FilmingAbz

Music Video shoot

2009-12-02T10:20:00.000-08:00

The music video was a fun production. Something that I havent done before.
It was interesting to try and make a video that is both experimental with a hint of narrative.
One aspect that I really enjoyed is the thought process that had to go behind this. Even though it was quite similar to planning a narrative film - some aspects were different - like there is no dialogue, action has to be relative, and no wild sound or ambient sound was needed.

Going over the story boards - and making changes - feeding off each others ideas - was an interesting process.

Also as the producer I found this role very active in the pre production - writing a shooting schedule, planning what needs to me final for the days that we shoot - finding a day when everyone was able to shoot. - we did come across a couple of bumps along the way which was expected! We changed our song, so we had to re plan the storyboard - then the day we were suppose to shoot and had it finalised with Pravda (the bar we shot in) the artist said he couldnt make it - but we had to be stern and told him if he couldnt make it we will find a stand in - after which he did turn up a little late but at least on the day of shooting.

The shoot went well and we used the schedule - making slight changes in order to get the desired effect we wanted - for example - when filming the stop motion dancefloor sequence - we waited till the bar was more full so it had a better feel and buzz about it and it would make it look like we had lots of extras. - changing the shot type from a long shot ot a medium because of lighting restrictions.

The lighting was one of the major problems we came across as we shot mostly at night and the 8mm isnt as effective in low lighting conditions - however that is something that light and sound should have corrected.

Overall the experience was good and I learnt new things - such as making a shooting schedule, editing a storyboard, and making sure everything on set happened smoothly, which it did.

Video Installation

2009-12-02T10:07:00.000-08:00

The Video Installation that I would like to propose has been inspired by Bill Viola.

What I would like to do is construct a tunnell that people have to walk through. On the floor or on stands will be laptops with found footage of space and stars. Opposite the laptop screens will be mabiquin heads with lights coming out of them. This is to represent, us, how we have become accustomed to sitting in front of the TV and letting our minds drift off to place we want to go and things we would like to do but dont. Because we have become to lazy to do the activities that we want to.
Once you have walked through the tunnell, there will be two projections on the screen. One will be of a waterfall, a downward motion, and on the other fire, an upward motion - this contadicts each other - just how we contardict what we want to do but rather dont do - contradiction is a thematic aspect of the installation.
After walking past these - behind the projections will be two maniquins - one behind each projection. Behind the waterfall projection thier will be a maniquin with smoke coming off it and behind the fire projection a maniquin in a wetsuit and surf board - this is to emphasise further contradiction theme and our ability or inactivity.

MicroCinema

2009-10-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

Microcinema may seem like a replacement of old Art House cinemas that sprung up in the early days of cinema. They screen films which may not be distributed to cinemas and also take into consideration films made within that locality which may or not have a big influence depending on the subject matter or production levels on a national basis.

However, what is the importance of Micro cinema? As it appears micro cinema can be seen as a community driven venture, the ideal or the motive behind this form of cinema is the bringing together of like minds and getting the community more involved in the world of cinema.

From the time that Multiplexes started to pop up in every available spot - the death of the "art house" or independent cinema was inevitable. Even though in bigger cities some of these smaller independents reamined open - by relocating or other means - in smaller towns they became extinct - until Micro cinema was presented as an alternative to the mainstream.

Micro cinema is also beneficial for the young and money less filmmaker - a place to show case one's talents and recieve feedback from a concentrated group - this also offers other film makers to distribute thier films to audiences that want to view films made in a similar style.

Micro cinema is not just about the films that they show but they also represent the viewers who go there. It high lights the fact that not everyone wants to watch mainstream films and some prefer every now and then to watch something different or alternative!

What is interesting is the history of micro cinemas - a rebellion from the mainstream or in Europe as it started in France - groups of artists - show casing films and talking about them and how film is the art form of the future generations.

Light = Life

2009-09-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

What is light but a photon – energy or a source of energy – some believe that light itself is creation and creator. In the beginning there was only darkness, where light came from no one knows. Today, we see light that comes from the Sun, thus this light also reflects off the Moon at night to give us nightlight. Millions of stars shine in this night skylight, which we are suspended from hovering in a giant abyss of nothingness, yet there is life within this.

Now, picture this, living a life in darkness, within the realm of the shadows, where our nightmares lurk and think of life at the bottom of the ocean and within the dark caves – this proves that life without light is sustainable. Yes it is – however, is our life able to keep moving forward without light. My answer is no. Just look around us, everywhere we go we have some form of light albeit natural or artificial – we have, fire, candles, fluorescent, neon, street lights, bulbs, monitors on the laptops and computers use LED’s, shall I go on?

We as humans have manipulated this light to our advantage, than any other animal – apart from the light fish that have their own eclectic lights – but why so, why not live with the Sun? Go back to the primitive ages? The answer lies within ourselves – we have become so accustomed to light that even the thought of living without light is unbearable and so it would be.

Light, gives us magnificence, I shone a light through a prism in a science class – just a torch and out the other end came out a rainbow, yes all the colors of the world condensed into one, I was amazed. The other day I walked past a puddle and saw my own reflection, like a mirror it stood out glistening, from a far but as I approached it the ugliness struck me when my shadow engulfed it, so I took a step back and the beauty returned, what had happened was I obstructed the sunlight that gave it its beauty. On the subject of water and light, water bounces light back the way it came, which bounces on the bottoms of leaves hung over a giant pond, I see the ripples of the water pattern across the leaves, this was a great sight and I only wished I had a camera with me that could capture that – but maybe certain things aren’t supposed to be captured, they are meant to be left untouched only to be seen, in the light and nothing else.

Growing up as I child, I had a cousin who was blind, she was much older than I was, but she was not blind from birth, she became that way by accident. Within my childlessness I asked her once what she misses the most of not being able to see – her response – she misses the birds flying – the leaves changing in fall, snow and the smile on her child’s face.

Picture of Reality

2009-09-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

Life is differnt in many parts of the world and reality can have various meanings depending on where you are in the world - reality for these guys is growing and selling rice whereas for the western society reality maybe something that is a whole lot different.

Picture of truth

2009-09-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

This picture inspires me with regards to truth - how a man is willing to die and burn to highlight the damages of war, to let truth prevail in a time when morals have vanished - a man ready to accept his fate in the hardships that his country and fellow men have suffered - trying to bring an end to the lies that have surrounded him.

i wasnt able to upload it so i have posted the link:
theformofmoney.blogharbor.com/.../3221472.html

Recording sound

2009-09-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

This was my first experience of actually going out and recording just sound with no moving image. At first thoughts i did not think it was going to be fun, but how wrong was I. Sometimes as amateurs, in people’s early filmmaking life, one can overlook sound and be drawn in too much by the visual aspect of film making – the plot, the acting, and the characters that leave an imprint within you.

Alongside some of the aspects listed above of which I’m surely missing some – sound reinforces what we see – it adds dramatic effect to the moving images – a soundtrack to a movie can become emotionally moving or poor choice of sound can make a good movie dull and create no atmosphere.

From this experience I learnt that, sound can be manipulated in many ways, duplicated and mixed to born a new sound that maybe was beyond ones imagination. We would have thought that dropping grapes into a bowl of water would sound like someone going to the rest room or springing a metal door stop could sound like a motorbike revving up – getting three people to read from three different books – seems like a coffee bar.

These are vital tools, useful to young filmmakers working on a shoestring budget – guerrilla tactics in the amateur filmmaking world.

Sound without sight

2009-09-01T18:35:00.000-07:00

Sound without sight seems incomprehensible to a person who has sight. That’s mostly because before we hear an object we probably will see it first or at the same time. So why is it that when we are void of sight that sound begins to play a vital part in our understanding of the objects, and the world around us. One is able to judge from what direction a particular sound is coming from or travelling towards. A skateboard running along planks of wood, rolls like thunder and then when rolling along concrete the sound is muffled, almost like a grinding sound with the rhythmic clunk of the pavements start and end. Every five seconds the clunk repeats itself not knowing that the sound it makes is just like any other skateboard. Humans can differentiate each other’s voices we have that uniqueness – why not that in a skatebaoard?

If I was to ask someone to spend a day with a blindfold they would say no. But when one becomes atone to living without sight one will not want to lose that foresight. Sound in all its glory has become second nature to sight – people won’t believe it until they see it – I think is how the expression go’s. I heard and believed allot. The far distant cries of a crowd of boys sat round a table, the miniature whispers of a band of girls talking about assignments – the interruptions – the alpha queen or male leading the conversation. Voices – of which were all transcending towards me in different shapes and forms; some were hoarse, others boisterous and the last cowardly – tonally they variated too – some exuded power others weakness and some void of both – fearless warriors chant there goodbye songs, while others sat quietly not saying a word and their breath overshadowed and drowned by the clones of Adam and Eve.

When sound is found in its natural form, this is when it becomes overwhelming. The splashing of water upon water breaks a wave of formidable power. The crushing of that power descends onto the shore, who silently sits there and utters not a word to the bully who repeats its killer punch forever and for miles across the shore. The life of Syphilis endures a similar plague. Wind howls in from the far corners of the earth carrying messages from mysterious strangers to unknown ears. The whistling intensifies if the message is an omen or soothes if it is prayers. The seagulls use these messages to stay afloat, balancing them under and above their wings – with occasional hollers to their parting friends or a war cry to help re unite the lost ones drifting too far off shore.
All sounds eventually become one and a variation of one another. Mozart’s symphonies are not one instrument but a variation, a myriad collection of different strings playing in harmony with each other and just the same – when one gives into sound and forgets about sight, even if it is just for five minutes the melody of life in that particular place and time will become evident and for that instance that person with the aid of sound becomes part of that life melody.

Readings 08/26

2009-08-25T18:13:00.000-07:00

Film as an Original Art Form

This reading offers a good insight into the avant garde movement of filmmakers who wanted to create moving images outside the studio bound confinements of their time. By doing this they have left a great legacy and shown upcoming and future generations the possibility of film and how to use the camera in ways which for their era was very advanced.

Intro To Avante Garde Film

The opening paragraphs hit the nail on the head - not many people are exposed to avant-garde films until they are in their teens or above. Also by the time they see such a film they already have concepts of mainstream cinema imbedded within them.

The paper, also similar to the previous gives an insight into the the world of avant-garde cinema and its begginings - and the divorce from mainstream cinema.

However to me it seems that avant-garde (experimental films) gave birth to the mainstream and then became subdued by it.

BIo/Manifesto

2009-08-25T18:03:00.000-07:00

Im a philosophical film student - im interested in the abstract and absurd - movement and non - movement - the optical illusions we see everyday but think nothing off - i want to make films about the stranger who follows you home one day for no good reason - people behaving out of character - the rage within to, not conform to the conformist nations we live within - i dont want to pay tax - when i can protect myself if i have a gun - im carzy and so is the world around me - i want to show that - John Cassevettes did, Martin Scorsese did - although he's gone all mainsteam now - why follow in other peoples footsteps if you can follow your own - waves form and break - so never follow one thing - once your wave has broken create a new one - dont linger on the old - movement and non - movement - if movement exists.