Thursday, October 29, 2009

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.

Monday, October 12, 2009

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.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

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.