Dear FST302

Last night when we were all working to build up that giant planet I took a moment to look around at everything going on around me. I looked over to whoever it was that was beside me and said "wow, this is college."
And what an amazing moment that was. The best part?
I can do this for the rest of my life!


I never thought that creating things, making films, performing, and meeting so many wonderful people would be my "homework." While everyone else is cramming for biology or chemistry tests, I was gathering pipes and visiting thrift stores for props. There is nothing more satisfying that seeing all of your efforts manifest, some intentionally, others unintentionally, but all equally important.
FST 302 was my favorite class of my college career! I tried so many new things. Stop motion, directing, constructing a giant "ball," and just working with so many new people. It was great that we constantly worked together with different groups AND as an entire class unit. I felt that we all really made a strong connection.
I learned that things will rarely work out exactly the way you want when it comes to film making, but the beauty of it is in recognizing those happy accidents. Thanks Shannon, you helped us all take a new perspective on making films and it has been a major turning point in my young life.


CAN'T WAIT TO WORK WITH ALL OF YOU AGAIN IN THE FUTURE.
keep in touch
Love,
Megan

Film fest blog

I used to think that film festivals sounded big and scary, but I have built a lot of confidence in this class. All creativity is equal. No matter what "level" the filmmakers skills are on,  there is a film fest out there for them to enter! Learning about all the film fests from my classmates helped me leave the class with loads of valuable information for when I decide to start entering! A life of traveling around to different film festivals sounds amazing to me. I plan on tweaking the music video and sending it to a festival or two, the super 8 footage looks so great and I think our content would stand out. I plan on working on the timing to get the movements to match the music as flawlessly as possible!

Follow up on Cucalorus

Wow! I'm already ready for next year! I wanted to go to everything. I figured out too late that the department was giving out more passes that no one picked up...I'll get on it next year. Anyways- my cucalorus experience began with Rare Exports, the story of the evil Santa Clause. It definitely got me into the Christmas spirit. The main character, a little boy was so perfect for the role. I was expecting some sort of horror film but it turned out to be a really cute and fantastical story.... I think some people were disappointed that there was no gore but I was thrilled. The movie was suspenseful, and the ending was much to my relief. The look of it was really interesting. On friday night, I went to Enter the Void, the movie everyone was hyped about. Although it made me want to go home and shower, there were some really great techniques used! There were awesome graphic matches that made the movie flow seamlessly, and the car accident scene was incredibly shocking and realistic. I had never seen anything like it. My complaint is that the movie could have ended about 30 mins sooner, because the last bit of it was just the camera floating around. Another thing that fascinated me was how the city was shown to look like miniature figures. Just when I was sure that the cars were miniatures, the camera zoomed down and into the taxi. There was a particular part that I wish I could have gone my whole life without seeing...I think everyone who went knows what part that was....
On Saturday I attended the Kodak seminar at Screengems. It was fun seeing the studio and learning more about shooting with actual film. They gave us lots of brochures. I love film because it is the classic route to go when making movies since HD is always moving on and changing to the "next best thing." After this seminar I also went to the underwater camera seminar. I thought it would be more hands on but it was interesting to listen to the guys talk about their underwater adventures. They showed us some equipment, I was really interested in the Go Pro that they showed. It is so small that it can be attached to anything, and they told me that it looks even better above water. Sounds like a lot of possibilities!
Later that evening on Saturday, I saw Skeletons and Brilliantlove. Skeletons was really great understated British humor, which I love. The comedic duo themselves were there to answer questions afterwards! They described their movie as Inception, "on the dull," (a low budget). haha.
I heard people saying a lot of different things about Brilliantlove, but I really liked it a lot. There was something really appealing about the concept. Everyone said it was too long, and normally I'm the first to agree, but I stayed alert the entire time. It had a lot of sex, and I think that's why most people went to it, but there were some really funny parts as well (aka I didn't go to watch the obscenities). If I had to label it I'd say "think a soft core porn version of Napoleon Dynamite if the people were better looking." The guy and girl in the film were really cute together and an absurd and homeless sort of way.

CUCALORUS!!!!!!

It's been difficult narrowing it down and figuring out when I can go, but here's what I'm going to:

Thursday: Rare Exports @ 10pm Thailian Black
Friday: Kodak stop by shoot film @ 11am-1pm Screengems
           Enter The Void @  10:15pm Thailian
Saturday: Skeletons @ 7:45pm Thailian Main
               Brilliantlove @10:30pm Thailian Main

Installation Piece

Once again, beyond excited for this one. I've learned a lot about Installations in my avant garde history class and the thought of a mixed media performance sounds spectacular to me. I like the concept we're going with and can't wait to help put it all together by gathering props for the construction workers as well as materials to build a giant "planet" type screen to project images onto. I also suggested that if we use a few construction workers on stage that they wear those flashlights on their heads to add to the visual interest and see the lights in addition to the projections scattering throughout the dark room. I have no doubt that we can make it work because Royce has a story to tell that will capture the audience's attention. I'm very interested to read the script he writes.

keep all your receipts

Wow that song will be in my head for a very long time! What a fun day! It took a long time to gather all the props and load them into my car. It is more difficult to find old electronic devices than I thought! I spent a lot of time searching through every thrift/bargain store in town. We shot in room 2002 of the CIS building and put together a little office setup. Everything looks fairly normal at the beginning of the shoot until the very end when everything unwinds and goes crazy! We really made a mess in there.... but cleaned it all up of course. Our band members Tim & Dustin, Michelle, Haley, Royce, my roommate Jessica, our friend Abby, were all amazing! I was really happy with how smoothly it went and I think everyone else had a good time. It was hard me not to waste time giving everyone a lot of hugs because I was really excited. I typed up all of my ideas so everyone could see what was going on in my head. Everyone seemed to like them and everyone on set contributed to help build the "vision" I had. My favorite part was when I gave all of our "stage crew" members each a set of different directions. I asked them to do their assigned "tasks" at the same time so we could watch it all unfold simultaneously on film. Being in the middle of all this as it was occurring was really impressive to me, I'm just crossing my fingers that it has the same feel on screen. We filmed in a tight space that gives it a claustrophobic and chaotic feel as this group of people are all walking and dancing around the office. We ran out of time to do some other things we thought would be cool, but it wasn't a big deal because what we had should be sufficient and Michelle and I went to their live show around 1am that night to shoot some more footage. The boys were there (still looking spiffy in their office attire!) lighting was dim, but we are hoping that won't be a problem. Thanks group members for all of the work you put in! I think it will pay off.

Art House Cinema reading

I'm one of those people who can't help but whisper about a movie during a slow part or after the showing. Hearing how other people react to a film is important to me as a filmmaker, because I want to know what people like and what they don't like. I love the idea of sitting in a quaint little room or bar, watching an obscure movie no one has ever heard of, and asking questions about it after the credits roll. Who isn't tired of paying $10-15 for a ticket+$10 for popcorn+$4 more for a drink?! When watching a movie I'd like to feel included instead of feeling robbed. From this reading and everything I have learned in Kreul's Avant Garde history class, I wish I lived in the 60's. In my hometown of Asheville at the Cinebar there is always a showcase of short local films before the showing which is exciting, and of course Cucalorus is a place that student filmmakers can go and learn from other filmmakers as well. Last week I attended Kreul's screening at the Opera room and that was a neat experience too! I recommend that everyone go. I find it very important for people to build communities and be able to enjoy these things together. There are still micro cinemas around according to the reading and I'm hoping that they will catch on. It's a difficult situation though because if a micro cinema was advertised like crazy it would probably grow into a large popular "mainstream" cinema and then no one would think it was cool anymore. I guess the trick would be to gather people you know who appreciate good foreign, classic, or independent cinema (in its true context) and find a small venue to invite a group of people.

MUSIC VIDEO

I'm excited for this project! We have been hanging out on the mixgrotto page for many days now, listening, analyzing and trying to figure out who to choose from out of the list of talented artists. When I heard the Justin Lacy and the Swimming Machine had a tap dancer, I was sold. They have many musicians that play many different instruments, and they collaborate with another band that wants to do a short skit in our video which is awesome. The only issue we may have with this is scheduling. I realize that we need all of these people in the same place at the same time and we need to have a very accurate game plan/storyboard to get it all in on time. I want the audience to feel very involved with the live music, the camera movements should move to the beats in the music. Hopefully when it's all said and done the viewer will feel as if they are sitting in the middle of the stage surrounded by a circle of musicians (and hopefully a tap dancer). We also have other options if the band members will not all be available. D&D sluggers was a possibility because they only have 2 band members, but as Royce pointed out they may not work well with Super 8 because their style is very digital and electronic. Personally I was thinking maybe the contrast could be bizarre and interesting?? I don't know.... we'll work it out :)

Experimental in the mainstream

I am presenting my presentation on Michel Gondry today. I did not recognize his name at first when I signed up to tell about him but I really like his style and he is everywhere! I loved Eternal Sunshine and his music videos are really fun catchy and colorful which are two of my favorites. My favorite of his videos was definitely his band Oui Oui's Ma Maison because that tune has been in my head for days and I am in love with the key frame animation, I want to know how to do that!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yymYmzZPJe4

I also love the White Stripes, LEGOS and this video, as well as The Hardest Button to Button

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q27BfBkRHbs

Brainstorm

It is always difficult to explain yourself to someone, so I think that an experimental collage will come close enough to convey my life and what's in my head. Like everyone else I'm a jumble of past experiences beginning with my childhood, traveling through obstacles, making/breaking friendships and relationships, setting goals/making plans, failing, succeeding, and just living day to day. I took some notes on some ideas but cannot find the paper anywhere! I think that I will try to use footage from my childhood and mix in images of my best friend and others that had a huge impact on my life. I want to sort of express what my life has currently become...a montage of a week in my life. The weekends will be shown slow and relaxed, involving miscellaneous activities. Work days will involve me in different masks cleaning the mirrors and (and camera lens) at my workplace, Halloween and more! During the school week the images will speed up incredibly, as I rush to read, write, and madly finish everything I was supposed to do. Someone brought to my attention that none of my photos I put on facebook show my complete face because they're always far away, or I'm wearing a mask, hat or glasses, or my face is painted. I guess it's because I'm shy. That's why I plan to step out of my comfort zone and "expose" myself for the ending.

Seeing with your ears

Hayley and I were impressed and a little intimidated after seeing what everyone was coming up with in the lab Wednesday! We were inspired to brush up on some basics on how to create movement in after effects, with a little guidance from a friend. The sequence is in order, but now we need to go back and make the frames more interesting and less like a slide show. The photos in the class library were pretty perfect for our fun but inappropriate soundtrack of "A Plus Sized Mistress." I look forward to sitting back down and focusing the endless possibilities on how to make something that will entertain the class. The story follows a pretty narrative structure, so we are trying to create the feel of a person walking downtown at night as everything gradually becomes more blurry and disorienting. Our experimental techniques should accurately portray the drunken debauchery.

She continued yelling from the kitchen

On our soundscape, Laura and I planned out an outline and then worked in the details. It was pretty obvious to chose the opera style singing as our ambient sound, because "she" (or he...in this particular case) was continuing to yell! So we began to build an imaginary argument. I kept envisioning an angry lady in a kitchen wagging her finger at some kids horse playing or back talking. The kids continued to taunt her as she went about chopping up a chicken and putting him into a pot.
We had fun doing this, and the sounds really made me laugh the entire time. We listened to Barrett's voice so many times that we couldn't tell when it had stopped or started anymore... it was a part of our thought process! It ended up that we had two "waves" in the soundscape. It build up to a loud climax, and then yet another, before it faded out with the violin sound. I thought that this was a nice way to relieve the audience of the 3 minute opera. Putting in all of the various sounds of commotion was tedious, but I think we ended up with what we were looking for.

Good Morning Sunshine

 It's 10 am and I'm sitting on the shaded area of my patio ready to greet the day. The sun is brightly glimpsing over the apartment building to the right, casting a light directly in front of me. The cracks and knots with hones in the fence welcome various lines and circles of warmth through the gate and onto the cement below my feet. The shadow of a hanging plant suspends below the shadow of a wind chime with various shapes of shells. A round, glass, mosiac table is the centerpiece...reflecting a diffused glow. A glass surrounding a candle reflects tiny specs of light. The water saturating a hydroponic basil plant reveals what seems to be hundreds of tiny shimmering golden roots as the green leaves gather the sunlight.

Hugh McCrae Park

Rings of light reflect off of the ripples and bubbles in the pond. Under the shade of the gazebo shades of open windows surround me. Light is scattered throughout the grass revealing shades and shapes of trees, branches and leaves. A reflection of the sun is visible on the top spout of the waterfall and the bottom trickles of water. Tiny waves spread around the fountain in a soft fluid texture. On the bridge, tiny waves of water reflections dance along the railings. A shadow of a long neck and beak waddles alongside each of the individual geese. As I made my way back home, the light peaked through the tallest trees flickering through my windshield. 

photos to intrigue

 

  

  

^^http://neosurrealism.artdigitaldesign.com/modern-artists/?artworks/fine-art/ivy-covered-wall-photography.html....found the man on the ladder via internet, it made me want to chuckle, there's some other interesting ones on the site.

Goals accomplished from assignment 1A

Soundscapes are an abstract way to convey certain themes or tones within a film. The foley artist really has complete creative control because there are countless sounds occurring naturally around us, and countless more that we can manipulate. The possibilities are endless. These sounds evoke emotion in the listener....the ones we recorded were peaceful, destructive, mysterious, amusing, and perhaps even frightening. Working in the group with the equipment was a great experience. We all took turns handling the equipment in production and post production. If someone knew more about one piece of equipment, they gave insight to someone else in the group. I learned how important it is to get the sound levels right while recording, because it is easier (and sounds much more "crisp") to get it right the first time than have to go back and turn something up or down. We had a fun time scoping out the campus for sounds....and we recorded many more than we needed just so we could have options. Getting everything organized and distinguishing the different types of sounds helped us brush up on our sound terms we learned in production classes. In forgetting about the image and focusing completely on sound, we were able to record some interesting noises and conversations that might have otherwise gone unnoticed! I am definitely a more attentive listener now and I am more interested in sound recording than I previously assumed.

Sound Journal #2

In my room as I sat quietly on my bed, I concentrated on all of the sounds of my house. The most obvious was directly above my head: the constant humming of the shaky fan. It creaked slightly but evenly as the blades whirled. The sound of the wind blowing from the fan was another constant sound. The paper of my poster on my wall crumpled a little as the wind blew. As I shifted in my bed the wood in the baseboard creaked a little as well, and the mattress shifting made a soft noise that is difficult to describe in words. My pillow made a sweeping noise as it shifted behind my back along the backboard of my bed. My hair rustled against my ear, as I was having a hard time sitting still. Above my head on the ceiling, I could hear water running through pipes with a whooosh sound, and random footsteps of short gentle thuds from upstairs. My telephone obnoxiously made the "ding dong" sound of a doorbell reminding me of a text message. The sound of my laptop running on my desk made a soft humming noise similar to that of a fan. In the kitchen, another constant and similar humming was occurring. A notebook I was holding slid across the skin on my leg making a soft and drawn out "swishing" noise. In the kitchen the refrigerator opened with a gentle "suctioning" noise.... and closed with a thud.

Silents Please!

On Thursday I attended the "silents please" screening of some silent films for my history of Avant Garde class. While waiting for the program to begin I took the time to connect with the sounds of the auditorium in the library. This is what I came up with:
There were plastic candy wrappers crumbling and soda cans popping intermittently. (There were free snacks at the event). Water bottles caps were being twisted on an off as water was dripping into people's mouths. As they held the water bottles in their hands I hear the plastic crushing beneath their fingers. There was sipping, swallowing, and various quick rhythms of chewing...some chews were more loud than others. People were fidgeting with their plastic mechanical pencils causing light "clicks." Occasional cough, soft whispers, deep sounds of mumbling were heard throughout the auditorium, and some voices vibrated and echoed against the walls. As people shifted in their seats, their clothes rustled as they adjusted and readjusted themselves. The seats squeaked ever so quietly. Faint piano music was playing cheerfully as the feature film's DVD was projected. The door opened and closed several times as more people entered the room, and I heard a woman's feet squishing in her sandals as she slowly walked step by step down the stairs on the carpeted floor. I also heard the unpleasant sound of fingernails scratching skin. Then there was a man with a French accent that stood up and introduced the film. The screening was actually not silent at all.

The concept of painting with sound

The concept that Walter Murch discusses raises some important questions regarding the senses. Most of us are very visual/hands-on learners, which is probably what lead us into film studies. Murch personifies sound describing our experience in the womb, using words that create a vivid mental concept for the reader, allowing us to feel the vibrations of sound such as a mother's voice, her breathing, and her heart. This lasted for about 4 months before we were born, surely having an immense impact on us, yet always taken for granted. Sitting quietly and listening intently with my eyes closed is something I rarely do, it is almost uncomfortable to not be able to see everything sometimes. During these sound exercises it was rewarding to not only hear, but to listen to sounds and how they can function alone. Sound is normally synchronized to match the picture in films as an aid to the cinematography. In student films (as observed in production 201) sound is one of the last things that we take into consideration. I quickly realized that recording and sound mixing was a very difficult and tedious task, and when it was not well done the images suffered. Audiences are distracted when the sound isn't realistic, the microphone wasn't skillfully placed, or the levels aren't correct. If the sounds such as music and effects are original, the film's picture will be enhanced as well. Discovering how to be better listeners will inevitably turn us into better filmmakers.

Article Responses

http://silvacine.com/classreadings/shannons/HansRichter.pdf


Many films are made in order to attract the largest audience possible, causing film-makers to remain traditional in their story telling methods so the audience won't be "lost." It has always taken a significant amount of talent to appeal to the masses, oversimplifying the full potential of film-making. Personally, I am going to be optimistic about the direction the newer generation is headed. The world is continuing to move faster, and seemingly more chaotic, as time passes. I believe that as this continues to happen, the modern art of film will evolve into a creative outlet for a younger generation that will surely be well prepared to react against any mindless nonsense we're exposed to. Just as in the last paragraph of Richter's article, I too hope that film entertainment and film art can become identical. The highlight of this article for me was the paragraph referring to film as "the orchestration of motion in visual rhythms--the plastic expression of an object in motion under varying light conditions." Awesome.

http://silvacine.com/classreadings/shannons/ScottMacDonald.pdf

The description Scott MacDonald gave of the audience member's first response to an avant garde film was definitely accurate. I must admit I have seen some experimental movies that were amazing, and others that I thought were terrible and in fact did give me a headache. I appreciate them, and the ones that I like, I tend to like a lot. If more people took the opportunity to research the history of Avant Garde, I think they could have a much better understanding and appreciation for the genre. It is amazing to think that the images on the screen can elicit such emotion and thought from audience members...MacDonald says it best in this article in regards to the Lumiere brothers. Even now, their films prove to be a "meditation" on beauty seen everyday; captured on a canvas of film and slowly unfolding to give the audience enough time to emotionally connect with the image. I would like to see more of that incorporated in film today.

Manifesto

 HII! I'm Megan. As a filmmaker, this year my goal is to thoroughly explore my imagination and let out all of the absurd ideas that come to mind. At a young age I began to express myself through writing when all else failed. In elementary school I would write plays and force my brother, sister, and cousin to participate. I guess I knew at a young age what I wanted to do with my life, but it took me a several more years to figure it out. Now I know for a fact that I want to entertain, inform, confuse, and emotionally captivate people through the art of film-making. I am thrilled to know that by doing this I can travel, meet hundreds of interesting people, and learn more about myself in the process. Writing things on paper is a wonderful experience in itself, but with cameras and technology the possibilities are taken to an entirely different dimension. The similarities and differences in these two creative outlets are incredibly interesting to me as well. As always I have much more to learn and I am eager to do so. My interests include screenwriting, directing, animation, and cinematography.... I'll even try my hand at acting if given the opportunity. I want to know a little about everything! My thought process is very ADD/experimental, which is why I feel as if I belong in FST 302: experimental film production :)