The Yes Men and Assignment 6

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.