Watch the Video
Parents ever tell you not to sit too close? Let's make up for lost time...
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Brakhage Article
It wasn't until this year that I even knew the name Stan Brakhage. In my documentary film class we watched "The act of seeing with one's own eyes" which was shot by Brakhage in the early 90's. All I heard about him was that his films were always silent, and considering the heavy use of bone saws in that film, I was grateful for that. However, after viewing the film and thinking about his other films - of which I saw perhaps, two - I came to the conclusion that he was a quack of a filmmaker who couldn't make it as a "real" filmmaker and thus had to resort to painting by numbers on film like a three year old. In my opinion he was given recognition solely because of the difficulty of his work's creation.
After reading this article, I respect the man a great deal more. This wasn't just mindless tinkering with film that he was doing, that was serious, legitimate study and exploration of the possibilities of the medium. Sure, film was created with the idea that it should be used in a camera, but truly great minds take an idea like that and build on it. The most impressive part of the article to me was when he was discussing synchronized projection to whoever he was writing the letter to. I feel odd making this comparison, but it was almost like reading one of the letters of Paul in the New Testament. He was giving careful advice and instruction to this other filmmaker based on his experiences. I particularly liked his description of the 1958 screening of Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, which he estimates about 15 people saw in it's correct form. I think it illustrates well the difficulties in all areas of this type of filmmaking.
Half the article, it seems like, was written on splicing methods. That's pretty insane considering splicing is just a tiny aspect of making these films work. I can't imagine working in darkness or animating with inks for hours on end then having splicing issues and distribution issues on top of that. It seems like a lot of work for not a lot of payoff, but for Brakhage I suspect the payoff came to him in other ways. I am extremely impressed by the work of his that I've seen and reading this article and being in this class has played a big role in that change for me.
After reading this article, I respect the man a great deal more. This wasn't just mindless tinkering with film that he was doing, that was serious, legitimate study and exploration of the possibilities of the medium. Sure, film was created with the idea that it should be used in a camera, but truly great minds take an idea like that and build on it. The most impressive part of the article to me was when he was discussing synchronized projection to whoever he was writing the letter to. I feel odd making this comparison, but it was almost like reading one of the letters of Paul in the New Testament. He was giving careful advice and instruction to this other filmmaker based on his experiences. I particularly liked his description of the 1958 screening of Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, which he estimates about 15 people saw in it's correct form. I think it illustrates well the difficulties in all areas of this type of filmmaking.
Half the article, it seems like, was written on splicing methods. That's pretty insane considering splicing is just a tiny aspect of making these films work. I can't imagine working in darkness or animating with inks for hours on end then having splicing issues and distribution issues on top of that. It seems like a lot of work for not a lot of payoff, but for Brakhage I suspect the payoff came to him in other ways. I am extremely impressed by the work of his that I've seen and reading this article and being in this class has played a big role in that change for me.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Mmmm Mmmm
At lunch today I considered who would win in a fight between the two...and had some free time.
Cheese it! It's the Fuzz!
My title has absolutely nothing to do with this post, I have just always wanted an excuse to use that line and since I never find myself in such situations, here it appears.
The elements project is a little bit frightening. I have a game plan, I know what I want to do with both Earth and Fire, but now some new issues have come about. After reading some other people's blogs I now see that Rapidograph ink is hard to come by in Wilmington. I think using sharpies might give the same effect I'm looking for, but I'm not sure.
I want to keep this simple, not only because making it complicated might drive me crazy, but because I think the elements in and of themselves are simple and the same, no matter where you find them. For earth I want to see if I can incorporate the greenish tint from the scratching of the emulsion into it. I don't know if that'll happen on our clear leader, but I guess I'll find out. I'll cover the strip with varying intensities of brown and scratch away at it like the cracked earth, hopefully letting the green come through as well as some white (which I'm going to say represents rock...like granite).
For fire I had a little bit different idea. When I thought about it what came to my mind were these little balls of fire. Almost like polka dots of flame. I think that several red, yellow, and orange dots that grow and "explode" on the film will work nicely. Of course, I don't know how anything is really going to look until I see it up on the screen. Of the two, I'm probably most looking forward to seeing fire.
I'm going out of town this weekend so tonight I'll be trying to get the majority of work done. Using sharpies instead of ink does make me nervous because I'm not sure if it's going to show through like I want it to. Hopefully when I get started it'll become clearer as to whether or not it's going to work.
~Sloan
The elements project is a little bit frightening. I have a game plan, I know what I want to do with both Earth and Fire, but now some new issues have come about. After reading some other people's blogs I now see that Rapidograph ink is hard to come by in Wilmington. I think using sharpies might give the same effect I'm looking for, but I'm not sure.
I want to keep this simple, not only because making it complicated might drive me crazy, but because I think the elements in and of themselves are simple and the same, no matter where you find them. For earth I want to see if I can incorporate the greenish tint from the scratching of the emulsion into it. I don't know if that'll happen on our clear leader, but I guess I'll find out. I'll cover the strip with varying intensities of brown and scratch away at it like the cracked earth, hopefully letting the green come through as well as some white (which I'm going to say represents rock...like granite).
For fire I had a little bit different idea. When I thought about it what came to my mind were these little balls of fire. Almost like polka dots of flame. I think that several red, yellow, and orange dots that grow and "explode" on the film will work nicely. Of course, I don't know how anything is really going to look until I see it up on the screen. Of the two, I'm probably most looking forward to seeing fire.
I'm going out of town this weekend so tonight I'll be trying to get the majority of work done. Using sharpies instead of ink does make me nervous because I'm not sure if it's going to show through like I want it to. Hopefully when I get started it'll become clearer as to whether or not it's going to work.
~Sloan
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