experimental footage

New Pitch: props as people part 3

Inspirations:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOLgEyZA4Nw (For Sock's Sake)

http://vimeo.com/1004092 (Sweet Dreams)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-yldqNkGfo&feature=fvw (Food Fight)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBjLW5_dGAM&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=4CF1524B28F8F557 (Western Spaghetti)

New Pitch: props as people part 2

Aesthetics: Since there will be no dialogue throughout the film all the reactions of the characters will be making noises such as mumbling and grunting. I want the sound to be very dramatic in some areas, especially in the climax of the story such as orchestral themes. The lighting will be high contrast like for instance in the beginning when the lonely can is going about his life in the kitchen, I want to often cast him with a heavy shadow while other items seem to be highlighted. The camera frame will have to be handled in a manner so that when a character is reacting to something, i.e. frightened, he will need to shake but the means of shaking him (a wire or hand) will be filmed out of the shot and while edit cut to a wide shot. To demonstrate the cans moving they will roll around on a surface instead of mimic walking by bouncing. Again I feel that overall sound will be the key to this piece and will have to be handled closely.

New Pitch: props as people

Synopsis: For our next pitch we have to utilize objects as people or characters and I've decided to make a story based around items in the pantry. The story will focus on a store brand, plain can who goes about his normal boring life wishing that he could be noticed. One day in his travels around the kitchen he notices an advertisement for a way to change boring old cans into high end name brands. He ultimately discovers that being the center of attention may not be the best thing for him.

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

After watching the short film by Todd Haynes I must say that overall I really enjoyed it. It was really amazing how believable and convincing a bunch of Barbie dolls and some well done voice overs can make a movie come alive. At many points in the movie I felt completely immersed into the world that Todd created and really believed I was watching the interactions of Karen and her family even while staring at a static Barbie smile. The sound is what made this film and catapulted it from just a bunch of dolls into a serious and sympathetic plight of a young star dealing with a horrible eating disorder and ultimately losing. The film actually made me feel upset of how little her family members knew about the situation and even Karen herself. Only by the time it was too late did anyone realize that it wasn't just about skipping a few meals but a serious control problem, fears of gaining weight and a distorted body image. The fact that the dolls were always filmed like real actors would be between the positioning of the camera and the lights added to the reality. I still can't wrap my mind around some of the scenes and how the did them. I understand that any parts where a hand would have a appeared in the frame they just used wires, strings, and careful editing but some scenes were so impressively planned out that it made me automatically love this film; the party scene in Karen's new apartment was such a great part and it still blows my mind how they did it. The only aspects I didn't enjoy were all of the unreadable text and some of the footage of people in the middle of the film. The real footage at the beginning and ending were a nice sandwich but some of the ones in the middle broke the illusion for me. I see myself coming back a watching this film again and again.

Last Digital Cinema class we watched Maya Deren's Meshes in the Afternoon. Overall I thought the film is visually interesting if nothing else. It was much more experimental in camera techniques and story than I was expecting from a film from the 40s. I was confused about some aspects of the plot and I think some of the more subtle symbolism just went over my head. It is definitely one of those movies that needs to be watched multiple times in order to catch every single piece of information. I thought from a technical standpoint it was very impressive with its use of multiple figures filmed separately and complied together, Dutch angles, and use of close ups with the actors eyes. At times (I think mostly due to how old it is) I felt the music was too loud and in some cases was distracting from the movie but overall it set up a nice atmosphere. Again, the camera techniques were the most impressive and revival some movies today (especially the scene where the actress is losing sense of gravity and hangs onto the walls and staircase for support).