1/25/06
today is the first day i have had the opportunity to sit down and reflect on the two classes we have had already.
on day one i had no idea what to expect of the class i just hoped i would be able to take some useful information away from it.
i have heard good things about the silvas so i was excited. last semester i took history of avant garde film with dr. kruell and it really opened my eyes to how open film can be and how many different applications it can take on through all of the genres. it even seems commercials nowadays tend to lean more and more to the experimental. we studied all sorts of films and i really enjoyed it and thought it to be one of the best i have taken next to the visionaries and iconoclasts taught last year by verrone. but i digress, one of the filmmakers we studied was stan brakhage. i am sure many of my class mates have seen his films maybe for years now but i havent. his films were pure expression and he created them using non expensive means when he couldnt afford the processing or when his equipment was stolen. he scratched emulsion, painted film, and created entire worlds and universes and contributed a much needed shot in the arm that film needed from the sixties up until his suspicious death. he was making films on his death bed. so when i walked into the sixbyone class last tuesday and found out we would learn how to do all of these techniques, i was thrilled! this school needs classes like these. i talk to so many students that want to get their hands dirty and learn techniques like these. so anyway as you can tell i am totally amped to be in this class and look forward to getting my hands dirty.
so on the first day we scratched film and painted and colored punched holes and used blunt instruments to create our own worlds and universes. i was unprepared for a thematic choice so i just dabbled with an abc's theme (my son watches sesame street everyday, and they have had their own tiny experimental films as well) i thought it would go well with the cartoon that was on my film strip (it also had a soundtrack) so i cannot wait to see it played and looped and see if i can pick it out amongst the rest. it seems amateurish but i think i will find more bold and intense themes down the road. i want to perfect the mastery and then i can get technical. my interests lie in experimental and documentary and both. but i strive to know all i can and will continue to be excited as i learn more and more of this craft.
