Never stop running. Unless you fall. In that case, a break might be okay.
Oh God, do I feel sorry for whoever hires me as their editor
What particularly interested me about this lesson was the ability to track a certain character or person in a film, and cut them out of the film. It's all called Keying, and you have to use the Keylight effect. You find that in a window on the right hand side of the program. What you do to do this is:
1. Create a new composition.
2. Drag the desired clip to that composition (Should be of high quality! Preferably 1080p!)
3. Make sure you double click on you footage, so that it is selected.
4. Select the Roto-Brush.
(Okay, I was sure I made a screenshot of all of this, but they are all of a sudden not on my hard drive anymore. How rude.)
5. Use this tutorial on youtube:
by username MyQualityVideo's
And after all this work, you might be able to make something amazing like this!
Oh well, it was a lot of fun, and I'm sure I will use this effect in my future projects!
-TJ
"not to be confused with a migraine,
which I've found it is something completely different"
Migration
"Make an experimental film about migration." Well, okay, I'll be right on that !
Oxford Dictionary defines migration as three things:
a) Seasonal movement of animals from one region to another.
b) Movement of people to a new area or country in order to find work, or better living conditions.
c) Movement from one part of something to another.
Especially the third one opens up this task to an almost infinite amount of possibilities. Anything can move from one part of something to another, if that "something" is the universe! But alas, I can't make a film about everything in the universe - I don't think my poor hard drive could handle such a project. But where do I start researching such a vast topic? Well, the first thing that comes to mind when thinking off migration is the great migration to America during the colonial era. (It still goes on today, but the we generally think of this era when mentioning the words migration and America)
Video by National Geographic
But I'm not really sure how I can use this, nothing springs to mind at least. But the idea of massive amounts of people moving fascinates me, so I would love to make something about that. Now that I think about it another story of people moving out of necessity comes to mind - the Biblical story of Moses.
We have all heard the story at some point, and we have also probably seen the cartoon about it too, i know I have. It's an epic tale of a disgraced prince who saves his people, and performs astonishing things like parting the ocean. All with the help of God. Historians believe that a massive escape from Egypt did happen, although the parting of the ocean bit, might have been edited a bit over time. (It is theorised that the Red Seas water level was lowered due to a drought in the area, and that's how they were able to cross it.)
Again, I'm not sure what to do with this. I don't feel like this has any connection to me as an individual, considering I'm not religious, and also of very little North African decent. (Who would've guessed eh.) I want something grand, that I can feel a connection to.
Then it hit me! The greatest migration of all time! The event that has been happening for longer than the oldest human alive, and is still going on today! The great movement of human kind! Evolution.
That's it! That's my topic! It's grand, it's brought me to where I am today! It fascinates me beyond compare! Perfect.
But how can I portray trillions of years in under two minutes?
I've wanted to do something minimalistic for a while now, so I looked into a couple of different artists that specialise in that area. Some of them really struck my fancy, and although they might not be what I looked for in this project, I've made a mental note to use them in later projects. (This includes artists such as Carl Andre, and Donald Judd. I especially liked Carl Andres elements series.)
"Trabum" by Carl Andre
I actually got my first idea while writing down my shopping list last week. While crudely writing down eggs, milk, and mĂĽsli on my post-its, I remembered how I used to make short stories at the bottom of post-its in my youth. Drawing small stickmen that move ever so slightly with every post-it and then flicking through them to reveal the story. I imagined using this technique to show evolutions story much like how they do it in the opening of a certain French cartoon I used to watch.
That probably proves how much evolution fascinates me, the fact that I still remember the opening of a cartoon I haven't watched in probably 11-12 years.
Well, I did this, but wasn't very happy with the results. It was difficult to capture every post-it on film, keeping a certain pace while filming, and making the story detailed enough. I think I went into this attempt with too much hubris, and thus underestimated the task at hand.
Be warned, very rough edit.
I haven't scrapped this idea completely, and I do want to come back to it, but for now, I don't find this good enough. While working on this I had a different idea though. I pictured intercutting the video of my post-it story with images or video of apes. They are of course supposed to symbolise what we come from, but also question how far we've really come. I really wanted to use that astounding opening from "2001: A Space Odyssey" (An absolute masterpiece, and one of my favourite films! Truly some of Kubricks best work!) with the monkey and "Also sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss playing for the duration of it. To mirror the epicness of this piece, I would like to use very mundane clips of a person waking up, thus hopefully creating the symbolism I wanted.
As you can see, I only used the music over the clips of me waking up. I did this to create a certain anti-climactic sensation, compared to the suspense one usually feels during that scene. I also made the video black and white to further bring forth my message about doubting how far human kind really has come. We used to be so free, and isn't everything now slightly more grey?
To be honest, I don't think so. I think life is what you make it. We can still go out and enjoy whatever life offers us, we don't have to sit behind a desk all day. If we're not happy where we are, we can always move, and in the end, isn't that what migration is all about?
Oxford Dictionaries. "migration"
oxforddictionaries.com.
(http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/migration) [24th January 2016]
National Geographic. "What "Lady Liberty" and Ellis Island mean today."
video.nationalgeographic.com. 26th December 2013
(http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/liberty-ellis-island-vin) [26th January 2016]
BBC. "Moses."
bbc.co.uk. 6th July 2009.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/history/moses_1.shtml) [26th January 2016]
Guggenheim. "Carl Andre."
guggenheim.org.
(http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/artwork/5374) [30th January 2016]
"so this is new"
Experimental film. Experimental film. Experimental film.
To be honest, I thought experimental film would be easy. But actually trying to make something different? Man, that's a toughie! I've been turning my brain, and my groups brain inside out for two days now. In the end we actually decided to split up and do individual projects, but I definitely think that the brainstorming was healthy for all of us :)
For my idea I wanted to try something that I personally haven't tried before, therefore at least making it an experience for me. But what to do ey
But then BAM, like a dream it hit me! (I actually did dream it, funny story.) What if I do POV? That I film from my perspective! I liked the idea, so I did some research, and this is what I found:
"The Stampede" by Biting Elbows
That looks simply amazing and i definitely want to try this :D
After watching a couple of videos on youtube about how to film POV, it seems its a much harder task than I originally intended haha, but oh well, let's make a head rig!
The head rig consisted of a bandana and my camera snuggling in it like a new born, right under my chin. The finished product was alright, but I see a lot of potential in working more with POV, and experimental film :)
-TJ
"quality content"
So this is what I made in After Effects today. I liked it.
Newspapers, glue, and friends who haven't seen each other for four week - what could go wrong?
So the year starts anew, and with that a new term, new challenges, new ideas, and new assignments. I think we have all been rather curious about how this second term is gonna be. Last year everything was new and exciting, and let's be honest, making a sequel is scary. To quote film maker George Lucas,
"The easy one to make is the first film because nobody knows whether you can make a film or not. You've made a bunch of little projects, you've shown off you have talent, and you talk real fast, and you convince somebody that you should be doing a feature. And, they let you do a feature. After you've done that feature, then you have heck of a difficult time getting your second film off the ground. They look at your first film and they say, "Oh well, we don't want you anymore."
So starting second term is in no way a small task. Why not have some fun then?
As I discussed in my previous post I think experimental film is some rad stuff. You can basically think of your craziest ideas and put them to life! So now we just have to actually make those ideas haha, which in my opinion is probably the most fun part :)
So Anne got us some newspapers, some scissors, some glue, and a blank piece of paper. "Find nouns, adjectives, and verbs! Make poems! Glue them together!" she said. "Ayay!" we said. (Maybe not out loud, but we were definitely thinking it.)
So, this on is ours. I went for the "pick your own" poem approach. It's a never ending square, so pick the order you thinking sounds the best, and voila! You have a poem.
This one has a lot of words. Good job !
These two belong together. Clearly someone has captured David Camerons infamous lust for fresh bacon.
I don't know about the others, but with banter, friends, and kindergarten activities, at least I had a blast :D
And to now finish off this post with another quote by the previously mentioned George Lucas, while I enjoy this Star Wars-branded Volvic Natural Still Water,
"I took over control of the merchandising not because I thought it was going to make me rich, but because I wanted to control it. I wanted to make a stand for social, safety, and quality reasons. I didn't want someone using the name "Star Wars" on a piece of junk."
Truly a man of his word.
-TJ
PS. I might have a few spelling mistakes, but my Oxford comma is on point.
Sources:
"Interview: George Lucas." achievement.org. 19th June 1999. (http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/printmember/luc0int-1)
[13th January 2016]
"George Lucas, personal quotes." imdb.com. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000184/bio?ref_=nm_dyk_qt_sm#quotes)
[13th January 2016]
Experimental film
Experimental film, also known as Avant Garde, is whenever a film or music video takes a step away from the mainstream. The normal, typical, and frankly sometimes boring conventions of film making take a bow, and make room for new, fresh, and maybe even crazy ideas. Considering this genre is experimental at the very core, nothing really defines how long, or how "entertaining" they have to be. Films can range from 15 seconds to multiple hours, and dialog/visuals are an optional. I believe that because of this genres raw attitude towards rules, it's easier to express human emotions, but also pressing topics. Experimental film has been looked down on by a lot of people because of the sheer uniqueness, but has also been criticised based on the artist behind the film. It's quite common that because of the immense emotion it takes to make an experimental film, the artist often appears in the film themselves. By some this could be perceived as narcissistic.
Now it's important to remember that every aspect of the film can be experimental, even the screening. Many artists wants their film to be screened in unusual ways, like on a passing tube, or on the ceiling of a warehouse. (Those ideas were just me thinking haha). If you for an example screened it on the ceiling of a warehouse your film might be about consumerism, or maybe how we always have our nose stuck to a smartphone, and would never look up to actually see the film. Experimental film is more common today I think, as more people have access to art. That might sound like a silly thing, but it's a fact that we live in a world today were its not completely fatal to take chances - thus more people being able to pursue their art.
Now, for starters I decided to take a look at Derek Jarman. And what an astounding artist he was! The film that first caught my eyes was his film from 1993, "Blue". The film is filmed exclusively on a blue background with a narrator talking about Jarman's fearless confrontation with his loss of sight, and his imminent mortality. Jarman's loss of sight was due to the AIDS virus, and he uses the film to list symptoms, his endless visits to the hospital, and serves as a general look back on his life. It's an immersive experience where you too can close your eyes and just listen - without being afraid of missing any visuals. Simon Fisher Turner provides a lovely soundtrack that also adds greatly to the experience. I found this film really compelling because as a person who is really interested in film, I'm always looking for the best visual I can get, but this completely removes that aspect without taking anything away from the experience. I find that truly amazing!
"Blue" (1993) by Derek Jarman - please take the time to listen to the 10 first minutes
Jarman would in interviews say that he was not "living with AIDS", but rather "dying with it". This is not necessarily a negative output on the situation, but maybe just the realistic one that he needed. In Blue, we hear that the whole experience is dreading, but there is a nostalgic side to it as well. Cinematographer Christopher Doyle said in an interview that Blue was one of the most intimate films he'd ever seen, and I can completely understand why. Derek Jarman invites you for a screening of his entire life, and you sit next to him as he quietly fades away.
He sadly died only four months after the films release at the age of 52.
Davidson, Alex. "Derek Jarman: five essential films."
BFI.com. 30th Januar 2015.
(http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/lists/derek-jarman-five-essential-films) [9th January 2016]
Garfield, Simon. "Derek Jarman: into the blue: He is not living with Aids, he says, but dying with it. But he works on. His new film and his very presence are reminders of how, in him, radical challenge and disarming delight go hand in hand. Simon Garfield reports."
independent.co.uk. 13th August 1993.
(http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/derek-jarman-into-the-blue-he-is-not-living-with-aids-he-says-but-dying-with-it-but-he-works-on-his-1461014.html) [9th January 2016]
Johnston, Sheila. "Film-makers on film: Christopher Doyle"
telegraph.co.uk. 19th April 2005
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmmakersonfilm/3640666/Film-makers-on-film-Christopher-Doyle.html [10th January 2016]
Hello, back in the day I figured that it must be so cool to be an art student. Imagine it; black berets, striped turtlenecks, Paris, and groundbreaking artwork in all the underground galleries with exposed brick.
Now I'm 20, I study art, and pasta is my main source of nutrients.
