Light observation #3

One of the final things I noticed while shooting light was that we had to constantly rework the light meter to make sure we had the right numbers. Some of the shots were in direct sunlight and the light meter had a more difficult time getting the right numbers for these shots. It was a constant thing due to the fact that the clouds kept covering and uncovering the sun. We also had to adjust the light meter in cases where there was not enough light in the shot. We had to make sure there was a certain amount of light that fit into the frame and helped the light meter.

Light observation #2

Another thing I noticed while shooting was the difference between indoor and outdoor lighting. We were constantly changing locations and you could tell not only from the change of air conditioning but the color of the lighting. When outside the light was warmer and brighter. Whereas when we were inside the lighting had more of a green or blue tint to it and was much cooler than outside. This makes a difference on the object we are shooting and a difference on the how we have to set the camera up. Each environment has a different effect on the light meter.

Light observation #1

One of the first things I noticed was the weather. At first it seemed like it was going to rain because of the overcast, but the day turned out nice. Our outside lighting, however was constantly changing. For one of my final photos we had to adjust the light meter and camera accordingly seeing as the object I was shooting was being directly hit by the sun. Whereas one of my other photos was seemingly more in the shadows. The clouds over head were constantly changing and hiding the sun which made the lighting a tad more difficult. You ended up having to wait for the sun to come back out and take the shot before it disappeared again.

Assignment 1b

For this assignment, I went in thinking it could not be any worse than another project I had to do over summer that was fairly similar. Both my partner and I had no experience in sound design with no clue what to do. The project took a turn south when my partner would not listen to me and rejected the fact that we weren't meeting the requirements for the project. I ended up having to make changes on it myself and hearing ours with the rest of the soundscapes I was worried for my grade and how people would see how I worked. However, this project turned out a lot better. I thought that to do this project we would have to warp or change the sound itself in some sort of way. As I have never taken a sound design course I have limited ability regarding sound so I was hoping to gain some experience. I also had a much better group of people to work with, who also happened to have experience and sound design. At the beginning of summer I didn't realize what all was put into the sound aspect of a film. Now, however I see how important is in aspects to the whole and how many layers of sounds can make a difference. For our soundscape most of it consisted of layers of different sounds. The main thing we changed was the speed and the breaks of silence. This made me realize you don't have to alter much for the sounds to make you see an image. It was really cool when we were working on it because I kept imagining this man marching through the snow at night, in the rain going towards a cabin. Like the Poe feel we talked about in class but I was also brought back to wilderness films such as the Revenant and White Fang.

The Absolute Film

Absolute film exists for the sake of the art. There is no particular story that is being told. However, to get the achieved look filmmakers wanted many had to paint on the frames themselves. They had to physically change the film stock to their liking with a variety of methods. It is extremely similar to the 6x1 class I took over the summer which reminded me of animation and how they have to draw the story frame by frame. The article also talks about how the filmmakers used music and live performance to engage their audience in their film. Reminding me once again of how important sound really is in regards to a film.

Jonas Meekas

Natalie did an excellent job talking about Jonas Meekas. I liked learning that once he arrived in New York he was "handed" a camera and from there he began experimenting with a Bolex 16mm. My mom was a photographer so from a young age I was handed a camera and I got to learn different ways of shooting things I liked so it was interesting to see how he experimented. I loved the idea that his films were "snapshots" of life. It was a great perspective to see and looking back I can see that ideal in some of my own work. Whether that be photography, studio art, or film. The film clips really allowed us to see what kind of things he was was really about. For example how used a handheld camera and used mellow colors. For me post editing is something to do, so when she said that he did his editing on the camera I was a little taken back. However, every artist has their own methods. What surprised me the most was probably the fact that Meekas influenced Andy Warhol. As a long time art student I mostly studied his pop art paintings. So it was a different side of him that I was exposed to do that I had not been exposed to otherwise.

Synesthesia and Cymatics

Recently I have seen/heard about synesthesia a lot. I saw a video online of a girl who paints music and they turn out really good. (Video below) I have also been learning about it as an art minor. I find it really cool when my classes intermix and what I'm learning goes together. Just the other day I go to mention synesthesia in my physical anthropology class, allowing it mix in even more with my studies. As an artist I love to see how people see things differently than I do and what different styles come out of it. Watching Melissa's video made me want to see what the other synesthete are doing with this condition. Talking about how much I've seen of synesthesia lately, I have also recently seen a video going around about an artist using cymatics and the result are just as beautiful. It also made me want to find more examples involving music. Another interesting video I found shows different kinds of materials used for cymatics. It is also posted below. Possibly one of my favorites was the use of light around 3:34. You are able to see the levels of the audio almost clearly , while looking visually stunning and appealing to the eye.

Recording Experience

For project 1a I worked with Ashley and Danet. We started out at Wrightsville beach to get a couple of ambient sounds and sound effects. Since I was holding the shotgun mike without the boom pole some people gave us some weird looks. For obvious reasons though, who carries around a thing that looks like a dead cat? While walking down the beach we even had a guy seem to follow us with his phone. Not quite sure on that one. After getting some pretty decent sounds at the beach we headed towards Mayfaire and spent most of our time recording in Barnes and Noble and Michaels. We had a pretty fun time finding noises in Michaels while trying not to get too distracted. Lastly we stopped by Coldstone where we got a pretty awesome human voice from one of the workers as well as some ambient noise.