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.