Talked with David today and went over my bike film, "Lightness", scene by scene to determine what needs to be done for improvement.
Beginning shot with eyes: sightline needs to be controlled, road and lights need to be more visible and match up with where my eyes are looking
Edit out first shot of gears, use only abstract shots of wheels
Right when eyes close, use a rapid vertical wipe to change to the abstract bike shot - should be quick enough to be mainly subconscious
Prolong red face to around thirty seconds. Make fade-out longer to keep some of the red while transitioning to road shot.
Smoke shot: reshoot with vapor? use the same sort of stark black and white background but fade from one to the other with a gradient; use another light to have smoke be more 3D. Background should be textureless.
Maybe have doorway be an integral part of the scene?
Cut out some of the simple "girl on bike" shots.
For the "heavy" shot - zoom in on tire hitting pavement. slow way down, keep monochrome shots with golden hour shadow. Desaturate.
For lift off shot: zoom in tightly on hands, need just that second of the hands coming off the handlebars slowly, then blast out the shot. use reflectors to get enough light on hands.
For shaky shot: use a left to right rocking camera motion rather than in and out.
To come back down: gradually lower luminosity as she lowers her hands back to the handlebars.
Breathe in smoke, breathe out vapor?
Breathe in before letting go of handlebars, breathe out after? or visa versa?
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Meditation Music, Structuralist Film
Meditation music “balances the human organism through rhythmic pattern of tones, which are in harmony together”
modern age white noise – technology has audible and inaudible frequencies in the air. Need to maintain ecological balance, escape from techy sounds into friendly, meditative ones to escape from chaos and neurotic environments
sounds should be soft and soothing, organic and rich in sympathetic overtones. This influences inner organs and sympathetic nervous system.
If you pay attention, you can hear the pitch and tone of everything change as the day goes by, as seasons change – insects, birds, animals, even the pitch of your own voice.
Each hour represents a different mood and state of being. Listening to music synchronized to a certain time of day helps us to flow in harmony with our environment. Cycle of the day can also be seen as the cycle of life.
Morning should be tender, calming, refreshing – helps us to step out of sleep and enter a harmonious sleep
Evening meditation should inspire feelings of joy, confidence, satisfaction, inspiration, and calmness of moonlight.
Mantra – comes from word mantrana, which means advice or suggestion. Every word is a mantra, essentially – it’s a sound pattern that suggests the meanings inherent in it, to which our minds immediately respond
Repetition of mantras, with attention directed to the source of the sound, completely engage the mind. Not just focusing on vocal chords themselves, but on the mind – whose source is self. Thus the mantra is a suggestion of getting in touch with oneself.
Beat and speed of repetition is really important, as it changes the pace of the mind. Fast chants can be positive in the way that they exhaust the mind and heart; neither has any time to fantasize, and the breath and relaxation comes after the chant is over
http://www.sanatansociety.org/indian_music_and_mantras/sounds_of_tantra_mantras.htm
“Structuralist” films – until these avant-garde films, filmmaking was only used as a medium to reproduce reality, not reconstruct it. Ernie Gehr, perhaps most important structuralist filmmaker – “Film is a real thing and as a real thing it is not imitation”. Does not reflect on life, it embodies the life of the mind.
Some structuralist films: “Hapax Legomena”
“Nostalgia”
“Poetic Justice”
All destabilizing works that make you reconsider film as a medium for portraying reality.
“Paul Sharits’ T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G also has a similar effect especially in its use of sound. The word “destroy” would go unnoticed if it were used once in a sentence. However, when it is repeated over and over again our brain starts being tricked and we lose the certainty on what the word is. This is very destabilizing because we are used to understanding the words so that we can put them in the context to make a sense of the film. Although we hear the same sound, we hear many different words or phrases, most of them having violent meanings. This is very much related to the violent content of the image on the screen. We also start interpreting the image according to what we hear. It is a proof of how our perception can be easily manipulated and how this manipulation is so powerful that after a while any perception is interpreted based on what our brain remembers from the past. This becomes a metaphor for the film viewing (and hearing) experience; except that it is taken to the extreme in this case.”
http://waysofseeing.org/struct.html
modern age white noise – technology has audible and inaudible frequencies in the air. Need to maintain ecological balance, escape from techy sounds into friendly, meditative ones to escape from chaos and neurotic environments
sounds should be soft and soothing, organic and rich in sympathetic overtones. This influences inner organs and sympathetic nervous system.
If you pay attention, you can hear the pitch and tone of everything change as the day goes by, as seasons change – insects, birds, animals, even the pitch of your own voice.
Each hour represents a different mood and state of being. Listening to music synchronized to a certain time of day helps us to flow in harmony with our environment. Cycle of the day can also be seen as the cycle of life.
Morning should be tender, calming, refreshing – helps us to step out of sleep and enter a harmonious sleep
Evening meditation should inspire feelings of joy, confidence, satisfaction, inspiration, and calmness of moonlight.
Mantra – comes from word mantrana, which means advice or suggestion. Every word is a mantra, essentially – it’s a sound pattern that suggests the meanings inherent in it, to which our minds immediately respond
Repetition of mantras, with attention directed to the source of the sound, completely engage the mind. Not just focusing on vocal chords themselves, but on the mind – whose source is self. Thus the mantra is a suggestion of getting in touch with oneself.
Beat and speed of repetition is really important, as it changes the pace of the mind. Fast chants can be positive in the way that they exhaust the mind and heart; neither has any time to fantasize, and the breath and relaxation comes after the chant is over
http://www.sanatansociety.org/indian_music_and_mantras/sounds_of_tantra_mantras.htm
“Structuralist” films – until these avant-garde films, filmmaking was only used as a medium to reproduce reality, not reconstruct it. Ernie Gehr, perhaps most important structuralist filmmaker – “Film is a real thing and as a real thing it is not imitation”. Does not reflect on life, it embodies the life of the mind.
Some structuralist films: “Hapax Legomena”
“Nostalgia”
“Poetic Justice”
All destabilizing works that make you reconsider film as a medium for portraying reality.
“Paul Sharits’ T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G also has a similar effect especially in its use of sound. The word “destroy” would go unnoticed if it were used once in a sentence. However, when it is repeated over and over again our brain starts being tricked and we lose the certainty on what the word is. This is very destabilizing because we are used to understanding the words so that we can put them in the context to make a sense of the film. Although we hear the same sound, we hear many different words or phrases, most of them having violent meanings. This is very much related to the violent content of the image on the screen. We also start interpreting the image according to what we hear. It is a proof of how our perception can be easily manipulated and how this manipulation is so powerful that after a while any perception is interpreted based on what our brain remembers from the past. This becomes a metaphor for the film viewing (and hearing) experience; except that it is taken to the extreme in this case.”
http://waysofseeing.org/struct.html
Monday, April 7, 2008
Research Timeline
Week 1 (April 1-5)
Meeting with Jill, Brownyn, Alexis, and Julia to determine availability for collaboration, share ideas about projects, talk about lighting techniques.
Week 2 (April 6-12)
For Project 1: Watch musically-oriented films. Research meditation music, read various poems in order to get a feeling for using time dilation to describe a perfect moment. Begin sketching music for film. Meet on Thursday with Alexis to discuss music ideas. Be thinking about images to use in correspondence with music.
For Bike Film: Meet with Zack/David/Sean to discuss exactly what needs to be done to make the film perfect. Re-shoot on Saturday at the Arboretum with Brownyn & Alexis. Use camera rig for car attachment.
Week 3 (April 13-19) Progress Report
Edit bike film. Determine if extra shots are needed. Film concert on Tuesday.
Scout locations for music film images. Possibly go to the coast on Friday & Saturday with Brownyn to shoot ocean footage. Finish writing music and continue to fine-tune it. Go see the Gary Hill exhibit.
Week 4 (April 20-26)
Record music for first film. Finish gathering images. Experiment with Soundtrack Pro and Garage Band. Meet with Cody for editing help. Shoot final shots for bike film if needed. Finish editing bike film. Begin compiling sound and images for first film. Meet with Zack/David/Sean to discuss where to go from here.
Week 5 (April 27 - May 3)
Gather any additional shots for music film. Finish editing. Meet with peers to go over first cut, make additional adjustments as needed.
Week 6 (May 4 - 10) Submissions due
Be completely finished with edits by May 5. Make storyboard for narrative film. Begin preliminary shooting; continue sketching ideas, interweaving between shooting and storyboarding. Meet with peers to discuss ideas and brainstorm.
Week 7 (May 11 - 17)
Bring footage in to edit; continue developing ideas for different shots. Work by interweaving shooting and editing. Watch non-traditional narratives and non-narrative films. Research After Effects techniques that could be helpful with the project.
Week 8 (May 18 - May 24)
Meet with Zack/David/Sean to discuss progress so far. Continue shooting, bring footage into After Effects to manipulate heavily. Meet with Kjell to brainstorm ideas for sound synthesis that might work with film.
Week 9 (May 25 - May 31)
Finish shooting completely by beginning of the week. Spend entire time editing, meet with peers to go over footage and rough cuts.
Week 10 (June 1 - June 7) Project Due
Finish editing completely by June 2.
Meeting with Jill, Brownyn, Alexis, and Julia to determine availability for collaboration, share ideas about projects, talk about lighting techniques.
Week 2 (April 6-12)
For Project 1: Watch musically-oriented films. Research meditation music, read various poems in order to get a feeling for using time dilation to describe a perfect moment. Begin sketching music for film. Meet on Thursday with Alexis to discuss music ideas. Be thinking about images to use in correspondence with music.
For Bike Film: Meet with Zack/David/Sean to discuss exactly what needs to be done to make the film perfect. Re-shoot on Saturday at the Arboretum with Brownyn & Alexis. Use camera rig for car attachment.
Week 3 (April 13-19) Progress Report
Edit bike film. Determine if extra shots are needed. Film concert on Tuesday.
Scout locations for music film images. Possibly go to the coast on Friday & Saturday with Brownyn to shoot ocean footage. Finish writing music and continue to fine-tune it. Go see the Gary Hill exhibit.
Week 4 (April 20-26)
Record music for first film. Finish gathering images. Experiment with Soundtrack Pro and Garage Band. Meet with Cody for editing help. Shoot final shots for bike film if needed. Finish editing bike film. Begin compiling sound and images for first film. Meet with Zack/David/Sean to discuss where to go from here.
Week 5 (April 27 - May 3)
Gather any additional shots for music film. Finish editing. Meet with peers to go over first cut, make additional adjustments as needed.
Week 6 (May 4 - 10) Submissions due
Be completely finished with edits by May 5. Make storyboard for narrative film. Begin preliminary shooting; continue sketching ideas, interweaving between shooting and storyboarding. Meet with peers to discuss ideas and brainstorm.
Week 7 (May 11 - 17)
Bring footage in to edit; continue developing ideas for different shots. Work by interweaving shooting and editing. Watch non-traditional narratives and non-narrative films. Research After Effects techniques that could be helpful with the project.
Week 8 (May 18 - May 24)
Meet with Zack/David/Sean to discuss progress so far. Continue shooting, bring footage into After Effects to manipulate heavily. Meet with Kjell to brainstorm ideas for sound synthesis that might work with film.
Week 9 (May 25 - May 31)
Finish shooting completely by beginning of the week. Spend entire time editing, meet with peers to go over footage and rough cuts.
Week 10 (June 1 - June 7) Project Due
Finish editing completely by June 2.
Project 2: A More Detailed Description
For my "Research" blog post I spoke about a vague idea I had for my final project this quarter, and I would like to clarify some ideas I have for it.
By an "abstract narrative" I mean a non-traditional, experimental film that doesn't really tell a linear story, but more describes a process and human experience that is persistent and perpetual, but doesn't really have a beginning or an end. This film will be about social construct, and trying to constantly break it apart and find meaning inside and outside of it. I do want to have a sense of a beginning, however, before I emerge into the process. The beginning will portray being born into the world as a clean slate, and then developing rules, borders, and limitations over time that build our perceptions of the world. Then we reach a point of adolescence, where a person begins to recognize themselves in their process of learning and being, and trying to rearrange the grooves in their brains and break the barriers that they subconsciously built in themselves, and this is where the perpetual non-linear side of the "story" will take place, to portray the constant problem we all face as humans that we must continuously try to solve, though we never will.
Rough examples for how the film will go:
Starting out in a blank space. White sheet of paper, or...?
Filming a ruler, someone drawing lines and boxes, borders.
Putting certain images into boxes: i.e., a picture of a cat, in a box, write the word "cat"
Time lapse of people coming and standing in line, being served, leaving
Taking images out of context: i.e., portraying the cat in a way that it becomes a furry creature rather than a domestic object
Word "cat" becomes scribbles
Dismantling a chair, putting it back together in a different way
Rearranging domestic objects in a room in various ways
By an "abstract narrative" I mean a non-traditional, experimental film that doesn't really tell a linear story, but more describes a process and human experience that is persistent and perpetual, but doesn't really have a beginning or an end. This film will be about social construct, and trying to constantly break it apart and find meaning inside and outside of it. I do want to have a sense of a beginning, however, before I emerge into the process. The beginning will portray being born into the world as a clean slate, and then developing rules, borders, and limitations over time that build our perceptions of the world. Then we reach a point of adolescence, where a person begins to recognize themselves in their process of learning and being, and trying to rearrange the grooves in their brains and break the barriers that they subconsciously built in themselves, and this is where the perpetual non-linear side of the "story" will take place, to portray the constant problem we all face as humans that we must continuously try to solve, though we never will.
Rough examples for how the film will go:
Starting out in a blank space. White sheet of paper, or...?
Filming a ruler, someone drawing lines and boxes, borders.
Putting certain images into boxes: i.e., a picture of a cat, in a box, write the word "cat"
Time lapse of people coming and standing in line, being served, leaving
Taking images out of context: i.e., portraying the cat in a way that it becomes a furry creature rather than a domestic object
Word "cat" becomes scribbles
Dismantling a chair, putting it back together in a different way
Rearranging domestic objects in a room in various ways
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Research...
There was one common issue that I noticed was present throughout the class, as well as exciting opportunities that were emerging. What was consistent with almost all of the films we made was that there were usually two diverging ideas (or more) present in a film, but neither one of them was developed fully, and it seemed the director was being hesitant and not diving in completely to either one or both. However, it seems like there is a lot more chemistry inside of the class, in working with each other and figuring out exactly what kind of film each one of us wants to make. I definitely let go quite a bit and decided to make my films my own, to really get what I wanted out of each one, to kind of develop my own experience and make it more personal to my own goals.
"Making it my own" for this quarter means developing an interdisciplinary experience for every film. There are three major interests that I have, and am studying in and out of school, and they include: visual art, creative writing, and music. Film can incorporate anything, it is an extremely comprehensive medium that has many parallels to music and writing. Last quarter I noticed so many parallels to my poetry class that it was astounding, both in structure and a kind of emphasis on momentous epiphanies. This quarter, in addition to this class I am also taking a Drawing class and a Native American Art History course. As the quarter progresses, I want to involve what I learn from my other classes with the films that I make here.
Technically, I need to work on my lighting and on my camera language. It's really important that I do several shoots and take each one into the editing room to figure out what I need to alter, especially lightingwise, and to also pinpoint exactly what shots I need from what angles, and for what duration. I also need to plan out my editing so that it's not a last-minute thing and becomes a very expertly integrated part of the film. I really want to push myself with After Effects this quarter because I feel like there's so much potential for brilliant work there that I am on the brink of reaching.
So I would like to make two new films for this quarter, and a reedit of my "Lightness" bike film.
The first will keep the "UP" exhibit at the Henry close in mind, and will have music be a very important driving force in what I create. The concept in the film will be about reaching a high, coming to a moment of enlightenment, an epiphany, an instant of perfection. I plan on writing my own music to an acoustic guitar, and possibly a djembe and piano music. I want the music to be pretty simple, carried by the mood of the guitar notes and my voice, but very developed and nuanced in each part. I feel like my strongest film last quarter was my "Lightness" bike film, where it focused on just a moment of letting go, and built up really well to that point. I'm excited for the opportunity to do it again. I want to have my first cut of this film be at two minutes, and then go out and shoot again to possibly have it build up to be around 3-4 minutes.
For my "Lightness" film, I want to reshoot the inhale/exhale portion with a different background, and using an effect in After Effects to make the smoke more 3D. I also want to reshoot the portions where I'm wearing shoes and shouldn't be. And, I'd like to reshoot the moment where I let go of the handlebars, so that it's with a green background and doesn't have the white picket fence.
The last film I want to be an abstract narrative that uses powerful images as more of a driving force. I want to use After Effects heavily for this project in order to create an other-worldly mindspace that really takes us out of the real world. An idea I keep coming back to in my everyday life is the concept that humans are constantly trying to box themselves in, to create rules and restrictions for themselves to fit into, to sterilize the natural world into a clean-cut sensical textbook of an experience. The premise for this story is that it's about someone DIGGING, scraping for meaning in their life and in human existence or the existence of anything in general, trying to escape from this sterile social perception of life and delve into the experience of it.
I want to emphasize an idea of taking things apart. A few strong images I have in my head right now are:
- poking through a layer of film or tin foil, light shining through
- peeling back layers of an onion, or of skin
- drawing out squares in mid-air, trying to dissect everything into particles
-- focus on idea in science that there's always a small space between molecules... what exists in that space?
- putting everything into boxes, drawing out ruler lines
- taking the body out of context. it becomes an organic shape rather than a "human body"
I'm not sure how I'm going to do the last one though, but am interested with the idea of using dance choreographed to depict this.
So for the first month of the quarter I want to focus on making another really high-quality film for the Henry. This weekend I am going to start writing music and to search for an ideal location. When I was in Mexico for Spring Break there was one room in the house I was staying at where I kept finding myself in, having these surreal experiences where I felt completely out of my body but deep inside my head. It was a high-ceiling, airy space, with big open windows and old, broken wood furniture. I want to scope out another space like this to be a place where a person can meditate inside of their own mind.
By next week I'd like to start filming this space and to get a good feel for shots I want to use, how long it's going to be, so that I can write my music accordingly. I also want to reshoot my bike shots during this time.
By the third week I'd like to be finished shooting for both my first film and Lightness film and be working the whole week on editing.
"Making it my own" for this quarter means developing an interdisciplinary experience for every film. There are three major interests that I have, and am studying in and out of school, and they include: visual art, creative writing, and music. Film can incorporate anything, it is an extremely comprehensive medium that has many parallels to music and writing. Last quarter I noticed so many parallels to my poetry class that it was astounding, both in structure and a kind of emphasis on momentous epiphanies. This quarter, in addition to this class I am also taking a Drawing class and a Native American Art History course. As the quarter progresses, I want to involve what I learn from my other classes with the films that I make here.
Technically, I need to work on my lighting and on my camera language. It's really important that I do several shoots and take each one into the editing room to figure out what I need to alter, especially lightingwise, and to also pinpoint exactly what shots I need from what angles, and for what duration. I also need to plan out my editing so that it's not a last-minute thing and becomes a very expertly integrated part of the film. I really want to push myself with After Effects this quarter because I feel like there's so much potential for brilliant work there that I am on the brink of reaching.
So I would like to make two new films for this quarter, and a reedit of my "Lightness" bike film.
The first will keep the "UP" exhibit at the Henry close in mind, and will have music be a very important driving force in what I create. The concept in the film will be about reaching a high, coming to a moment of enlightenment, an epiphany, an instant of perfection. I plan on writing my own music to an acoustic guitar, and possibly a djembe and piano music. I want the music to be pretty simple, carried by the mood of the guitar notes and my voice, but very developed and nuanced in each part. I feel like my strongest film last quarter was my "Lightness" bike film, where it focused on just a moment of letting go, and built up really well to that point. I'm excited for the opportunity to do it again. I want to have my first cut of this film be at two minutes, and then go out and shoot again to possibly have it build up to be around 3-4 minutes.
For my "Lightness" film, I want to reshoot the inhale/exhale portion with a different background, and using an effect in After Effects to make the smoke more 3D. I also want to reshoot the portions where I'm wearing shoes and shouldn't be. And, I'd like to reshoot the moment where I let go of the handlebars, so that it's with a green background and doesn't have the white picket fence.
The last film I want to be an abstract narrative that uses powerful images as more of a driving force. I want to use After Effects heavily for this project in order to create an other-worldly mindspace that really takes us out of the real world. An idea I keep coming back to in my everyday life is the concept that humans are constantly trying to box themselves in, to create rules and restrictions for themselves to fit into, to sterilize the natural world into a clean-cut sensical textbook of an experience. The premise for this story is that it's about someone DIGGING, scraping for meaning in their life and in human existence or the existence of anything in general, trying to escape from this sterile social perception of life and delve into the experience of it.
I want to emphasize an idea of taking things apart. A few strong images I have in my head right now are:
- poking through a layer of film or tin foil, light shining through
- peeling back layers of an onion, or of skin
- drawing out squares in mid-air, trying to dissect everything into particles
-- focus on idea in science that there's always a small space between molecules... what exists in that space?
- putting everything into boxes, drawing out ruler lines
- taking the body out of context. it becomes an organic shape rather than a "human body"
I'm not sure how I'm going to do the last one though, but am interested with the idea of using dance choreographed to depict this.
So for the first month of the quarter I want to focus on making another really high-quality film for the Henry. This weekend I am going to start writing music and to search for an ideal location. When I was in Mexico for Spring Break there was one room in the house I was staying at where I kept finding myself in, having these surreal experiences where I felt completely out of my body but deep inside my head. It was a high-ceiling, airy space, with big open windows and old, broken wood furniture. I want to scope out another space like this to be a place where a person can meditate inside of their own mind.
By next week I'd like to start filming this space and to get a good feel for shots I want to use, how long it's going to be, so that I can write my music accordingly. I also want to reshoot my bike shots during this time.
By the third week I'd like to be finished shooting for both my first film and Lightness film and be working the whole week on editing.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Shot ideas
Touching the bark of a tree, imprints like fingers pressing on skin
Depicting the mystery and secret personality of houses
What they mean for who you are, your social status, your upkeep of life
Curiosity of trees, what strange creatures they really are
Human sadness from distance from nature
Breathing on your own, being a living organism on this planet
All shots extremely organic, main colors green brown and grey with any blues or reds contrasting greatly
Depicting the mystery and secret personality of houses
What they mean for who you are, your social status, your upkeep of life
Curiosity of trees, what strange creatures they really are
Human sadness from distance from nature
Breathing on your own, being a living organism on this planet
All shots extremely organic, main colors green brown and grey with any blues or reds contrasting greatly
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