Week 6: R3 Media Response

Jimmy Wales: The birth of Wikipedia really opened my eyes to how Wikipedia functions. I have never given it much thought, but it is interesting that thousands of volunteers offer their work/knowledge to build this nonprofit encyclopedia to the public. In a way, it is extremely similar to how we are crowdsourcing for Assignment #2. The fact that Wikipedia only really has one employee, the server operation manager, is unreal. The rest of the work is provided by willing volunteers who wish to share their knowledge. Wales admits it is not perfect, but much better than you would expect from a crowdsourcing model. This insight to Wikipedia's success has made me more excited to see how our 1 minute crowdsourcing project will turn-out. I believe the variety of art-styles and personal input will add a holistic tone to this production.

What is Crowdsourcing provided me with a clearly definition of what crowdsourcing is and the different types. It seems that Assignment #2 is a combination of Crowdsource Design and Microtasks because not only are we getting several different people to contribute their art, but we are also dividing up the frames into microtasks. Also, I've always thought of Crowdsourcing to be the same as Crowdfunding and this article clarified that difference for me. I guess the main thing that our class has to take into account is that our crowdsourced frames may not be exactly what we hoped to convey with this short film production. 

Tiffany Shalain's article she brought to my attention that you could crowdsource Youtube videos into your own film production. I find this approach fascinating and I would like to put this method into action within one of my own films. It reminds me in a way of my audio-visual criticism course that I took abroad in London. We were provided 7 films and asked to critically edit together audio/visual elements from these films into our own 6 minute short. This is one of the top favorite films I've worked on. I critically approached the idea of the femme fatale by mainly using audio/footage of Marlene Dietrich in Morocco (1930).


(Andre, I apologize for the out-of-order blog posts. I got a little mixed up of when each post was due. Sorry!)

Week 5: 16mm Film Manipulation Response

The 16mm Film Manipulation assignment was one of my favorite film projects I've worked on so far as a film student. There is something beautiful about working with actual film stock and being able to physically manipulate it and see how different materials/objects affected the image in the cel.

The most challenging part of this assignment was conceptualizing an animation that would one: fit within the tiny 16mm frame and two: animate it within this small space to convey fluid movement.

Although it was great to collaborate with a partner for this project, I wished I would have been able to work on this individually. It is definitely an filmmaking approach I would like to experiment with again, that is if the resources would be available for me.

The other challenging aspect for this project was to load the film into the film reel. Although the instructions provided by the blog were very detailed, it was still hard to determine how the film should be oriented. I wish we could have taken more time in class to visually see how this is done.

I think my favorite ways to manipulate the 16mm film was adding bleach, using sandpaper, and applying ink. The effect of these manipulations was the most effective when using the printed film stock. I liked applying these methods to manipulate the printed image to the point of abstraction. Although the original image did add interesting textures, I did not want a part of the original print to show through.

The bleach, depending how long I applied it, created bold hues of purple, blue, or yellow. I also created a more texturized image by combining scratching and ink application. After I scratched the printed film with sandpaper, I applied different ink colors in layers to created a blotted, clunked image to represent Earth. It was a long process, but I am excited to see how it will transfer visually.

Week 7: "The Rough Theater"

I found the reading "The Rough Theatre" by Peter Brook extremely interesting and I found it very relevant to experimental filmmaking. This passage conveys that the 'illogical' is more logical than we give it credit for. For example, the Theater of the Absurd and existential plays such as Waiting for Godot are relatable to audiences (even if they do not understand it).

I remember when I first read these experimental plays and I had no clue what to make of it. However, the more plays that I read in this style, the more I began to understand its underlying meanings (which usually comments/critiques on the cultural norms of traditions/morals, people, and time).

From my experience in the Film Studies program, several students disregard experimental films saying they are boring and only made to 'look pretty'. Hearing these comments make me cringe because I believe these students dislike experimental films due to the fact that they have not taken the time to understand them visually and analytically. Film is an art like any other form that should challenge its viewers to experience a different perspective.

Another important point this essay makes is to not just analyze the performance/visuals but also to take notice of the sound design. Sound holds more significant meaning than audiences usually know. Sound can affect one's response towards an image whether it provides an accompanying or differing tone.

Week 4: R2 Media Response

Soundscape is an cinematic quality that I have always appreciated, but have never really understood. "Listen" by David New really put the art of a soundscape into perspective for me. The depth of sound adds grandness to a scene.

"Justin Boyd: Sound and Time" also gave an inside-perspective of the importance sound. He explores sounds we hear everyday and tries to capture its unique qualities. His emphasis on the effect of 'how' and 'when' something was recorded was very interesting. Boyd said this develops a sound's distinct character. I also enjoyed how he explained that different objects can produce similar 'character' sounds.

Jim Cumming's article illustrated very clearly how one should learn how to listen. There are several sounds surrounding us throughout the day, but do we really take the time to listen to symphony of ambient noise? I know I don't. However, after reading this article, I closed my eyes for a minute and listened to the sounds surrounding me. I was amazed with how many details/images I could collect from the sounds alone. I believe there were some details of my surroundings that I would not have noticed by sight alone.

Schafer's article also emphasized how advancements in technology such as transportation, military weapons, and computers have "polluted" soundscapes. Today, it is hard to record sound without the interference of modern technological sounds. I experienced this issue constantly during the filming of my documentary in which we tried to gather ambient nature audio.