Saturday, May 10, 2008
Mike's final video piece
It was really pleasing to watch your final video, not only within the context of our classmates' work, but also within the context of your work throughout the semester. As Janet mentioned, you did a really good job of pairing imagery, sound and words in order to produce the additional elements of concept and metaphor. I appreciated the visual style of your piece, which felt very aware of it's video-ness. In particular, I was impressed by your manipulation of the green screen. You mentioned in class that you could've tweaked the filter to get the "ideal" effect, but preferred the strange, chaotic look that you ended up with; I think you made the right choice and a bold move as well. You approached the filter creatively and employed it in a way that's theoretically "wrong", but in doing that you created a new use for it. Breaking so-called rules like this is very necessary, especially when everyone in the world making videos is essentially using the same handful of editing software. Without a certain level of disregard for the proper function of our tools, we end up with videos that all look the same.
Good luck with your future work.
Good luck with your future work.
Response to Jeff's, Hannah's, and Mike's Final Videos
Response to Jeff’s:
I liked the idea of doing a “Rugrats” stylized remake. It was well filmed, well lit, and had good continuity in all areas. As I said in class, you seem to have a particular style that has come through in all your pieces, and as the semester has progressed I like that you keep exploring your particular style and getting more complex in your shooting, editing, and sound design. In the video I think that the sound design in particular set the tone of your video really well. I think that it was okay to never see the actors together in a circle, but if you want them to appear like they are in the same room together you might think about doing some L-cuts with the audio so that it sounds more conversational, but keeps to the style of the filming.
The times when the characters were dancing were definitely my favorite parts of the video. I liked the movement of both the characters and the camera, and the quick editing. It also looked slightly altered, and I am not sure if it was strictly camera work and lighting, or if you did something in post-production, but I think that was where the epitome of your style came through and I would like to see more of that. Overall, you do very careful and complete work, and out of it came a lot of good work.
Response to Hannah’s:
I like the topics you are exploring in your film. I think that it is a topic very often talked about, making it difficult to bring something fresh to the discussion, but that you have a very good start on it. I especially like that you are asking women to draw what they think is a “beautiful woman.” I think that the part that was my least favorite was when you added in the media-images of women. I think that sometimes that can come off as too blatant and is done pretty often, so as you continue with this project you should be careful where you put it in. I like the idea of it being a contrast to the young girls you are hoping to interview, and I think that you can use your techniques to juxtapose girls and sexualized women and your film can become a powerful statement on this topic.
Response to Mike’s:
I really liked your twist on people who are bombarded with media becoming zombies. It looked like you had taken inspiration from a lot of the videos we watched for our class into account when making your video, and I liked how your video came out. I think you have a good handle on the definition of hegemony, and your own ideas on it as well. Your ideas about the media are often discussed in Hampshire classes, and I think that many students have become desensitized to many of the ideas, but I think your video says what many discussions I have sat through over and over tried to say much more eloquently and concisely. Your use of found footage right after your definition of certain words worked well because by putting the definition into context the viewer could grasp immediately what you were saying, and by knowing the images on the screen (for example, we all have seen images of war on the news), you give the audience a particular context in which to view the images, evoking a different response to them than usual, and therefore you open up discussion on both the definitions you put up, and media’s place in out lives.
I liked the idea of doing a “Rugrats” stylized remake. It was well filmed, well lit, and had good continuity in all areas. As I said in class, you seem to have a particular style that has come through in all your pieces, and as the semester has progressed I like that you keep exploring your particular style and getting more complex in your shooting, editing, and sound design. In the video I think that the sound design in particular set the tone of your video really well. I think that it was okay to never see the actors together in a circle, but if you want them to appear like they are in the same room together you might think about doing some L-cuts with the audio so that it sounds more conversational, but keeps to the style of the filming.
The times when the characters were dancing were definitely my favorite parts of the video. I liked the movement of both the characters and the camera, and the quick editing. It also looked slightly altered, and I am not sure if it was strictly camera work and lighting, or if you did something in post-production, but I think that was where the epitome of your style came through and I would like to see more of that. Overall, you do very careful and complete work, and out of it came a lot of good work.
Response to Hannah’s:
I like the topics you are exploring in your film. I think that it is a topic very often talked about, making it difficult to bring something fresh to the discussion, but that you have a very good start on it. I especially like that you are asking women to draw what they think is a “beautiful woman.” I think that the part that was my least favorite was when you added in the media-images of women. I think that sometimes that can come off as too blatant and is done pretty often, so as you continue with this project you should be careful where you put it in. I like the idea of it being a contrast to the young girls you are hoping to interview, and I think that you can use your techniques to juxtapose girls and sexualized women and your film can become a powerful statement on this topic.
Response to Mike’s:
I really liked your twist on people who are bombarded with media becoming zombies. It looked like you had taken inspiration from a lot of the videos we watched for our class into account when making your video, and I liked how your video came out. I think you have a good handle on the definition of hegemony, and your own ideas on it as well. Your ideas about the media are often discussed in Hampshire classes, and I think that many students have become desensitized to many of the ideas, but I think your video says what many discussions I have sat through over and over tried to say much more eloquently and concisely. Your use of found footage right after your definition of certain words worked well because by putting the definition into context the viewer could grasp immediately what you were saying, and by knowing the images on the screen (for example, we all have seen images of war on the news), you give the audience a particular context in which to view the images, evoking a different response to them than usual, and therefore you open up discussion on both the definitions you put up, and media’s place in out lives.
Responses
Secret Daughter- June Cross
I thought this documentary was well done because of its strong narrative. Cross made the story very personal, which always helps bring empathy and understanding to any situation. June Cross was exploring the place of mixed race individuals in America because she wanted some resolution to her own place in the world, and along the way she discovered with the audience that she is not the only person and that this is a difficult issue that everyone in America needs to deal with (not just people who are biracial). I’m sure she knew all this when she started, but by taking the audience with her on her journey to understanding her own family history, she allowed the viewer to understand one story in depth and therefore connect with her on a personal level. This makes the viewer care about the bigger issues in America, and perhaps it makes some viewers seek more information and want to change the way that race is dealt with in America.
Joan Does Dynasty- Joan Braderman
I agree with what Cass said about wishing that I had seen the show before. I also had to split my focus between the commentary and the show to understand what she was saying. I think that it is a very good idea to put commentary over a well-known tv show (or movie, or anything). I think if it were a newer show that I knew, I would have really liked it—especially the times when she would say cutting remarks that sounded like something I would say when watching a show like that. I think that if this documentary was out to educate people who watched this about the misogyny in the show, she may have been too blunt and not ironic enough. I think this because if someone is trying to sway me to have a certain opinion, I prefer to feel like I am being talked to like an intelligent person, rather than bombarded with opinions. However, I recognize that there is a place for this type of activism, and while it is not to my personal tastes, I still think it is important to have it and this piece was well executed in what it was doing.
Ilha das Flores- Jorge Furtado
This film was the most effective for me (which I think speaks to the kind of activist films I like rather than the film itself). By starting out like a satire on educational videos, it immediately established a connection with its audience that allowed the viewer to let down their guard and get into the video. Then it foreshadowed the seriousness of what it was talking about by cutting to a few graphic pictures when it talked about animals and people. I found as an audience member I knew what was coming but was still surprised to see the ending, and that by making the narrator sound like he didn’t care about the people who are in these horrible situations that it made me care even more. In opposition to “Joan Does Dynasty,” this video makes the viewer feel that they have been shown something that they should draw their own conclusion about how to deal with it—even though it is perfectly clear at the same time that they are supposed to want to help.
Semiotics of the Kitchen- Martha Rosler
I liked this film a lot and am not entirely sure why. I think that I liked the simplicity of it. Her message was simple and clear: she is breaking out of her role as a housewife and is angry about women’s believed role. I think I like that it was one of the first women’s experimental videos and she found a public voice for herself in television—which in her time was heavily male dominated. The simplicity of the video—one straight on shot of her picking up, defining, and “demonstrating” common kitchen utensils is deceptive. I think it shows a lot of other layers to her anger, one with I think is that the simplicity parallels the idea that a woman’s place in the kitchen is simple and straightforward. This may be stretching what she wanted, but I also think that a viewer can take their own ideas into account when interpreting a piece, and this video is particularly geared for people to understand her specific point (because it is so obvious), and because of its seeming simplicity people will look for more in it and find what they want.
I thought this documentary was well done because of its strong narrative. Cross made the story very personal, which always helps bring empathy and understanding to any situation. June Cross was exploring the place of mixed race individuals in America because she wanted some resolution to her own place in the world, and along the way she discovered with the audience that she is not the only person and that this is a difficult issue that everyone in America needs to deal with (not just people who are biracial). I’m sure she knew all this when she started, but by taking the audience with her on her journey to understanding her own family history, she allowed the viewer to understand one story in depth and therefore connect with her on a personal level. This makes the viewer care about the bigger issues in America, and perhaps it makes some viewers seek more information and want to change the way that race is dealt with in America.
Joan Does Dynasty- Joan Braderman
I agree with what Cass said about wishing that I had seen the show before. I also had to split my focus between the commentary and the show to understand what she was saying. I think that it is a very good idea to put commentary over a well-known tv show (or movie, or anything). I think if it were a newer show that I knew, I would have really liked it—especially the times when she would say cutting remarks that sounded like something I would say when watching a show like that. I think that if this documentary was out to educate people who watched this about the misogyny in the show, she may have been too blunt and not ironic enough. I think this because if someone is trying to sway me to have a certain opinion, I prefer to feel like I am being talked to like an intelligent person, rather than bombarded with opinions. However, I recognize that there is a place for this type of activism, and while it is not to my personal tastes, I still think it is important to have it and this piece was well executed in what it was doing.
Ilha das Flores- Jorge Furtado
This film was the most effective for me (which I think speaks to the kind of activist films I like rather than the film itself). By starting out like a satire on educational videos, it immediately established a connection with its audience that allowed the viewer to let down their guard and get into the video. Then it foreshadowed the seriousness of what it was talking about by cutting to a few graphic pictures when it talked about animals and people. I found as an audience member I knew what was coming but was still surprised to see the ending, and that by making the narrator sound like he didn’t care about the people who are in these horrible situations that it made me care even more. In opposition to “Joan Does Dynasty,” this video makes the viewer feel that they have been shown something that they should draw their own conclusion about how to deal with it—even though it is perfectly clear at the same time that they are supposed to want to help.
Semiotics of the Kitchen- Martha Rosler
I liked this film a lot and am not entirely sure why. I think that I liked the simplicity of it. Her message was simple and clear: she is breaking out of her role as a housewife and is angry about women’s believed role. I think I like that it was one of the first women’s experimental videos and she found a public voice for herself in television—which in her time was heavily male dominated. The simplicity of the video—one straight on shot of her picking up, defining, and “demonstrating” common kitchen utensils is deceptive. I think it shows a lot of other layers to her anger, one with I think is that the simplicity parallels the idea that a woman’s place in the kitchen is simple and straightforward. This may be stretching what she wanted, but I also think that a viewer can take their own ideas into account when interpreting a piece, and this video is particularly geared for people to understand her specific point (because it is so obvious), and because of its seeming simplicity people will look for more in it and find what they want.
Fast Trip, Long Drop (in response to Anjali)
I also found that I had a hard time with the film, but for opposite reasons. I was thoroughly engaged in the first ten minutes when he was playing many different characters and being satirical, however I started to lose my connection to his story when the man playing the different anchorman-type roles left. I feel like he started something that was going to bounce between satirical and genuine and be both engaging and moving, but when the satire filtered mostly out I found that even though the topics were important and I cared about what he was saying, the documentary itself didn’t leave as strong an impression as Tounge’s Untied did for me. This is not to say that you have to be funny to get a point across to an audience anymore (I hope that I have more an attention span than that), but I feel that this documentary in particular would have benefited from keeping the contrast between the satire and the genuine in strong form, and it would create more of a connection to the characters.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Meshes of the afternoon
Tongues Untied, Fast Trip Long Drop
Tongues Untied
Martin Riggs' Tongues Untied is an excellent example of the artfulness that can employed in the construction of documentary. Riggs uses form, composition, pace and emotional dynamics to create a rich viewing and hearing experience that challenged my comfort zone without being overly assaultive in its force. I thought his combination of found footage, performance, evocative imagery and talking-head style interviews allowed for the themes of the video to be expressed on emotional, intellectual, and sensual levels. Riggs did an excellent job in fulfilling the responsibility to capture a culture, scene and lifestyle that many can only understand superficially or one-sidedly. I was really impressed with his, and the actors/contributors ability to use humor and poke fun at themselves in order to relate to viewers on that crucial level. The use of humor also provided a refreshing ease for the viewer which, many times is left out in order to maintain a sense of seriousness and importance when discussing the emotionally charged topics of sexuality, gender, and ethnicity.
Fast Trip, Long Drop
Gregg Bordowitz's video has an interesting combination of personal and autobiographical reflection combined with a historical approach to looking at the cultural and individual experience of AIDS. His device of playing many different characters was clever and very inspirational in the spirit of independent video. Much of the camerawork and editing decisions (intercut black&white archival footage) gave the video a bit of an amateur feel, but this felt appropriate as it added to the feeling that Bordowitz could be just about anyone and that his experience represents a small ripple in what is an enormous wave of suffered, proud, oppressive, and often silenced experience.
Martin Riggs' Tongues Untied is an excellent example of the artfulness that can employed in the construction of documentary. Riggs uses form, composition, pace and emotional dynamics to create a rich viewing and hearing experience that challenged my comfort zone without being overly assaultive in its force. I thought his combination of found footage, performance, evocative imagery and talking-head style interviews allowed for the themes of the video to be expressed on emotional, intellectual, and sensual levels. Riggs did an excellent job in fulfilling the responsibility to capture a culture, scene and lifestyle that many can only understand superficially or one-sidedly. I was really impressed with his, and the actors/contributors ability to use humor and poke fun at themselves in order to relate to viewers on that crucial level. The use of humor also provided a refreshing ease for the viewer which, many times is left out in order to maintain a sense of seriousness and importance when discussing the emotionally charged topics of sexuality, gender, and ethnicity.
Fast Trip, Long Drop
Gregg Bordowitz's video has an interesting combination of personal and autobiographical reflection combined with a historical approach to looking at the cultural and individual experience of AIDS. His device of playing many different characters was clever and very inspirational in the spirit of independent video. Much of the camerawork and editing decisions (intercut black&white archival footage) gave the video a bit of an amateur feel, but this felt appropriate as it added to the feeling that Bordowitz could be just about anyone and that his experience represents a small ripple in what is an enormous wave of suffered, proud, oppressive, and often silenced experience.
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