Molotov & Ecstasy response

I thought the Molotov reading was very interesting. I absolutely loved that it was written by both people involved in the story, rather than written by just one person who is attempting to tell both sides. At first, I was angry that Susan Meiselas was making such a fuss about Joy's use of her photograph. She clearly changed enough things in the picture to adapt it to her own artistic needs, and even agreed to credit Susan for the influence. Also, shouldn't it be an honor to want other artists to appreciate your work so much that they would attempt to recreate it? I thought Susan was crazy. But then once her side of the story came into view, I started understanding her point of view as well. She all of a sudden didn't seem so unreasonable, seeing as she has allowed her photograph to be reproduced under many different conditions. It makes sense that she doesn't want to tarnish the glory of her subject by making the context unknown. However, in the end, I still agree with Joy. Personally, I actually like that the context was taken away for the painting. That makes the emotions and power behind the picture universal, and everyone can relate to it and interpret it as they wish. Many people could be inspired by the intensity in a variety of ways that would never be possible if the context remained in the painting. I also think Joy's alterations were okay because of the fact that the photo still exists. If people want to see a documented moment in history, they can look at the photograph, but if people want to see an interpreted piece of artwork that has been stripped of everything but the raw emotion, then they can have that too. The best thing about art is that it can be interpreted in a thousand different ways, and I think everyone should be allowed to express themselves as they wish, as long as they are respectful of original artists that they borrow from.

I thought the Ecstasy reading was also interesting, because it came at the subject from a different angle and made me think about it in a different way. After reading this article, I feel like unless you are kept in a basement your whole life, you can't NOT be influenced by other works of writing, art, or visual media. As film students we are always told to watch as many movies as we can to learn from others' techniques, styles, and mistakes. So naturally, some of those techniques may appear in work of our own. is that wrong? If everyone had to come up with something brand new every time they painted, filmed, or wrote, we would have run out of material long ago. I thought the example of Bob Dylan was good because he used lines from literature in his songs all the time, but should he really be punished for being educated and well read? I think giving credit where credit is due is very important, but I don't think people should get so selfish and isolated about their work. Art should involve everyone in a community, whether it is a town, city, state, nation, or the world.

Saturday Long Take

I thought the saturday shoot was so much fun! The weather was absolutely beautiful, maybe a little too hot, but so much better than cold and rain. It was probably the only situation where I would actually enjoy having a four hour class on a saturday afternoon. I liked that everyone was eager to help everyone else, and that everyone was really into the assignment with props and costumes and stuff. It makes the day a lot more fun when people are excited and working really hard regardless if it is their project or someone elses. That was also cool because we have all been working with the same few people all semester, so it was also really nice to get to know the other people in the class that I've never really worked with before.

I really loved that we had an 8mm camera going around getting "behind the scenes" footage. It is so cool getting to not only use film, but so far three different size film cameras this semester. I've used the bolex before and failed miserably, so this was really exciting to get a second chance and especially to develop it ourselves and be able to see the results right away. It makes the project mean a lot more when we are involved in every single aspect of the process from start to finish.

It was also really refreshing to be able to really get out of the classroom, out of kenan, and be able to really put what we've learned to use wherever we wanted on campus. I was so excited that the weather worked out so that our group could use the flower preserve. I'm surprised that the preserve isn't used more often for student films, but I'm glad that we got a chance to use it. The only thing that I didn't like about the shoot was that it was really hard to stay focused and enthusiastic for four hours in the heat with no food. I wish we could have all chipped in for pizza or I wish I at least brought a snack or drink. I guess it would have been hard to get pizza since we were working pretty much the whole time. Overall, I had a great time and I can't wait to edit our project!

48 hour video race

hmmm. So when I first heard that we couldn't use any type of camera, I have to admit I kind of freaked out. However, after talking it through in class, I feel a little better about it. I wish I had a better still camera because I would love to do some stop animation for this project. I may still try it with the camera I have, or maybe I'll be able to borrow one from someone else. I definitely want to use animation for at least part of it, if not most of it. I'm just learning animation now in the Modes of Animation class (as you know, Andre) and its exciting that I have a chance to apply what I've learned to another class already. I like how hand drawn animation looks, and I wanted to use my new photoshop tablet for it, but since the tablet just broke my computer, I'm not sure how well that is going to work out. I also think using my camera phone might look kind of cool because my camera has pretty crappy picture quality, which I think could actually add a cool dynamic to parts of my project. Another option I have is my webcam on my mac, but that might seem too boring. I don't think I want to use any film strip techniques (scratching, rayogram etc) because quite frankly, I'm sick of cameraless filmmaking, and I just need a break. I like having those techniques now, but I just need a break from them.

I really like that we have a time limit of 48 hours. Normally, I never sign up for those contests because I always just have too much other stuff going on (school stuff especially) and I just don't have time. Also, those contests are often times in groups, and all of my film friends have just as much work to do as I do. Therefore, I think its really awesome that I am being forced to do this for a class. I've always wanted the experience of it, and so its really cool that its being incorporated into the work that I already have to do anyhow. Im also glad that I can do it alone, because sometimes it gets tiring having to always coordinate with group members, and when we only have 48 hours, luck really has to be on your side for a group to coordinate in only 2 days. I hope to make my project into a somewhat narrative story, but I don't feel that it needs to be completely logical. I think it will be a really fun experience and I'm looking forward to doing it!