Experimental piece

It's been a lot of fun crafting this piece, but it's also been the most stressful thing I've done in this (and many other classes) in a while. There are a lot of elements within this piece that, although they can be crafted independently, they all have to come together seamlessly. This is what's been a major pain in the final stretch. Also, having actors bail on you is no fun. It's less than a week before the project is due and I'm finally meeting with my actors for the first time. I have a lot of confidence in them, but its been taking a serious toll on my mental state. I will finally be able to block and time them which will allow me to accurately craft the projection to coincide with their performance. It's cutting it close, but I know everything will be done by the time it needs to be. I'm just not sure if I'll be functional after that.

Cucalorus responce

This years Cucalorus was an amazing one. Beyond the usual plethora of good movies, there were plenty of just plan fun events and shows going on that we both good and interesting. Obviously, Enter The Void was a hot topic, and a movie I loved and could go on for hours about, but I was a little disappointed with many peoples response to the movie. Even the people that enjoyed it couldn't exactly say why. But virtually everyone there was willing to talk about their movie going experiences in a fun and academic way if you asked them about it. Other favorites of mine included Dolphin Glide, The Red Chapel, Girl Model, and the animation block by John Dilworth. All the parties were very fun and I loved seeing all my old friends and meeting a ton of new people (especially the filmmakers). Everyone there is so nice and friendly and willing to get drunk and have a lot of fun. It was really one of the funnest weekends of my life and, now that its over, the depression sinks in. It feels like a lost love or a breakup. Like I've truly lost something, and I cannot wait till next year. To my, at heart, all anyone wants to do is return to childhood, to play and Cucalorus is one of the best outlets and areas for this. I've rekindled so many friendships and met so many great people that I hope to stay in touch with. More than that, it's really put an energy in me to start making films. To make a simple independent project, it can cost maybe $100. If you submit it to a few film festivals, where a full pass can cost up to $300, and get in, you've already made your money back. And if you get into more then one, you basically get a free vacation to travel, see and talk about amazing films, and get drunk with some of the best, most beautiful people on the planet. I also really want to use the visions class as a jumping off point. I want to see if there's a realistic option for being involved in film festivals, especially Cucalorus in the future. I fucking love this.

Cuc Blog

Confirmed:

Thursday-
A Film Unfinished
The Erectionman
Dance-a-lorus (might forgo this for Sliver-Spotted Skipper Shorts since Em Johnson and Laura Mattingly have films in this)
Kickoff party with Nutweevil shorts and Royce getting hammered!

Friday-
Visual Soundwalls Party
Enter the Void

Saturday-
A New Kind of Listening (with Laura Murphy's short!)
Mars

Sunday-
Girl Model (WIP)
Irrational Reactions

Want tickets to-
Firewall of Sound
The Audible Picture
A Puppet Intervention
Dolphin Glide
The Temptation of St. Tony
The Red Chapel
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (or Grahamland (WIP))

Instalation project

Obviously, by now you know I have an unhealthy love with Miranda July. There are several other installation artists I love that often use film (samples at bottom), but Miranda July always has a very playful, beautiful, and smart quality to her projects. Our group has agreed to do a project with her in mind as spirit (I'm thinking of The Swan Tool here). The project with involve projected images onto a giant sphere, covered in different materials to give the texture of a planet. The story will call for two actors. Each one is unsatisfied with life, unable to find love and meaning on any planet they traveled to. They both hired a construction company to build a planet so they could live the rest of their lives alone and in piece and then were each placed on the same planet without each other's knowledge. Eventually they meet and are annoyed by each other, realizing the construction company has deceived both of them. Despite being virtually identical, both resent each other, denying that they are perfect for one another. A romantic relationship is suggested, but never realized. At the end, both decide to jump into a volcano, realizing they have no place in the universe. The play will be both dark and funny, with a style similar to Miranda July and Samuel Beckett. I will be one actor and I believe I've convinced one of the theater students to be the other actress. If not, Kristina will play one of the rolls. I will also be writing the script, handing it to the group and ask for some opinions and possible revisions. Laura will be in charge of researching materials for the construction of the sphere and I believe we will all be involved in the engineering and construction of it. I will probably assign either Megan or Kristina with the task of putting together the projected images after the screen play is complete. The projected images will be found footage of construction sites, workers, machines, etc . providing the landscape "backdrop" for the world. This is what we got so far. Below are things I love:

Miranda July- Love Diamond (Excerpt) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuU99STtP2s

Bruce Nauman- Good Boy, Bad Boy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VugLUa47sLI&feature=related
AND Feed Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxmm16gqRis&feature=related

Paul Pfeiffer- Morning After The Deluge (with commentary) http://www.pbs.org/cgi-registry/mediaplayer/videoplayer.cgi?playeraddress=videoplayer.cgi;media=%2Fart21%2FPP4_video_lo.rm%2C%2Fart21%2FPP4_video_hi.rm%2C%2Fart21%2FPP4_video_lo.mov%2C%2Fart21%2FPP4_video_hi.mov%2C%2Fart21%2FPP4_video_lo.wmv%2C%2Fart21%2FPP4_video_hi.wmv;title=%22Morning%20After%20the%20Deluge%22%20video%20installation%20by%20Paul%20Pfeiffer;widescreen=true;playertemplate=%2Fart21%2FTemplates%2Fart21_mp.html

Krzysztof Wodiczko- Tijuana, Mexico http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juq-Z48lY7g
AND Bunker Hill, Boston http://www.pbs.org/cgi-registry/mediaplayer/videoplayer.cgi?playeraddress=videoplayer.cgi;media=%2Fart21%2F3_KW2_video_lo.rm%2C%2Fart21%2F3_KW2_video_hi.rm%2C%2Fart21%2F3_KW2_video_lo.mov%2C%2Fart21%2F3_KW2_video_hi.mov%2C%2Fart21%2F3_KW2_video_lo.wmv%2C%2Fart21%2F3_KW2_video_hi.wmv;title=Video%20projection%20on%20the%20Bunker%20Hill%20Monument%20by%20Krzysztof%20Wodiczko%20in%20Boston%2C%20MA;widescreen=true;playertemplate=%2Fart21%2FTemplates%2Fart21_mp.html

Anti VJ- Songdo http://www.antivj.com/songdo/index.htm

Ryan Trecartin- I-BE AREA (first article, then video) http://arttorrents.blogspot.com/2008/02/ryan-trecartin-i-be-area-2007.html
http://www.ubu.com/film/trecartin_area.html

Anthony McCall- Light Describing a Cone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-HWsxPnNNY

Music video shoot

I really think our shoot went quite well. Though it sort of was thrown together a little haphazardly a few days before, it actually came together. The shoot was short and productive, but more importantly, we were all functioning as a team, including the band, which was a very nice (and different) experience for me. It was really nice just to flow through the footage (probably mostly because we didn't have enough time or footage to reshoot). It was also a lot of fun just to get my hands on a really fun camera. I'd really love to work with this group and band again, and between this and the self-portrait project, I will certainly shoot on Super8 again.

Art House

This article makes me both happy and sad. I love the art house. I love the idea of small make shift micro cinemas, close-knit communities, and actual discussion of film. To be honest, it really feels like watching films in academic settings, except with more beer, better fashion, and cooler people, which is everything I love. And it really makes me sad that these are dying out. I guess, as the article suggests, its a good thing in a way, because it filters out all but the most devoted, but I do wish it was at least a little more popular. It is a struggle to find events like these, even in a apparent film city, such as Wilmington. I know Thalian has pretty regular showings, and then The Opera Room now has weekly showings thanks to Kreul, and then of course the annual Cheese Sandwich, Chips and Salsa, etc film fest, but I still wish there were more. Worse, is I seem to be in a very, very, VERY, select few in my age group that likes this kind of cinema. While these are houses still exist, it seems a majority of the viewers are older hippies that keep this sort of thing going. Very cool in its own right, but troubling for my generation in 20+ years. Will anyone still want to attend these types of events outside of metropolitan hubs? I sure hope so, and I'm going to do everything in my power to keep them going.

Music Video Ideas

So, this is a week late, so our ideas are pretty much fleshed out, but anyways: we went with D&D Sluggers, a techno/pop band that focuses mostly on nerdcore and other kinda goofy themes. We will be shooting this Saturday at settled on their song "Receipts". We've gathered a lot of sort of old worthless crap to shoot around them in a field or wooded setting and plan to gather lots of receipts as the song is about keeping receipts to return your worthless crap. Since they work with a lot of electronics they have lots of cool niche items and old computer stuff that both fits in with their band and the theme of the song. We'll be nailing out the shots tomorrow, go in on Friday, shoot as much as possible, and evaluate.

Mainstream Experimental

Nike Courage

Tour De France - Brand New Start

The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up

Pink Floyd - Empty Spaces

Blonde Redhead - Top Ranking

Benny Benassi - Satisfaction

Enur feat. Natasja - Calabria

Beyonce - Single Ladies

Edward Sharp And The Magnetic Zeros - Home

All I got off the top of my head.

Plans for self-portrate

So, I've recently acquired two 16mm film cameras and I've always love working with actual film and been fascinated by the concepts of in camera edits. So, I my plan is to get three minutes worth of 16mm film (probably black and white, but we'll see) and start shooting. I sort of have a rough idea of certain images I want to capture, but really plan to make more of a sudo-documentary and just go crazy, shooting bits and pieces, making more of fragmented images that mesh together. After I run out of film, I'm going to try to find a means to either projected and refilm it (so as to put into final cut) or just ship it off to get transferred (but I have a feeling that will take too much time). I really plan to shoot very little of me, and take a more POV kind of perspective or style, but may occasionally have a friend take hold of the camera and document me. I'm more interested in the idea and concept of going in without a plan since, for day to day activities, I rarely have any sort of plan and feel like this would be an excellent method to properly create a self-portrate. If I have the time, I also might try a limited amount of direct film manipulation using rotoscoping, painting, etc, but probably won't get around to this. I also want to see how the footage turns out first.

Plan for light and sound

Right now, I'd say Barrett and I are about 50-60% complete with the project. Our plan is to complete it this fall break and turn it in Wednesday. We've decided to use photoshop and afterafects to create a limited amount of animation, using cut-outs of various photographs. Many are used as backgrounds to create scenes (much like a stage) and then have characters occupy the foreground and move between and about the spaces. After we complete the animations in afterafects, we will move the footage to final cut, place it over the soundscape, export it, and turn it in. Our story, right now, involves a duck moving about sets under the watchful eye of a witch-owl. Eventually the duck is eaten and sacrificed to a vagina-jellyfish-flower. The film then takes a much more experimental approach, moving about the landscapes and characters, removed from time, stuck in a sort of vortex of they hypothetical and the elemental.

Assn 1 B Responce

I thought this was a really challenging project since I have very limited experience manipulating and arranging sound. While it is a love of mine, I have very little hands on experience since I primarily work on documentaries or experimental films (specifically found footage) so I have very little reason to construct or manipulate sound outside of adjusting levels. That being said, I did have a lot of fun with this project. I'm actually quite surprised how much of a narrative take Ian and I took on it, as I think we both prefer the artistic and the avant-garde. Nonetheless, it was still interesting to try to make a story out of these random assortment of sounds. I think Ian and I got on a similar wavelength on how we wanted to attack this project and accomplish the objectives we set out to complete. I also loved hearing out our project compared to the other groups. I was very impressed how varied and unique each project well and felt like each group really put their own signature on their projects. I think we've got a very strong class and love seeing what everyone comes up with week after week.

Light Observations

Light has always seem to be a very fundamental tool of both cinema and life, but I constantly find myself struggling and processing it. Light seems to be a very basic concept when you think about it, but the visual spectrum makes it difficult to interpret and the physical geometry crafts it into shapes that, for me, are very difficult to understand. I am getting better at it and am still very interested and invested in its function. My primary focus on light recently has been interior "mood" lighting within apartments and dorm rooms. I love going over to people's houses and apartments and seeing how they use light to shape very simple and boring rooms. Most often people use softer, amber lights in corners which, while simple and typical, still strikes me in a very beautiful way. I've also noticed a trend of people using holiday lights as mood lighting, either with or without additional lamps to give strikingly vibrant colors to rooms. I know when I move into my next apartment and have a little money to throw around, lighting will probably be one of my main concerns and want to craft it in a very interesting and unique way.

I also have enjoyed seeing how professional (and amateur) artists use light to craft and shape their work, particularly sculptures. This is something I've always studied in galleries aided by my moms watchful eye. I've always enjoyed more avant-garde and experimental forms of lighting, such as the AntiVJ group which I've posted a video of above. They use both lighting and geometry to create incredible visual illusions and craft these very strange and obscure scenes or, moments, within or, more appropriately, on a invariable physical structure. Though their techniques and access is unique and unusual, I think it can be recreated and explored further in smaller and more localized forms. I'm not just talking about lighting at clubs or bars either, but creating a true light performance on a small scale within an enclosed space. This is something I would really like to study and pursue when I have additional resources.

Assn. 1a Response

To be honest, I'm not really sure if I quote, unquote, learned anything from this assignment. Not to say I didn't have a lot of fun or have a great time doing it, or that I know everything (or even a lot about sound) but its something that isn't really new to me. I've explored a lot of sound in my environments and made lots of individual attempts to better understand and explore sounds in this world. My father, as previously mentioned, has a strong obsession with music, specifically in incredibly high and precise fashion, always aiming for better quality for that "pure" sound. It was quite hard to avoid in my childhood. Also, I've learned to pick up and understand smaller, more minute, sounds in my meditation sessions. So while it was a lot of fun to listen closely to all the sounds we created and discovered within our group, I don't know if I learned anything from them. Rather, I was reminded and reinforced of both the purpose and delight that sound can induce. However, knowing you Shannon, you're really going to want me to clearly state something I did actually learn (and I know you're reading this) so, here is something I did learn during this project and will never forget: when Shannon Silva says I want a project turned it in on time and at the beginning of class, Shannon Silva means that that tape better be in her hand as an actual mini-DV tape, or so help me, I will feel her wrath, and it shant be pleasant.

Sound observations+Murch responce

I actually had a very interesting and accidental sound observation in my intro to French cinema class earlier this week. We were watching a silent film, truly a silent film with no music or anything, in King 101, and all of the sudden I hear a very strange clicking. Something was rattling around inside air conditioning unit and it sounded virtually identical to the clicking of the the teeth in a film reel. It was very strange accidental and beautiful. Listening even closer I could hear all the electronics that occupy that horrible room: the projector fan whirling, the computer in the front, all the DVD players in the back, making their tiny electrical hums. It seemed to overwhelm the mild human noise of breathing, and sleeping. It was only interrupted by the shift in weight on the old chairs, which would squeak sharply. The best thing, and something I've noticed for the longest time, is it appears that the people who make the most noise while shifting their weight are those who try to make the least amount of noise. You can actually hear their slow and carefully strategized movements and followed by their embarrassment at their failures. Just by the rhythm and pace of the squeaks you can hear their surprise and disappointment.

My second sound observation was shortly after I turned my car off after returning home one night. The obvious sounds came in at first, the tiny clicks of the engine, the air coming to a halt, some mild wind outside the car, the keys, still barely moving, but I waited further, and pushed beyond this. It became very strange; I could hear noises outside, but they were very faint and distant since it was in the middle of the night. Instead the most dominating noise was this stillness, an almost deafening hum in the car that seemed to have no source. Perhaps it was just my ear drums (I do occasionally listen to music loudly) that were just reverberating, but it somehow sounded external, like every atom in the car was screaming and shaking violently, trying to escape from this prison of air.

This may sound like a strange statement to start off with for a response to Walter Murch's observation of sound, but I am obsessed with pregnancy. Every aspect of it seems infinitely interesting and mysterious to me. I have previously considered the use and function of sound in a pre-natal environment, but I felt the most interesting observation Murch pointed out was the sudden immersion to all the other senses once we are born. Obviously we don't remember or recall this, but it was something everyone consciously experienced. I try to relate these back to evolutionary terms. Obviously sight is most crucial to our (human) survival, but sound clearly plays a distinct and important roll as well, so it does seem strange that this sense would develop or, at least, be activated first. Perhaps it is for our own biological safety inside the womb, and we at least have some elements coming in from the outside world before we are actually born, but it is still very interesting to think about. My father is a known audiophile and has always had an ear for high and precise fidelity (personally I found low fidelity just as, if not more, interesting) so I've always been exposed to a large array of strange and interesting sounds. I've also attempted to remove myself from sound. I've taken two sign language classes, attempting to understand communication without any audio ability. Obviously, I will (hopefully) never truly understand what it is like to be deaf, but I do try to immerse myself in this experience, and I think that is the point of Murch: we are so accustom to sound, we almost the interesting elements of it. To sit down and concentrate, study, and observe sound, seems like an art in and of itself, despite the fact that we constantly do it, even at an unconscious level. It is something that must be paid attention to and appreciated much more, both in film, and our lives.

Manifesto/Responce 1

I can't say I've always been on the creative side of anything, but certainly became much more interested in it in high school. I've always been surrounded by art to some extent as my mother works with canvas and sculpture, often dealing with what she calls "caveman art" crafting paintings or objects that seem prehistoric and, in recent years, often relating to Judaism. In high school I gained more interest in art and after coming to college and taking a few film courses became much more interested in art and foreign cinema. I suppose I always preferred these films more, but had very limited exposure till high school and college. I remember during my freshman year at UNCW I took a intro class with James Kreul and enjoyed many of the experimental films he showed us. He also had an avant-garde night that semester in Lumina theater displaying all sorts of interesting avant-garde films and I was instantly in love with the variety and depth of these films.
It took another two or so years before I found myself back studying these types of films intensely. Last semester I took 6x1, History of Avant-Garde Cinema, and Intro to editing all at once, giving me a large exposure to avant-garde and experimental film, as well as plenty of time to explore and create it myself. Since then I've been much more passionate about avant-garde cinema and art as a whole, attempting to explore and define my own style as well as absorb the history of art and experimental are since the twentieth century. Though my style isn't completely defined (especially in cinema) I am interested in the idea of endurance, seeing what an audience can and is willing to endure watching and why, both in terms of content, length, and pace. I've also always been fascinated by humor and how it functions. I always try to make people laugh and take a certain avenue in my art attempting to elicit humor, while both understanding it, and pushing people to a breaking point where they must laugh, if only not to cry.

As far as the two articles go, I felt MacDonald's was a fair introduction to a brief history of avant-garde cinema and how it functions. He addresses many of the issues people have when they first view experimental films The problem I have with it is that there is no real accurate way to explain avant garde film as a whole, for him or for anyone else. After viewing avant-garde films, a school or series (post-modernism, beat films, etc), an avant garde filmmaker or a particular avant garde film, one can write, analyze, and discuss this work, but there is no good way to talk about avant garde films until you've actually sat down and watched several of them. People need the physical experience of being present in front of one, enduring it, analyzing and discussing it, and then attempting to break it down into its most finite components in addition to placing and relating it to the history of cinema, avant garde, and art movements. No article or reading can do this for someone who has never seen or only has a very limited interaction with avant garde cinema. Articles can only hope to expand or analyze films or movements for people that have an understanding of these films or movements.
I did enjoy Richter's article. I particularly like his thoughts on production and reproduction of an event, than relating it to how it becomes art, or how the camera affects the art. In addition, I found his relation to documentary film particularly interesting and often find myself asking similar questions and attempting to combine the idea of art with its use as a physical document and how people both view and use these documents, even though they may be fictitious or a work of art. I think these fields are surprisingly more connected than most people assume and am attempting to explore this theory as I watch all sorts of films.