Cucalorus Game Plan

Because I will be working on a school production set Saturday and Sunday, my plan for Cucalorus is to view as many screenings as I can Wednesday through Friday . After a minor complication in getting my Digasoarus pass I was able to acquire it just in time to catch the events first narrative. Seoul Station, I am a sucker for a zombie flick. I plan to kick off Cucalorus with this international film, and from there spend the next two days catching more narrative titles. I will get around to a shorts block, however since I do not recognize any of these titles it will come at random when ones name catches my ear. I bought extra tickets so that my friends could attend with me. After hearing all of the hype and attention over The Shining I would be amiss to not be in attendance. I will spend down time in between showings at my place of business, where I am sure other Cucalorus fans will be dining.

Skies Never the Limit

 

This picture screams to me the skies never the limit. What we see here is grand, but what lies beyond is spectacular. Their is quite possibly a limitless number of opportunities out there, this is the beauty of the unknown. I challenge the notion that we cannot achieve what we put our minds too, no matter the scale.

Reflective Self

To capture a self portrait, I must first conceive what that self is through deep inner reflection. It is in this meditative state that I can separate truth from fiction, and catch a glimpse of myself at my rawest form. I see myself surfing through life, the board gliding across all of my happiest memories. Now unfortunately as poetic as reflective Parker sounds, real Parker cannot actually surf. However, my long boarding skills are quite advanced; and, the way I ride my board over pavement I consider to be surfing. For this project I plan on recording myself on my long board; however, my face will not be the sole subject. I believe the idea of one's self cannot be captured in a mere profile, nor through conventional camera shots. I plan to mobilize the camera just as I myself am mobile riding my long board. Keeping the camera steady can be accomplished with my GoPro's steady mount. To break into the bounds of unconventional camera work I am thinking a single continuous shot, incorporating the help of others to mobilize props to follow my trek. The band Ok Go's music videos really inspire me. It is there degree of pushing what can be done in one continuous shot that I want to mimic. It is a tall order, but I can envision how it will play out. I see the allure in simplicity. The above mentioned props can be rudimentary in design by all means. It is choreographing my assistants, and nailing correct beats that will prove to be challenging. I will utilize all of the knowledge I have learned taking my blocking course here at UNCW, but it is basic knowledge so only time will tell if I had what it took to pull this arduous shot off.

Taking the Lead

A Directors Tale

I was assigned the role of director and editor for my experimental music video. I could not be more excited because I would get to film my ideas, and edit them as I mentally build the story. Right away I had an idea for a battle balled, and the idea caught on quick. I see myself less as the  babysitter, and more as the promoter. My crew is all very talented across the board, so as director it is easy to work with there ideas because they work well with what has already been planned. I have found the biggest difficulty has been corralling the crew together. We work best as a whole, but everyone's demanding schedules challenges this notion. I would not be surprised if I found myself filming for our DP one day while our producer operates lights. That is the spirit of indie film making, no one person has just one job. When it comes to editing I plan on spending a majority of time working on the audio. Because of what our plan requires, special attention is going to be spent on blending audio tracks together. As editor it will get tricky layering two separate languages over one another. I took charge as key grip and built a set out of PVC piping for my crew. I found that I can be quite handy with tools on the fly when I need to be. My hand sewing skills also came in handy when stitching together costumes. Certain affects would not have been accomplished without the additions made possible by this skill. As director I felt it was appropriate to be present at the audio recording sessions. It was a good idea that I was, I was able to insert slight changes to the recording process to better embody the feel I was going for.

Art House too Microcinema 

The ever evolving world of movie theaters

Cinema, much as other aspects of culture in our global society come and go in waves we typically call fads. Art house cinema's may be on the decline due to over saturation of films, and a change in how we as an audience view cinema. Microcinemas was films way back into the limelight of rural America. Too many of us go to the movies purely for what is on the screen, but not the atmosphere of the theater or the aesthetic of the crowd. The annual Rocky Horror Picture Show typically played during the Halloween season is a perfect example of what it means to view a film in an art house. Fans come dressed as the characters, patrons discuss their favorite scenes, and of course tucked under their arms are all the props viewers could use to interact with the film. Truly this attitude toward a single film is what art house cinema tried to embody.

Asahi Pentax

I went into this project expecting to struggle with the transition, I have never photographed on raw film before. The difference between digital and film seemed alien at first. To my surprise however, I transitioned across the gap with ease. I found that I quite enjoyed the old school manner of setting up the perfect shot. I started with a roll of practice film to polish the technique, and headed to the beach for good exposure. I felt more intimate with my subject whether it was a stack of docked boats or waves rolling past my feet. It is as if you must see the shot you want to take before you even set it up. You cannot simply snap your picture and be off, you must sit and dissect your environment. Feeling the sun beating on my back I learned how to correct the light and reverse it when the sun disappeared. I learned most importantly that with a little patience, the perfect shot will come to you. Light will find ways to manipulate itself naturally, it was my job to capture it at that perfect moment. The biggest difficulty I found with film came when I had to load and unload the film stock. I missed lining the celluloid on the tracks up properly so when it came time to rewind my film the celluloid ripped. Digital cameras will forever have quicker and easier loading mechanisms being that the SD card pops in and out with no fear of tearing. However, like with all technology SD cards have the ability to become corrupted with no prompt or reason. Film, as long as it stays out of exposure, will stay reliable. What you snapped is what you get. The pictures I take have the same feel as all my old pictures of me growing up, It is the best way to capture that aesthetic.

Grey Skies Above

The skies are as grey as steel wool today, beams of light break through the clouds sending the light meter all over the place. This is the first instance in which I had to lock down the dial to compensate for the fluctuating needle, and only after careful calibration was I ready to snap the picture. By shaking the camera I hoped to capture the beams of light, and use their intensity to brighten the shot I had taken. It is fascinating that light will still travel through grey clouds at such a high intensity. One cannot be foolish and think the opposite while setting up the perfect shot.

I am a "light" learner

I can understand why shooting on film inside could pose challenges with the lack of lighting, but after an outing on a particularly bright day I learned too much light can cause just as many problems. Having to calculate f-stops and shutter speed to achieve the best quality of picture proved to be challenging. However, after a roll of practice film, I began to acquire a knack for compensating for the extreme conditions, and tried to use this as a chance to achieve a handful of experimental shots. I imagine with more experience using the manual shutter option could become the norm for myself. I could take the idea of experimental work to the next level by taking away the boundaries set on the  camera while creating my own.

Beach Days

The beach, a place for sun, sand, and did I mention sun. My first reaction to my light meter peaking was one of fear, for how could I capture a photo I could not properly gauge. I quickly remembered to "pull the pin of my grenade", and positioned the light diffuser inside my light meter. It was smooth sailing after that. Being a particularly sunny day I made it a point to take pictures of scenes with a strong light deflection to create an experimental glare on the final product. The water was the best example of this style, the way it would flow caused the light bouncing off the crest of the waves to fluctuate. By lowering my shutter rate I captured this fluctuation.

My Soundscape

Nothing was as exhilarating as having the opportunity to go out into the world and see it from a new perspective, one purely composed of sound waves. When I completely shut out the visual world, I could see it being built in front of me audibly. Using University of North Carolina at Wilmington as our main source of sound bites, we as a group were lead to corners and crannies of campus we would never have adventured too if not on the hunt for genuine sounds. It was not all good times however; in fact only after we recorded all of our sound bites did we encounter one of the sound designers biggest adversaries, wild noises. I spent a majority of my time adding high pass filters to all of my sounds recorded outside. Filtering out unwanted noises from my clips was difficult, but when it came to blending the audio together I found myself quite comfortable composing the sounds into a single orchestral soundscape. I was not expecting a project based around two-minutes of audio to take as long as it did to finish. I took for granted the thought that because I was not working with video the process would be simpler, but I learned video shows a variety of ways your sequence could potentially go. Ironically enough sequencing only audio with no visual to work off of is quite challenging. Luckily I enjoy a good challenge, and sure enough this doozy was right up my alley. What I took away from this project was patience. One must live by these sounds to fully see how they can fit together like a puzzle, and until you do so they remain a cacophony of sounds awaiting reconfiguration. I would greatly enjoy creating a soundscape for a synesthesia project so that I might have a slight reference to work off of, while still having the option to make my own creative choices.

Jonas Mekas

Jonas Mekas's story is one of hardship and triumph. In a time where Avant-Garde cinema was more prominent in its originating country of France, Mekas was an icon and slowly making the genre prevalent in America. His ability to capture peoples lives as if he were a fly on the wall, with no interaction amongst the subjects paints a new light on the idea of the emerging American Avant-Garde. For someone who has lead such an adventurous life, Mekas's snapshots take on an almost simplistic approach to common everyday life. He exemplifies himself as an artist when he did away with scripted films. Mekas's creativity is at its peak when he simply dives into a scene with his camera. This is the kind of director that films with no constraints, and because of this nothing is off limits. His choice to film with hand held recorders is one of the many choices he makes to capture the reality of his subjects. Jerky camera movements mimic the scene unfolding as he records it. Loud chaotic scenes with actors who are only barely audible by the audience leaves what was said a mystery. Every cinematic decision made you can tell Mekas spent time meticulously playing it over in his head all in the pursuit of Avant-Garde cinema.                                                                           

Sound in Cinema

Sound is as powerful of a medium as any other, and it is Bela Balazs who believes sounds can play multiple roles in film that cannot be accomplished through other mediums. Sound is not as two-dimensional as we believe. Hiding the source of asynchronous sounds riddle the minds of the viewer, evoking wonder in regards to the origin of the sound. What is more is sound in cinema can accomplish a feat that live theater cannot, silencing all sound. By doing so and continuing to play out the scene the audience is left on the edge of their seats. A drama such as this is impossible to match in live theater, it is something about sound in cinema that pairs exceptionally well together. Without sound, our cinema would not be as intimate.

Betsey's Crepes

You would think the kitchen, a place for aromatic smells and culinary creations, would be the last place to look for golden sound bites, but you would be wrong. The hum of the fans is drowned out by the racket made by an assortment of utensils rattling away preparing the meals. The food cooking on the grill sizzles in my headphones. The atmosphere of the kitchen feels as if it living and breathing with every order that passes through its bowels. In the dining section, the soft chatter of patrons echoes across the open floor space. The hustling footsteps of the waiters stomp across the floors.

Hear My Campus Roar

At first glance, UNCW's campus glows in the light and is warm and comforting. Once your eyes shut, however, the campus erupts into a cacophony of erratic sounds. Attempting to find clean and consistent audio proved to be difficult. Wherever we took our field recorder, we could never shake the loud hum originating from the buildings. As I walk from class to class everyday I drown out the constant chatter of my peers to an almost silent environment; yet, the H6 picks up every little mutter until it becomes an inaudible orchestra of words. During our search for pristine audio though, we did stumble across a handful of auditory gems ranging from skaters nailing tricks to the tennis courts already mid way into a match.

Amateur vs professional - Maya Deren

Deren opens up by defining the origins of the word "Amateur",  followed by an account of praise toward the technique associated with the term. She believes that experimental cinematography offers techniques unachievable in standard filming. The freedoms, both physical and intangible,  associated with avant-garde films allow for new techniques to be theorized and practiced as artists delve deeper into the void that is experimental cinematography. Since its beginning film has been evolving. Deren embraces the cameras newfound freedom from bulky equipment and limited track, to that of handheld filming where any number of spontaneous actions may occur in front of the lens.

What is experimental film - Fred Camper

Camper argues that defining experimental film into one genre is ill advised due to the vast quantity of separate methods experimental films can potentially practice. This includes styles already used all the way to ones not yet mentally conceived. Camper better categorizes experimental genre by creating a detailed list of traits that can be found in a majority of avant-garde films. Camper realizes that many experimental films do in fact encompass more than one trait. He points out that because the film is experimental it can have all traits, or none. By its very nature experimental films have no bounds to restrict it; therefore, having any number of traits included in your film can be accomplished.

     Rosebud Productions

I have never considered myself to be content merely standing behind the equipment, instead I flourish in my ability to previsualize scenes in their whole before shooting commences. My goal as a cinematographer is to push the boundaries of what is captured on camera to reflect the vivid scenes I build in my mind. I am new to this form of medium, but what I lack in off hand knowledge I make up for with a wild imagination born to create art. Just as any art form, film is only as limited as its creators own creativity.