Cucalorus

Well, Cucalorus this year……hmm….well, I am a little undecided on my experience this year. Maybe it was the fact that I had sooooo much fun last year, that I was expecting soooo much out of this year’s festival…or if I truly didn’t enjoy myself. I am still figuring out this answer. I was really syked when I found out that my film was actually going to screen in the festival. I actually got a lot of great feedback from people at Cucalorus and the days following Visions. This was a fantastic feeling for sure! It was a lot of work and trouble trying to re-record sound for my film in time for the festival. It is difficult when you actually like what the original product was and you have to change it. It was a bit nerve wrecking sitting there waiting for my film to go on. I wasn’t nervous all morning or the night before. But, the second the films began, I started feeling overwhelmed. No one else had watched the new cut with the new sound, so this was a bit scary. In the beginning of the screening, the right speaker in the front of Jengo’s started buzzing in and out and even losing its sound. Right at that moment I knew that if this happened during my film, it would definitely lose much of its dramatic effect. And it just so happens that that speaker went out right in the dramatic point of the film…thus killing all intensity of the experience for the audience. This was a huge bummer. The way that the sound is set up is that the interview is louder, and of main focus….the interview was sooooo quiet at Jengo’s. And we also put smalls sounds that create an eerie strange feeling…but they are set low, to not over power the man’s story. This was upsetting for sure…although I still got good feedback and questions from people. That screening was truly a mess!!! First, the screeners were adjusting the screen during the first film…then the woman from the Ukraine that was there and had a film in the screening….her film ran for about 2 min without the sound! No sound…I was a little more fortunate. And they didn’t even re-start it! THEN…the sound from my film started playing again at the beginning of another person’s film…it was crazy…I have never seen anything like that happen at Cucalorus. And THEN….I heard all about that filmmaker from Australia showing up at Lumina to see his film and it was put on wrong by someone…and they told him that they would screen it on Sunday…but he was already having to fly out before then…he came all the way here and never saw his film…that’s an expensive trip…did the festival pay for that?

Not to mention the fact that all of the parties and such were scattered all over the place and I felt like I didn’t see as many people in one place at a time the entire festival this year…unlike last year…so I was a bit bummed I was not able to catch up and network with as many people. But, I did enjoy the filmmaker’s brunch…although I never got to enjoy the filmmaker’s lounge. You know, come to think of it, I think that much of the scatteredness of people had to do with the fact that Thalian’s large theater was under construction, thus it was soooo far to go to see the late night screenings, which I enjoy the most. Honestly, I mainly went to the shorts. I went to one late night, “House of the Devil,” which was no “Dead Girl,” but it was pretty cool. It was shot on film, so this was a nice thing to look at…andddd it was set in the early 80’s late 70’s….so I always enjoy seeing how people are able to adapt and date their films. Agghhh I guess I’m just bitching. I enjoyed my mom coming to see my film and also her watching the experimental films…esp the abstract ones….priceless!!!

48 Hour Film Race

I truly enjoyed this assignment! I actually like having to work with all of the constraints. It forces you to be creative, and honestly some of my best work has come from being under time constraints such as these. I have always found the Dogme 95 stuff fascinating and exciting. I am glad I have had the opportunity to work with these sorts of limitations in this class. Not only this specific project, but, pretty much every single project that we have been assigned in this class. It has given me a completely different perspective on filmmaking. I am actually pretty content with the product that came from this race!

My idea actually spawned from my previous project in Modes of Animation, in which I also used barbies and did stop motion animation. On the last shot of that project, which was the second story out of two animations that I shot for that specific project, I was infuriated by the fact that the dolls just wouldn’t stay standing and they kept falling and knocking over the props. I had to keep starting entire sequences over and re-shooting them entirely. It was exhausting and without a doubt, TEDIOUS. The Donald Trump doll fell on the last shot and enraged with frustration I had a temper tantrum. I slammed him down on the floor, and unlike the barbies who are made of a solid, rubbery plastic, he broke into a million pieces. My roommates were a bit weirded out by the fact that there were tiny body parts scattered around our house. I threw most of them away, but I left his hand strategically placed around the house, just as a joke (that was apparently just strange). After that night, I told myself that I would never do this stop motion animation stuff ever again.

When we got the jars, immediately this idea came to my head. I stuck the hand in one of them, and put some of the Barbie heads in them too. But, I still needed more body parts because I had 6 jars. So, I began cutting the barbies into bits…needless to say I felt like a serial killer getting rid of the evidence and such…or maybe mobsters, Tony Soprano and Christopher chopping up Ralph…or even Christian Slater chopping up a stripper and a bell boy and dumping them in the dessert…awkardddd. And barbies actually have this piece of white plastic in the interior of their limbs under the rubbery stuff. It looked like bone…ughhh it was a little sickening. And, Halloween had just passed so I had a lot of fake eyelashes sitting around, so I utilized them too! I think that everyone ended up being very weirded out by me, I guess it was a bit strange? I don’t know. But, I like it…I would actually like to continue it and add some more to it. It is so short…although short and sweet is good sometimes. I am really getting into this stop motion animation stuff. It is sooo much fun! I am definitely going to do more!

The tent making night was sooooooo much fun. Some of the most fun I have ever had in a class in college. EVER! Everyone’s projects were so different, and so awesome! I was really impressed with them. I felt like we were all soo relaxed that it was easier to speak freely and discuss eachother’s projects with one another. I hope we can do something like that again before the semester is over. I just don’t want it to end : (. This is my last semester in college and I am soooo sad…im really glad I took this class, because I believe it has truly helped me as a filmmaker. I feel much more at ease about creating my own films outside of school once I graduate…I feel much more confident!

Yes Men

Wellll....that was certainly not what I was expecting it to be. It actually had me a bit anxious at times because I couldnt believe that they were not only doing the things that they were doing, but they were also getting away with it. It is genius to take a site that has an almost identical url to another and replicate it. There have been so many times that I have typed in an almost exact url that is only off by one letter and I have only noticed my mistake merely because I have been sent to a completely different site, or a site that does not exist. If I were to be sent to a site that looked official Im sure I would be fooled as people were with the site these guys created. This is actually quite frightening, because if someone did this with a site that you ordered things off of, you could easily give your credit card info and other important info to complete strangers….well I guess this has really happened and I am the fool just realizing one of the methods by which this is done. Anywho, I found this film fascinating. I loved hearing about all of their previous endeavors before these projects, such as the Barbie and g.i. joe doll switch up. This was fantastic, but Im not sure if I misunderstood….but did they intend that to be a call to gender role battles and such as it came off to people….or was it just a humorous joke.

What I find the most fantastic is that these guys are actually out there doing something that many people around the world could appreciate. Its so great to not really by lying about who they are (because their site and group does exist)….but at the same time come off as the World Trade Organization and give them this negative look that people have not realized. They are dishonest with us, so it almost seems as if this is just fair, an eye for an eye, to be underhandedly, well in my opinion it is genius, getting the word out there. (woah, too many commas to maybe understand that) But, since they are being so sneaky about what they are up to, that is, the WTO, then I don’t feel like it is wrong. If we honestly don’t have any sort of hand in the decision making of our country that this group makes, then why should they have any control over these sort of matters and the way in which they are being portrayed to people. I mean I get why they would be mad….but I mean we should be mad as hell too! Im so inspired by this sort of activism…because it is appealing to people because it is funny…but funny because it is picking on a giant organization that pretty much deserves to be picked on.

Molotov/Ecstasy

So the subjects of these two articles kind of rings true to me this month because I, too, have encountered similar issues with the film I submitted to the Cucalorus Film Festival. Ultimately, the entire film was mine and Carolyn's because all of the images were archival footage, the only thing that wasn't was the voice-over track. But, although this was taken from a true story, it was so chopped up and manipulated that if it were to be read by someone else it would barely be recognizable to the man who told the story originally in his 3 hour interview. Which I must mention that our film is only 5 minutes long. Anyways, at the moment I have been given the okay to resubmit my film if I re-record the audio track. Because at that point, nothing will belong to the original director of the original project. The article "Molotov Man" is truly all about what I have been going through with my film, because the director is worried about his obligations to the original subject of his film, while I believe my film has taken on a whole different meaning that is completely separate from his original project. Who decides this ultimately? I guess now that they have made the directors sign that they own their projects in class now makes it a little less complicated. But, as the article writes about, everyone views things differently and things are changed when they are reworked.

We even encountered issues much like this when myself and my group in Intermediat documentary class shot a film about two dj's who take music made by others and manipulate and make it into something different. We were told by many of our prof. that as long as the music was manipulated enough it shouldn't become too much of an issue on the festival circuit. And while searching out festivals to submit this film to I came upon a project entitled, "RIP: A Remix Manifesto" directed by Brett Gaylor. He has made a film about the dj girltalk, who has made his career on the "ripping" of other people's music. The film is about how artists should be able to do this and crazy enough people have the opportunity to download the raw footage from the film and actually edit it and manipulate it in their own way and resubmit it to the site. It is kind of playing on its own subject matter. I find this extremely interesting.



When taking American Film after 1961 with Dr. Kreul, we read soooooo much about this idea of allusionism and post-modernism in which people are recycling old ideas and making them new. I specifically remember this example of emparchment or something of this nature....i couldnt find the article, but it gives the example of a piece of parchment paper that is written on once and at some point in time it begins to be written over top of...but all the while if you were to go and peel that paper down to the original layer you would find the original source. Copyright laws and such are a touchy subject that I myself don't know where I stand on the issue, but it seems that at this point in time a lot almost everything has been done at some point or another. I believe that this is also the standpoint of many modernist artists, specifically the poets because I have read a lot about those people in my modern poetry class. Alot of them like to re-work past pieces or incorporate those ideas into their art....which we specifically read "The Wasteland", which is mentioned in the article as someone who has specifically done this re-working. And it is the truth that most comedies and comedic cartoons that we love so much would have no humorous qualities without the re-working or allusions. In American film I was actually so surprised with how many things I have been exposed to that I believed to be the original piece, but have in reality only been reworked. There is an article by Noel Caroll that I specifically remember in my mind. I actually think that most people don't realize how much this sort of thing actually happens. And like the article,"Ecstasy" mentions, how could we possibly even catch every single account in which this occurs. But, if they had actually passed that law that a person cannot take a picture of a person or a building or anything with out permission, where would art be today. That would be a catastrophe.

AHHHH the Lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnng take

I am actually extremely happy with the way that the Bolex shoot went this weekend. I was a little hesitant about the idea that we came up with, the whole, magic tent idea. We were a bit worried that we would not have enough time to make it make any sense. But, when we started rehearsing it, it actually ended up working perfectly. It was so much fun knowing that we were under that much pressure to not only make the time, but also perform it correctly without any mishaps. I was thinking that it would be hectic and stressful for us, but everything went really smoothly. We got our props set up quickly and we had a pretty simply camera movement. We just put the camera on the tripod and panned back and forth with the action, which proved to be very efficient for our time dilemma. It was easy and it looked really awesome! The writing on the tent was also clear enough to read in the background. It was difficult to see when we watched it on the projector in class, but I wonder if everything is in focus. From what I could see it was. So, I am really proud of the way this project turned out, because I am still a little hesitant about the way that our multi plane animation looked in the raw footage. It was much faster than any of the other group's projects. How in the world did we manage to mess that up?!! I mean it looked nice visually, because of the colors and such, but it was just wayyyy to fast. And we even shot off 3 frames on each position. I began shooting my stop animation project for modes of animation, and I haven't gotten a chance to run it through final cut at regular speed yet, so I am a bit worried at the moment. I hope I won't have to re-shoot. Anybody have any pointers?

Anyways, the last time that I shot on 16mm was in Intermediate Documentary, and we had shot inside. So our film turned out really awesome, but it was a little darker than we had anticipated (and we had used so much light, too). So I was a bit concerned with what would happen on an outdoor shoot, seeing as I had never done this before. In my opinion, we got everything perfect. The lighting was great! This gave me confidence to use the Bolex for my 495 project. So I went and ordered the film the next day. Although, I got the tri-x 100 reversal rather than the film that we used.
I am curious to see what everything will look like once it has been inverted and the speed is changed. This is not the portion of the project that I have been assigned to, so I can't wait to see it! I would really like to see all of the other group's raw footage, hopefully we will look at it in class this week!

I am a bit excited about the 48 hour film race after this shoot, because it definitely gave me that rush of having a short period to make a deadline. Although, working alone may be difficult to conjure up ideas so quickly (I hope not). I thought it was soo great to push ourselves during this bolex shoot. We had that ticking clock lingering over us, because we kept being reminded that we only had 40 min....30 min....20min....aghhh. Although, at the time it is a bit maddening, when it is finished it is a bit of a rush with a sense of accomplishment....achieving our goal!

48-Hour Film RACEEEE

Well, this weekend I will be attempting to shoot my bumper for modes of animation. I am going to ATTEMPT to do a stop animation film, but I have never done this before, so I will have to see how it goes. If it turns out alright I think that I would like to do this same sort of technique for the 48-hour video race. Im not sure if this is a bad idea or not, in terms of it being a time consuming project. Although, I think that it would be even more difficult to make a rotoscope animation in 48 hours. Wowza! That would be stressful for sure. I plan to use some sort of digital camera to shoot stills for my animation. I would prefer to use film stills, but due to the time restraints I don’t think this would be do-able. Also, it will be more efficient to use a digital camera since I can see what I like and what I don’t like before I shoot it and it is too late, as with film cameras. But, in terms of subject matter I am just not sure. I guess that will all depend on the prop that we are given. It might be kind of cool to work with human actors rather than figures, like we did in the pixilation project. The only issue that may arise with this is the time constraint, because figures/toys/etc are easier to manipulate and work with than actual people.
If it turns out that I am pretty terrible at this method, or I just don’t like the look of it, I will have to resort to a different method. I really don’t want to take on the rotoscope thing, seeing as I have two rotoscope projects that I will just be finishing with this race begins. But, it is an option, and it is a fun option, just verrrrry time consuming. Would a found footage project count as this cameraless filmmaking, because that is always an option. Found footage, combined with maybe some film scratching and manipulation. Ultimately, I would like to do the stop animation thing along with a mixture of these methods. I would like to take another shot at working with bleach, paint, and scratching on film, but mixing it in with the animation. Maybe even layering it in over the stop animation and possible rotoscope. It could actually be pretty cool to integrate all of these things to create a dynamic image with many layers. Layering images has always been something I incorporate in many of my films that I have created and edited, so why not now. I have just never worked with the integration of these specific methods of filmmaking, especially any sort of animation.
I like working with deadlines, because it makes me get things done. But, it is also very stressful, so I wonder how this project will be on the nerves? I have a feeling it is going to be nerve wrecking. The only upside is that we are working alone, thus, we only have to depend on ourselves to get the thing finished. On the filpside, working alone is a bit intimidating because ultimately, what is shown to an audience is strictly you, no one else. That’s definitely a scary and invigorating thought. I am just curious to what the prop will be. I guess this limitation thing is much like that Dogme 95, where they have all of those things that they cannot do, such as use artificial light, no props, only hand-held, no non-diegetic sound, and etc. I thought this sounded ridiculous when I first heard about it, but then I saw one of the films and I was fascinated by it. It was actually really cool. It was such a bizarre film narratively, and you can’t help but just watch everything, knowing that there were all those limitations and it still looks that good. It is pretty amazing.

Scratch Film Junkies

Well, it is a very different thing watching these films after you have learned many of those techniques that they use to make them. I feel really good about how ours turned out. But, I feel that now that we did it and also watched what it looked like, there are many things I would like go back and re-do. But, I guess that that is pretty much the process of this sort of filmmaking. You are “experimenting” with the different effects of every technique. I think I would really like to play around more with bleach. Bleach was one of the last things that I played with and applied to our project, and I truly loved the effect. I believe that I saw a bit of that in the Scratch Junkies film. I don’t know. There is this effect that I saw in that film and a couple of other people’s in class that has this sort of bubbling green thing going on. I remember you mentioning that this is bleach, but most of the bleach stuff that I did just cleared away the spots to white, rather than this color. I did sort of get this effect on one part of our film, but I thought that it had merely turned green because of the green markers and paint I had applied to it. I really want to incorporate this film manipulation into my experimental senior seminar project. I can’t decide if I want to just find some old film to do this on, or if I really want to risk taking some of the film that we are shooting off and manipulate it. This is a bit risky with the cost of film and developing, but maybe if some of the film doesn’t turn out to great we may use it for this.
Something that I would like to play around more with is the actual drawing of animation on the strip. I had actually done this with a little fish and some water that slowly filled the frames, but when I applied the bleach I got a bit carried away and messed it all up. I kind of wonder why it still didn’t show up on our strip when we watched it, because I had not only drawn over it with marker but I had also scratched the animations in. A bit time consuming for it not to show up. I also felt like the film we watched played a bit with that tape and bleach method, because there were some great lines of white that I just didn’t get how they did it. I am just assuming that this is the method for this look? I am actually upset that I didn’t get to see the first Scratch Film Junkies. I would have been curious to know how my viewing and feelings have changed about it. I do know that all of the Stan Brakhage films that I have watched over the years are in a new light for me. I feel like I would just watch them in a bit of a trance and maybe zone out a bit because I didn’t know what I was looking at. But, now I feel like I am probing them and wondering how they did everything. So, this could be a gift or a curse, because I can no longer watch these films and feel them as they are. Now, I watch them and am constantly thinking about things outside of the art itself. Yet, this is how it is for any sort of filmmaker I guess. Dr. Sue said that once we had taken her class and many other theory classes, we would never be able to watch film the way that we used to. Or the way that most people just go to a movie to “not have to think,” as many say. I find all of filmmaker thought processes far more fun than just zoning out and not thinking. But, she is right. Once we have learned how something is done, it is held in a different place. And sometimes we can even appreciate the filmmakers more than before. This is definitely the case with this sort of film manipulation. I am now fascinated by it, and I want to get out and do more of my own. Where can I get these old strips of film?

Projections of Sound on Image…

When reading this selection, the section titled, “Conditions Necessary for Sound to Temporalize Images” brought a specific film to mind that truly made the descriptions ring true. The article writes about the way in which sound is sustained and “a smooth and continuous sound is less animating than an uneven or fluttering one.” There was a film that I was asked to watch in Writing About Film called, Henry Fool.


Around about 3:35 in this clip, the notorious character Henry Fool comes into town, or into the main character’s life, or even the story. But, the main character is leaning against his fence and we begin to hear these pouncing of notes slowly come in along with the image. Nothing is happening in the image at all, but the music makes it seem as if something is about to. But, nothing in the actual image (at this point) even points to this mysterious presence that the music is creating. As the viewer, we know something that the character doesn’t know yet. Then there is a rumble of thunder, to which the character looks up and acknowledges with a delayed reaction. Up until this point the film is presenting, as the article writes, an image that “has no temporal animation or vectorization in itself. The sound brings this feeling about all on its own, without the help of the image. But, after the thunder, the image and sound begin to work together. And the intensity begins to build. What I find so fascinating about the music in this film is the simplicity of it. It is such simple notes being played, but they create such as intensified effect that I think would not really exist without, especially in this entrance. There are even points in the film in which there are merely a few keys being played on the piano, or the dripping of water that creates an eerie feeling about the film. I find sound to be truly fascinating, and how it works to intensify a film. When I was asked to write about this film, there was no specific guideline to what we needed to write about. Laudadio told us to write about the thing that we were drawn to the most when watching it. Without a doubt, I was drawn to the peculiar and magnificent use of sound. It may not be the best film, but I think there is something quite wonderful about its use of sound. Up until that point, I had written nothing about sound. But, after writing an entire theory paper about its use in film, I found myself discovering things that I had never noticed about film in general. I think that this article kind of hones in on these aspects. There was a truly gritty and creepy feeling in many aspects of this film, but I began to notice that much of that had to do with the way that sound was used in accordance with the images.
I also found it a bit amazing that it is our ears that hear quicker than our eyes see and process images. I have actually never seen any of the Star Wars movies, so I was a bit surprised to hear that there is a cut in which the door is not really opened, but there is a cut and the sound makes it seem as if the door is slid open. That is amazing!!! I would actually like to experiment more with this in my editing tactics. I do know from my own experience with editing, that sound can be an extremely useful tool in the coherence of a film. When things aren’t working, it is sometimes helpful to overlap sound and mess with things….cheat, I guess you could say. That is the magic of film I guess. I am curious to know if someone that is deaf catches on to this quick jump in Star Wars with the doors. The article mentions that deaf people are strengthened more on the visual side. I am curious to know if these sort of editing tactics fall short in the eyes of someone that cannot hear those sound bridges and such?

Wells Response

I feel as if the article that Wells writes about animation is not specific enough to separate the Avant-Garde animation from experimental animation. There was a section in the reading that was covered by a post-it that I went and found online. It lightly discussed the Avant-Garde animation as a form that is not strictly held to animation techniques…but also, other forms of film experimentation that strays aways from conventional forms of filmmaking. The way that he describes experimental animation, it would almost seem that it is only stuck within the realm of the abstract. Now, although I am by far no expert on any sort of animation (although I would say I have seen my fair share of Disney films, Sword and the Stone being my favorite!), there is an enormous spectrum out there between the conventional animation/orthodox animation realm and the experimental/Avant Garde animation realm. One of my favorite animations that I have seen thus far is Don Hertzfeldt’s Everything Will Be OK. Would this film be considered in the experimental realm, because it uses ‘the body’ “as an illustrative image,” as Wells writes? Because, clearly, the CHARACTER Bill is definitely being used in this manner. This film definitely has continuity and a narrative form, but by no means is it visually set up in a conventional format, as other conventional animation films. And Hertzfeldt definitely using, not only animation, but also film and other techniques, which draws upon the Avant Garde end of the spectrum.




But, on the other hand, I went online and googled Avant-Garde animators and the name Fischinger came up. I went and looked at a couple of his films, including his excerpt from Fantasia. In many ways, his excerpt in Fantasia reminded me of the Stan Brakhage film that we watched in class. The way in which the lines and dots jump about the screen, sometimes on beat and sometimes moving apart from the music. It was strange how the animation and film scratching and manipulation look so much alike. His films tend to fall on the Avant Garde end, they follow the guidelines that Wells explains such as, “various shapes and forms are often used rather than figures.” His animations consist mainly of shapes and abstract forms, much like a Brakhage film or such.



So, I think it is a bit difficult to directly categorize these types of animations that play with the conventional formats of animation in either Orthodox, Experimental, or Avant-Garde. Rather, these days I would think that filmmakers are beginning to experiment a lot more with those guidelines, and the line between them is quite blurred in some cases. I am a bit embarrassed to give this example, but…the cartoon Spongebob Squarepants dabbles a bit in the mixing of media. They not only use animation, but they also use film/video footage as part of the cartoon itself, such as when they go on land. So, even the conventional cel animations like this are dabbling a bit in the experimentation in animation. I feel like there is more and more of this sort of stuff as time goes on. But, I can’t say that I don’t love the simplicity of old cartoons, like the ones I watched as a child. I loved getting up on Saturday mornings and catching the Bugs Bunny Show. They seem a bit outdated for today’s kids because they are not as high tech as what is out right now, but there is something about that simplistic animation that I love. Like I said before, The Sword and the Stone is one of my favorite Disney films.



I personally don’t enjoy the new Disney films that come out, this could be in part because the humor has become cheap and now circles around passing gas…and other bodily functions. But, it could also be that I am a bit nostalgic about that simplistic form that is so little seen in mainstream animation anymore. I’m not sure where I was going with that.

Cameraless filmmaking thus far...
I haven't exactly been enjoying the scratching, painting, and such so far. But, I think that it is because I haven't been able to see the final product. So, I just feel like I am a bit lost about what I am actually doing. I don't know what will look neat or interesting, so I just don’t know what to do with that. But, I truly enjoyed the magazine transfer exercise that we did in class. It was helpful to see how it turned out, the final product. I found that to be fascinating! I never knew that people did that sort of thing on film. I wasn’t aware that the magazine would stick to the strip like that. I have worked a lot with magazine clippings and other sources throughout the years on projects, but I had no clue that it could look so cool on film. And it was such a simple process. I am still a little nervous about what we are doing for the elements project. I am a bit scared about how it is going to turn out.
Although I mentioned that I wasn’t enjoying that aspect, I think that I will definitely enjoy it more when I get to see how it all turns out. Then I can go back and experiment more with that knowledge. I guess my mind just works that way. I need to see what I am actually doing. But, I haven’t gotten a chance to get into the dark room yet. But I’m excited for that exercise. Cameraless filmmaking is a bit of a mystery and an intrigue for me. The Stan Brakhage film that we watched during the second class truly drew my attention. I was fascinated by the way that the film and the music flowed so well together. It was a bit hypnotizing. I feel like that last time I watched a Brakhage film I was a bit bored. This might be due to the fact that before this class, I knew very little about this sort of filmmaking. Knowing more about the creative processes that create these films helps me appreciate them on a different level. I was unaware of the extensive amount of techniques that are out there in the cameraless filmmaking world. I am intrigued and definitely want to learn more. I am pretty excited about this class, but also, a bit intimidated because I feel like, in many of the cases with the projects, you don’t exactly know what you are making until the very end. That is a bit scary, and a bit exciting I suppose. I feel like these projects will be very helpful in opening up my mind for my future projects outside of this class. This sort of experimenting helps open up the mind to alternative and unique filmmaking, and I like that. In the past, most of my projects have begun as more standard films, yet they always end as totally experimental films. So, I guess this new knowledge will definitely round out that aspect of my work. I wonder where it will take my work? I’m not even sure what has driven me towards the experimental realm when I’m editing or shooting a film. But, something does. My senior seminar project was originally an experimental documentary, and now it has turned into a completely experimental film. A film dealing with death and life and impermanence and cemeteries. But, I wonder if Shannon would be up for us using some of these techniques. Because we are going for a sort of dreamlike/nightmarish effect. Hmmm....

Synesthesia

So, I am positive that I am not a synesthete, which is disappointing now that I am aware of this "gift." This sounds like a fascinating ability to possess, yet it seems that the percentages of people that have this is low. This makes me wonder what artists that we cherish today may have possessed this ability, but they kept it to themselves. I guess this might not have been seen as an ability in the past, but maybe as some sort of mental issue if someone were to tell anyone about what they felt or saw. I would be interested in seeing one of those organs that emits light with each music note (mentioned in the article). I would really like to feel or see what this kind of experience is like. But, at the same time, I guess these would all be a false sense of this ability, because I would assume that every experience is extremely different for every person and the same sorts of things trigger it for one person and something completely different does it for another person. So, even though these artists try to recreate these experiences for others in their art, it is probably not as exciting to us as it was to them, because everyone's perception and stimulation triggers are different. Therefore a person who is not a synesthete will probably never get a TRUE taste of what these people are able to experience. This is disappointing for sure. This is not to say that their works of art are not worth anything, because they still may have the ability to stir emotions and feelings in people. I am just saying that it would be a stretch to believe that these artists have truly shown us what it is like to have one of those episodes. We are only getting an insight into their individual perceptions of those moments. I wonder if there are some people that have this ability, but they are too afraid to tell others because they think that there is something wrong with themselves. Because, truly, before I read about this, I had never known anything about it. So, I could easily see why some people might keep it to themselves. But, I think that it is a gift that should be utilized, just as the article explains some people use synesthesia.
I am curious to know why it is more likely for people that have had a stroke or who experience temporal lobe epilepsy to have one of these experiences. Yet, I think I can grasp how a person on psychedelic drugs can have these moments. The article briefly explains that synesthesia has been linked to chromosome 2, but that isn't too specific. It seems that the stroke, along with deafness and blindness, are all things that take away certain senses from a person. I wonder if there is something about a lacking in certain sensory areas that heightens the others. Just like people that are blind have the tendency to have a heightened sense of hearing and such. Thus, the people that don't lack any of the 5 senses truly have a sort of sixth sense in a matter of speaking.
I found it extremely interesting that Kandinsky is a known synesthete. I wonder if all people that have this synesthesia become artists and musicians and such? Do some just take on regular careers and try and keep those experiences personal. I wonder what my work and films would be like if I was a synesthete? It would just be interesting to even think in this sort of manner of relating things to other unrelated things in the way that this ability works to make a film. This thought process is kind of how you do have to think when are making or even watching an experimental film, although I understand that TRUE synesthesia is something that is not thought about, but something that comes naturally. But, it could be a helpful mindset to stand on the outside and and look at your film in a retrospective manner. I'm not sure if this makes sense in the words that I have written, but in my head it does. I feel like merely knowing how you are bringing about certain feelings and senses from other completely unrelated images and sound could be helpful in an experimental filmmaker's filmmaking process. Although, just like synesthesia, I think that in many cases films can trigger all sorts of unintended senses and feelings involuntarily. Things that the filmmaker may not have ever meant to portray.