Thoughts on Camera-less Filmmaking

I really enjoyed the camera-less filmmaking project. It was interesting to discover all the various ways to distress the film and paint on it. I liked to practice the various techniques and experiment with the film strip to create new looks. One thing that I enjoyed the most was the dye. It allowed for the most experimentation. It was fun to add oils, blow the dye, and use cotton balls to make my final product. Overall, I was really happy with how most of the project turned out. I regret that my animation did not look better. I thought it would look cool but watching it as the transfer to video happened it was barely noticeable. That is how I feel about a majority of this project. I feel like it sometimes looks cooler as a wall decoration than when projected. Still, I really enjoyed this project.

Sound and Images

I found the book chapter "Projectionist of Sound on Image" fascinating. As someone who is interested in sound design for films, I know the importance of the soundtrack in a film. This reading opened my mind up to many more possibilites. I knew that sound could make or break a scene. What I did not know, was that sound had the ability to give a series of still frames a sense of movement. I read the part about the opening doors in Star Wars and had to look it up. I liked how Chion phrased the abilities of sound and image. Sound has the ability to give a sequence temporal qualities while image helps to adjust the viewer to the space of the film. I also like the segment on playing video in reverse. Without sound it is possible to show anything in reverse, even if it defies the laws of gravity. However, once sound is in place this can no longer be done because the sounds make the video have a timecode. This book chapter opened my eyes to many interesting ideas to play with in the near future.

The second article also provided some useful information on creating a soundtrack for a film. It gave me insight in how to create the proper sound scape. The article urges readers to just close their eyes and listen for sounds. By doing this in an area needed for a film set, one can surely discover what sounds they need and how frequently they need to be played. This article would have been helpful to me a few semesters ago. I had to work on a soundscape project for a sound design class. I found it hard to get some of the spaces down. If I had just listened it would have been much easier.

Animation

When I read the title of this article, I was extremely interested in the subject matter. Animation is one of my favorite parts of the film industry. I had hopes that this article would hold many fascinating facts about this film style. After reading the first few paragraphs I realized that most of the information covered was about animation properties and the history. I did like how the author recognized Disney for his animation of Alice in a hand drawn background as opposed to a real life setting. Then I hit the page break and the article became more interesting with its discussion on experiment/abstract animation style. This is an area of animation that I have yet to explore. One of the more interesting pieces of information for me was the quote by Leopold Survage. I really enjoyed his take on art and animation. I like that it is about giving life to objects that normally seem lifeless. I enjoyed reading about the different ideas on experimental animation. The section on sound was beautiful. I agree with the article that sound is incredibly important for any animation. A good soundtrack can make the audience feel whatever the filmaker desires. Experimental animation has an interesting ability to use a variety of sounds and in some cases silence to create moods. Overall, this was an interesting and quick read. While I already had knowledge of some of these ideas and concepts, I still discovered new ideas.

Found this and laughed

“…and I was so surprised that I could turn a yellow letter into an orange letter just by adding a line."

When I first heard about synesthesia, it was only mentioned once in a book I was reading. After more research on the subject I find that I am ever more interested in this ability. It sounds like an incredible condition to experience. It was interesting to read up on the different types of synesthesia. I think the types that turn sound or images into colored visions are the most fascinating. I also found it intriguing that in some cases multiple senses are linked together. Honestly, I think this would be a condition that would be pleasurable to experience. The article talked about how synesthetes use this talent to help with regular tasks such as memorization but how it can also lead into more creative worlds like theatre and film. As a person interested in design I feel like this would lead to interesting artistic creations and is definitely something I will consider in all future endevors.

The article on Synesthesia art was fascinating. It was intriguing to read about the history of art and its connections to synesthesia. The section on the artists who had had this condition and used it as a source of inspiration. The color paintings definitely looked like something one would expect to find in an experimental video. I also found the bit about the color organ interesting. It was refreshing to see that artists have been interested in this concept for a long time now. Looking at the artwork created it can be easy to see how this associates with film and also gives me some examples for inspiration.

The video on cymatics was something I had never heard of. It does bring up some interesting ideas on the connection between sound and visuals in film. One of these cymatic machines could lead to an interesting experimental film. It is smart to always think of the connection between soundtrack and what is on the screen. It makes me think of keeping tempo and rhythm coherent with images.

Overall, all these articles have opened up some interesting ideas and I am excited to get creative.

First post!

The film was interesting and well made. It was painstakingly synched (images and audio). The creator spent a great deal of time on this process. Something that interested me greatly is that this film was made entirely by hand and without any computer animation. I am interested in learning the techniques and skills required to make a film such as this one. I am incredibly interested in discerning how some of the images were created and also how the filmaker kept them lined up frame to frame. One scene that sticks out in my head is when the frame went black and the tempo slowed. The white lines formed intricate patterns. I loved this use of negative space and it was a pleasurable shift from the rest of the film. With this segment, I am interested in how these ghostly lights were created. I want to know how the filmaker kept the shape and location similar with each other. Another part of this film that interested me were the moving characters/creatures. There walking cycles were well animated and there shapes stayed the same throughout each frame. The final thing of note to me was the use of color. I liked that there was a mix-up of many colors that drew my eyes to every part of the frame. Very interesting film and a great way to start this class.