On The Rights of the Molotov Man

I was impressed by the layout of this article. When I began to read Joy Garnett's perspective on her painting of the Molotov Man, I thought to myself "Man is this article one-sided or what." When I realized that Susan Meiselas would have an opportunity to rebut the Joy, I was pleasantly surprised. I think its interesting that this article is based off a discussion at NYU, between the two ladies. Its pretty funny that these women disagree so broadly, but their discussion was so even tempered. I think they would have been more livid with each other if they had been arguing the same issue. But they are debating two vastly different issues. Joy's argument is centered around her personal work with an image that she has no emotional ties to. Joy perceives the image of the Molotov Man as her own. She feels ownership with regards to the image because she stumbled upon it and emotionally detached from the picture by ignoring it for a small stretch of time. However, I feel like it would be hard to detach oneself from an image as powerful as the Molotov Man. Emotion is etched across his face. The utter power that is built up in his arm that will momentarily erupt is extremely captivating. There is no way that staring at this image for days upon days wouldn't make one feel attached to the picture. I feel closely connected to images that I am editing on Photoshop or images that I am painting. If I ever get success in the artworld for a particular piece that used found images, I think it is only fair to acknowledge the original artist. I know that the Molotov Man's struggle and the right to his image is his own, but let's be fair here. Sue Meiselas put in a lot of hard work to get that masterful shot. She had to be in Nicaragua during very volatile period and connect with the turbulence of the period in order to compose such a powerful photograph. It speaks very loudly. Joy Garnett should have credited the original photographer. At least she should have looked for the original photographer to give credit. Perhaps she was afraid that if she had the knowledge of who created the photo, she would lose her newfound "ownership" of the image. She seemed like she wanted the photo to have been unattached and floating in cyberspace. That would be nice, but with how connected the internet is, the truth will always come out. When I read Sue Garnett's rebuttle, I understood her connection to the image, but the debate should have been more focused on the ownership of art. She was making an emotional plea rather than an elegant argument regarding art.

Our ONE TAKE DAY

I think I have been reticent to post a blog on the One Take day because I have such mixed feelings about last Saturday! On one hand it was the best day ever. I love dancing. I love men. I love costumes. So when we decided that I would be dancing with multiple men wearing costumes, obviously I was thrilled. Unfortunately, our director got some "misinformation" about the length of shooting time. We only got to shoot for 35 seconds when we should have shot for 56. Plus, our footage was a little underexposed.

It was pretty scary when we were developing the film and it should have taken seconds to see exposed images. It was minutes before any recognizable image appeared. Blah! But when we finally projected the footage, I was pleasantly surprised. The dance sequence was awesome! Everyone really pulled together to make a fun Busby Berkley dance sequence. If we had minutes to shoot rather than seconds, I think it could have been mind-blowing. Actually, that would have been bad to have minds exploding all over the place. I guess Andre really does know what he's doing. But yeah, if everyone hadn't jumped right into putting on costumes and rehearsing, we couldn't have pulled it off.

I really liked how creative this project forced everyone to be. Also, the weather conditions spiced it up a bit. I already felt like I was developing Hypothermia from the first One Take, so when the Second One Take came around I was a little bit cooky. I think it shows in Daniel's team's footage. I "tiger strike" Landon and break a board on his bake. Thus fulfilling every female's dream of attacking a man viciously with a wooden object. Landon represented every man that has wronged me in my life. That is quite a load to bear. He handled it well.

I'm quite excited to see how people edit these and add music to them. Dustin and Charlie have taken on the responsibility of adding music to our One Take. I'm interested to see where they are going to take it. It would be awesome with a music montage, but I leave all creative decisions to them. Emily and I will most certainly help them at any point, if need be. She and I are brainstorming about soundtrack choices for our stop-motion animation. I love the footage. I really do. I think it turned out really really well. If I could afford to shoot completely on 8mm film, I would do it in a heartbeat. Its the most unique and beautiful film. What a shame people don't use it more. Actually, I probably wouldn't like it as much if more people did.

Overall, I must say that it was a treat to film with the Bolex. I don't know much about that camera except what the resulting footage looks like. I wish I could go back in time and extend our shooting time, but I did learn from my mistakes. I need to verify assignment information and realize that film can be unpredictable at times.
jozx

Ideas for Image Capturing.

Can we sketch images?
If so I would sketch some images and use a scanner to import them. Actually. I hate scanners to be honest. They take so long to import. I'm stressed about the timing of the 48 hour project as is. I'm going to be juggling the organization of the Cheese Sandwich Film Festival and trying to complete my 48 hour film. I hope it turns out masterful. I've been brainstorming on alternative ways to import and create images for film. Last year at the end of semester screening in December at Jengo's I saw some pretty cool ideas. The video from the cell phone was pretty creative. Well, maybe not creative, but ingenious because it saves time and energy. I'm thinking that I'm going to use my Canon Hi-Res still camera and shoot on continuous mode. Emily used this camera for her Rhythmic Editing project. I think the tonality and quality of the shots were pretty superb. As for the content - not so much.
During the screening last December, I was trying to think of alternative ways to capture images. Its kind of a tricky assignment since we are not supposed to use traditional cameras. I'm not sure what else I could use. I know somebody is going to use a method to capture images that is going to make me entirely jealous of their ingenuity. I was wondering if we could use found footage. I think that would be awesome to layer found footage and audio for my project. The overall project would feel more polished if I could do that and then import images from photoshop. I really like that idea actually. If I knew the feel of my project then I could begin to make some audio for it, but I haven't a clue. It all depends on the damn mystery object. If its a knife I'll make a dark theme song and if its a butterfly I'll make a happier song. It's all really in the air right now.
I was thinking that I could record off the television and use footage from broadcasts and the cooking channels. I'll have to get on food network's programming site and see if they are going to have any cheese sandwich episodes in the near future. That would be fantastic timing.
Its great that we are getting to exhibit our films at CSFF. The whole assignment is about community involvement in film and alternative modes of exhibition. What could be better than a music and film microfilm festival set here in our very backyard. Enough self promotion.
While I was sitting here at working thinking about my 48 hour project a thought came to mind. It would be incredible to print thousands of tiny images onto paper and do magazine transfer style onto film and then project that. Then I would use a continuous camera to shoot the projection of the film and cut it up and edit the projected film. I would do it if I didn't have conflicting time issues. I think it would play out really well with music. I could pause it and speed it up at different points.
It could also be cool to use found footage animation to make my 48 hour project. I wish I knew how to capture video off the internet. I think I'm the only person in film studies that doesn't. I'm not technically savvy. Blah. When I find out what the mystery object is, I'll have a better idea of how I want to tackle this project. Also, my time issues, like i said will play a big part in determining how my project comes together. tatta.

SFJ

Scratch Film Junkies
St. Louise.

Let's be honest, its hard not to like the Scratch Film Junkies - they make films that make one constantly ask " how did they do that?" and thats pretty awesome. I really like this song that they had with their film. For me honestly, a soundtrack can make or break a film. Well, I should say that the pairing of a film to its sound can make or break a film for me. They definitely chose the perfect pairing to their film. St. Louise had the perfect tempo for their scratched painted film. The animation on this film was incredible - and after 100 frame animating for this class, I can completely appreciate the hard work and effort that went into creating a piece like St. Louise.

Its interesting to me that you can tell that multiple people had a hand in creating this piece. There are different styles that come across this film even though hand painting tends to be disorderly anyway. It definitely felt like multiple people with multiple visions grabbed ahold of this film. Whatever the case may be, it worked.

I think its interesting to compare this film to one like Autumnal. The soundtrack in Autumnal was so moody and haunting compared to the upbeat tempo of St. Louise. If the soundtracks were switched, the movies would both be completely different. I especially think that if St. Louise had Autumnal's soundtrack, the frames with the horse head would be especially scary.

The visuals and the colors were incredibly vibrant. I would love to know what medium they used to get the blue and purples a few sections into the film. They were so vibrant they were hard to look away from. I love how color play like that can alter one's mood. It would be great to watch the SCJ in action. I'd love to know how long it takes to produce a film like theirs. If theirs enough of them it probably wouldn't be bad, but editing to a beat when you can't see the finished product is incredibly hard. I wonder how much Final cut pro or avid they use. I need to download St. Louise actually. !!! cha cha fin.

Chion Reading

Chion's writing style makes reading his works long and arduous. That being said, I actually enjoyed this piece! I've had an interest in the relationship between sound and image for a long time. In the blog that we have regarding Scratch Film Junkies, one of my strongest points is regarding the relationship of the sound to the project. Also, the film Autumnal that was played in class. I noted that if the accompanying sound was lighthearted and gay, the piece would take on entirely different meaning.

I thought it was brave of Chion to ask the hard questions in this paper. By the second page, he was questioning the talent of Bergman. He asked if the sound made the movie appear brilliant, not neccessarily the filmmaker. That's quite a bold question, but honestly its fair. Should all the credit have gone to the sound designer for some of the most masterfully edited films? I think its worth a thought.

I wanted to quickly note that the connection of sound to images being "added value" is a nice way to put it. It isnt neccessary by any means, but sound's application to film does add to the final product.

Next, I thought the idea of "verbocentric" filmmaking was quite interesting. After I read this article, I realized that I too hear dialogue and speech first and foremost. All ambient sound follows in suit. Humans listen for other human voices first. It is in our DNA. Its interesting to compare humans that can hear to the deaf. We realize that their are significant differences in how we view films and respond to speech and tonal qualities.

While reading the beginning portion of this article, I had to read and reread some of Chion's points to fully understand them. One such point was this "The added value that words bring to the image goes far beyond the simple situation of a political opinion slapped onto images; added value engages the very structuring of vision - by rigorously framing it." I never really realized how much sound can create and maintain parameters on a film. Truly, the sound can control the flow and structure of a film. I think thats incredible since its not in the typical film discourse in layman film viewing culture.

Also, I wanted to note that Chion's dicussion of empathetic music was very interesting to me. I have always wondered about the sounds that connect us humans. It seems that there are common sounds and tones that many human groups respond similarly too. Is that why so many cultures respond positively to drum beats. I didn't quite understand Chion's position on "indifferent" music and sound. I'll have to reread that section or ask him next time I see him.

The portion of his article that discussed the influence of sound on motion and speed was great. I instantly conjured images of The Fast and the Furious, which is always good. A really great fast tempo can make you feel like you flying through the air like Harry Potter on a broomstick if it hits you just right. It was interesting to find out why certain sound and their relationship to images creates that feeling of speed and movement. I loved the example of using the woosh from the Star Wars movement.

The portion about foleying was interesting as well. I think that its fascinating that I have never heard the sound of anyone getting punched in the face or kicked in the head, but when I visualize these occurances, my brain automatically substitues in a sound from a Chuck Norris or Jackie Chan movie. We movie viewers rely on films to tell us what certain things sound like. The example of the crushed watermelon making people cring because of its likeness to a child being crushed was a good example.
The entire paper was pretty informative.

lastnight

lastnightmycomputercrashedandilosthalfmyprojectdamnyouapple+swhydoiunderutilizeyou.

God I wish I could figure out how to video diary this.

From the beginning of this article I was blown away by how much truth it spoke about the world of animation. Before I started the film studies program here at UNCW, if asked to describe animation, I would most certainly have described some two-bit Disney scenario. I believe I honestly thought that cell-animation and computer animation were the only two viable forms of animation. Even though I now know that there are many variations of the craft, I still conjure images of Bugs Bunny when I think of animation. I believe I was exposed to this “look” at such an early age and for so long, that it is hard to sub-consciously change my perception. I think the same happens when people are exposed to experimental film. For so long we were told that Hollywood and the Hollywood style of narrations where the only acceptable form. When one is then exposed to animation the experience can be extremely shocking.
I agreed with Wells that its necessary to point out that even though the narration in animation is by its very own nature fantastical and boundless that there is still orthodox and unorthodox techniques. It is interesting to note that, as a child, I never though animations like Looney Tunes were narratives told in a basic linear style. There are beginning points and endpoints with drama in between. They seemed so fantastical and hyper-active, that I just didn’t consider them narratives. Its odd to think that animators sat around and story boarded the entire plot of these shows that felt crazy and wild.
Wells lists the attributes of animation on the Orthodox form which is pretty enlightening. I never thought about how orthodox animations like Disney films do have a lot of continuity and figures. Abu the monkey in Aladdin always functions in monkey-form. Also, when things fall they really follow the laws of gravity (well for the most part).
I remember watching an animation in Dr. Kreul’s class. It was a Daffy Duck cartoon where he draws attention to the fact that he is an animation. You see the animator’s pen and brush. It was very cool. I remember noting that I had only ever seen one other orthodox cartoon that called attention to its device - it was a Betty Boop cartoon. The Daffy Duck one was much better in my opinion. Wells notes that in orthodox animation it is rare that it would draw attention to its own construction. It is very rare to see an animation call attention to itself in that way. Something odd that I just noted in Wells writing, is that orthodox animation follows continuity in its drawings. This is just like in Hollywood narratives. Animations never jump the line! I love it.
Ah! When I read the article earlier I didn’t realize that Wells had written about the Daffy Duck short. The title of it is “Duck Amuck.” I am glad he metioned it because I had forgotten its name. Apparently, it’s a pretty profound piece.
As soon as wells began writing about experimental animation, I felt a little cheated honestly. How can some write about experimental animation? The field is so broad! I do agree with his terms that describe experimental animation. They do feel very abstract and hard to predict. I also agree that experimental animation very rarely creates a story. Most of the time it hints that it is leaning towards telling a story and then completely dismisses it.
I wouldn’t mind more exposure to experimental animation. I have only seen a few pieces at this juncture in my life, so it’s hard for me to visualize some of the techniques that Wells writes about here. I found it inspiring that Wells put in a quote from Leopold Survage about animating his paintings. When I did my experimental self portrait for Shannon, I attempted to animated some of my paintings. I think that I would enjoy this new expression. Its nice to read an outline about an artform such as animation. I know so little about it – but now I am more learned.