Journal 13 - Week of April 23rd

This week we had a guest lecture Sharon Lockhart in class with us. I found her in-class presentation on the most part was interesting. I felt like I related with her when she showed us the pictures that has influenced the films she had made. Because, I like her, am influenced by images I see everyday to create film ideas. And not only images, but also stories and ideas. For example, my friend and I who is also in this class, came up with an idea to write about two women who act like they are the only thing in the world that matters: they do what they want, they sleep with whom they want to, they could not care a less and in the end get theirs. This is idea came from a film like this called "Daisies". It was a from the Czech Republic during the 1960s. Great film, but I want to make mine darker. Ideas like this is always influencing my direction and how go about in heading that direction. It is interesting how someone could look at a picture and spin a whole tale around it to tell a story. The best example I can think of right now is of how Pirates of the Caribbean franchise started because of a roller coaster ride at an amusement park. It is now a multi million dollar franchise.

Journal 12 - Week of April 16th

This week we had a change of scenery with class because it was held in the Union Theater located in the, well you guessed it, the union! I like the theater there, I have seen many films there and find it homely I guess because it is our schools theater. This week we watched the film "Hamilton" by Bresson Porterfield. It is claimed to be shot like Nathaniel Dorsky's film "Variations". I do see how people compare this film with Dorsky's. They are both shot in 16mm and color, the only difference being that Porterfield's has a script. The color that is brought out in both films with the 16mm camera; there is something about it that attracts me. It would be like using the shots that Dorsky filmed and adding people to the locations with a script and you would get Porterfield's "Hamilton". Even having nice shots, I feel this film is very slow paced. In Dorsky's it is the shot length that is slow and in Porterfield's it is the length between people talking and the scenes. Even though this film was slow paced, I did feel a connection with this film because I to just recently had a baby with a girl who is not my girlfriend. She is a friend, but I feel she wants more than that with me and the only thing I can offer is my love for our daughter and to be there as the father. The girl in this film with the child that looks 4 months old or so, I feel for her. She seems lonely and sad, and wants the guy to connect with her. I feel I am walking around just like her, knowing I have this beautiful daughter, but also that my life has changed extremely. I feel my life has slowed down and is sometime slow paced. In the end of "Hamiliton" the boy and girl do not end up together and I feel that is the right thing for them. Some people are just meant not to be together.

Journal 11 - Week of April 9th

The only words that come to my mind with the films we saw this week is disturbing and feminism. Well where can we start with the word disturbing? Is it because I saw women spreading their menstrual blood using tampons all over the film or was it the act of women gathering around to publicly urinate on each other? When I came into class this week I was not prepared to see what I saw on the screen. I do not care if Jennifer said it had to do with acts of the animal side of humans, to rebel against society or a political stand. To me what I saw was smut and I did not find it experimental at all. She seemed very rude at the lecture hall and a witch of a person on film. If I had to chose out of the three sections we saw it would have been her dream sequence. But still in that, she thought of her self as queen. I feel this woman thinks very highly of herself. And I am not saying that is bad, but she does not have to be rude and stubborn about it. Now the word feminism, was it? I guess it was to show that women were more than what they were represented back then when the film was made. Maybe to show they had an animal side like men? Maybe to show that they had rights also? I really can't find a reason why they would subject themselves to do that. Anyways overall I was not really interested in the film and the smut scenes did not provoke me to tell anyone about this film, unless I had to say I saw something disgusting today...

Journal 10 - Week of April 2nd

Word of the day: Politics. I dislike politics immensely and I am not saying I do not follow them. I do feel the issues that are presented with politics are important to our way of life and society. But I feel every time they are brought up, people get angry discussing them. No one ever agrees if they are on different sides of the issue. The films we saw in regarding politics I found were rather boring. Politics to me are important, but I rather not discuss them. I only find anger and resentment when I talk and discuss politics. I am not surprised that I did not like this film by Jackie Goss because I really was not interested in her film we saw earlier in the semester. I understand that she is trying to show how to fix the world that seems so messed up. So much chaos and disaster happen in the world today. And I feel people try to hide their eyes away from the pain that occurs so much in the world. It is like if people do not see it then it must not exist, but it does and won't go away. Films to show this pain I feel do not reach the world as they should because this is what happening. Jackie Goss tried, but I feel did not succeed. Just like the info commercials on helping suffering children. Does that money even make it to them? You have no idea, and that is why I dislike those so called opportunities to help 3rd world countries. So what do we do? Do we keep hiding our eyes from what we don't want to see or do we step up to the plate and start taking actions? That is all I have to say about this subject...

Journal 9 - Week of March 28th

This week we saw a different medium of film. One I have not seen since I was a little kid and it did not have an impact on me like this when I was a kid. Vladmir came up with a unique way of story telling using view masters to show pictures while telling unique stories. She showed us four short stories using the view masters to show us pictures that went along with the stories. I thought they way she came up with this idea was original, but it did not catch my attention like it did everyone else. I thought the stories she came up with were very original. The one about the big machinery that magically appeared in certain locations. Usually you would find the story kind of dumb, but the way it is presented and the music that went along with it, gave it a mysterious feeling. The other one I enjoyed was the last one about the man, the train and the deer. When it came to the part where you were clicking the view master super fast was sort of funny because the whole time every click was in sync and then at that point it was numerous clicking sounds that sounded out of order throughout the lecture hall. Did I have a feeling of independence with using my own personal view master to watch this? Not really because we were told when to change the pictures to view the next one and we were told what we were listening to. All together it was interesting to partake in, but I would never go further into this to see more.

Journal 8 - Week of March 12th

Camera Obscura! Well going into this, I had no idea what to expect from this. First, I did not know what camera obscura was. Second, I didn't know what to expect from the presentation that we were going to. And third, I didn't know what my reaction was going to be with what I saw because I had no idea what I was going to be seeing. So, I get there and I am told to go through the black drape. I enter into darkness and go the wrong way! My eyes finally adjust to the dark and I see people standing the opposite way looking at something on the other side of the wall. I hurry over and scoot my way in to focus my eyes on what people were watching. I finally realize this is camera obscura. The idea of camera obscura, I find, is very interesting. How he takes cameras and records the outside to shine it on the wall on the inside in an abstract way. I am still confused on how it all works, but I think Ethan Jackson has something interesting going on. What I liked most about the camera obscura that he set up for us at Kenilworth was that we could see people arriving there that was part of our class. Because I realized moments before I entered people were seeing me on the wall because I parked right in front of where he was recording! I found that humorous because I was acting goofy outside and my class saw that. I liked the presentation he gave about how he created a huge project from an old church. He casted the obscura across the ceiling of the old church which showed skies, clouds, sun, trees and tips of buildings. Overall it was an interesting project to see and I really enjoyed it.

Journal 7 - Week of March 5th

We have the midterm coming up and I am kind of nervous. I don't know what to expect from this midterm and how we are going to be tested on information. I guess I am going to go over all the readings we have had and the films we have seen. This exam could go either way, positive or negative for me. I don't have much to write about this week because of the exam coming up, so I am going to reflect on what I have enjoyed this semester and what I have disliked because it is the middle of the semester. My favorite weeks had to be weeks two and three with the films we saw during them. During week two we saw films like "Variations" and "Clear Blue Sky" which I liked a lot and could relate to them because I made films like them, but not as long. During week three we saw very disturbing films that intrigued my "other" side me that is more dark. I think these types of films are unique in a way that they show a darker side to the human life that people don't always experience. A few things that I did not like during this semester was the silent and verrrryyyy sllllloooowwww films that put me to sleep. I wouldn't call these experimental films. They aren't really stretching the imagination and experimenting. Anyone can go out and shoot life, and make it real boring.

Here are some unique films that intrigue me:

*Stay
*Brick
*Memento
*Alize
*Spun


Good luck all on exams. Bye.

Journal 6 - Week of Feb 26th

Not much happened this week in lecture besides having a visiting guest speaker by the name of Laura Marks. There was no assigned reading this week, so instead of trying to come up with something to think and write about, I am going to put a scene of my movie that I am writing in here to see some people's reaction. It is not finished, but it is a scene that I like very much and actually came to me when we were in 201 lecture. It was when Carl was showing the difference between 24 fps to 16 fps. The room was completely dark and the only light was coming from the blank, white frames that he was showing to make us see the difference. Every person in the room looked like a silhouette and so did Carl when he stood up there talking to us. I could see his movement and I could hear his voice, but I couldn't see him. It kinda felt surreal when this was happening. So I developed a scene kind of around this that I have explained. Here is the opening of the scene before the dialogue:

Scene 10:

Knowing that he has to find some answers before he ends up somewhere else unpredicted, Alan sits down and takes a rest. Alan wonders how long it has been since he has actually slept. Time here, where ever here is, does not exist. At least he has come to that conclusion because night can turn to day with the shut of an eye, it could be raining and then around the corner there is sunshine. There is no sense of time, but Alan does know he is tired, so it must mean he hasn't slept in awhile. He slowly rests on the park bench and soon is fast asleep. He then wakes up and already knows he is in a different location. Alan is not surprised, just tired of it all. He looks up and then realizes that this location is familiar to him. He has once been here in the past, but can't put a finger on how he knows it. He slowly gets up because his body is stiff from the uncomfortable sleep and heads in direction of the building he is looking at. He then notices that he had classes in psych here years back. There is a booming voice that he hears from the lecture hall and it is starting to get cold, so he decides to enter the building. Alan starts off towards the entrance, opens the door to darkness and precedes to walk in...

That is a beginning of a scene that I have shared. I wonder if it got people questioning whats next or what not. Anyways time for work, have a great day everyone.

Journal 5 - Week of Feb 19th

D'Est can be summed up as two hours of silence that had no impression on my life what so ever. I don't mean to be harsh, but I guess I can back up my self by saying that this has nothing to do with my history of life. I know that can sound stubborn, but it really took time before my life started. It has more to do with the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the life that was exposed in East Germany that was hidden for awhile. I think they called it the iron curtain because we could never see over there and the U.S was afraid that they were making nuclear weapons over there. But it turns out nothing was really going on over there behind the wall. When watching the movie, besides being slow, it was very depressing to me. It showed the hardships in the grainy visions and also in the faces of people. It showed a struggle that they couldn't over come. It made me think of how much struggle there is in the world today. You think we would learn from an event like this in the past...

Journal 4 - Week of Feb 12th - Day five

This concludes our five day challenge. So far I have written about our class to unique films and what is kind of happening in my life. I feel this class so far has shown me a lot on experimental film. It has also shown me that I do not want to go as extreme as the experimental film we have seen. I like that it gives me ideas about the films I like to write, but I would never go as far as how experimental they are. They are just to extreme for me on the spectrum of normal film to experimental film. Sometimes I feel the people are trying to hard to be unique and show there personal side. Also when we are in class I find it kind of weird when people are trying to dig for this deeper meaning in the film that isn't already shown. I mean its good that they try hard to be unique, but I mean sometimes it just doesn't sound right. There is a scene from this movie called "Art School Confidential" where the main character is a really good artist and everyone in the class is praising this worse artist for his work even though it is very plain. They are trying to find this deep meaning to it, when there is really no meaning to it. Here is a little clip for it. This challenge has made me think in a different way about posting.

Journal 4 - Week of Feb 12th - Day Four

Well for the past few post I have been trying to come up with things to talk about and discuss. Well in the email from Carl Bogner, he gives us some ideas to talk about. He asks us if this five day challenge impacts us on how we post, what we post, when we post. Does it encourage to step out of your regular routine to post differently than you have in the past. I feel this challenge has made me think in a different way. Because each week we would have something to talk about because of lecture, but now we have no lecture and it is on us to come up with something to discuss. I have felt out of place and it is kind of tough to keep coming up with something to think about. This is how I have felt so far with this five day challenge.

I always wonder if film is the right choice for me. I am extremely passionate for it and I know it is my calling, but is it right for my future. I know it will be tough to get started with it and my film 203 class isn't convincing me that it is getting any easier. Film 203 is titled: business behind the film. It is all about networking so when job opportunities come up, people can refer you. It is always good to know people and people to know you. I am confident about film and my career in it, but there are always some what if's. Here is a preview that a group of my friends did for "the lot". The contest where Steven Spielberg is judging and they submitted to it. It is called Bad Dog. Anyway it is nice to see that people are trying things. Thats all for today.

Journal 4 - Week of Feb 12th - Day three

Well this is the third post of the five day challenge. So far I feel it is going well. This is a big week actually for me because in a few days my daughter will be born. I will be the proud father of Lilly Addison. Anyways, enough of that, I have been working on this one project outside of class. I am writing a film script that I really like. It is a psychological thriller, that I feel many people will enjoy because of its darkness and twists that I have thrown in there. I have been working on it now for about a month and I hope to finish it soon. I have base my vision off of many directors. I would have to say my color choices come from Gus Van Sant. And my style from the director who did the indie film "Stay". I forget who is now, but I love his style and how he brought that film to the screen. That is a little about what I am doing right now outside of this class. Here is a trailer for the film "Stay" if you haven't seen the movie:

Trailer for Stay

I am also adding a trailer for a film done by Gus Van Sant called Elephant. This film is so colorful and at the same time very dark and disturbing. I think it is brilliantly done by this director. He also directed Drugstore Cowboy which I think is one of Matt Dillons finest films.

Journal 4 - Week of Feb 12th - Day two

Today was my discussion day at eleven in the morning. We actually did something out of the norm today to help us discuss Monday's lecture. Instead of taking a horrible quiz (ha jk teach), we got into groups and received two cards. After that we had to combine them and form a skit to relate to a film that was screened on Monday. It helped to see people act out what their vision of how to interpret ate the films we see.
The one our group did was on the film "I Learn Something New Every Single Day" by Renato Umali. I can't exactly remember the saying we had that went a long with it, but I feel our presentation was the hardest one to figure out which I liked. It was so unique that nobody could figure it out.

On that note here is a short film for St. Valentine's Day, the holiday I dislike the most!

Bullet for my Valentine!

Journal 4 - Week of Feb 12th - Day one

This class is all about unique, experimental films and how we percieve them in the world today. I have decided for my first post of this five day challenge to post some unique one to two minute clips that I think are considered experimental film and also interesting.

The Kiss - This is a short film from Suzanna Oshinsky where she passionately kisses the lens of the camera. I feel she is trying to reach out to the world because before and after the kiss she looks very depressed at a downward angle.

Discurso - This is from filmmaker Alex Stikich. It shows visuals of horrible neughborhoods, decaying animals, and hunger in people. In the background is a speech about how a politician plans to clean up all aspects of life. It shows how little is getting done in the world today, and how easy it could be to help.

Five AM - This is by far my favorite one of these three. What I percieved this film to be was the anxiety of getting up early for whatever, work or school, or anything. But than realizing why you are going to work so early and it is because of your children you live for. I can relate on many levels to this film and it personally touched me

Journal 3 - Week of Feb 5th

I was very sick this past week and was not able to make it to class on Monday, February 5^th. I did go into e-reserves and read the readings and saw extra footage that can compare, to what I hear, to what we saw in class. I know the films that we saw in class were considered dark and creepy. They had unique images that can be considered not normal and mentally challenging to see. I actually in a strange way enjoy these films. Everyday out and about you see normal visions. But to be able to see disturbing images that you rarely see in reality, I find very intriguing. For example, knowing this is not an experimental piece, the film Hostel is one of my favorite films. Call me sick, but I find it interesting to see the reenactment of people getting tortured. I will and hope not to ever see any thing in my life like that, but to be able to see what it could be like satisfies me in a way.

I did not get too see the film by Vito Acconci in class, but I did read on his techniques of film and how he uses these to make his film. It talks about how his image on video is flat and grainy making the vision blurry. This can add uniqueness to shots when filming or maybe just confusion. He also questions himself in relation to the viewer, where am I? – below, above, to the side, hidden. Once that is figured out he than reason what physical position to place him.

I have to give credit to Acconci for making his films feel real. The realism he brings to the screen is through the technique. You think at first that Vito just simply was depressed and brought out the camera, laid it on the floor and simply just spilled his lonely self into the lens. But when it comes down to it, everything had to have been planned out to the finest detail. The realism I feel from his films makes me uncomfortable and that is his goal, which I applaud him.

Journal 2 - Week of Jan 29

This is the second week of class and today's film I found I related more with them than last weeks films. These were more recent films than last week and the technology was better. The best film for me to watch was "Variations" done by filmmaker Nathaniel Dorsky. I related a lot to this film because I took the class film 116 last semester and I did a film that was much like this one. We had to record unique visions out in the field and mine was out together like his. This made me feel much better about myself and the path I am taking. Here are some examples of the clips I did: project 2 and project 3. These are silent clips that I recorded in Lake Park for that class. One section I liked from this film was the visually beauty from the beginning shot of sparkling water. I also liked how he shot images that reflected off glass because it makes you look at a lot more than just glass. I feel I can compare with my shot in project 2 where I recorded a reflecting puddle. This film intrigued me the most out of all of them.

The other film that got my attention was the short films by Tomonari Nishikaka. "Market Street" and "Clear Blue Day" were two films that captured visuall perfection. I don't know yet how he did Market Street, but the patterns of squares and circles with the images were crazy to look at. I find it crazy in Clear Blue Day when he uses light to capture images. People actually look like images of light. I think the professor was saying that he tooks the lens off the camera to distort the image with light. I would like to find out how to do that so I could use it toward my work in the future. Overall this weeks films have opened my eyes to a new kind of filming that could be use to others to make unique.

Journal 1 - Week of Jan 22

Well for the first week we have watched some interesting films. The first one we watched was "So Is This" by the filmmaker Michael Snow. This film is unique to say the least. I was not a big fan of this film, not because it was a silent black and white film, but because his point of view was so redundant and he tried to enforce over and over again. There were some points of comedic relief that was a nice break from his boring film. But on the other side I couldn't take my eyes away from what he was spelling out, so maybe he is brilliant. I found what he had to say interesting, but the way he brought it across the screen for his audience was annoying to me. I hate to be brash, but that is how I feel. One part I really liked in the film was when he asked us to sing together in our heads and actually spelled out the notes and keys for us. Because in reality everyone in their heads are reading and actually singing to themselves making it a silent sing a long. If you would ask people to sing that out loud together I bet you wouldn't get even half the people in lecture to sing.
The next film we watched was "There There Square" by filmmaker Jackie Goss. This was a shorter film that had color, but was still silent. It centered itself around a map of the United States. It would cut in and out of the map giving us history of the places it would key in on. The map would also transform and change colors. I thought this film was interesting because it gave me knowledge about history I did not know about. Also it was short enough to keep my attention long enough not to get distracted like the first film. These films were the first silent word films I have never seen before and I would have to say I wasn't that intrigued.