semester summary

So i feel like i have learned a lot in this class. 

First, this class began by totally rocking my world by talking about art not as a mode of preaching to people, but rather showing what we see, about asking questions and working through them. Quite honeslty, at first I was really confused. I was like, I think I understand and agree with what he's saying, but when I would try to summarize what we were talking about I was lost. That may have been what Leeper was talking about when he said we would be running into trees.

Secondly, we saw a lot of different films that I would have never seen before. My some of my favorites were Feather Tale, Circut Marine, George Lucas in Love, and Gay Boyfriend. I also really enjoyed learning more about animation, even though i'm a film pro major and still intend to be.

Anyways I really enjoyed this class I am going to miss it. :(

chick FLICKS

so I have been thinking about this a lot this semester, as I have gotten an overdose of chick flicks since comming to college. i think watching too much chick flicks are a lot like eatting too much candy. at first you are like ooo this is yummy; then you're like eh, im not so sure this was a good idea; then you're like bleh, bluh, ugh, blaaah, *gag* *barf*. you girls might know what i'm talking about. or maybe i'm just weird

basically, I think chick flicks can be like drugs. they help you hallucinate, to believe things you know aren't true. then when the movie is over comes the withdrawl and the barfing. "Why won't my prince come?" "Am I not as pretty as Cinderella?" etc... etc... grossness and depression. barf

maybe i'm kind of intensifying the experience, but not by much. I know for me if I watch the wrong movies or let myself get too wrapped up in them I will regret it. and i don't think i'm alone

better tools, lower quality

Recently i have been thinking about how sometimes getting better technology actually means lower quality performance. I guess part of it is from looking at work I did a year ago (see my edge of water post). I had to put forth a lot of effort in order to get even ok results due to a basic camera and crappy editing software. Now I think about how much work I would currently put into something like that. I don't think it would be quite the same. I know that part of it is there is so much more stuff that's bidding for my time now, but I think part of it is the technology factor. When I didn't have a good camera or editing software I had to try really hard to make my work look nice. Now, I have to put a lot less effort forward to get adequate results. This makes lowering my effort level a lot more appealing.

In some ways I suppose that's ok. I mean, not having to slave away for an hour to white balance a shot in post is nice. But I feel like for me this ease produced by technology can keep me from trying really hard to make my stuff good. I look at my work, and since it looks so much better than my past stuff, it's easy to loose sight of a need to keep pushing myself. That's the point i'm at right now. I need to make sure I keep pushing myself and my tools to give me the best result possible. Anyone else have similar feelings?

the edge of water

This is a music video I made about a year ago.

I would love to know what ya'll think. I have gotten a lot of different responses to it. One person said it made her want to exercise more, another thought it was about waiting for Jesus to come back. I think it even made one person cry. This has all demonstrated to me that so much of how people see a piece of art comes from within themselves. Different people notice different things and react different ways. When I made this video I was basically trying to convey the meaning and emotion of the song rather than create a detailed plot line, although there is a bit of one woven in. I don't know how well I pulled it off, but I guess you guys can help give me insight into that.
In my opinon, as far as looking professional it's just ok. I used a home camcorder and a pretty wimpy editing program (hence the discoloration). tell me what ya'll think

oh, and ya this song is "The Edge of Water" by Jars of Clay.

***note: the person in this video is NOT me. It's my sister :)

rain to wash me away

I don't know about you guys, but I find a lot of my inspiration through pieces of (using the term broadly) literature. Not just other films, but novels, songs, poems, lectures, you name it. I was just listening to this song "I Need You" by Jars of Clay. I think it might be my favorite of their songs, at least for now. Here are the first two verses.

Strangely out of place
There's a light filling this room
Where none would follow before
I can't deny it burns me up inside
I fan the flames to melt
Away my pride
Do I want shelter from the rain
Or the rain to wash me way?

I might sound like a fool
But I think I felt you moving
Closer to me
Face to the ground
To hide the fatal cut
I fight the weight
I feel you lift me up
You are the shelter from the rain
And the rain to wash me away

I love the power of that image, of God being both a shelter, a protector, and the one who "washes me away." When I think of this I don't think of a gentle "washing" clean sort of deal but a literal washing away, like blowing away, like i'm-drowning-and-I-think-i'm-gonna-die kind of wash away. I want God to protect me from hurt, but at the sime I want to be ripped apart and so overwhelmed that I can't help but fill my lungs with him when I take a breath. I feel like God does both things for us. Kindda weird. Jars of Clay took a concept I have heard and felt in my life and gave me words with which to express it, making it new and somehow more real. Love it! This is exactly what I want my work to do.

weekend shooting

My group worked on our short for 105 this weekend. Part of it was going down Dr. Clark's stairs in cardboard boxes! Yeah, one of those things that you do only for movies. Well, actually I could see myself doing that just for fun (maybe on less-steep stairs), but anyways....

I feel like it's been going pretty well. I think the hardest parts have been learning how to work in a group and plan and organize. I mean, I still feel like figuring out how to work professionally and orderly and efficiently. Maybe ya'll feel the same way about your projects. But hey, experience put to good use should equal progress. They say now is the best time to make mistakes, so I guess I shouldn't feel too bad.

Anyways, I enjoyed out shoot today and can't wait to see what it'll look like.

and I can't wait to swallow a whole tablespoon of cinnamon...

We Shall Remain

This weekend I watched a couple episodes from the documentary series "We Shall Remain," about the Native Indians' struggle to retain their land and their culture. It's actually one of the few dramatized documentaries I've seen that has not seemed over-done or manipulative. I actually liked it pretty well. I felt like it had a good amount of interviewing of authorities on the subject matter balanced with a narration of facts. The people told the opinions and the narrator told the facts. I liked that. At the same time I felt like there was a bit of a trade off for lower quality editing and imagery at times. However, it did do it's job of telling a story very well. Although I not-so-good imagery (zooming up on the same pictures, etc) bothered me at times, at other times I found myself completely sucked into the story, having entirely forgotten about the visuals, at least on a conscious level. 

Anyways, I really enjoyed it. It taught me a lot of new things about the Native American history. In my opinion, this is what documentaries are all about.

here's a link to the project website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/
the entire series is also available on netflix :)

Andy Griffith Show

This break at my house we were watching some good 'ol Andy Griffith episodes. Afterwords my fam and I were saying how this show is one of the few that actually are about pure laughs and doesn't slip into off-color stuff in attempts to be funny. My dad was pretty excited about the idea that I'll be in a place to create shows like this that are purely funny.

In some ways I agree that that would be pretty cool, and in fact I can see myself making with a similar type of humor.

Another part of me however feels like I would need to appeal to a wider range of people than those who just want light 'n fluffy comedy. But of course, comical off-color shows can be just as "fluffy" as well. I guess I just don't want to create things that are purely funny and make the audience forget about all the serious or grotesque in the world. I think that portrays a false sense of reality and of what it could/should be. Well, no, I guess not really, it's just that I want there to be more in my work than making people temporarily happy or providing some form of escape. But I am such a hypocrite because I love the Andy  Griffith show - for multiple reasons, but one of which is that it is so soothing to watch a funny show to get your mind off unpleasantness! AAgh. I can't make up my mind.

documentaries

I've been  having some thoughts as we have been going over the whole documentary section. While I've liked most of the films we've watched in class, I feel like the readings have touched on some ideas that have made me a little uneasy. The first two readings really empasized getting people to think and feel and even act a certain way as a result of the film. Not that I think this is always a bad thing, but isn't this a bit contradictory to what we were learning earlier this semster, as far as the goal of film being not to show people the "right" way (because we somehow have it all together) or to draging people into thinking and acting like we do, but simply to show people what we see. The thing is, documentary film can do the "showing what we  see" thing really well, but when the goal is to get a certain action/reaction from the audience, that's where I start to feel uneasy about it. I feel like a lot of documentaries/documentary-ish tv shows i've watched have had really manipulating tones because I can see right through to what they're trying to get me to feel and think and it ticks me off. When documentary filmmakers show a true story but then claim they know what's going on and exactly what to do about it, how is that different from a narrative filmmaker telling people what to think?

WHAT did I just see last night?

I think it funny that after the Crumb was over, Professor Leeper immediately asked for my opinion. Ya, umm... anyways I was like "I have absolutely no idea what i'm gonna blog about." Well, I still don't have much to say other than it was sad, and disturbing, and gross, and sad, and disturbingly gross and really really sad .....  It wasn't exactly the kind of scaring experience I thought it might be. It was more just horrifying to see what came from this guy's head and the thoughts that he embraced. I feel like R Crumb knew that he was broken and messed up, yet he chose to embrace that part of him anyways. He used his cartoons to draw out and explore what was inside of himself, which is not a bad thing to do, but when he saw the results he didn't see a problem but instead a piece of art to be published.

The one noble thing about him was his genuiness. His art was all about how he saw things or whatever popped into his head. He never catered to what consumers wanted. Neither was he trying to shape society. It just so happened that what he throw out there everyone else wanted.

Truman Show

So, I watched The Truman Show two times this weekend in preparation for making my trailer for it. (trying to be a good reader) And anyways, while i and a few other awesome girls on my floor were watching it, one guy walks by and says "great movie! oh, did you guys get the hidden meaning yet?" I felt kindda ticked because it felt like he was showing off that he had somehow figured it out or knew some secret or something. Besides, I already had seen this movie and I hadn't seen some deep, alegorical connection to anything. 

After my the movie was over my friends were discussing what this so called "hidden-meaning" was supposed to be. They all came to the conclusion that The Truman Show is meant to be a slam on christianity in one way or another. Some thought it was paradying off the idea that God controls the world and we need to break away from that somehow. Others thought it ridicules the fake bubble christians live in, where God makes it so that christians "have nothing to fear."

While I can see the connections, especially in the director's name (Christof), I don't like to accept these conclusions because (1) I don't like it when people try to say they "know what the film's about" and (2) I really like The Truman Show and don't want to believe it's really a slam on people like me. However, I have hope because even though that may have been one of the intended meanings, to me The Truman Show is ultimately about finding freedom from fakeness.

We all deal with fakeness in our lives, whether in lies we are told by the world around us or our own self imposed fakeness. sometimes we don't realize that we are believing a lie, but other times we hit that false sky with our little sail boats. And then we have the choice to escape through the exit door, or to keep pretending that our world is normal, that our spouses are supposed to spout off advirtisements during an arguement and that lights are supposed to randomly fall our of the sky...

You don't get it. Should I care?

This is the interview my group did. I slipped a story in there while editing. I'm surprised how many people don't get it. It doesn't even seem those who worked on it got it. Here's the thing, I'm not sure if I should care. I mean, if you pay attention to what's being said, what you see when it's being said, and what you hear and when you hear it...then you might just put it all together and walk away with the feeling that was intended. There's also that "aha!" moment that I like, but the problem with that is you've got to be able to put that together. Ask yourself, why am I being shown this right now within the context of the whole.

When making a film is it alright to slow the bus down to let more people on? Stanley Kubrick didn't when 2001 bombed at the box office. In fact, he pretty well kept his mouth shut about what he was going for on that on all the way up to the day he died.

I'm happy with it. In fact, the only regret is that, in order to get it done on time, I had to plow through it, which took some of the experience away from the others. That's my fault for not trying to put it together sooner. I've tagged them all in this post. It doesn't have to count as blog credit, but if it does everyone deserves it. Anyway, check out the awesome lighting and location by Megan Carpenter.

Note: After writing this I went back and tried really hard to make it more obvious what I was going for. It didn't really work. It seemed forced. It is what it is.

Wild Strawberries

It was good. and i am sorry for all the people who didn't come, 'cause it was good.

At first I thought it was not as deep as I was expecting it too be, but after the discussion i think it really was deep, just not in the way that makes you feel like your head is spinning (which was nice).

Thoughts not mentioned in the discussion:
(1) I like how Bergman on the one had showed the social change in Sweden through his different generations of characters, but at the same time showed that they all struggled with the same things - that being with questions like is there a God, and how to deal with cold people and being a cold person yourself, for example
(2) Isak Berg is not that different from Ingmar Bergman - another testimony to the autobiographicallness of the film.
(3) I also noticed that there wasn't a distinct turning point in the story that I can remeber. Instead, it seemed that the whole movie is Isak was being chipped away at and in the end he was a different person. It seemed so natural that I almost forgot how he got there. Perhaps the turning point was when Marriame told Isak about her conversation with Egvald. But still, there was something about whole transition that felt very natural.

This is the first film that I've watched in a while with a happy ending that I am ok with being happy. I don't know why. Maybe because Bergman doesn't show that everything is "fixed" persay, but does seem to elude to the fact that things are headed in a better direction than they were before. And he doesn't tell the reader the "right" way to think: he doesn't conclude if there is a God or not, and what he would be like. The only thing he does seem to say is that having relationships with people is good. So, it ends happy, but doesn't choke out the desire to keep thinking about the story. In a way, I think it actually provokes it even more than a dark ending would.

 Well, that's it for now. If you've haven't seen it yet you should.... it's good :)

12:08

I am really glad I went to this film because it gave me some new perspectives on Romania and filmmaking. First of all I really enjoying listening to Dr. Michealson's talk about Romanian history and culture. But I also really benefited from observing a new style of filmmaking. In this film there was no theme music, and as one person said to me "all they did was sit and talk the whole time!" While this is not a completely true statement, about half of the movie did consist of three men bickering on a talk show. I think if it was an American movie, it would have had flashback scenes as the men tried to recollect what happened during the "revolution," or something else to keep it too keep our attention. I think part of the reason the movie was the way it was is because of the Romanian taste for dry humor. However, I still found it entertaining to observe how the men interacted and behaved. I loved the scene when the man on the right in the picture was accused of being a drunk and a liar. He squirmed, tore up his paper, and kept changing his story. I think this style might work for Americans better if the subject matter were designed for American culture. The style really brings out the personality of the characters. Maybe I will make use of this technique someday :)

The Man Who Planted Trees

Unfortunately, I would have to say that I did not like this film so much. Right from the start I knew that it was going to tell me that planting trees was good and that we should take better care of our environment, that it would probably challenge me to be a more caring person, etc. For this reason I felt both bored and also kind of annoyed that I was being preached at. Perhaps I've seen too many films with this sort of message. Perhaps I would look on it different if it was the first film I had seen of this nature. I also didn't like the voice of the narrator, but that is kind of personal taste. Now, I don't want to make it sound like I don't care about the environment. I really do. But something about being told that I should care makes not want to care as much.

Someone also mentioned the fact that the film compared the planter's work to that of God. That also did not help me to like the film better. It was just kindda, yeah, annoying, especially since it was repeated several times. I don't know, maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for it, but this film just didn't excite me too much.

Winter's Bone

Wow, I have to say I really hate watching a movie and quickly turning around and giving an analysis of it. Perhaps that's why I don't talk much during the discussions at signs and wonders. But, since I don't have time to write about this later, I better do this now...

I lived in the Ozarks for a year and a half, so I felt especially connected with this film. It made me think about all the kids i've gone to school with who could have been in similar situations to Ree's. And, being an oldest child this film drew me in even more.

To me, this film in a way exemplifies tragedy. Like, things get settled as in Ree reaches her goal of finding where her father is and gets to keep the house and kindda gains an uncle, but you don't get the impression at the end of the film that everything is going to be all hunky-dory. Ree's still gonna get short on a cash again. She's still gonna have to take care of her family without physical or emotional support. And you don't get the impression that she is happy either. The film takes into the account the consequences of bad stuff happening; Ree was still left fatherless, hurt, and alone. This film describes a sad situtation and does not tell us if it will get better or not. However, the realism makes the good things that do happen in this film even more powerful. I liked it.

Circuit Marine & The Body of Christ

I really liked this animated short from Monday's class. At first I thought that it was just about the cycle of eating (like the circle of life from the Lion King) but then my focus seemed to shift more towards the saddness of the pirate at loosing his pets.

This may seem a little weird, but it kindda reminds me of God's grief over fighting among His people. Sometimes we get so caught up in devouring each other that we forget that we are all precious to God. We are all very different, and sometimes we find it hard to live with one another. We can get so focused on ourselves and on what we want (and our personal beliefs) that we turn on each other instead of trying to build each other up. Not only does this lead to bad consequences (like being surrounded by a swarm of flies that end up causing you to drown yourself) but it also grieves God to the core. Just remember the pirate and the pictures he drew of his beloved pets.

Here is a link to the short: http://www.ipexview.com/solution/videos/National_Film_Board_of_Canada/Circuit_Marine/13/

The Hudsucker Proxy

Well, I can't say that I disliked The Hudsucker Proxy, but I'm not exactly in love with it either. I mean, it was funny and I loved the extreme charcters. But after the film was over, I felt like I didn't know what to do with it. It was kindda like, oh here's your funny for the day and... enjoy! and that was about it. I didn't really gain any insights or have some lasting impression of some kind or another. It was just kindda there and that was it for me.

However, that said I think the Coen Brothers do a good job of making a spoof off American classics. Definitely saw the connections with It's a Wonderful Life.

I guess there's nothing wrong with a movie just being meant to be funny. I guess I was just expecting it.

Art In Me

 

Ok, I have to admit that I am a bit obessed with the band Jars of Clay. Not so much with their recent songs, but definitely their first few albums. One of their songs has been popping up in my head lately, and it happens to have a lot of connections to the topics we're discussing in class. It's Art in Me from the album Jars of Clay. Here's a link to a YouTube of it. And here are the lyrics:

 

 

Images on the sidewalk speak of dream's decent
Washed away by storms to graves of cynical lament
Dirty canvases to call my own
Protest limericks carved by the old pay phone

In your picture book I'm trying hard to see
Turning endless pages of this tragedy
Sculpting every move you compose a symphony
You plead to everyone, "see the art in me"

Broken stained-glass windows, the fragments ramble on
Tales of broken souls, an eternity's been won
As critics scorn the thoughts and works of mortal man
My eyes are drawn to you in awe once again

In your picture book I'm trying hard to see
Turning endless pages of this tragedy
Sculpting every move you compose a symphony
You plead to everyone, "see the art in me"

 

 

This song touches on so many issues. One main one I think is trying to finding meaning in life. It also paint the gospel as a story (particularly a tragedy). However, I think it also screams of an artist trying to use his/her art to sort through some thoughts and see if they "work", kind of like what we were talking about in class towards the beginning of the semester. In the end the artist finds that God must be an artist just like him.

 

Any other thoughts? share theeeeemm!

big gun

Remember this scene from Inception? Arthur was trying to shoot down a subconcial projection hiding behind some transformers, but with very little success. Then Eames comes to the rescue. "You musn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling," he says. Then pulling out a massive peirce of aritlery, he blows up the transformers, obliterating the projection.

I have heard some people say that Inception is an allegory for filmmaking. This is however, beside the point I want to make. Stories, when people allow them into their minds, are very powerful. And sometimes, when we let stories speak to us, they can leave impressions on us that are hard to get rid of, and can even lead to change in our lives. One extreme example is in the film Avatar, which led some fans to feel depressed and even have suicidal thoughts because our world could not compare to the beauty and blissfulness of Pandora. ( http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-11/entertainment/avatar.movie.blues_1_pandora-depressed-posts?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ ) Now, this my sound a bit extreme, but think about it for a second. Think of all the films which have captured your imagination, took ideas and made them bigger or more real to you, tradegies, comedies, and fairy tales that have left an impression on you for a lifetime. I can think of several movies with have made me want to be something and have an amazing story to tell, just like the hero. Tarzan made me want to be a super buff, wild and free character like Tarzan. Lord of the Rings made me want to be as wise as an elf and as faithful as Samwise Gamgee.  

Last January I made a music video for the Jars of Clay song "Edge of Water." This spring I showed it to some of my teachers and at a show project display night. When I made the video I was merely trying to display my interpretation of the song. However, I found that it actually did make an impression on people. Some commented on how they liked it, one teacher told me it made her want to exercise more, and I even saw some cry while watching it. I had no idea what it would do... I hope it made a positive impression on everyone, but there is really no way to tell.

Be encouraged my friends, but be afraid. By going into digital media arts, we have decided to use the big guns. We are going to play with tools that have the power to plant, grow, and impress ideas and desires inside people's minds. I can't think of anything that could be more exhillerating and more scary at the same time. Thank God that He is bigger than any gun and will guide our stories for His purpose.