Rhythmic Editing

This project made me realize how few hobbies I actually have other than eating. And sleeping. It made me feel kind of pathetic, to be honest.

Filming was the easy part. Kyndall is a swimmer and I liked the idea of shooting at the pool. It made for some interesting shots. Although it did feel kind of weird directing her to swim around, like "Swim from here to there in a breaststroke," and "Okay, now do it again, but butterfly this time and stop right there." 'Tis the life of directing, though.

Once I sat down in the editing room, I was optimistic that I could finish in just a few hours.

Ha. Ha ha ha.

Eight hours later found me staring at the screen with glazed over eyes. Even when I closed my eyelids, I still saw the same images flashing before my eyes. Kyndall swimming. Kyndall drawing. Kyndall biking. When we filmed, I felt like I had gotten plenty of footage to use in my project, but after sitting there and watching it over and over again, it felt like I barely had enough to make it through. Maybe it was just because the clips were so short and repetitive.

The editing process itself wasn't hard, just tedious. After awhile, I got into a sort of rhythm. 5-15-5-10-5. Over and over and over again. And again. After the first three hours, I eventually memorized the exact length of a clip I needed to drag into the timeline for it to fit the number of frames. It made the remaining five hours a little bit easier.

One of the nice things was that everyone from our class was in the editing lab late, slogging away together. Even though we were all focused on our own projects and didn't speak much, it was still nice to have the company and know that we were all laboriously cutting down every clip frame by frame. A class that edits until two in the morning together stays together, am I right?

More Experiences with Animation

Although working with sand is very time consuming, it's also really satisfying and even therapeutic. I didn't get to work much with the sand since I'm animating the last 200 frames, but I helped with ideas and helped evolve our story and actually transfer it to the glass pane.

Also, I found out that this is very much a team effort. Even though we are individually animating different sections, we all have to communicate with one another to figure out exactly what we want.

This is really giving me a lesson in patience. It's probably much needed.

Animation with Sand/Charcoal/Paint

I'm a little bit nervous about animating. Patience has never been my strong suit; that coupled with my perfectionist tendencies might not mix very well for this project. That being said, I'm still looking forward to it.

Before we started testing out all the different methods, I thought charcoal would be my favorite. It seemed simple enough. Once we actually got down to it, however, I realized it was actually pretty frustrating to work with. After something was officially on the paper, it was pretty difficult to erase it. I found myself getting slightly peeved when the lines stayed visible on the page. I'm also not the best drawer, so maybe that had something to do with it as well.

The paint on glass, though I didn't get to play around with it much, had the opposite effect. I had a preconceived notion that I wouldn't like it, and yet to my surprise, I found it much more satisfying than the charcoal. I liked the way it turned out in the film, the way the paint looked when it was lit from behind, and how it looked like a painting come to life once it was animated. It was super cool.

My favorite by far was the sand, though. The texture and look of it was absolutely beautiful. Even if you didn't do anything too fancy, like merely running your fingers through the sand or making lines with the little shaping tool, it still looking so pretty on the screen. Initially, my group had wanted to use charcoal for our project, but in the end we all agreed that sand was the best way to go.

Animation Storyboard

My group (Ian, Knox, and myself) are taking a more narrative approach to this project. 

Our animation is a loose story about a blob we'll call Pilgrim. He comes into existence, materializing out of nothing. Pilgrim then gains sight. He beholds the empty world and feels alone. Being alone feels like home at first, but the isolation eventually bothers him. Pilgrim then begins to search for another sentient being. He searches high and low, far and close, but finds that the void extends forever. Destitute, our Pilgrim rests. A light shines down onto Pilgrim, he begins to convulse and loose his shape. Pilgrim splits in two. Now there are two Pilgrims and the void is less empty since they have each other. 

The plan is draw everything with charcoal for the majority of the beginning and middle sections. Once Pilgrim goes through his metamorphosis, we'll start adding more colors, juxtaposing the stark black-and-whiteness of loneliness with the bursting colors of companionship.

Here's our storyboard:

(sorry for the terrible quality; my scanner crapped out on me)

Reflection: Films 1 & 2

During this whole process I discovered that I take things very literally. Throughout the entirety of the project, I found myself focusing more on drawing/painting/etching actual flames and waves on the film instead of taking a more abstract approach. I actually had to continually tell myself that I didn't have to be so literal and could interpret the elements in a different manner.

This project also made me give mad props to animators because that stuff is time consuming. Even having to animate something so small in the short amount of 100 frames was a pain in the ass. I can't even imagine professionals who do that kind of thing for a living.

Overall I had tons of fun working on the project. I got really into it; I'd get into the zone and a few hours would go by without me even realizing it. 

10/10 first project. Would do again.

Day 3: Transfers

Who knew little pieces of magazine cutouts could be so beautiful?

I really, really loved this method. Like, a lot. It was so incredibly satisfying to put all the little pieces together in a sort of hodge-podge, and then flip the piece of tape over and see the result. All the individual strips worked together to create a scattered unity. It was even more satisfying to cut the tape into strips, creating unique, eclectic lines that were all tied in with the same patterns and textures.

Even when Maura and I stayed after class to work on our project (for 7 hours, nonetheless), I didn't find myself growing bored with the magazine transfers. Each new strip was exciting and seemed to tell its own story. After working on destroying the print stock film for a few hours and having to painstakingly scratch individual lines on frame after frame after frame, using the transfer technique came as a welcome relief. I found myself settling into a trance, allowing instinct to guide me through the process. It was quite the experience.

I can envision many future projects like this.

Create and Destroy

There was something so therapeutic about painting on film. 

I didn't really think too hard about what I was doing - I just experimented with different techniques and materials. Not many people can say they get to finger paint in a 300 level class, so that's pretty rad. One of the things that struck me was just how little you get to actually see of the different artistic styles. Since twenty-four frames equal roughly one second of screen time, it really made me appreciate the laborious work that professionals like Brakhage go through to make these experimental films look so beautiful.

I've never actually worked with literal film before, and it honestly wasn't something I really cared too much about. However, I have to admit it was really cool. With all the technology behind film now, it's easy to forget that it's called a FILM for a reason, as in there's an actual film reel that you can manipulate and work with. All in all, I really enjoyed it.

Deren and Brakhage Reflection

These readings came as a sort of relief to me. My entire life I've always thought of myself as a creative person, and yet I've always felt more comfortable with guidelines, a set of rules to be followed. However, both Maya Deren and Stan Brakhage made me realize that there are infinite possibilities in complete artistic freedom. Deren's article states that not only is being an amateur filmmaker acceptable, it is something to revel in. There's an intense, personal connection in films that are bred from low budgets and small crews. You can create films simply by utilizing the resources around you and amateur films are of no lesser value than the massive Hollywood blockbusters you see in theaters. There is artistry in imperfection. It's refreshing to realize that art, especially an art as structured as film, does not have to conform to anyone's expectations. Brakhage's article furthers this notion by encouraging filmmakers to create films by their own standards and wishes and not by anyone else's. Right and wrong do not exist in art and it makes no sense try and mimic the techniques and styles of others. Every filmmaker is unique and it is that variety that makes film interesting.