one more final post

i guess i lied, that wasnt my last post, and this one is, i am writing about the class project, sports and light, i guess i have a pretty good perspective since i was the first one to log and capture it and was the last to see it on its way to the student screening. it took quite a journey and honestly i was pretty pleased with the results. i think that it had a unique approach, in that it hit on the topic of sports i guess because of the footage. the footage had some gymnastics and track and field events, and the heart beats. i really like how the color was added in final cut. it is pretty cool when you can color correct b and w film stock and get such rich hues, and you dont have to get messy toner and dyes on your hands and clothes. the sound was unique and had even some more memorable sports quotes from movies and diagetic sound from the archive.org. my final contribution was the addition of some stadium noise and the rearrangement of some parts of the sound. i wanted the entire soundtrack to have a continous energy throughout and the front end of the soundtrack was missing some stuff and the ending needed some stress points to finish the film strong. the picture stayed pretty much the same because i saw no need to change much. it was a pretty neat experience tho to be at the beginning of a project and not see the middle but see it after it was finished and i just post produced it and the results were satisfying to see.

jm

final project evaluation-collage

well this is my last official 6x1 post, i'm a little sad really but the time i will have available with the family will be well received. what do i have to say about my final project, "good evening". it was an homage to my boy alfie baby, alfred hitchcock. i used many different elements: 1. archive newsreel from the release of the birds 2. trailer from the movie, "foreign correspondent".
3. rephotography from television show, "alfred hitchcock presents". 3. the movie, "the man who knew too much" 4. spanish language podcast from discussion of Hitchcock. I used alot of different techniques to accomplish the mood of anxiety and fear and memory recollection. i wanted to give the audience the same feel that hitchcock always tried to put out. i used audio manipulation and video manipulation to accomplish these tasks. i was very pleased with the final results but getting it to tape in bear hall was another story. it took me forever and a day and 7 different computer stations before i got it done. the total time was an hour and a half to dump a 3 min movie. ce la vie... it worked and i was happy.

see you in the funny papers

john marshall

One Shot Evaluation

Well here i am and its time to talk about the one shot, i think, i have all the projects confused at this stage in the semester. but i am pretty sure i should talk about the one shot. where do i begin...how about the beginning? The day of the shoot was supposed to be easy, we had already discussed what we were going to do the week before, we chose a concept and characters that would fit in well for a black and white shot. Stephen was going to dress up as a mime (clown was the first idea but it would have been financially draining, a mime's costume was more cost efficient and also fit well in the whole "silent" feel to the film) A mime would look well and give the black and white double stamped for costume and prop (newspaper) i knew black and white would read particularly well for well...black and white film stock. i even dressed in mostly black and white. if i would reflect on one thing it would be how the mime should not have had a newspaper but should have "mimed" it...it would have been more funny. We always had silent film as an inspiration and especially for a sound project, we knew nobody would have thought to use our idea. Now once it was filmed the problem arosepiece. that it didnt develop and we had to reshoot...twice. so we did our spot 3 times and the last version was the best one so we were glad to have done it all those times since the last time was the best looking. The hardest part was still ahead, what sound do you use for a silent film? we hadnt thought about that. So the noodles started to work and boil and through some very loose connections of stale stereotypes we came up with the main dialogue. now i mentioned this in class but i'll demonstrate the mad process:

what do you associate Mimes with = The French
What do the French associate well with = Jerry Lewis (at least they used to)

So i plugged in Jerry Lewis into archive.org and Voila! the best outtake i have ever heard ...especially from Martin and Lewis. Music was meant to go away from the obvious (like circus music) and go into a darker feel (jungle music) this really took the audience off guard in the screening and really created what i felt to be a pretty unique piece.

the rhythm, the rhythm

well this is the second time i am doing this that timeout thing is a pain, i even remembered to copy it but i screwed that up so i hope that i get this out. the rhythmic exercise was one i really wanted to get into and my first inspiration was maya daren and i thought about stairs and the first thing that popped into my head was Bear Hall. Graphically i had to show the back stairs, it is escape and reentry. it is also more pleasant to the eye than the interior of Bear Hall. even though jon is outside it is a beautiful day outside and he is attempting to gain entrance into a more restrictive atmosphere. it is viewed as a religion inside of these double shuttered rooms. Bear is important you must be there to make cinema magic. if you dont have a swipe access to be here 24/7 you need to recognize. my buddy falussy, the other half of J Squared, put it out there with his incredible acting skills he over did the emotion of failed access (even resorting to trying credit cards) failed access when a project is due it is no kind of fun. and leads to frantic cell phone calls on a late Sunday afternoon. Bear Hall also shows us the right way to respect and enshrine the Late Fifties shine of pale yellow paint (or is it white?) of cinder block walls. you can rise up in this inner sanctum, a big shot with a swipe card. Nothing stops you... you are focused. You packed a lunch when you take a break. You have accepted the fact that possibly a beautiful day will be wasted inside of a building of which a color i cannot remember. Jon really gave his all he threw his hat for what seemed like a mile...in both takes. i used a couple of "fight club" cuts in which he can get in. i believe in success...real and imaginary. i hope when you die trying to achieve your goals and the brain still lives for that small amount of time before the lights go out eternally ... that you don't waste it on reflection... but choose to use imagination and live on. The other halls dont have the same reverance as Bear does, i would vote for it to be the coolest named hall on campus. Leutze is kind of weird to me, as is Morton...but the Bear it is strong. you must be here to understand. Dont leave this institution without completely potentially wasting a beautiful day on the flickering fading visions of outdated monitors and testy macintoshes. someday you will reflect on these days. So we had to exhibit both (symbolically at least) of : being at the "Bear" and experiencing its wonders, or you are physically and mentally "locked out" of the activities that reside in the Bear. i will leave you with this thought...It is Ursa Major and Minor...it is inevitable...You are the Bear

jm

well no one probably will read this but...

just a note commenting on how important it is to set and reset your capture scratch on fcp, our 8 mm project has almost been ruined b/c people don't know what they are doing and change settings blindly, luckily i had already dumped it to tape. in doc class audio settings were changed resulting in a project dump with no audio, luckily it was an easy fix but still it is so frustrating at the disinterests and lack of consideration of one student to another. so students remember to change the settings of your project or at least check them. and just be very careful, because someday it will be you writing this blog and not me

john the marshall

here is a cool quote from one of the program notes from a david gatten screening

“When using tape to make a splice, the cut pieces of film are placed end to end and the tape itself covers the gap: it is a band-aid and a bridge. But as the splice ages a line becomes visible; eventually the adhesive dries and the connection dissolves. When making a cement splice, there is more violence involved. The films are not placed end to end but instead are crushed into one another. Frames are lost, emulsions are scraped. But the well-made splice is strong: in fact, it is permanent. Unlike tape, there is no going back. And it leaves a mark—a line—covering a third of one of the frames. A splice marks difference and defines duration. To suppress that mark is to pretend that we will live forever. Instead, take your splicer and knock the blade out of alignment. Forgo the B roll in favor of a single strand of faith. Hold your breath and count the hours since you were last together. Blow softly on a wet face and watch the smile form. Float your hand across the surface and find all the words you need. Unfold the splicer and separate your image from your dream; you will feel bound, as if tied down until you are fully awake. Only then will you know for sure: this may not be final but it is definite. The landscape you see can change only when you pass through it. Regard your new object: a union: silent, tiny and bright. Paired texts as dueling histories. A journey imagined and remembered. 57 mileage markers produce an equal number of prospects.”—D.G.