The Projects: 1 - 6

For a scale reference 1 is the most favorite, while 6 is the least. 

1. Video Letter

I really enjoyed the freedom that came with this assignment. The requirement to address someone in 'you' was really cool when I had freedom to work with how I wanted to do so. Since I'm fond of spoken poetry, that's the route I went, especially since I could address who I wanted. I'd written my poem a few months before when I knew about the assignment, so I'm glad that it worked out. I also really enjoyed getting to see everyone else's. I feel like this was one of the most creative assignments, especially since it was done by the individual. Truthfully, my video letter was my favorite thing I made in the class. 

2. Crowdsourcing

While actually tackling coloring the frames and trying to get help was intimidating, the final product was awesome. I loved how it looked in the end and it wasn't a terrible task when I got some of my friends to help me color all the frames I had. I mostly really liked how the end product turned out, so I felt like everything else was worth it to get there. 

3. Rhythmic Edit

I really liked the freedom to pick what was filmed to edit. I also am fond of editing things to go with music, so this was almost like making sort of a small music video, which I enjoyed a lot. 

4. 360 Long Take

I liked the second project that the class did together, but I feel like this was a project that required trial and error to find what worked. It was fun, but I wish maybe we had a practice day with the camera to shoot and then an actual day where we shot the project to turn in, just to see how it would look. 

5. Film Manipulation

I really liked the end product for this project! I just felt like I was rushing the whole time I was working with the film, so I didn't necessarily get it to the point to look exactly how I wanted. If I'd had a little more time for this project, I feel like maybe I'd have enjoyed it more, but for the most part I felt like I was rushing a lot because I was afraid of not being done in time because of how many frames there were to fill. I loved being able to actually work with film, however, and I'm very glad I got the opportunity. Like, I really enjoyed this project, I just wish I'd had more time on it to make it look more how I'd hoped. 

6. Stop motion animation

I wish I'd had more time to work on this one. I felt rushed a lot on this one and I'm not sure I liked the end product completely, but the fact is it got done and we tried. I really liked the concept we'd picked - the life cycle of a phoenix - but the time limit scared me, especially when the first time when we were in class and doing the sand part it took up the majority of the class time. It was really cool, but less stations or perhaps more time for the entire project would have made the end product better. 

I still really liked this idea, though! It was fun to work with different mediums. 

                         360 Shoot Experience

I think the 360 experience was a little bit of trial and error.

My group went first. We practiced a few times with our idea, but then ended up making two takes. Although we had done two takes, it still wasn't as polished as the second idea was. Some things work well for the 360 shoot and some things don't.

Our idea, which was about a split world where a killer and a romcom boy fall in love, wasn't as polished because it was hard to account for how it would all come together around the camera.

I liked the second project better in my opinion because the video idea worked better with the 360 shoot - the cues were also easier to work with.

Trial and error helps a lot.

I feel like if I worked with 360 shoot now, I'd have a better idea of what films/plots could work with it. I also feel like it would simply take less time to set up since I've experienced it a couple of times.

It was fun all in all and I am fascinated by 360 googles. I'm still floored after watching it the first time in class because it is phenomenal.

                      Rough Theatre

Peter Brook brings up some lovely points in his writing about the "Rough Theatre."
There are certain feelings and atmospheres that cannot be recreated - it is often a feeling that no matter how it is strived for, cannot be artificially made.
Think, for example, of small mom and pop shops, of kitschy little thrift stores and restaurants along the boulevard - they are all unique places. They aren't chains, aren't recreated constantly. They are completely their own. It's beautiful in a way.

My rough theatre probably originated when I was younger. I used to have a cassette video recorder and I would make small movies with my toys. It was a big production and I used to even come up with stories with my cousin. It was fun - very obviously n o t good, but fun to make. Even more fun to watch back and laugh at.

Rough theatre is anything that people pour their blood and sweat and tears into that isn't careful and clean, I think. Film, places, stories... just depends on the medium as to how it is done.

                                           16 MM Experience

I really enjoyed working with the film. It was a unique experience that I don't think I really would have been able to get anywhere else. However, it was a lot of frames to work on. I found myself struggling to sit down and work on it for long periods of time outside of the class.
I did have my idea of what I wanted to do for my part clear, though. I did my animation with the flowers, but I also worked on the fire section. I used tape and photos of fire for that. Though the tape stuck, I still feel as if I used the wrong kind of tape as it fell off after the film was projected.
As for how I worked with my partner, I felt like we worked well together! We both made time to meet outside of class and plan as well as work on the film. It was a good experience over all and my favorite part was seeing it projected.
There's a certain satisfaction that comes with seeing a work be realized.

Regards to Sound and Time as well as Acoustic Ecology

Firstly, I'd like to say that I loved Justin Boyd's Sound and Time. I tend to want to have snippets of moments all the time - recently I purchased an instant film camera just for the fact that it's more tangible than something electronic. It's still a record of the moment, but it reminded me quite a lot of when he sat down in front of the disk player. I like to have proof that things happened, to be able to have them - whether digital or physical - for me to look back on later. I know not all people do, but I feel like there's a good balance between documenting a moment and living in a moment that can be reached.
The actual film was gorgeous, too, and the sounds were so fascinating. I loved the bucket and the bell noises.

However, I'm not sure how I feel about the Listen film. I understand where he is coming from to a degree, but at the same time... Personally I like noises. I like having background sound whenever I do things. Music, TV, computer... I almost always have something running. I like nature sounds, but when it's very quiet and still I find myself uncomfortable. I almost feel as if I'm not supposed to be there. So I'm not quite ready to decrease the amount of sounds in my life. I'm pretty happy with them as they are now.

In regards to the two acoustic ecology articles - I think that it is true that humans need to be a little more conscious of how our actions impact the environment. Whether it be the fact that engines are almost a constant background noise, or the fact that plastic is filling the oceans, or any other number of pollutants, in general humans need to be more conscious. Granted, I do not know how. I'm not sure how to even begin approaching the acoustic ecology problem, but I do understand where people are coming from. I'd like to note that city sounds can be beautiful, though, just as nature is beautiful though in different ways.

(The fact that they are trying to copyright a motorcycle's engine sound doesn't surprise me.)

Story boarding for the stop motion animation project drawn by Catherine Colson. (There'll be a better copy later when I get access to a proper scanner.)

Storyboarding work drawn by Catherine for the crowd-sourcing project that is to be turned in on 2/7/2017.

Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing covers a lot more than just individuals providing art for different frames of a short film. It also includes crowdfunding, microtasks, and open innovation. Crowdfunding is when many individuals provide financial help for whatever the project may be, and mircotasks are when many tasks are completed by many different individuals for the same project. Open innovation is like asking many people to work together to bring ideas to life.

I think it is interesting to note that Wikipedia can almost be seen a microtask platform. Many people are adding and changing all the time. The Ted Talk by Jimmy Wales said Wikipedia sees an average of 1.4 billion page views monthly. That's a lot of traffic on one website, but also increases chances for addition when there needs to be.

Aaron Koblin made an interesting point in his Ted Talk as well. He claimed that with the interfaces we have now, we have an obligation to maintain humanity and tell some amazing stories. I think it was the most poignant part of his Ted Talk and I enjoyed it immensely. One of my favorite things to watch are projects about humanity, glimpses into it. Facebook has this wonderful page called Humans of New York where photographs and snippets from conversations with the people in the photographs are posted. I think it's a wonderful way to document humanity. It can be found here: Humans of New York. 

Synesthesia, Cymatics, and Different Ways of Knowing

Synesthesia is fascinating. According to the Wikipedia article it creates a crossing between senses, such as seeing numbers and letters as colors. This is known as grapheme-color synesthesia. Synesthesia can deal with any kind of combination of senses, though.

In Even Grant’s Ted Talk, he talked a bit about making sound visible through cymatics. This in itself was intriguing to me because I’ve always loved audio visualizers. Seeing sound interests me. I related the work of cymatics to be almost like creating a physical representation of what synesthesia might be like. It creates a way for people who don’t have synesthesia to maybe get a vague sense of what it might be like for someone who does have it. Another thing to be explored is the relation of sound to matter.One of my favorite stories that Great Big Story did was on the cloud piano. It’s a device that takes pictures of clouds as they pass overhead and a program interprets the sounds to play the piano. This creates a soundtrack of the sky, as one might say. You can view the video here: Cloud Piano | That's Amazing

Grant even implores the audience to think about how sound might have related to the formation of the universe and its shapes. That’s an interesting point to me because when listening to recordings from space, there strange underlying noises. Saturn recordings are especially haunting. Here is an example of recordings from Saturn: Sounds of Saturn Rings - NASA Voyager Recording (HQ/HD)

Daniel Tammet brought it all together in his Ted Talk. He spoke of how he experiences synesthesia and tried to bring that to the viewers. I quite enjoyed the section where he talked about how he saw numbers. Beyond that, however, his analysis of language was interesting. I liked how he explained why statistically most people thought that the Icelandic word was sad. It’s something I do believe should be explored a little more - how words can evoke certain feelings just from their sound.

Swinging the Lambeth Walk

     In class we watched a film called Swinging the Lamebeth Walk that reminded me of an audio visualizer. The way the art moved made it seem like it was responding or dancing with the music. As shorts, I find films that are similar to be fairly enjoyable to watch. However, when they get long I find it hard to keep myself engaged and focused as I have no plot or character to latch on and follow.
     As a sidenote, I found the thumbs up both funny and a little endearing - especially before the end screen.
    I feel like films like these tend to carry more meaning than I glean from a first viewing and I usually read up on them after to get the backstory.