Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Katzenjammer Final
I was really happy that the final project's assignment was "anything goes." It gave me the opportunity to focus on some themes that I wanted to experiment with in film for a long time. I decided to work with the subject matter of alcohol which I try to incorporate in my work and different medias often. This film started as an experiment with creating the visual effects of being intoxicated. My goal was to start out in a drunken state and move through slowly sobering up as the movie progressed. I had a lot of fun and freedom filming because I was able to use my iPhone and not the school's expensive equipment. The iPhone allowed me to film in all kinds of ways. I attached it to my head, to a drill for spinning, I used additional lenses and I rigged it to my tripod. Also I could place glasses on it for when I was pouring my booze (tea) and I even put it in a ziplock baggie so that I could throw up on it. It was honestly a good time thinking of different ways I could get interesting shots and angles, but a bit messy at times. I did not feel as stressed because I could shoot at anytime day or night. When I started editing I came to the conclusion that it was very dull seeing the progression of sobering up. I enjoyed more of the disorienting effects I had created, so I changed the ending to be more of a shocker, which I think was successful. I swear I am not a weirdo, well maybe a little, I am not all hung up on my mommy issues, it just comes out. I guess it is a good way for me to express myself freely, an outlet. I enjoyed this project a lot and I feel proud of it, in a way slightly embarrassed that it came out of me. I plan to work on it a little more over the summer just to have more time to play around with it some more and possibly add some music.
Here are a couple of stills from production.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Self-Critique
We never turned in this last week and I wasn't sure if we needed it on the blog so I just put it to be safe.
A) Impact and Intent- how did you want to affect your audience? We wanted our audience to leave the film understanding how important it is not to judge someone, but that even still one can overcome and move on.
1. On a scale of 1-10, what was the story's overall impact? 5, I think that our message was not very clear.
2. What did the story leave you thinking? I understood what we were trying to say but I felt that it was not fully expressed the way that we envisioned it.
3. What did it leave you feeling? Honestly, it left me feeling kind of bored because it did not give the full effect that we wanted, and it show a lot of repetition that could have worked if shot differently but made it dull since it wasn’t.
4. Discuss the source of the main idea that you started with and its importance to you. The main idea of this film was about a person who was pro-life, that after losing her husband was making the decision to get artificial insemination. Her peers found out and were quick to judge her and shun her from the group, which allowed her to make the decision to move on from her normal routine. Although I do not have the same views as the protagonist in this story I liked the idea of someone overcoming an obstacle and seeing things differently.
5.Discuss the Theme or premise of the piece as you discovered it after finishing the film. I feel as though the theme/premise is not as clear from when we were planning out the movie, but I think that we still stuck with the same concept through out the production of the film.
B) Clarity of Tension/Main Conflict
1. How clear was the story? Could you see all the scenes equally clearly in my mind's eye, or were some hazy? As I mentioned before, not all of the scenes were as clear as we had hoped. It feels as though some main ideas were missing. We shot our script as it was written but I think that not all of it was clearly thought out for our viewers complete understanding.
2. What parts could you easily and pleasurably retell, and what parts are difficult to recall? I feel like I can retell most of the film since I spent so much time with it, but pleasurably I think the scenes with dialogue such as the argument between our main characters and the dialogue between the picketers are the scenes I enjoyed the most. I definitely had some jokes of the intenseness of the argument scene while editing the movie.
C) Potential
1. Does the story feel complete? Not entirely complete, I think there were some ideas that were not completely expressed through the lens. It would have been nice to have had the time to reshoot or even just add a little bit more showing Elizabeth’s state of loneliness, so that our audience could really grasp why she wanted to fill that void by getting insemination. Also some more scenes showing how much she was involved as an activist.
2. On a scale of 1-10, rate each scene. Are they all functioning to full potential?
Scene 1- I give it an 8, I think we did a great job showing how organized and prepared she was, but there are some scene we could have added to show her as a clean and neat person.
Scene 2- deserves a 7- we got most of the scenes within but there are some missing scenes. We needed more showing them protesting as well as leaving Elizabeth at the end of the day. Better coverage on the mother and daughter.
Scene 3- Alone gets a 5- I think this is our weakest scene. We should have shown more variations of just how lonely our character was without her husband.
Scene 4- Same to scene 1, I would have liked a little more variation in her morning routine as well.
Scene 5- I think this scene did what we wanted it too, beside some lighting issues. I would give it a 9.
Scene 6- Needed a little more coverage on the argument but otherwise a good scene. 9.
Scene 7- I enjoyed this scene the most, I thought the lighting was a little blown out but otherwise a vibrant and intense scene! 10.
Scene 8- This scene could have used a little more coverage. I felt that even though we shot our ending the way we wanted, it would have been nice to have more variations to experiment with to figure out the strongest way to go.
3. Which elements were strong, which were weak? I basically described these above. The weakest scene was 3-Alone. There was not enough coverage. We should have shown Elizabeth alone in her house. Not just bored but morning her husband. We have her looking at her ring but maybe it would have helped to show her looking at images or his clothes.
The strongest scene is 7, I think that it shows the intensity of the groups judgmental state toward Elizabeth. I also think another strong element is in scene 6 when Jeff drops the red marker.
D) Feedback-- Discuss “What you want to learn to do better.”
1. Report what is working well, and what is not. With the scenes that I described that were not working, scene 3 and picketing scenes.
2. Suggest what might clarify and strengthen whatever is weak. I think the biggest issue was time. It would be nice to have a full semester to work on making a movie so that we can revise the script during the shoot and have time for more coverage on scenes or even to be able to go back and shoot more.
A) Impact and Intent- how did you want to affect your audience? We wanted our audience to leave the film understanding how important it is not to judge someone, but that even still one can overcome and move on.
1. On a scale of 1-10, what was the story's overall impact? 5, I think that our message was not very clear.
2. What did the story leave you thinking? I understood what we were trying to say but I felt that it was not fully expressed the way that we envisioned it.
3. What did it leave you feeling? Honestly, it left me feeling kind of bored because it did not give the full effect that we wanted, and it show a lot of repetition that could have worked if shot differently but made it dull since it wasn’t.
4. Discuss the source of the main idea that you started with and its importance to you. The main idea of this film was about a person who was pro-life, that after losing her husband was making the decision to get artificial insemination. Her peers found out and were quick to judge her and shun her from the group, which allowed her to make the decision to move on from her normal routine. Although I do not have the same views as the protagonist in this story I liked the idea of someone overcoming an obstacle and seeing things differently.
5.Discuss the Theme or premise of the piece as you discovered it after finishing the film. I feel as though the theme/premise is not as clear from when we were planning out the movie, but I think that we still stuck with the same concept through out the production of the film.
B) Clarity of Tension/Main Conflict
1. How clear was the story? Could you see all the scenes equally clearly in my mind's eye, or were some hazy? As I mentioned before, not all of the scenes were as clear as we had hoped. It feels as though some main ideas were missing. We shot our script as it was written but I think that not all of it was clearly thought out for our viewers complete understanding.
2. What parts could you easily and pleasurably retell, and what parts are difficult to recall? I feel like I can retell most of the film since I spent so much time with it, but pleasurably I think the scenes with dialogue such as the argument between our main characters and the dialogue between the picketers are the scenes I enjoyed the most. I definitely had some jokes of the intenseness of the argument scene while editing the movie.
C) Potential
1. Does the story feel complete? Not entirely complete, I think there were some ideas that were not completely expressed through the lens. It would have been nice to have had the time to reshoot or even just add a little bit more showing Elizabeth’s state of loneliness, so that our audience could really grasp why she wanted to fill that void by getting insemination. Also some more scenes showing how much she was involved as an activist.
2. On a scale of 1-10, rate each scene. Are they all functioning to full potential?
Scene 1- I give it an 8, I think we did a great job showing how organized and prepared she was, but there are some scene we could have added to show her as a clean and neat person.
Scene 2- deserves a 7- we got most of the scenes within but there are some missing scenes. We needed more showing them protesting as well as leaving Elizabeth at the end of the day. Better coverage on the mother and daughter.
Scene 3- Alone gets a 5- I think this is our weakest scene. We should have shown more variations of just how lonely our character was without her husband.
Scene 4- Same to scene 1, I would have liked a little more variation in her morning routine as well.
Scene 5- I think this scene did what we wanted it too, beside some lighting issues. I would give it a 9.
Scene 6- Needed a little more coverage on the argument but otherwise a good scene. 9.
Scene 7- I enjoyed this scene the most, I thought the lighting was a little blown out but otherwise a vibrant and intense scene! 10.
Scene 8- This scene could have used a little more coverage. I felt that even though we shot our ending the way we wanted, it would have been nice to have more variations to experiment with to figure out the strongest way to go.
3. Which elements were strong, which were weak? I basically described these above. The weakest scene was 3-Alone. There was not enough coverage. We should have shown Elizabeth alone in her house. Not just bored but morning her husband. We have her looking at her ring but maybe it would have helped to show her looking at images or his clothes.
The strongest scene is 7, I think that it shows the intensity of the groups judgmental state toward Elizabeth. I also think another strong element is in scene 6 when Jeff drops the red marker.
D) Feedback-- Discuss “What you want to learn to do better.”
1. Report what is working well, and what is not. With the scenes that I described that were not working, scene 3 and picketing scenes.
2. Suggest what might clarify and strengthen whatever is weak. I think the biggest issue was time. It would be nice to have a full semester to work on making a movie so that we can revise the script during the shoot and have time for more coverage on scenes or even to be able to go back and shoot more.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Mitra Abbaspour- Visiting Artist Lecture #3
Mitra Abbaspour did a lecture in Callicott, She is a curator for the Museum of Modern Art in NY. The lecture was titled, In the Studio: Photography, Modernity, and the Middle East. I guess I did not realize that this was not going to be about artwork that she made because she is not an artist, but an art historian. Her presentation was very boring and hard to follow. She basically read some sort of thesis while stumbling over her words and not keeping up with her slides. I followed her a little bit at the beginning. She was speaking about how important it was to stay with current events of the Middle East and how there are gaps between documentation and narratives. She went over some images starting at 1845 that were the first documentations of people and buildings through photography. Around that time is when I got lost in what she was speaking about. It was difficult for me to get back into what she was saying. I felt bad for her because I could not tell if she was nervous or just not rehearsed. It made me not want to see another lecture from a curator or an art historian. I just felt like she was reading a paper that I had no interest in to begin with. If she had a better way to go about her reading by showing the images and stopping to explain them before continuing on with what she was reading then I may have enjoyed it a little more.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Final Final Pitch
"Elevator" Line- A vivid, in your face exploration of inebriation through altered perspective.
Explanation of Theme- The contrast between drunkenness and sobriety.
What is the central point you are trying to make with this film? The point is to show how much more clearly we perceive things when we are sober.
What is the central goal of the film? The goal of this film is to make the viewer feel uncomfortable through the use of camera movements, angles, lighting, and effects then slowly bringing them to a clear and sober state giving them focus and relief at the end.
What is the movie about in abstract terms? The movie is a study about the effects of alcohol seen visually through the lens of a camera.
Why should we care??? This project will allow me to experiment with the camera and editing effects, where I can creatively show the increasingly disorienting effects of heavy drinking.
What is your project about??? This project is about using the film to elicit feelings of discomfort and disorientation and contrasting them to focus and clarity.
Does your film have a premise? The premise is intoxication versus sobriety and the realization that it feels better to be sober.
Short synopsis-
Place- a nondescript apartment setting.
Time- unidentified time indoors.
Atmosphere- lonely/ empty
Character- An unidentified female
Tone- from empty and lonely to relief
Execution- To execute this film I will be using my Iphone camera. The size and weight of the phone will allow me to rig it on different parts of the body as well as let me strap it to small moving objects like glasses or bottles to help me give the viewer different angles and perspectives. I purchased a few different apps for my phone and some lenses that will help to give the effects that I need.
Here is a music video that is similar to what I am trying to do. My film will not be in first person but this is a good inspiration on showing intoxication.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7UnVHTwQOE&feature=fvwrel
Explanation of Theme- The contrast between drunkenness and sobriety.
What is the central point you are trying to make with this film? The point is to show how much more clearly we perceive things when we are sober.
What is the central goal of the film? The goal of this film is to make the viewer feel uncomfortable through the use of camera movements, angles, lighting, and effects then slowly bringing them to a clear and sober state giving them focus and relief at the end.
What is the movie about in abstract terms? The movie is a study about the effects of alcohol seen visually through the lens of a camera.
Why should we care??? This project will allow me to experiment with the camera and editing effects, where I can creatively show the increasingly disorienting effects of heavy drinking.
What is your project about??? This project is about using the film to elicit feelings of discomfort and disorientation and contrasting them to focus and clarity.
Does your film have a premise? The premise is intoxication versus sobriety and the realization that it feels better to be sober.
Short synopsis-
Place- a nondescript apartment setting.
Time- unidentified time indoors.
Atmosphere- lonely/ empty
Character- An unidentified female
Tone- from empty and lonely to relief
Execution- To execute this film I will be using my Iphone camera. The size and weight of the phone will allow me to rig it on different parts of the body as well as let me strap it to small moving objects like glasses or bottles to help me give the viewer different angles and perspectives. I purchased a few different apps for my phone and some lenses that will help to give the effects that I need.
Here is a music video that is similar to what I am trying to do. My film will not be in first person but this is a good inspiration on showing intoxication.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7UnVHTwQOE&feature=fvwrel
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Final Pitch
"Elevator" Line- A vivid, in your face exploration of inebriation through altered perspective and disorientation.
Theme- The contrast between drunkenness and sobriety.
What is the central point you are trying to make with this film? The point is to show how much more clearly we perceive things when we are sober.
What is the central goal of the film? The goal of this film is to make the viewer feel uncomfortable through the use of camera movements, angles, lighting, and effects then slowly bringing them to a clear and sober state giving them focus and relief at the end.
What is the movie about in abstract terms? The movie is a study about the effects of alcohol seen visually through the lens of a camera.
Why should we care??? This project will allow me to experiment with the camera and editing effects, where I can creatively show the increasingly disorienting effects of heavy drinking.
What is your project about??? This project is about using the film to elicit feelings of discomfort and disorientation and contrasting them to focus and clarity.
Does your film have a premise? The premise is intoxication versus sobriety and the realization that it feels better to be sober.
Short synopsis-
Place- a nondescript apartment setting.
Time- unidentified time indoors.
Atmosphere- lonely/ empty
Character- An unidentified male
Tone- from empty and lonely to relief
Execution- To execute this film I will be using my Iphone camera. The size and weight of the phone will allow me to rig it on different parts of the body as well as let me strap it to small moving objects like glasses or bottles to help me give the viewer different angles and perspectives.
Here is a music video that is similar to what I am trying to do. My film will not be in first person but this is a good inspiration on showing intoxication.
Structure Breakdown-
Theme- The contrast between drunkenness and sobriety.
What is the central point you are trying to make with this film? The point is to show how much more clearly we perceive things when we are sober.
What is the central goal of the film? The goal of this film is to make the viewer feel uncomfortable through the use of camera movements, angles, lighting, and effects then slowly bringing them to a clear and sober state giving them focus and relief at the end.
What is the movie about in abstract terms? The movie is a study about the effects of alcohol seen visually through the lens of a camera.
Why should we care??? This project will allow me to experiment with the camera and editing effects, where I can creatively show the increasingly disorienting effects of heavy drinking.
What is your project about??? This project is about using the film to elicit feelings of discomfort and disorientation and contrasting them to focus and clarity.
Does your film have a premise? The premise is intoxication versus sobriety and the realization that it feels better to be sober.
Short synopsis-
Place- a nondescript apartment setting.
Time- unidentified time indoors.
Atmosphere- lonely/ empty
Character- An unidentified male
Tone- from empty and lonely to relief
Execution- To execute this film I will be using my Iphone camera. The size and weight of the phone will allow me to rig it on different parts of the body as well as let me strap it to small moving objects like glasses or bottles to help me give the viewer different angles and perspectives.
Here is a music video that is similar to what I am trying to do. My film will not be in first person but this is a good inspiration on showing intoxication.
Structure Breakdown-
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Editing
Like I thought I really enjoyed the editing part of making a movie. It is a very time consuming process which I do not enjoy but only because it makes it stressful to spend the time on it that I want and have. I am a little worried about the quality of my edit compared with everyone else in the class. I ended up with 12 minutes which I think is a little dragged out but I felt like I would rather have a little more than what I need rather than not enough. I could totally see myself getting a job where I sit and edit all day long. I hope to learn a lot more on final cut so I can use all the tools that it has to offer!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Filming over Spring Break
Our group filmed all day on Monday and Tuesday, the beginning of the break. It was a long couple of days but I would say that we got everything completed and our script came to life.
I'm not going to lie, It was difficult... There are so many things to remember. I know that we forgot to do one thing and then remembered to it later and then forgot to do something else. Even with notes near by it was always something.
Our actors were great and stayed patient with us during the process. We were definitely lucky to find all of our actors outside of MCA so our viewers should not recognize any faces. The main two characters were a friend and a co-worker of mine. Aminah found the extra people to be picketers from the Actors in Memphis Facebook page. It was almost surprising that these actors were willing to help us for free. They followed directions so well and came very prepared. They were all very professional.
I know our biggest mistake was that we did not slate correctly the whole time. Which will make syncing our footage very difficult. Since we did not slate correctly, I went back and wrote out the video to it's matching audio. Some of it was a little confusing but I think I got most of it matched up. There are some other issues where that is concerned but I will wait till I understand how to do the editing part first before I go into that.
I think that I would have enjoyed the filming part a little more had it not been so stressful as a class project. If I could do something like this on my own time, I think that it would be better. I do know I learned a lot by just filming. I really hope that the next film will go much smoother. I think and I hope that I will like doing the editing part. I am very much a computer person. I wouldn't mind sitting at the computer making everything come together. I have never used final cut pro so I am a little worried about that. I hope that I can understand it well enough to make my movie the way I picture it.
Here are some stills of the movie! :)
I'm not going to lie, It was difficult... There are so many things to remember. I know that we forgot to do one thing and then remembered to it later and then forgot to do something else. Even with notes near by it was always something.
Our actors were great and stayed patient with us during the process. We were definitely lucky to find all of our actors outside of MCA so our viewers should not recognize any faces. The main two characters were a friend and a co-worker of mine. Aminah found the extra people to be picketers from the Actors in Memphis Facebook page. It was almost surprising that these actors were willing to help us for free. They followed directions so well and came very prepared. They were all very professional.
I know our biggest mistake was that we did not slate correctly the whole time. Which will make syncing our footage very difficult. Since we did not slate correctly, I went back and wrote out the video to it's matching audio. Some of it was a little confusing but I think I got most of it matched up. There are some other issues where that is concerned but I will wait till I understand how to do the editing part first before I go into that.
I think that I would have enjoyed the filming part a little more had it not been so stressful as a class project. If I could do something like this on my own time, I think that it would be better. I do know I learned a lot by just filming. I really hope that the next film will go much smoother. I think and I hope that I will like doing the editing part. I am very much a computer person. I wouldn't mind sitting at the computer making everything come together. I have never used final cut pro so I am a little worried about that. I hope that I can understand it well enough to make my movie the way I picture it.
Here are some stills of the movie! :)
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