Dec 7, 11:40 AM (afternoon) - by dedi
i’ve never been very good at preproduction. although i can see that well-thought out planning can save so much in the end, i find it tedious and don’t pay it much attention. i’m growing out of this a bit more and the reading got me thinking about it more. it would have helped a lot in the projects i took on this semester. most important is having a good narrative/abstract/treatment/sketch; with a strong enough picture almost anything can be made. the authors also correctly point out that this vision clearly stated can be a great recruitment, fundraising/support-gathering and awareness spreading tool. when i think of preproduction in this way, it doesn’t seem so bad anymore.
lately, i’ve taken to heart the task of keeping up with (or at least trying to) documentation and crafting methodology. i keep better notes now; notes on process, questions, random feelings. i’m discussing works in progress more; user feedback has been really helpful. hopefully, this will better my process a bit.
the last chapter reminded me that i need to link up and write descriptions for my video work on my website. the article doesn’t get into the internet as a medium for self-distribution. i think that would be an interesting article, but then that maybe my own self-interest.
reading:
- barbash, ilisa and lucien taylor. cross cultural filmmaking
filed under assignment, film
Oct 16, 07:56 AM (noon) - by dedi
documentary is often viewed as a special case, where the viewer breaks their suspension of disbelief on the grounds that the filmmakers, in an effort to be unbiased, have created a document that rings true. ruby argues that bringing a reflexive stance is critical to the true understanding of the viewer. in order to achieve this understanding, process and producer need to be as evident as the product. when the work uses the author as the subject there is a danger that information will be assumed or withheld (not necessarily on purpose). pryluck’s article made me think about the effect the movie salesman had on the people involved. the exploitation of direct cinema is like stealing pieces or aspects of ones’ life and spinning it outside of your control. the images reflected may not seem like you, but it can be hard to prove that even to oneself. in that sense i guess direct cinema can feel like rape. to be fair, filmmakers may need to take the extra step and have the participants sign off on their part in the film upon completion. or to make it clear that they cannot “produce and objective mirror by which the world can see its ‘true’ image.”
readings:
- ruby, jay. the image mirrored: reflexivity and the documentary film
- ruby, jay. the ethics of filmmaking
- pryluck, calvin. ultimately we are all outsiders
- sobchack, vivia c. no lies: direct cinema as rape
filed under assignment, film
Oct 11, 06:58 PM (late at night) - by dedi
i wonder about the ability of film to capture things that may only be experienced. especially in the context of cultural difference and ritual. the idea that the experience of possession could be described is absurd; it’s an event that only the possessed can really feel. trying to document that is a fallacy, and can be perceived more as a show than something that happens to an audience of non-believers. i feel as though it just sets them and everything is lost. deren’s work in haiti makes me wonder if it was worth all the effort and time or if she was reaching for something that cannot be grasped. i don’t believe that film or any symbolic medium is really fit to capture God. religion is so personal, that i don’t know what distance could be reached that would be adequate to investigate that.
i find rouch’s work exploitive despite his success at pushing the distancing factor of video documentation to the extreme. but i do want to preserve this quote
“When you observe people, you’re automatically present and there’s nothing you can do about it; so there’s a distortion of truth.”
i’m interested in his idea that he is a make of “science fiction,” acknowledging the construct with the interplay of the real. elliot and i are currently working on building new fictions from the real using found photos to construct the life story of some unknown person.
i don’t feel like i really connected with any of the readings this week. i liked some of the ideas, but i don’t really have much else to say about any of them.
readings:
- yaxir, dan. cinetranse: the vision of jean rouch
- debouzek, jeanette. the ethnographic representation of jean rouch
- sullivan, moira. deren’s ethnographic representation of ritual and myth in haiti
filed under assignment, film
Sep 27, 01:36 PM (evening) - by dedi
with structural film comes a sort of obsession with the process, material and/or the construct of film itself. if you ever wondered what a difference the degree and amount of panning, angle, exposure, repetition, composition, color, lighting, synch dialogue, etc. have on any given piece, then structural film is a playground of experimentation with potentially more questions of interest. in some cases, the focus on the structure pulls focus from the content of a piece to a love of the device in play. this loss of focus disrupts the importance of the content and brings the production to the foreground. whatever is being said within the construct is likely obstructed in some way and this pushes the viewer to recognizes the filmic. instead the filmic devices that create and manipulate the language of the piece. the viewer no longer able to simply soak in the content or narrative, must actively think about what’s off frame, or what they are allowed to see versus what they are not allowed to see. once again we see the undermining of the authority of a single truth; we are now aware there is more we are missing.
personally, i’ve never liked warhol’s films. i just don’t feel the pain living through some of his films is worth it in the end. michael snow on the other hand, the idea behind his work is interesting and fun. however, i’m not sure if i have the patience to sit through a full screening of his work either. i can appreciate deren’s work. somehow it moves me on a more psychic level like pushing thoughts around; something less than conscious. “it is cinema of the mind rather than the eye.” so, i disagree with sitney that warhol is the “major precursor” of structural film and instead i choose deren. although i admit that it is partially abour my warhol hatred.
reading:
- rees, a. l. a history of experimental film and video
- james, david e. pure film
- sitney. structural film
- gidal. theory and definition of structural/materialist film
filed under assignment, film
feedback [2]
Sep 21, 12:49 PM (evening) - by dedi
i’ve always been partial to surrealist art work. i’m attracted to it in the way that i become fascinated with horror films. surrealism supplants, distorts and confuses the real to expose the hidden, the broken and the fragmented. “it shows difference where sameness is expected.” because we cannot depend on everything being normal, surrealism enables the specific to form. in effect the piece will be different for everyone. and it really is about the multitude of stories, cultures and artifacts and the “fundamental issues of classification and value” they raise.
surrealism favors collage, unexpected juxtapositions and the uncanny. in a documentary sense, it seems to pull out the sense of things and replace it with a jumble for the viewer to work out themselves. using this strategy is cruel in a way, but it breaks the trap of the objective truth and leaves the viewer with pieces of their own truth. to assemble the pieces is to bring meaning to one’s personal collage.
i like their style of watching films as well; “moving from one cinema to the next and leaving in the middle of the show when they lost interest…” i’ve actually done that myself but it seems like i always wind up seeing at least one whole film sometime during the day.
readings:
- rees, a. l. a history of experimental film and video
- clifford. on ethnographic surrealism
- jackson, renata. the modernist poetics of maya deren
filed under assignment, film
Sep 14, 12:14 PM (evening) - by dedi
i think this week’s reading makes it clearer to me why i am so drawn to personal documentary/ethnography as a form/platform. due to it’s strong identity politics and openness, i can focus on my experience of the work. i can set aside the uneasiness that often crops up in the authoritative tones of traditional documentary. when the “i” is brought into the story, its position is clear and i can weigh the information (re)presented more freely. the work is allowed to be its own thing and i am allowed to be me within a certain distance. “any story has a propensity to generate another story in the mind of its reader (or hearer), to repeat and displace some prior story” (clifford). i like the side effects that a clear view of the author gives, for one thing it brings the spectator into the thinking surrounding the piece. the interjection of this presence makes for a more knowledgeable, active and involved audience.
the thing i find interesting about ethnographic allegory how the personal touch brings out a personal story for each of us. clifford’s examples show a filmmaker enriching her own sense of (western) womanhood through witnessing the lives of “others” and reveals how she sees things. the important distinction being that this view is her own and that the viewer should know this as well. nichols adds that these “reflexive techniques” bring nuance and draw our attention to the perfomative nature of film. most interesting is “the tension between performance and document;” how much is true? what does true really mean? can the truth be reached? allegory is “inherent within every work.” it is only our idea of the objective truth and the craft of the author to mask their individual stamp that obscure this realization. every story is told by someone, even history—especially history.
reading:
- clifford. on ethnographic allegory
- nichols, bill. blurred boundaries
filed under assignment, film
Nov 26, 09:17 AM (afternoon) - by dedi
background
i’ve never really been all that interested in photography. that changed slightly when my father bought me a digital camera for graduation. perhaps it’s the simplicity or that i’m too lazy to get film developed, but i’m getting into it. i like how an image can reveal its own story. i thought it would be fun to experiment a bit with cameras and images and so i decided to start at the most basic level, pinholes.
searching around for building tips and instructions, i found David Balihar’s site with detailed information on the Dirkon paper pinhole camera. the instructions could use a little work, but with a little patience and touchups you’ll hopefully wind up with a functioning camera.
the camera
items needed:
- Dirkon template
- thick stock paper & printer
- glue
- exacto knife and/or scissors
- clasp/snap (used for sewing) or perhaps a brad
- film rolls (including one empty)
- patience & folding skills
the process
the clasps i used were a bit small (the pokey bit could have been a bit longer) but it seems to work. i used an exacto knife for most of the cutting, but it was a little less than exact in some places. i spray painted the inside to block out the light (the paper i used wasn’t entirely opaque) and i taped off the corners to fill potential leaks. be especially careful with the folding and make sure everything dries before manipulating the pieces.
cut out the pieces
folding can be fun sometimes…
constructing the body
almost done
notes
once i got the paper camera together, there was the problem of film. i couldn’t get it to advance the way the instructions indicated so i had to explore more creative ways of doing it. i imagined using my bathroom as darkroom and advancing the film by hand between shots. another idea was to jimmy my own uptake and see if the developer would handle the rest. that’s when the idea of using a reusable film cassette came up. alina remembered using them to take photos with school made film stock. then we just had to find one. eventually, i got some at b & h photo (10 for $5) and they worked! the first roll i shot came out mostly overexposed (i think i underestimated the ablities of the camera). the exposures aren’t quite evenly spaced on the roll, which is something to ask about before dropping it off at the film lab. with all of that done, it’s a matter of experimentation with color, exposure, light and “focus”.
images
1st attempt:
inbetweeners
boxes
sign
ladder
resources
david balihar – dirkon
oatmeal box
cartridge film
doug bardell’s cameras
filed under assignment, graphic
Nov 16, 09:56 AM (afternoon) - by dedi
a little icon factory.
filed under assignment, media
Nov 6, 09:53 AM (afternoon) - by dedi
i like this one. come up with a color palette from an image and collect other images that feature that color.
color palette
edit: that new GAP commerical with sarah jessica parker stole our colors!
filed under assignment, media
Oct 26, 09:40 AM (afternoon) - by dedi
band vs banned
toon vs tune
pear vs pair
picking up flash again is not like learning to riding a bicycle again. not that i ever got very far to begin with. i still don’t like it much, but perhaps that will change once i get something useful out of it…like an xml-based photo gallery/slideshow. toon vs tune got messed up in the mac to pc translation. it’s my favorite though followed by pear vs. pair. it’s nice to be done.
filed under assignment, media
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