New...inspiration???

I found this video first on MySpace, and it gave me some new ideas for what we could do with our animation footage:

It was almost too terrible to post on here, but at the same time too funny not to. While the concept of the video is a bit ridiculous, the animation is really good. I love how the filmmaker even played with rack focus in one part of the video. I never thought of making a music video out of our footage, and while I don't want to do that, it showed me a new option for this type of animation.

I was so excited to watch our stop animation footage yesterday! I was really happy with how ours came out, and I am ready to hit the editing room. Most of our shots turned out exactly as I hoped, and I am glad we used multiple angles in our filming.

I was a bit disappointed with how our rayograms screened yesterday. I had fun making them, but was sad that most of the details that looked so cool on the actual filmstrip went by too fast to be recognizable on screen. I know this is something that could be changed in Final Cut though. My favorite part (I think it was everyone's favorite part, judging by the reactions) was when the film strip hovered over and spun around the bottom strip. That looked really cool.

I was pretty impressed with the 100-frame animation. While it did go by even faster than I thought it would, I was happy with how my animation came out, and I know I could slow that down in Final Cut as well. I'm glad that I'll finally be learning how to use Final Cut next week, as that has been dangling in front of me for about 3 years now. I want to take Intro to Editing next semester to learn even more, but I will be glad to have more than an abstract vision of what Final Cut really is.

More blogging to come...

Rayograms

I'm excited about this week's class and getting the instant gratification of hand processing. I enjoyed laying things on the film strip last week, and I really enjoyed seeing the images I created appear before my eyes.

I found this video on YouTube that is very similar to what we'll be doing:

I like what the filmmaker did in this film. The pattern of chains and headphone cords (what the summary says he used) looks really cool when it flies past. I think the filmmaker edited this video in Final Cut or some other program, because certain frames seem to hover in place for extended periods and the film changes colors, which I'm not sure is possible using the process we did in class. Some parts even look like the filmstrip was either double exposed or digitally superimposed. I didn't even think of using chains or headphones this week, but this video broadened my thought process for this week's project!

Stop Motion

I've been thinking back this week on my group's stop motion project last week, and I think we did a good job coming up with creative ideas and shots that will look good in the final edit. While I can't be sure until we get the footage back, I what we shot will edit together really well. We shot two different setups (Mouse Trap Apocalypse and mice under a neighborhood), so what I'm NOT sure of is how we'll integrate both setups into our edit. I guess we'll decide that based on how the footage comes back (i.e. some of the things we tried might have failed miserably, so we will easily decide to leave them out). Towards the end of the shoot, we were all tired and a little bit frustrated with the constraints of the technique and the tripod, so we attempted some different shots by propping the camera up on tables, chairs, and even our legs. These might look terrible, but I'm hoping they'll add a unique element to our shoot that maybe no other groups used. I also think our project will be unique because our Mouse Trap setup was multi-level but only on one plane. While I suppose it's still too early to say how successful we were, I feel that our shoot went really well, and I hope our footage will reflect our hard work and creativity!

Paint Splash Movie

I found this video on YouTube and really liked it. The artist splattered paint on canvas, then tracked across it with a camera to create the image. I really like how this is a different technique than we've used in class, but it is still reminiscent of how we painted on film strips. I also really love the colors that the artist used, as bright colors are something I always try to incorporate into my work. The music also adds a nice touch. I first watched it with the computer muted accidentally, and I liked it, but I liked it a lot more the second time once I realized there was audio. The film is upbeat and chaotic, and I really enjoyed it. I like how, like painting on film, there really is no wrong way to make a project like this because anything you do will look unique. If I ever have the chance to get my hands on that much paint and canvas, I would like to try it myself!

Brakhage Article

When I saw that we had to read an article written by Stan Brakhage, I had a very preconceived idea of what it would be. Having seen a number of his films and knowing his style, I assumed the article would detail mainly creative techniques for creating art on film. While the article did contain hints of that, it was far more technical and mechanical than I expected. To be honest, the article was very difficult for me to read. Not only did Brakhage use tons of technical language, but he has a long-winded style that is hard to read and follow. Having taken a good number of film classes already, I felt that I already knew a lot of what this article said, and that I had heard it multiple times before. It is always good to get a refresher on the basics, but this article was not an easy read by any means, so I really struggled through it.

While I did feel that the article was mostly information I already had, I did find myself relating some recent film experiences to what I read. For example, I used the information about f-stop and light meters just this morning during a photo shoot for my Intro to Doc class. My group went down to the beach and had to figure out the light meter and how to adjust the f-stop for different lighting conditions. I also related the parts of the article about both splicing and using the projector to our class last week, as we learned about both techniques. I enjoy being at a point in the film program where I can read an article like this and be familiar with most of what it is describing. I feel like I'm finally learning something!

Still working...

I'm still working on my Elements project. I actually haven't made much progress this week, but I'm still excited about my ideas. I'm probably actually going to finish the animation project first, because I really enjoy making objects come to life on film. I can understand better ahead of time how my work will come out when I project it when I'm doing animation than I can when I'm just making "blobby blobs."

I really enjoyed making the magazine transfers last week, and I enjoyed even more seeing them projected this week. I'm also glad that I now know how to load and run a projector! The transfers were a little bit frustrating at first, because I wasn't sure how hard I could press and rub on the tape without messing it up. I realized by the end that I really couldn't mess it up, which took the pressure off and made it a lot more fun. I don't see myself using this technique on my Elements project, but I would definitely like to experiment with it more on my own in the future. I got some ideas from seeing what other people did in class that I would like to test out.

Right now, I am a little bit apprehensive about our stop motion animation project coming up this week. First of all, I am a little worried about the fact that half our group was absent this past week. Even if they do show up, they will not know what's going on and may not be much help with the project. Matt and I could end up doing most of the work ourselves, and I'm not sure we'll be able to get it all done in the time we have. I'm also not completely clear on how the project will be set up (the glass panes, etc) and how the camera will be positioned, so I don't know how to prepare for the activity. I brought back some toys from home that we could potentially use, but I guess I won't really be able to come up with any story ideas until I see the set up next Tuesday. In the meantime, I'll still be working on my Elements project!