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.