LAST POST EVER :(

Ok, let's rate these suckkaaassss:

1) RHYTHMIC EDITING- I LOVED this! It was a good way to start off the semester with your partner and you got to learn a lot about them and what they like to do. I never heard of Rhythmic editing before until I hung out with Joe and I saw the one he did of Genna. The way he flashed through the shots was intriguing and I wanted to watch more! I loved that we were giving guidelines on a certain "beat" we had to follow. I would have never thought about that before, and it gave the video a whole new spin. I will definitely use this technique in the future.
2) LONG TAKE- How can you not love this? It was a beautiful day and there was beer involved. No seriously though, it didn't feel like just a film class I had to go to on a Saturday. It was fun playing dress-up and acting. I think the reason I loved this so much was because you were involved in every aspect of it from pre production planning out "script" and character blocking to processing the film right before our very eyes. Fun times!
3) MULTI-PLANE ANIMATION - Stop animation was the only form of animation that I understood and enjoyed. Although it was 4hrs of constantly moving an object not even an inch every couple of seconds, I enjoyed goofing off with my group and the final product was AH-MAZING.
4) 48-HOUR FILM RACE - If you know me, you know I stress really easily about assignments. When this assignment was first brought to my attention I remember thinking, ok definitely buying lots of coffee that weekend. Phew and I was right. I already had committed to doing a photography shoot that weekend so I was mad swamped and stressing out. I was shocked that everyone was so casual about it and it only took them a couple hours. I put over 12hrs into mine, but I'm really impressed of how it turned out. I work best under pressure.
5) CAMERALESS - I really enjoyed doodling, painting, staining, scratching, etc the film strips, but I was sad how fast it went through the projector. I felt like all my time and energy that was put towards close detail was useless. Well now I know not to put too much energy into the design and keep it more loose.
6) FOUND FOOTAGE - Being it was the last assignment I felt like I could have put more time into it, but I had so much other things going on with final assignments, papers, projects, etc. for other classes. I also did something similar in intro to editing so it wasn't exciting since I've already got my feet wet in a similar assignment.

THANKS FOR A GREAT SEMESTER DR.DRE! I'M GUNNA MISS YOU!

6x1 Part Deux

6x1 was one of the best film classes I have ever had at UNCW because for the first time EVER we actually used FILM! The semester was very fast paced, but I liked it like that. I am so glad I was able to create 6 films in one semester. Something I didn't think was even possible. Looking back over what we have accomplished, I was surprised to see the variety of techniques we used and it was exciting to see the final product of each movie. If I had to create 6x1 Part 2 I think I would do more stop animation. I really enjoyed doing our multi-plane animation and even the 48hr film race in which I also used stop motion. I think it would have been interesting if we did claymation. Another idea would be to create an experimental film using video. I haven't played much with experimental films because most classes I take are narrative base and I think it would be fun to throw a couple experimental based assignments in the mix. I do wish we spent more time with our 3D projects. It was so much fun to film, but when it came to editing it to create the 3D effect, we were so pressed for time we rushed right through it and Dr.Dre ended up tweeking our movies so they would work. So if someone asked me right now how I made our movie in 3D I would have no idea how to explain it, because honestly, I don't remember. All in all if I wasn't graduating, I would love to take 6x1 Part 2....

SOUL TRAIN

Best dancers ever: Olivia, Channy, Tory, Beav, Chase, and MOI! It was so much fun getting into reDONKK outfits once again and dancing around the halls of Kenan. Going out in style as I like to look at it. I have come to love the people in our class and think it's awesome that we all get along so well, even when Andre surprised us by switching up the groups. Somehow we still pulled it together. Our original group had the idea to do 80s theme because of the flamboyant colors. I don't know why I thought bright colors would aid in the 3D experience, but I chose clothing that was bright and crazy. I guess I thought that by having bright colors, it would pop out more when viewed 3D! I was wrong :( When we actually got the footage on the computer I noticed my super fabtastic bright neon pink tights were just plain white BOOOOO! Oh wells, now I know color doesn't matter. I am sad that we weren't able to complete the tweeks necessary in class to create our 3D Movie and view it, but it gives us something to look forward to for next class. I thought the process of making a 3D movie would be much more complex then it was. I figured we would need 2 cameras to achieve it, but I thought we might have had to use gels that corresponds with the colors we used in our 3D glasses. I didn't know you could do it all in AfterEffects, which I thought was crazy awesome. I also loved making the 3D glasses, although I wish I was more creative. I just can't wait to see the end results next week and see our hardcore dancing skills in 3D form! WHOOOT!

THE DRIVE-INS :D

I would say my rough theatre would be the Drive Ins. I grew up in a little country town in northern Vermont, twenty minutes from the Canadian border. It is the ideal situation on a warm summer night to head to the Drive-Ins with a group of friends on their T-RUCKS. Packing for the drive-ins is like packing for a vacation. You pack bug spray, a cooler full of ice with beer or soda (your preference), chips, candy, sleeping bag, blankets, pillow, sweatshirts, etc. When entering the Drive-Ins to pay you pull up to a toll booth looking thing and pay as if it’s a drive-thru restaurant. It’s so neat that they hand you a paper of the different screen numbers and tell you what station to sync your radio up with. It’s so old school and I love it! Once we got to the Drive-Ins we would back up our trucks so that the bed is facing the screen. The goal was to create a mound of blankets in the bed of truck and everyone would lay down for the movie. The whole atmosphere is surreal. I love lying under the stars and enjoying nature, the sounds of the crickets, the wind, and the shadows created by the moon, but at the same time I was watching a movie. And this was the type of movie theatre you could actually talk to your friends during! It was like you were camping out, but with some technology. Doesn’t get any better! I think it’s awesome how you get to stay for two movies too, unlike if you went to an indoor theatre where they would kick you out if you tried to stay for another movie. I absolutely love the atmosphere of the drive-ins. It’s something that brings me back to my childhood and I try to go every summer when I go home to visit my parents. It’s hard living in the city here in Wilmington and a lot of people haven’t even heard of the drive-ins before. It’s definitely an experience I feel that everyone should try!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS MEN

I really enjoyed watching “THE YES MEN” and wish we could have finished the movie in class! The guys were hilarious and I couldn’t stop laughing the whole time. I thought their approach to showing consumers in society was brilliant. I was blown away that the people at one of the first conferences, which was supposedly full of people of higher education and from big businesses, did not even crack a smile or look around the room to see if they were on candid camera when one of the yes men ripped off his suit to reveal the hideous costume underneath; the phallic costume. They were so casual with what was going on and actually believed the ludicrous the yes men were feeding them. On the other hand they finally got their response they wanted out of college kids. Leave it to college kids to be the open and honest ones. I thought it was pretty sad that many corporations contacted the yes men thinking they were members of the WTO just because their websites looked similar to the real WTO site. It just goes to show they don’t even care enough to take the time to research who they are bringing to their conferences. I thought it was awesome that while the YES MEN were disguised as the WTO they even got a large sum of money donated to them from one conference and they didn’t even have any second thoughts of giving it back, they were just excited to put the money to new ideas. It takes some guts for these guys to stand in front a group of highly sophisticated and probably rich group of people and pose as members of corporation with fake ridiculous names, but they did it with class.

The reason we watched this in class is because the YES MEN are a culture jamming activist group and since we just barely learned what culture jamming is, this fit in perfectly. I don’t think it goes hand in hand with Assignment #5 but rather with Assignment #6. Found Footage is going to be a hard project to accomplish because there are so many ways to approach it and complete it. The Yes Men used mixed media to get their point across through the documentary and I think it worked well. I’m not sure what I want to do yet for my assignment, but I too was hoping to do a culture jam. Maybe with reality show clips, poking fun at them and creating an underlining beat.

ECSTACYYYYYY

Being an artist of different mediums myself, whether it be photography, painting, ceramics, or film I too would be upset if someone took my original piece of work and tweeked it to make it reflect what they thought was right like in the Molotov Man article. Using my piece of art to portray a different meaning would be insulting. This was a hard article to choose sides with because I saw both sides equally. I could argue both sides, yes a moment in history shouldn’t be owned by just one person, but on the other hand if you were the lucky one to capture that perfect moment why shouldn’t you have the rights to it. You put your life in danger and had the right equipment at the right time to get that photograph; you should have complete control over it. It is a hard debate. I do however feel that if you ever “copy” or include someone else’s work into something new you created, you should credit the other artist out of respect. The only shady aspect of “copying” without crediting is if you try to sell your piece. I don’t think you should gain money from something you re-created off of someone else’s work, that doesn’t seem fair, unless you get full permission from the other artist. The other article talks about adapting ideas from already existing ones. I believe when it comes to novels/book, songs, and movies it is hard to come up with a fresh idea. Looking at movies nowadays everything is adapted from something else whether it’s an already existing book, a true story, a sequel from a previous movie, a story in current news, etc. It’s like everyone has run out of creativity and art now has to start from something that already exists rather than from scratch. As humans, we learn through other people. I know a lot of my ideas for artwork have come from things I’ve already seen and already exist in the art world. With this in mind, I would I agree with the second article. I found it interesting how this article also talked about how Disney steals a lot of their story ideas from already existing stories, but yet the question is never raised of where they got it and they have never been sued for copyrighting.

Saturday Shoot

What class allows you to drink beer 2 o’clock in the afternoon on a Saturday? 6x1! The Saturday shoot was AH-MAZING. It was such a beautiful day, a perfect day for a shoot! My group and I had planned out our one shot skit prior to the shooting day which was a good idea so we wouldn’t be flustered last minute. It was fun helping out the other groups and trying on different costumes. I think it was good to work with other groups since we have been limited to our small group work and partner work the whole semester. I thought my group was the only one that was really into props and wardrobe, but I was definitely wrong when I ended up wearing a cowgirl outfit for another group’s project. I felt like we weren’t separate groups anymore, but instead one big group giving each other advice and input on how to improve the one shot. I did get really tired, hungry, and thirsty halfway through the day and wished we were able to take a lunch break or even pitch in money to get lunch all together to be delivered. I don’t function well without food and drinks for a long period of time. Besides that, the day went great and I learned a lot! I’ve never used a Bolex camera before and loved loading, unloading and developing the film. It gives you a new appreciation for film since you are hands on through the whole processes. I also liked that we used an 8mm camera for “behinds the scenes” footage. I thought it was cool that we all used it. So who knows what will come up on the film, but I can’t wait to see! All in all it was great day and good experience.