The Yes Men was a very interesting flick, and they had quite an intriguing little scam going on. I find it funny how little people actually pay attention, in the film and in life. They exhibited this perfectly when the corporate stooges not only did little checking as to whether or not they had even booked the correct and proper representative for the WTO, but also in how no one seemed to really grasp that everything that they were doing was a big joke. It was especially satisfying to see them "perform" in front of the college audience and play up to how self-important and self-serious some college kids can be. I imagine if I were in on that seminar in person, I would have reacted with the same amount of laughter that I did when watching it on the screen, knowing that it was a joke. Like the film we watched about the art of covering up graffiti, it would have been hard to take it seriously after a certain point. But they did, and so did so many supposedly intelligent business people at the other seminar who are unfortunately responsible for running the world. It's equal parts humorous and sad. Nonetheless, I commend The Yes Men group. They are out there rattling cages, and that's always a good thing. Everything deserves to be shaken up.
I think this directly relates to assignment 6. Like the film The King of Kong, things are only perceived by their audience in the manner that they are presented to them. While The King of Kong was a documentary, and not a found footage flick, it still applies because how we saw each character was directly shaped. And that is exactly what we're going to be doing with our project; using other's footage to help convey whatever message, feelings or otherwise that we might be striving for. The Yes Men obviously shaped their film in certain ways for their overall desired effect.
I'm not sure what exactly I want to do for the found footage project. I also have another found footage project to do for my intro to editing class. But I welcome the chance to do two very different films, in very different ways for different effects. I currently have two ideas on my mind, but I may have to amend them as I search out more and more footage. I hope to be, obviously, more technically proficient with my intro to editing film, while I'm hoping the 6 x 1 film will give me a chance to be a little looser and more free with ideas, but I'll see as it comes together. Much like The Yes Men, I am a very opinionated person. Now that does not mean that I feel the need to preach my opinions to everyone willing to listen, or even worse, those who don't want to hear. However, at the same time, I think it's kind of impossible not to inject the way you feel about certain things onto your art work. If anyone is a truly open artist, it will be impossible to avoid, nor should they fight it because that's kind of the whole point of art. Especially something like film. The reason you seek out a certain director to make a particular project is because you want their personal take on whatever material may be at hand. That's the whole point of pursuing this crazy thing called filmmaking. And if people don't feel that they have a personal take on things, or that their views are exactly the same as everyone else, then they probably shouldn't be directors.
At any rate, I hope to instill a lot of what I stated above into my found footage projects. I am thinking that whatever I do with one of the films, I will strive for the opposite with the other. If one is pleasant, then the other may be disturbing. If one humorous, then maybe the other comical. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but, as with all of our projects so far, I'm quite looking forward to it. And like those other projects, I'm sure I'll learn a lot throughout the process of making the films.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Ecstasy of Influence and The Molotov Man
The article "The Ecstasy of Influence," by Jonathan Lethem poses an interesting question concerning the rights of art and, in fact, how far they can be extended. Obviously, people are influenced immensely, as well as unavoidably, by everything that they have ever encountered in their lives. Much of that influence will, in turn, be reflected in any art that they may create themselves.
Lethem would also, on a few occasions, mention the fact that Disney continues to take their stories from numerous other sources, yet somehow remains untouched where copyright laws are concerned. Personally, I think the conglomerate of Disney has a "free pass" of sorts when it comes to such things. Without getting overly political, Disney nearly gets always with murder with what they're allowed to do simply because they are Disney. For some reason we just continue to expose our children to the Disney experience as if it is actually the "let's all live in peace" corporation that it pretends to be; despite Walt Disney himself being a confirmed anti-Semite. All in all, they are just a corporation who, like so many others, forces the masses to do what they want them to, and we oblige willingly (so long as we are promised a free pair of Mickey ears).
As far as the copyright issue goes, I'm of two minds on the subject. On the one hand, I feel that it becomes increasingly harder to know where the line should be drawn. Do the producers of an old sci-fi flick that I saw only once as a child have a legal right to either cease my actions or make money off of them because I may eventually direct a flick in which the characters costumes resemble the ones in their movie? It is a slippery slope, and I honestly think it will become more so with the ability to transfer data increasing at such an alarming rate.
The flip side of the coin wants me to be able to protect any and all things that I have ever created in my life. The American dream is not to make a classic work of art and better yourself with each attempt that follows, but instead it is to create a marginally decent exhibition whose artistic integrity is far less than the popularity it finds, thus allowing you to live your entire life off of the profits of one thing that you did a long time ago. I'm not saying that that is what I intend to do, but I will not fight it if that is what happens with my career. The majority of "artists" today are not famous for talent and do not really deserve what they have and continue to gain from that one little thing, be it a song they once recorded, or a flick they happened to star in. So, if that is the future that is in store for me, and I can finagle a life of financial competence by strictly guarding the rights to one little thing that I created, then, I guess, so be it.
As for the other article "On the Rights of the Molotov Man." a similar argument is made concerning rights. Does a woman who found an old picture online have a right to use that as the basis of a painting that she created? In my opinion, she does. Going back to what I stated previously, we are all influenced by what we experience, and it is impossible to strictly control influences.
I was, at first, angry when I read how the original photographer reacted with legal action and her "reasoning" behind why she wanted to protect her work. She felt that the man in the photograph deserved to be protected and not altered because of the emotional weight associated with the situation he went through. I can understand wanting to protect someone, but her excuse holds little weight because her taking the picture did exactly the same thing she claims to be protecting the man from. The painter who adapted the picture in no way sought to exploit the situation of the man, nor make fun of him and his struggle. That's not to say that it did to did not eventually happen as the image was scattered about the world, but the painter, Joy Garnett, is certainly not guilty of it. Also, what made me mad was the fact that the photographer, Susan Meiselas, was using the man's emotion to make her argument. Essentially, once again, exploiting the same thing she claims to be protecting by blocking the use of her picture. Since she, ultimately, did not make Garnett pay her or block her painting by way of legal means, I was eased in my anger concerning the issue. Nonetheless, she should, if anything, be honored that her photograph reached so many and is such a huge influence today in Nicaragua. Also, and I know it's all subjective, but I think the painting of the "Molotov Man" was actually more emotional than the gritty photograph (though I don't mean to dismiss the photo in any way). If I were lucky enough to create something that ultimately spawned such a beautiful painting that only intensified the intention of the original work, I'd be hard pressed to find the motivation to stop it from being seen by as many as possible.
Lethem would also, on a few occasions, mention the fact that Disney continues to take their stories from numerous other sources, yet somehow remains untouched where copyright laws are concerned. Personally, I think the conglomerate of Disney has a "free pass" of sorts when it comes to such things. Without getting overly political, Disney nearly gets always with murder with what they're allowed to do simply because they are Disney. For some reason we just continue to expose our children to the Disney experience as if it is actually the "let's all live in peace" corporation that it pretends to be; despite Walt Disney himself being a confirmed anti-Semite. All in all, they are just a corporation who, like so many others, forces the masses to do what they want them to, and we oblige willingly (so long as we are promised a free pair of Mickey ears).
As far as the copyright issue goes, I'm of two minds on the subject. On the one hand, I feel that it becomes increasingly harder to know where the line should be drawn. Do the producers of an old sci-fi flick that I saw only once as a child have a legal right to either cease my actions or make money off of them because I may eventually direct a flick in which the characters costumes resemble the ones in their movie? It is a slippery slope, and I honestly think it will become more so with the ability to transfer data increasing at such an alarming rate.
The flip side of the coin wants me to be able to protect any and all things that I have ever created in my life. The American dream is not to make a classic work of art and better yourself with each attempt that follows, but instead it is to create a marginally decent exhibition whose artistic integrity is far less than the popularity it finds, thus allowing you to live your entire life off of the profits of one thing that you did a long time ago. I'm not saying that that is what I intend to do, but I will not fight it if that is what happens with my career. The majority of "artists" today are not famous for talent and do not really deserve what they have and continue to gain from that one little thing, be it a song they once recorded, or a flick they happened to star in. So, if that is the future that is in store for me, and I can finagle a life of financial competence by strictly guarding the rights to one little thing that I created, then, I guess, so be it.
As for the other article "On the Rights of the Molotov Man." a similar argument is made concerning rights. Does a woman who found an old picture online have a right to use that as the basis of a painting that she created? In my opinion, she does. Going back to what I stated previously, we are all influenced by what we experience, and it is impossible to strictly control influences.
I was, at first, angry when I read how the original photographer reacted with legal action and her "reasoning" behind why she wanted to protect her work. She felt that the man in the photograph deserved to be protected and not altered because of the emotional weight associated with the situation he went through. I can understand wanting to protect someone, but her excuse holds little weight because her taking the picture did exactly the same thing she claims to be protecting the man from. The painter who adapted the picture in no way sought to exploit the situation of the man, nor make fun of him and his struggle. That's not to say that it did to did not eventually happen as the image was scattered about the world, but the painter, Joy Garnett, is certainly not guilty of it. Also, what made me mad was the fact that the photographer, Susan Meiselas, was using the man's emotion to make her argument. Essentially, once again, exploiting the same thing she claims to be protecting by blocking the use of her picture. Since she, ultimately, did not make Garnett pay her or block her painting by way of legal means, I was eased in my anger concerning the issue. Nonetheless, she should, if anything, be honored that her photograph reached so many and is such a huge influence today in Nicaragua. Also, and I know it's all subjective, but I think the painting of the "Molotov Man" was actually more emotional than the gritty photograph (though I don't mean to dismiss the photo in any way). If I were lucky enough to create something that ultimately spawned such a beautiful painting that only intensified the intention of the original work, I'd be hard pressed to find the motivation to stop it from being seen by as many as possible.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Saturday Shoot Experience
My experience with the shoot on Saturday turned out to be a quite pleasant one. Obviously, I was not ecstatic about having to be on campus on a Saturday, and I am sure that many others in the class felt the same way. However, once we began working on the projects, I became involved with the collaborative work and the time went by quite quickly.
At the start of the day, we were not entirely sure what we wanted to capture on film. We had not had a lot of time together to plan, and we were down a group member due to a obligation he had to fulfill with his job. One group member brought some jackets to the shoot, and I brought a couple of Halloween masks. My first inclination was to shoot something in which characters would be switched with other performers seamlessly in front of the viewer's eyes. Fortunately, Genna took one look at the masks and came up with a solid idea (this was, at first, fortunate because the other groups were also switching characters with other characters in their projects, though in the end, all of the projects were quite unique and very much not similar at all). Her idea consisted of having the main character of our film, wearing the pumpkin mask, be a bit of an outcast who is made fun of by others until he meets the character in the Scream mask and forms a connection. It was a good story to tell within the limitations that we had.
While Josh was in the black box readying the camera, Genna and I were blocking out the scene, and we were able to collaborate quite quickly on how we wanted to do it all. We also came up with the good idea of having the Scream mask character reading something that would block her face and leave a nice reveal of her to the audience once the pumpkin mask character sits on the bench (Genna wisely found a giant Beatles book in the library that worked perfectly for this). We then rehearsed it a few times and shot it quite smoothly. Everyone did a great job with their acting and performing, and I thank everyone who helped out.
The only real problem I had was the fact that it was so hot and, after rehearsing with the camera a few times, I started to have sweat drip into my eye, making it harder to actually see through the small eyepiece of the camera. It was a small problem at most, and one that was easily remedied. In fact, considering all the problems that can, and usually do, go wrong on a film shoot, this was barely even a problem, so one I would welcome in comparison.
I also helped as a performer in another group's film. It was a very interesting concept, and they did a good job of blocking it out and planning, so hopefully it turned out well. It is the only one of the four that I was not able to catch when it screened, but I did see the three others. The two other group's films that I did see were very good. The one showing a person as they go through the many stages of their life worked quite effectively and brought with it a nice emotion that I was not expecting from a one minute film. The other film with the magical tent that transformed people when they went through was very good, as well. It had a nice energy to it, including the performances and depth of field, that really gave it that feel of a silent picture from the 20's.
So, overall, it was a nice experience. I'm pretty happy with what we got on film and pleased with what I saw from the other goups, too. I'm anxious to see how they all look once the editing is complete and the image turned from a negative to a positive.
At the start of the day, we were not entirely sure what we wanted to capture on film. We had not had a lot of time together to plan, and we were down a group member due to a obligation he had to fulfill with his job. One group member brought some jackets to the shoot, and I brought a couple of Halloween masks. My first inclination was to shoot something in which characters would be switched with other performers seamlessly in front of the viewer's eyes. Fortunately, Genna took one look at the masks and came up with a solid idea (this was, at first, fortunate because the other groups were also switching characters with other characters in their projects, though in the end, all of the projects were quite unique and very much not similar at all). Her idea consisted of having the main character of our film, wearing the pumpkin mask, be a bit of an outcast who is made fun of by others until he meets the character in the Scream mask and forms a connection. It was a good story to tell within the limitations that we had.
While Josh was in the black box readying the camera, Genna and I were blocking out the scene, and we were able to collaborate quite quickly on how we wanted to do it all. We also came up with the good idea of having the Scream mask character reading something that would block her face and leave a nice reveal of her to the audience once the pumpkin mask character sits on the bench (Genna wisely found a giant Beatles book in the library that worked perfectly for this). We then rehearsed it a few times and shot it quite smoothly. Everyone did a great job with their acting and performing, and I thank everyone who helped out.
The only real problem I had was the fact that it was so hot and, after rehearsing with the camera a few times, I started to have sweat drip into my eye, making it harder to actually see through the small eyepiece of the camera. It was a small problem at most, and one that was easily remedied. In fact, considering all the problems that can, and usually do, go wrong on a film shoot, this was barely even a problem, so one I would welcome in comparison.
I also helped as a performer in another group's film. It was a very interesting concept, and they did a good job of blocking it out and planning, so hopefully it turned out well. It is the only one of the four that I was not able to catch when it screened, but I did see the three others. The two other group's films that I did see were very good. The one showing a person as they go through the many stages of their life worked quite effectively and brought with it a nice emotion that I was not expecting from a one minute film. The other film with the magical tent that transformed people when they went through was very good, as well. It had a nice energy to it, including the performances and depth of field, that really gave it that feel of a silent picture from the 20's.
So, overall, it was a nice experience. I'm pretty happy with what we got on film and pleased with what I saw from the other goups, too. I'm anxious to see how they all look once the editing is complete and the image turned from a negative to a positive.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Ideas for 48-Hour Video Race
So far, I'm not really sure what our group is going to do for the 48-hour Video Race. I haven't really conferred with my group yet, but I am sure we will have a plan before the shoot on Saturday. I am looking forward to it, though, and it should be a lot of fun. I like what the other groups in prior semesters were able to accomplish with their projects.
I especially liked what the group with the umbrella was able to do with their shoot. I thought that what they were able to accomplish with the limited resources of only a few group members, a limited location, and a very small amount of film was quite inspiring. I know that we are limited in very much the same way, and we will have to be just as, if not more, creative than they were.
I am thinking that maybe we can do something in a similar way that they did with maybe hats or masks and have the same people walk in front of the camera over and over again as if they were different characters. This would be similar to one of the the groups from the previous semester as they all walked in front of the camera over and again. I assume that they all ran around to the other side of the camera in order to consistantly enter from camera right and exit left. As I said, hopefully we can come up with something that will look good. I am sure a lot of our overall intended effect will probably depend on editing and the choices we make in the editing lab. Nonetheless, I have high hopes for what we can come up with ahead of time and execute on Saturday afternoon. I guess we will have to wait and see what happens, and what we'll be able to make of it all once we get it tranferred and into the editing room.
I especially liked what the group with the umbrella was able to do with their shoot. I thought that what they were able to accomplish with the limited resources of only a few group members, a limited location, and a very small amount of film was quite inspiring. I know that we are limited in very much the same way, and we will have to be just as, if not more, creative than they were.
I am thinking that maybe we can do something in a similar way that they did with maybe hats or masks and have the same people walk in front of the camera over and over again as if they were different characters. This would be similar to one of the the groups from the previous semester as they all walked in front of the camera over and again. I assume that they all ran around to the other side of the camera in order to consistantly enter from camera right and exit left. As I said, hopefully we can come up with something that will look good. I am sure a lot of our overall intended effect will probably depend on editing and the choices we make in the editing lab. Nonetheless, I have high hopes for what we can come up with ahead of time and execute on Saturday afternoon. I guess we will have to wait and see what happens, and what we'll be able to make of it all once we get it tranferred and into the editing room.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)