16mm Manipulation

     The 16mm film manipulation was an experience. We spent along time on all the various forms of film stock manipulation and the hours of work only resulted in about a minutes worth of footage. The task makes one appreciate not only artists who specialized in short films involving film manipulation but any sort of film where each frame needs to be created or tweaked to make a finished film. Films like the early disney animation movies and films that use stop motion, where each frame needs to be created one by one become even more impressive when you realize just how much hard work goes into creating these types of films.

     For my partner and I's film we used everything from scratching already developed film stock, painting on clear film stock, printing onto film stock, and more. Aesthetically the final minute long finished film looked cool and trippy. However, a story or theme is essentially non existent! Since this class is about experimental film production I believe that an abstract short film with no real story or theme is ok. It was certainly interesting to learn the process of manipulating and developing film stock.

R3 Media

To me crowdsourcing is an interesting way of going about a project. Things such as Wikipedia and the people behind the Cloud Filmmaking prove that crowdsourcing is a way for a community of people who are passionate in their craft to get together and create a unique project. However I feel as though crowdsourcing only works if you have a large and diverse group of talented peoples.

Crowdsourcing I do not think would work if only a small group of people worked together on something. Part of the reason things like Wikipedia and Cloud Filmmaking succeeded so well was because they had a huge number of people participating and backing the projects. If there are a lot of contributors working to contribute toward a common goal, then the project will flourish. If the intended crowdsourcing project only has a few people contributing to the goal then the project will come across as bland and maybe even unoriginal. Although having a lot of talented individuals collaborating together could result in an extraordinary product, working with a large amount of people could possibly result in a loss of a sense of direction and the product may turn out different or worse than you expected.

Crowdsourcing is an ambitious thing to tackle. It would require strict guidelines and dedicated people who all want to achieve the same goal. If one does properly go about a crowdsourcing project then I believe the outcome is likely to be something fantastic.

Reaction to R2 Media

     The video Listen and the documentary short of Justin Boyd really demonstrated the importance of soundscapes and the noise all around us. I think Listen demonstrates this the best with the films impeccable sound design. The long take when the camera circles around the old man emphasizes all the different sounds around him, despite not being able to physically see any of the sources. Also you can gauge just about how far in proximity the sources of the sounds are from the loudness and whether the sounds echo.

     What I found interesting that essentially all the media touched upon was the danger of sound overload. To much sound can not only be harmful to humans but to animals as well. The article on Acoustic Ecology mentions how planes and personalized motor vehicles create such loud and disruptive sounds that they can drown out the sounds that occur amongst wildlife. Since the rise of cities many bird populations have experienced a decrease in their overall populations due to the fact that they cannot hear their mating calls over the sonic booming of cities. I found it redeeming though that government organizations are working to try and limit the disruptive sounds of man made technologies.

     Also I thought it was interesting in the interview with Murray Smith how he comments on how in cities we humans cannot hear more than ten feet around us. Murray refers to loudness and disruptiveness of city sounds and noises as Sonic Sewers, which is essentially just an overproduction of sounds. What Murray feels this is a result of is that cities are much more dense with people than they ever were. People have always complained about sound, even dating back to Roman times. Murray mentions how their are more sound complaints to the police now than compared to actual crime reports.

Response to R1 media

     Synesthesia is when a sensory or cognitive pathway can lead to an involuntary experience in another sensory of cognitive pathway. It's very rare and many people who have synesthesia do not realize that others do not perceive things how they perceive things. Some people use their abilities to help facilitate their work in some way while others consider it a burden because they experience sensory over loads.

     I believe that it would be cool to be to have a mild form of Synesthesia. I would not want to see an array of colors every time I listen to music or when someone is just speaking to me. For certain sounds I think that it would be cool to see various colors, but I would not want to be bombarded with colors and shapes every time I hear something. For example I would not want to be on the level in which David Tammet is on with his Synesthesia. He seems that he experiences all sorts of other additional sensory experiences when another sense is triggered.

     Cymatics is when sound is visualized. Evan Grant believes that Cymatics is a way of finding data in nature. For example, people are able to visualize the noises dolphins use to communicate with one another and the people studying those noises are trying to make a lexicon of dolphin language. If Cymatics is a way to unlock the secrets of nature, like dolphin language, then I believe that it is a crucial field of study to explore to better understand the world around us. In addition to scientific purposes it also makes for an interesting medium for creating art.

Media Fast (17th- 19th)

     The 72 hour media fast was a struggle. About 5 hours into it I saw my phone ring and it was my mom calling. I couldn't ignore momma Alliegro so I picked up the phone, said hello and then told her that she shouldn't try contacting me the next few days. I told her goodbye and restarted my fast.

     I didn't know what to do with myself so I spent most of my time in the library doing homework and reading. When I got bored I would head to the rec center to workout for a while. Whenever I took a break to eat I ate big meals and ate very slowly. Although going the whole time shunning myself from any sort of media I feel as though I was very productive in my time away from the media. Also I think I slept better since I normally scroll through Vine or Twitter before I go to bed, and I read some article awhile back that bright lights do not help in making you fall asleep quickly.

    As productive as I felt on my media fast I do not want to do it again. I'm a film major, first of all, and it's probably beneficial for someone with my major to surround themselves with all sorts of media. Reading about cinema is nice but I enjoy sitting back watching it is much better in my opinion. Also I enjoy listening to music to much to want to media fast again. At this point in my life I have gone most of my life with media at my disposal so it is incredibly taboo to deny yourself any kind of media.

1st Response Transcribed

The visuals could be characterized as erratic if it wasn't for the background music. The graphic displays were in synchronization with the music. For every string that was struck or drum that was hit there was something on the screen that represented the sounds being made. If the tempo sped up the visuals sped up and if it slowed down the visuals slowed down.