck to shoulder, down their arm and pull back to see their body as we turn and descend to their feet.
Slowly we'd move left three feet until another set of shoes, Figure B, appears, stopping we'd hesitate and then mimic the previous shots used to descend from Figure A's eyes to ascend to Figure B's eyes. But when we reached Figure B's arm we would see a gun pointing directly at Figure A. Upon reaching Figure B's eyes we would pan over following Figure B's eye line to where Figure A should be, but instead, in the place of Figure A, there would be a young husband and wife with a baby in their arms.
We would pan back to the xcu of Figure B's eyes, hold for a moment and again pan following Figure B's eye line to where Figure A should be, and this time Figure A is in fact there.
The camera then pans back to Figure B's eyes and holds for a second and it's over.

Idea 2:

Film Junkies

Scratching, painting, magazine transfers, clear leader, exposure, painting and so much more. Upon viewing our 2nd scratch film junkies short, I felt like I had a greater understanding and appreciation for what goes into an experimental film. Its funny how little a person knows about things. I remember sitting through experimental shorts my freshman year and thinking how simple they were. Thinking, seeing, hearing without understanding what goes into these shorts, what goes on beyond these shorts that are projected onto a screen. I feel like I’m garnering a greater understanding of film through this class, I feel like in essence I’m training my “film id”. I have a new foundation or maybe an added foundation for a remodel of some sort. It’s funny because although I’ve shot on film before I’ve never had to really handle it. I’ve never truly felt it, hung over it, spliced it. It is now, only after those experiences that I may view an experimental short like the scratch film junkies short screened, with a newfound wisdom and maturity.
Even with the rhythmic editing assignment, I’m beginning to understand the internal cadence of film. Although I failed in terms of screening a portrait, I think I learned through the process to find a rhythm. Especially when inserting a soundtrack, or music/sound of any sort. I often find myself falling into the trap of throwing music down as a quick fix for shorts. I realized during our screenings that now more than ever, especially in this class, I must challenge myself with sound design. When it comes to music I love basic pop music structure, verse1, verse2, chorus, verse3, chorus, bridge, and chorus. I love tight, concise beautiful melodies, but I’ve pigeonholed myself. I often forget about Sound. It makes me remember preschool. It was Parents Night, and there were all these stations set up; stations for creating things. I know there were a lot, but the only one I can recall was the tambourine station. Together my dad and I assembled two bottle tops end to end-creating a pocket of air between- on a six inch by two inch piece of wood, and with one nail we hammered the bottle caps onto the wood. In essence it became a metal shaker, the metal equivalent of a homemade maraca, but I decorated it and used it for years after. In fact it still has a place on my desk at home. I guess what I’m trying to say is that five dollar instrument could still make beautiful noise, could still add its voice to a composition and I need to start opening my mind to the possibilities of sound design, which in turn my add something new to my film toolbox.

Ear-E Noises

POP! A fist from the lead actor accidentally connects with the jaw of an extra...cue- LAUGHTER.

cue-Confusion

My brain tries to grasp what I saw, following multiple roads to final conclusions, often illogical. Visually, a signal of violence, a man punching another, is sent to my brain. Previous to the punch, my eyes and ears were able to discern that this was Take 3 of a student film, thus the connection of flesh and knuckle, should not have occured and therefore is an accident. This moment is a surprise to the actors, the crew, the extra, but my question is, why the laughter, especially from the extra who received a blow. It looked worse than it was.

The reason is the sound. The sound is harsh, the mic peaks, the reaction is a cringe and I don't laugh. But the reason the sound is so loud is the boom mic. The location is directly above the extra who is punched and for me this amplifies what on set was nothing but a dull thud.

Sound sound sound, in my opinion it is the key to good films, especially student films. Student films biggest pratfalls is lack of attention to sound. It becomes an afterthought, on the set which complicates things in post.

I enjoyed this article. I will focus more on sound, both creatively-using sounds as symbols, or motifs, and pratically.

Response on Wells

Laying out styles of animation and the factions that define them. I was vaguely aware of these subgroups, as a result of exposure, but Wells clearly defined them, laying them out in black and white. I really enjoyed the paragraph, Dynamics of dialogue", where he defines Disney sound as symphonic and Warner Bros. as cacophonic. Leonard Maltin has a film, Songs of the Silly Symphonies, which are a collection of old lesser known Disney shorts. I enjoyed them when I watched them a few years back and it enlightened me to the distinct sound that accompanies Disney animation. In my view, for the majority of people, the cacophony that saturates Looney Toons, especially at a young age, is the most appealing. These noises and catch lines are the most easily duplicated for a person in the everyday scenario. Children find these impressions especially fun. I agree. I know "What's up Doc?" escaped my mouth more often than any Fantasia segment, and I watched the film every day after preschool. In general, I have no bias for either. They are equally pleasing to me. One must find good in everything.

As for abstract animation, I find that my exposure is far less. Besides Brakhage and Fantasia, I little of this style is known to me. It's limits and potential remain hidden. Personally, I enjoy the exploration of symbolism and the enjoyment of finding a firm backbone that will lie below the surface. But going further, I find, as of now, that story draws me more and though the incorporation of abstract form is not without possibility, I tend to find myself wary of it. I believe this stems from seeing abstract art without that meaning that resonates far below. I detest standing before my peers abstract art. For the most part I find myself unsatisfied with what I see, that the symbolic message is corny, cliched or poorly executed. For this reason I fear attempting it. I don't fear failure but think within life, if abstraction were strong within me that I would have known it already. I know this is not the case, for Picasso's divergence into cubism came well into his late 20's with Les Demoiselles D'Avignon. A painting that upended hundreds of years of western art philosophy. Turn of the century artists were on the look out for a style new and unseen. They believed the classical style could no longer express what they felt. Currently, I am content with what I have before me. My canvas is traditional and for now it pleases my eye.

Experiences Thus Far

So far I'm happy with 6X1. In the future, with each assignment, I want to avoid every first impulse, every easy outlet, and anything I deem unoriginal. I want to push my creativity to a new level. Looking at the syllabus today, I was excited about the future assignments and the possibilities I'll have to push myself. I want to be original but also have substance behind it. If it's original just for the sake of being original then I'll have failed. But I hope that won't be the case. I enjoy seeing other films in class, the more I see the more of an understanding I have of what has been done, and what possibilities there are. I know that documentary films, and experimental films are among the fewest films that I've viewed in my life and that poses a problem for me when attempting to be creative. I like working in class too. I enjoy the stress free environment, it allows for more creativity when I'm relaxed and enough time to think.

I've never worked with film before, and the other week when I heard the projector and saw my film projected on screen, seeds were planted within my head, and I'm seriously considering filming my 495 project on film. (If I have the budget) It is magical, something internally gratifying. I've yet to explain the emotions, but the generic, happy, will suffice for now.

I hope the happiness will continue.

Synesthesia

Synesthesia, from my understanding, is defined two ways, in terms of art, it is the perception of two or more stimuli as one gestalt experience, while neurological definition synesthesia is the elicitation of perceptual experience in the absence of the normal sensory stimulation. As always, through art, the idea of this experience is romanticized. A unified whole combining components into beauty, an experience that depends on a mixing of the senses, a complex which is, statistically, a minority. It is from the abnormal, that the beauty is derived, and thus it sparks new ideas and new perspectives, pushing the whole into the limelight while subduing the parts, which propels beauty to the forefront.
What is comical is the neurological definition. This experience is propelled by the Absence of the normal sensory stimulation. This complex is, because it lacks, whereas in art it magnifies, there is a surplus.
The end result is the same in both instances, a cocktail of senses. Which I wish I could experience.

I guess I will just have to settle on art and videos that attempt to convey these sensory experiences; art by synesthesia and art meant to evoke synesthesia. I followed a link from the wikipedia page to a youtube video attempting to visualize tone synesthesia against Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. It was mesmerizing. I wathced it three times trying to get an understanding of what it means to have synesthesia and in turn how to duplicate it. I learned that in the future, in movies that I make, characters and the film itself should have a color scheme. Watching film is a synesthetic experience, and maybe the experience can be heightened?

Response to Scratch Film Junkies

Children, Parrots, Construction worker, Coloring on film , Superimpositions, Scratching, Acid wash and last but not least, Well suited drums. These were the first words that formed within my brain after Thursday's viewing. These are the occurrences which my eyes saw and my brain remembered and articulated. But the confusion still ran rampant in my head for there are many things I did not understand. How? What? And Why? Experimental film, has always, to me, been something of a lesser form. But I believe that it is because it is not understood. The creativity behind each film is more complex, and more daunting than, at least I ever imagined. The patience, precision and dedication to each frame, which becomes one of twenty-four in a second, one of fourteen hundred and forty in a minute and so on and so on, is beyond comprehension. I think I am in for a treat this semester, where a formal introduction to experimental will occur and thus, hopefully, changing the way I see film, create film and study film.

Refering back to the subject of the film, I have to make a comment on the drums. I felt the sound complimented the images very well and very often enhanced it. For instance, a ringing bell, much like that of an ice cream truck was immediately followed the glimpse of children through an ever changing foreground. Also, the lines from the beginning of the film, lengthening and shortening to the beat of the drum, felt like Fantasia at 100mph. I love that movie.