Today is the final stage of my first stage as a film maker. I have embarked on a 9 week journey and today is my 9th week. I have learned a lot over the pass 270 hours in my journey.
I have learned the art of making flash, the art of editing a film, the art of inspiring others and at the same time the art of finding myself.
After this long journey, I have not given up. In fact I am stronger now than before.
All I want to do now is to craft my knowledge and use it to make my master piece.
Some may call my profession tedious or not profitable, but not once have they questioned the emotion that I endure from it. I feel happy and free when i direct or edit a film. I feel content and satisfied when I finish a film project. I feel courageous and adventurous when I start a film project. I feel alive when I pick up a camera.
Although money makes the world go round, happiness makes your life.
I can say I learned a lot in my 9 week journey, but saying is not the same as doing. Here is a website that was crafted from my 9 week learning experience:
I will never stop the fight to becoming what I want to be in life. In filmmaking there is no white towel, but a lot of coaches that inspire you to win.
Today I will be discussing about an intricate piece called "Modern Times" by Chris Coleman. This is a Flash animation and i find it excellent in the form of art. Now I am going to discuss about Coleman's piece, but in 5 relevant aspects.
Style: The style of the flash animation is very intricate. The details in the animation are very precise. The flow of the piece is fast and smooth as well. The use of color is minimal and Coleman only uses three main colors which are red, yellow and blue. The minimal amount of colors is a smart choice because the viewers won't feel overwhelmed with new objects entering the frame. All in all, the style of Coleman is very simple and precise.
Space: The spacing of the piece is very open. A lot of the times, the characters in the piece will be surrounded by a lot of empty space. When an image is transitioned to another image, Coleman shows a big gap of space between the transition. In conclusion, the way Coleman manipulates space is very key to his simple but yet effective film. The spacing keeps the film flow properly and keeps your brain from being overloaded with different images.
Character: The characters in the piece are images of different objects. The film is about modern times and the objects are things we humans use everyday to technologically advance our lives. There are a lot of computer objects in the piece, as well as safety signs and arrows. Final thoughts, The characters help move the film along because of the constant new objects that flash before us. By showcasing new objects, the viewers will be captivated and will be anticipating for more.
Liveliness: The liveliness of the film is truly remarkable. The fast transitions and the arrows help bring the story alive. Every image is connected with one another and transitioned perfectly. The use of minimal colors also help the liveliness of the images. By making some objects with color, the viewers will focus their attention on the object. By focusing on the object, we are interacting with the frame.
Purpose: The most important aspect of all, purpose. I find purpose to be important because a piece of work is suppose to have a meaning. Coleman delivers on the part of meaning. At the end i find myself sitting next to the one thing that can destroy me, technology. Coleman's piece is a tragic beauty of art because he is showcasing the death of society by our advancement of life/modern times.
In conclusion, "Modern Times" is simple and precise to the point. If anyone ever wonders about the future, "Modern Times" is a scary adaptation of what the future will be like for human kind. Also if anyone is interested in an intricate flash film, then look no more because "Modern Times" is just that.
Pre-production: Getting the idea was the toughest part, especially if you need an agreeing partner. Ideas flew left and right for a week straight and that was very frustrating. Once the idea was set, setting up the storyboard was the next issue. With two directors on board, that would mean the storyboard needs to satisfy both parties.
Production: With limited time, directing each scene needed to be fast. Each scene was a nightmare due to the pace my partner directed. The worst part was not sticking to the storyboard because time was an issue on hand.
Post-Production: Once we got the files into the computer, the next difficult task was arranging the files in order. It turned out we had too many files and that took up a lot of space. Due to the mass space, the computer lagged tremendously. With an impatient partner, the work flow was starting to become overwhelming.
Outcome: The film came out as planned and was very decent. If i could change anything, i would change the way it was directed. The feel of the film looks very documentary and this is not how i envisioned it. If i had more time and was behind the camera, i would direct the film in a perfect steady pace. I would also stick to the original storyboard, where it's 45 shots instead of the 15 shots that made up the final piece. Overall, i am pleased with the finished product.
Experience: Working with a partner is definitely different than working alone. More ideas are thrown into the pool and more ideas are taken out. A lot of the directing i would not have agreed on, but due to the interest of time i did not want to argue. Despite the negative aspects on working with a partner, there are also positive aspects. I enjoyed the fresh pair of eyes working with me on post production, many mistakes were caught due to the extra help. I also enjoyed the work flow, it was definitely faster to edit with four hands rather than two. I also enjoyed the effort my partner put into the project, that meant a lot to me and also sped things up.
Overall: I definitely learned a lot about the cinema world. I learned how to edit on Final cut Express and how to properly render video. I learned how difficult it is to work with a partner and how easy it is to work with a partner. Overall i am satisfied with how much i have endured and how the final outcome came out.
Quote of the Day: "Keep bumping and stay humping" -Ling Mai
Today i will be going over "The Boondock Saints," directed by Troy Duffy. There is a particular scene that intrigues me as the viewer, the scene i'm talking about is when the brothers break into the Russian mob's condo. In this particular scene, the brothers are hanging upside down from tangled ropes and they are shooting the gangsters.
The way the shots were put together was on point and seamless. Duffy went back and forth with the vent shots and the mob boss shots. I like this because it doesn't just show the brothers getting into the vent and going through the whole system, other wise this will be boring to watch. Duffy switch from shot to shot to show the audience what is next to come for the brothers if they manage to break into the mob boss's condo. Also by doing this, Duffy is shaving off the time it takes for the brothers to get into the vent and this moves things along for the movie. The best part is when the brothers actually break into the condo and they start shooting while they spin in circles on the dangling rope. Duffy then cuts to the brothers view and the camera is panning to show all the gangsters getting shot. The composition and the lighting are on point as well. Everything seems lighted fine and nothing was underexposed or overexposed. Even in the vent the lighting was good because we can clearly see the brothers faces and emotions. The cuts and editing were great because not one scene was a jump cut. Everything moved smooth and i never lost my attention from the film. This will always be a classic film for me to watch and the best thing about the film is, the sequel is finally coming out this October 2009. After a 10 year hiatus, Troy Duffy finally comes back out with the sequel, "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day."
Media, a term we all coin a familiarity to. When we hear the word “Media” we instantly think of TV, movies, and show business. For many that share this common opinion, they are absolutely right. Media is an entertainment purpose for many of us and a work place for the privileged few. As a motion picture artist, one can only dream of placing their work into the heart of show business for many to view and to appreciate. I have visited countless amounts of websites dealing with the distribution of motion picture art, with Netflix and Hulu being a few of the many distributors. I fancy the art and pieces of work from these websites because they deal with fine quality print and not those camcorder recorded knockoffs. Some people prefer their art in the Metropolitan or even the Louvre, but I like mine from Netflix and other miscellaneous top notch online dealers.
On the subject of motion picture art, one website sticks out the most. That website is known as Youtube.com.
I am a member of this elite organization, only the selected few can get their art to be viewed by the mass spectators registered in this club. Some can even send an art response back. Then later both artists can interact with one another. I have created a number of arts for this society, so far many of my works have been applauded and I am greatly thankful to this community. With Youtube and many major websites that support video uploads, anybody can be an artist with the camera. The relationship of media can no longer be trimmed down to the few because now it has exploded to the mass, with opportunities on the rise.
Quote of the Day: “With great art, comes great opinions.”
The past 9 months i have been thinking, a thought that occurs every afternoon. I have about thought how sticky jeans got when running for the bus. I have thought about how smelly I got when running in a sweater. I have even thought about how i am going to kill that annoying mosquito, which has been following me back home since I left the train station.
Luckily, I have come to my senses and dropped my mood swings. I have to remember that life is great and time is valuable. Instead of wasting my time on regret, i should embrace the present. Instead of the past, i will look forward. I will look forward to riding roller coasters. I will look forward to watching the new movies "The Terminator: Salvation," "Transformers 2," and "Public Enemies." I will look forward to all the journeys I have with my friends every Wednesday, because every Wednesday my friends and I would go to a new place to eat. I am also looking forward to breath taking sceneries that skies emit during late afternoons.
Luckily I don't need binoculars to see what's in front of me. I can almost hear the ocean, taste the view and feel the shine. There comes a time when a man revisits his childhood, and for that, God Bless you Summer.
Motto of the day:"Don't miss out on what's in front of you."
Today I will speak to you about a place I call “Real”axation. My “Real”axation place consists of a world full of sound, because I believe seeing is the first half of life while listening is the other complete half. You can only capture an experience by only seeing, but you can feel the experience if you listen. It is the sound waves that travel through your ears that will shock your soul with Goosebumps.
I honor this place as my sanctuary and a time to concentrate when the world is in an era of chaos. This place, I refer to as, is the first cart of the train. Today I will also be experimenting with the concept “soundwalk,” which is a term invented by R. Murray Shafer. Since it takes me an hour to get to work, I will spend my 60 minutes on listening and experiencing the train ride through my ears.
The first few minutes were bird noises and the occasional swift sweeps of the janitors broom as he cleans the carts. The noises his pan made when it hit the floor were loud and disruptive to the passengers, you can tell he was having a lousy morning. The next sound was the operator yelling over the speaker about the train leaving the station, from there you hear a stampede of horses rushing through the iron gates and into the steel barn. As passengers hurry to get in before the door closes, many rushed to available seating and all you hear are the gust of winds as their behinds smash hard onto the seats. As the giant steel elephant roar through the train tracks, you hear nothing but silence inside the belly of the beast. Then again it was 10 o clock on a Sunday morning, I can agree that many of the passengers were still sleepy. A few minutes later, I hear this alien screeching. This Martian was yelling at the top of her lungs to compete with the roars of the train. She was communicating with her other life forms because her satellite I-phone was lighted up next to her ear. I didn’t speak Alien so I couldn’t understand what she was saying, but if I had studied Russian in high school then maybe I could have deciphered her text. Now my ears are picking up sounds from outside the train and I hear the wooden octopuses brushing up against the steel train cart, it makes a crackling sound until it finally fades out into the background. Now the operator announces that it is stopping at “SheepsheadBay” and all of a sudden you hear a few seats creak as the animals leave the steel barn. As the old animals leave, new animals charge in and one of them was a lion because a lion is one of the animals in the animal kingdom that roars as it introduces itself. This lion was roaring about “feeding the homeless” and “wanting to give back to the community.” You can hear the paws lurking up to the passengers and the sounds of clinking metal coins in the air. This made the lion happy and in a roar of joy it greeted everyone “goodbye” until he made his way to the next cart. The sounds of old animals leaving and new animals entering are repetitious through out the whole travel, but the only sounds that are new are the background noises. I have heard construction yards from outside the train, construction on the railways around the train and even the demolition of a hamburger wrapper from inside the train from a passenger that was sitting right next to me.
Conclusion: The 60 minutes spent “sound walking,” or as I would say “Sound Traveling,” was an experience to my ears. Usually I just listen to my Ipod and not care about the noises on the train, but this experiment has opened up my ears and the broader scope of listening. I am glad I chose the train as my particular neighborhood to experiment the sound walk on because the sounds are always the same on the train but the experience will always be new.
I describe the sounds as creatures because that is the only way to describe a sound vivid enough for a person to grasp its’ essence, also because we are all animals living in a jungle, a jungle known as New York.
Motto of the day: “Why limit yourself to one area when you can expand yourself exponentially”
Today I am going to write a review about an advertisement poster on a drink that I am quite fond of. The drink is called “Orangina” and is made up of a carbonated citrus made from orange, lemon, and mandarin juice, with origins in France. Around my circle of friends, the drink is highly popular and a must have on a sunny warm day.
What inspires me to write this review is the fact that the poster is well designed on representing the product. Right off the top you can tell the drink is for a nice sunny day because of the cool sky blue colors and the orange peels shaped as beach umbrellas. The poster has great complementary colors such as blue and orange, which is easy on the viewer’s eyes. The title is written in bubble letters, which gives it a fun and soothing component about the drink. The sky on top of the poster brings out the beauty behind the drink, it symbolizes the cool refreshing taste of the product. I thought the resemblance of an orange peel from the umbrellas was a brilliant idea to depict the warm feeling of the poster. I also like how sex appeal was added by putting female legs underneath the umbrella. The shadows from the umbrellas are shading the drink, which again brings out the cool refreshing feel of the drink. I like how the poster was so simple, because in my world “Less is more.” You can tell everything was kept simple and not too complicated so that it would not take away from the product. The number of drinks kept the poster on topic and about the product itself.
The design overall was very well deliberate. Everything about the poster stayed on topic about the product and everything in the poster revolved around the product. The colors were well chosen to balance out the design and the objects were well placed to represent the product.
I am a fun, bubbly, and entertaining guy. This product represents me and this design represents the product very well to its audiences. If you haven’t tried out an Orangina yet, go to your local deli and pick one up. You won’t be disappointed.
Film: The Boondock Saints (1999) Director: Troy Duffy Length of film: 110 minutes
"The Boondock saints" is a movie about two brothers that have accidentally killed a couple of mafia gangsters. They then turn themselves in, only to find out they are actual heroes to the community. They believe it is a calling from God after they have been released from the murder charges, now they take the initiative to knock down every mafia boss that is plaguing their neighborhood.
I decide today to take a few minutes and analyze the scene where the two brothers prepare to take down the Russian mob in the condo building. From the looks of the composition of the scene, I think it is simple on how the director merged these scenes together. From the elevator shaft to the apartment, the director shot one take of the brothers in the elevator and another take of the apartment. The director then cut pieces in between to merge the scenes together to relate the scene in real time. The next scene in my opinion is the best choreographed entrance of a character in a movie I have ever seen. The frame cuts to the ceiling ripping apart, then cuts again of a medium shot of the brothers falling through the ceiling and then finally it shows the brothers tangled in ropes with their guns drawn out firing at the gangsters. At first the camera is shooting the scene from the floor level up, but when the guns start blazing, the camera was shot from an over top angle of the brothers. This shot was definitely achieved by rod systems to support the camera at such a vertical angle drop view. The best part was when the brothers were spinning in the tangled ropes from above, the director then cuts into a panning from left to right of all the gangsters getting shot. The final shot was of the two brothers standing behind the mafia boss and having two guns to the back of boss’s head. The brothers then hum a verse from the bible before shooting the mafia boss in cold blood.
I am glad I have seen this movie in my life time, because the overall feel is so amazing. The way the director shot the movie, I felt my adrenaline rush as if it were the two brothers shooting the gangsters. Especially when the director pans the camera while the brothers were shooting, I felt as if I was on the rope spinning and shooting. Also to mention the music playing for the scene, it was heart pounding because of such a rock and roll feeling. I must say, the overall feel of “justice being served” was well played through out the movie. I recommend anyone to see this great film if they have not done so already.
Today I went to The Museum of Moving Images, which is located in Queens, Astoria. Inside the Museum was a gallery of film cameras and historic pieces that contributes to the film era. I had never seen so many different film cameras in my life. From the early stages of motion picture to the modern day film, my mind couldn’t believe the major improvements in film.
Along the way of the tour, my fellow colleagues and I were able to participate in one of the fun demos. The demo was called the “Video Flip Book,” it was an entertaining experience because we all jumped around in front of the camera while it was taking our pictures. When the demo was over, the pictures were then processed and made into a flip book. We flipped the pages from left to right and we saw a motion picture of ourselves jumping up and down. The flip book is a fascinating concept because video cameras in the film world shoot 24 pictures a second. So if you were to think about it, a regular 90 minute film consists of around 129,600 photos.
The next stop in the tour involves replacing sound in a movie scene. The film industry calls it “The interactive display for Automated Dialogue Replacement,” or ADR for short. This was my favorite stop in the tour because, as a kid, I always wondered how animals talk in movies. I luckily got picked by the tour host for a chance to participate in the demo. The scene that I was going to replace the sound in turned out to be the hit classic movie “Babe.” After many years of wondering how it was possible animals can talk in movies, I get the chance to work on one of my favorite animal movies. When the tour host gave me the cue, I spoke into the microphone with what was written in front of the screen. Then my voice recording was processed to the movie scene. When played back, I witnessed a pig speaking with my voice. I was amazed and stunned on the outcome because the pig looked like it was really talking with my voice. I was then informed that the animals had peanut butter in their mouths so that their mouths would keep moving through out the movie shoot.
If anyone has any questions about cinema, go to the Museum of Moving Images. You will not be disappointed and all your questions will be answered. I had a great time and an overall experience. Stay tune for my next post.
