Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (Dan Ireland, 2006)

Lighting on some of the conversations shots between actors are surprise off, seems the light meters only use on one of the characters in the conversation. Which of course mean, either they forgot or got too lazy reading the changing sunlight. As the pictures towards the later part of the film, the lighting got better as if the people in charge are also learning the lighting with our class.

Since the film is focus on an elderly lady, there is only a part of the film with more alarming shots, which present in faster cuts, such as fast moving cars or building to building. The rest are longer shots and the spaces are mostly indoors which means, the controlling lights with better exposures for the film. 

Spinning’ (Eusebio Pastrana, 2007)

A film with characters that are trying to live positive in their life, which they are there for each other no matter who you are. Characters emotions were directly present in front of the camera, without layers of silence to cover them.

Although, through out the film are full of colorful colors and acting casually as daily story. The editing wasn’t completely satisfying for me at all, it does look very casual, and some cuts felt they weren’t carefully being edited, even though I believe they do. And there are also some moving shots were suddenly over expose due to direct sunshine without filter, which makes me wonder the reason for picking those are either over expose or moving shots doesn’t seem to be on purpose.

"Will you Dance For Me," Ori Gersht (2nd posting)

I am sad that I just accidentally deleted this post and cannot seem to get it back! I DO HAVE PROOF THAT I WROTE IT THOUGH -(a screen shot I took from a window opened before I deleted the post by mistake). So here's that proof. I hope you all read it when it existed in its entirety. (it was pretty good too I think... darn.)

Girl, Interrupted

Girl, Interrupted is a film directed by James Mangold starring Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie.  In the film Susanna (Ryder) is institutionalized in a women's mental hospital.  The movie follows Susanna through her time in the hospital and her interactions with the other girls there.  All the girls in this movie had moments when they seemed like "normal" girls I would have found in my own high school, and then underneath they were all really emotionally messed up.  One girl is ridiculously skinny due to eating disorders.  Jolie's character knows just what to do to make everyone around her sad and upset (and at one point, commit suicide).  Susanna is a sex addict, amongst other things.

It seems strange to me though that all of these problems are considered normal when displayed to a slightly lesser degree.  Tons of high school girls have body issues, and food issues, and low self confidence.  Or hurt people who care about them.  Or sleep around.  Girl, Interrupted takes normal problems, accentuates them, and then locks up the girls who are suffering in an asylum to help them get better.  In the film, Susanna is portrayed as getting better.  However Jolie's character, Lisa, never does.

I only found out after watching this movie that Girl, Interrupted is based on a book by Susanna Kaysen about the eighteen months she really did spend in a mental hospital in the 1960s.  While this movie already had an emotional impact for me, it was scary to realize that the film I thought was fictional was actually based on someone's life.

Mostly Martha (Sandra Nettelbeck, 2001)

In the movie is present it as many of the European movies, very calm and clear what is present (at least the one I saw). However the connection of this movie made me re-watched it few times just to make sure I caught the moments where I love.

Particularly, in the last chapter 14 (around 1&1/2 hours from the beginning) when Martha (the main character) walks into the restaurant kitchen alone, prepare for evening customers. A close shot of her standing in the kitchen alone than when she kept looking up, suddenly her coworker is walking into the frame behind her as the kitchen have been working as normal for a while. The cut wasn’t very hard to find, however it was a perfect decoy for me to miss, when Martha was breaking the fourth wall.

The cut between her being alone and her co-worker walking behind her was when Martha looks steadily at us; that is where the cut was. If it wasn’t a bit of the expose on the left side of the screen, I can say it was a perfect cut. This is only one of the examples of the cut; there are so many great once, which would leave it to whoever is interest in the movie.

D'hana D. Perry's PROJECT LOOSE

On Tuesday in my Intro to Queer Studies class at Tufts, D'hana Perry, a Boston-based media artist, talked to us about his/her art practice and gave a performance. D'hana didn't tell us his/her pronoun preferences, and I didn't ask -so I'll use both just to reinforce his/her gender-nonconformity/queer identity (s/he did identify as those things).

S/he mixes sounds (music, interviews, other sounds) with found footage and his/her own footage of interviews conducted with gender-non-conforming people of color to perform remixed versions of his/her experimental documentary, "Loose". S/he has a computer program that allows him/her to queue clips of sound and image and arrange them live to make a new video each time. The form of the documentary performance contains the possibility for so many different versions. The form of the piece adds to the meaning of its content. This documentary describes the complex interlacing of race with gender and sexual identities.

Because we just talked more about editing in class yesterday, D'hana's video/performance work is relevant and interesting. S/he already has her clips cut and puts them together in different ways every time she performs the piece. It creates new relationships between clips and the interviews and a way that I think helps stretch the viewer's understanding of being queer and of color.

D'hana's video clips sometimes have two layers of images -a recurring layer over an interview subject is a tv screen test pattern. Sometimes there are layers of text. D'hana also uses repetitions in the interviews sound component. During the performance, sometimes I got lost in the images, music, and the dreamy repetition of speaking voices. I think my experience of the documentary shows that it breaks down a typical documentary narrative. D'hana talked about this type of narrative in which the minority "other" that is studied in the film is praised for struggling against all odds and succeeding in assimilating enough into American culture to be productive, respected citizens. Loose is critical of that oversimplified narrative, which does not represent the subject's actual experiences.

D'hana made the soundtrack her/himself, which is mostly electronic music (over which s/he layers other sounds). A big part of D'hana's work is its connection to the practice of DJing and making remixes. Her/his video work is a live remix of interviewee's narratives, perhaps suggesting that the work is a reflection of his/her own story. S/he does say that the documentary is autobiographical, even though the video included none of her/his voice or face.
I think it's really cool that the version I saw in class has completely different combinations in her video remixing than in this recording of a live performance (now on youtube). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OIRifwOTaM&list=UUeT-5YNlw3Q7MTPkMD0llkw&index=1&feature=plcp

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I recently went to the theater to see The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  Perks is one of my favorite novels of all time, so going into the film I was rather apprehensive that this movie would ruin one of my most beloved works of literature.  Or that it would become a Blockbuster hit and that people would start telling me how much they adored Perks, only to admit later that they'd seen the movie but never read the book.  I would have cried.

Luckily, The Perks of Being a Wallflower (the movie) rose above my aforementioned fears.  Perks was adapted for screenplay by Stephen Chbosky, the author of the original novel.  He also directed the film.  Knowing that the author of the original novel was such an integral part in the making of the film made me much more comfortable with the movie.  It was interesting to see how Stephen Chbosky envisioned his characters, even at times when the film differed from my own mental portrayals.

Perhaps my absolute favorite part of Perks, the movie, is a transition between scenes during Charlie's Christmas vacation.  The movie jumps from Charlie opening his mouth to accept communion to Charlie taking LSD at a party with his friends.  The shots themselves were beautiful and the juxtaposition of Charlie's home life against that of this social time with friends really highlighted what I believe to be an essential part of Charlie's character.  A moment like this, only possible through the medium of film, made me glad that this novel had been transformed for the big screen.

2nd shoot in my place Pictures

Helloo again!!

Here are the fabulous pictures I took today. Well, now that I think about it they are not so fabulous because I forgot to take a picture where I am in, but these are cool anyways.

We had a lot of fun, hopefully our film comes out really awesome.

Our collaborative subversive project... Which is expected to be a little bit more subversive that the ones we did before.

I already sent the film to Cinelab, and all the audio files are in the dropbox already.

The food was really awesome by the way. 

Thanks for making this shoot really great.

Meetin' WA by Jean Luc Godard

Meetin' WA (1986) is a short film by Jean Luc Godard about a conversation he had with Woody Allen, I presume, when they met.

For all of the interview shots, Godard is positioned on the left side of the frame, out of focus so that Woody Allen is the focus of the shot. This is the set up even when Godard is speaking. The movie is not composed only of interview clips. There are also photographs and images of paintings (two or three of houses that Godard mentions are in a Woody Allen film). The photographs are sometimes layered, and sometimes fade to another and then back out. This element of the photographs, some of them I can tell are from Woody Allen's films, some of them are not familiar to me, is rather weird in the context of a conversation. These images add some depth, maybe context, to the conversation.  The sound of the film is dialogue, in French and English (Godard speaks both, and there is a translator's voice present as well) and interspersed jazz saxophone. The saxophone sometimes plays when the photographs are shown -switching back and forth or transitioning into each other.

It was fascinating to hear Woody Allen describe some of his interests in editing his films. One of his influences for featuring several protagonists and cutting back and forth to their stories(following many characters, not just focusing on one or two main characters) is certain novels that do the same thing. Though not an influence from cinema, I think the film medium suits that technique well. There is motion and fluidity in film that can express the simultaneity of peoples' experiences.

Pictures from 1st shoot with the Arri.

Hi guys! Here are the pictures I took the day of the shooting in my house.

Once more I share them with you, I hope you like them.

Looking forward to see you all tomorrow to do a great film!

Serious artists...

The movie stars.

Thelma and Louise

Last week I watched Thelma and Louise (1991), directed by Ridley Scott and starring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis (with a bit of young Brad Pitt).  I am ashamed to admit that this was actually the first time I saw the movie in its entirety; I thought it was fabulous!  

The characters in this movie felt full and believable, even as they raced across the country towards Mexico.  It was interesting to see the relationship between Louise and Thelma, and how each woman developed throughout the film.  Louise at first appears to be a much more confident woman than Thelma.  She continuously tells Thelma to stand up to her horrible husband and it is Louise who shoots Harlan, the rapist at the start of the film.  However, as the movie progresses Thelma really comes into herself and does begin to take a stand; she decides to leave her husband, robs a store, and then holds up a police officer when he attempts to radio his headquarters.  Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis brought out deeper aspects of their characters as the movie progressed, creating fascinating fascinating women rather than flat action heros.

The landscapes in this movie are also incredible.  The breathtaking views of rural roads really contrasts in my mind to the chaos Thelma and Louise are trying to overcome.  When Louise gets pulled over for speeding, I was riveted to the conflict going on with the characters.  However, at the same time you see the majesty of the desert landscape in the background.  It made me think about how small Thelma and Louise' problems are compared to the vast desert, and yet they were also so incredibly large.

"El Topo" Alejandro Jodorowsky

After watching "Holy Mountain," by Jodorowsky I was really interested to see some of his other works, to see if they were even up to par with that film, and "El Topo," (which I found out came out before "Holy Mountain," actually) didn't disappoint.
Jodorowsky is a surreal filmmaker, often using imagery that isn't only surreal, but strange, and frequently uncomfortable. Which is definitely a lot of what "El Topo" held. While a lot of the movie has meaning, that is certainly hard to grasp at times, some of it is there for the sake of the film. Almost entirely, I think it leaves it to the viewers imagination.
Although, the strong role of paternal issues certainly stand out, and the fact that Jodorowsky plays the title character ("El Topo") and cast his son as his naked companion in the beginning, adds a certain unusual ambiance to this already blatantly bizarre film.

This film uses very little close-ups and I think certainly adds more to the strange quality of this film. A lot of the themes of this films need the full pictures, the landscape, more than single characters shots, and I think it is very successful.

The colors and framing of the film are particularly striking and seem to make this small film grand. The palette is as cohesive as the film, which isn't saying much. But it all fits together. I especially love that everytime Jodorowsky chooses to show blood in his film (which is frequently) he uses a bright, bright red color, that maybe doesn't seem real, but brings a certain aliveness, and adds to the surrealist elements. 

(I couldn't really find a photo that did it justice but if you look at the wall being hit by the light, it kind of shows you what I mean)

The soundtrack at the sametime, not only keeps the weirdness brewing, but I think it really enhances the visuals. The movie doesn't have a whole heap of dialogue, the lack of it, with only images, and strange music to keep you company, I think, really plummets you into the film farther. 

Fun fact: Jon Lennon helped Jodorowsky get the soundtrack to this released, and was a huge supporter of his films. I'm pretty sure the man gave  Jodorowsky some $$$ dolladollabillz $ to make "Holy Mountain."

Article

Film has not only broken from the traditional form in Europe, it also is use as a vehicle to against the power in the society in the U.S.. Tradition was challenge by filmmakers, from lighting, characters, and purpose of the items in our daily use, such as furniture connecting stairs to closet. Create the whole surrealist in the film, with much more imagination and connecting for audience to engage with the moving picture.

The other article (Film as a Subversive Art), describes the relationship between the film in theater and viewer, all audience lose themselves into the moving images, so audience could have emotion as interactions. While forgets watching through projector, a point of view got my attention “Thus, during half the time spent at the movies, the viewer sees no picture at all; and at no time is there any movement” (p.3). Because our brain automatically focus on the next images and connect with the previous one, and avoid the darkness in between. It may be a great point to understand as a film student, but it will defiantly destroy the foolish me who were only focus on the moving images.

CHun 

Sound in "Arme Leute" shown in GERMANY YEAR 1962 at Balagan

Something I first noticed about Vlado Kristl's "Arme Leute" was the oddness of the sound-image relationship. Though there is a stampede of shouting, gesticulating men the shouts often did not match up exactly with shots of the men shouting and would cut out to silence. A large "tin can" (I don't know what the object was -some sort of metal container) is being dragged on a rope by a lone man, the sounds played while this man walks with his can sound like guns being fired or little explosions. These sounds also cut out to silence. As the movie continues sounds of explosions are matched up to people's movements. It was weird, and interesting, to watch people move around in a situation where there were no weapons to the sound of weapons. Silence was important to the movie for multiple reasons. One reason is that it connects with the presence of a film director and another figure, perhaps a producer or designer, in the very beginning and end of the film. Unexpected moments of silence jarred me from following the narrative as I saw it. The silence suggests the artifice of the film medium, or filmmaking, or the making of narrative films (I don't know what...). The unnaturalness of the sound element (especially the mixing of sounds with silence) also matches up with some tightly designed, aesthetic shots of the crowd of men lying on the ground below some stairs (or on the stairs. I can't remember clearly.) their white shirts and black pants making a pattern that made me think of computers, organization, sterility, mass-producibility. These men looked like code or segments of DNA.

I just searched for a translation of the title. It appears to mean "poor people". I am still thinking about what was going on in this movie. The title is making me look back at film a little differently -I'm wondering how what I saw fits with what I think "poor people" means.

Pictures from New Bedford and Cinelab!

Hey Guys here are the pictures I took from the field trip to New Bedford and Cinelab...
I hope you like them, and feel free to comment!