Media160 Final Project Video

Media 160 Final Project Video from WhiteCloud87 on Vimeo.

Blog Assignment #4

The scene is from Spiderman 2. The scene is of Peter Parker talking with his aunt as she prepares to move from her home, as she is not able to pay rent anymore. Peter has recently given up being Spiderman. This is due to the responsibility becoming too great and feeling that he can’t live up to the advice his uncle gave to him before he died, losing his girlfriend Mary Jane due to his alter egos responsibilities causing him to miss important occasions with her and his fear she will get hurt if anyone finds out who he is. He had also told his aunt during his last visit that it was his fault his uncle was killed.

The scene stays consistent in lighting in the scene to the location of the objects piled around the yard. As well as with character locations, wardrobe, and the angle of the frames as the camera changes to focus on the characters as they are talking. The lighting stays at the same angle giving the scene a sunny look and no clouds dimming anything where they weren't before. They may have gone with using sunlight as their key light and softening it with a type of fill light to keep the environment sunny but not too harsh to where it looked too bright. Characters continue their moving around the environment seamlessly and it is clear that the two shots were not shot in one take. I checked that all the items in the scene were still with each scene and even checked if the couple of buttons on aunt May's sweater were undone in every scene and if they were the correct number of buttons undone. As well as seeing if the breeze blowing in the scene was inconstant as well. They play with the angles during the part where Peter is talking with the nine-year-old neighbor boy who is helping his aunt pack, giving us viewpoints of both from their perspective. The camera focuses on Peter from a low angle shot as if we are looking up at him when Peter is speaking, as if from the perspective of the boy. When focused on the boy it is from a high angle as if we are looking down from Peter’s perspective. Another use of framing of adding emotion and emphasis to the scene is during the moment Peter’s aunt is explaining why Spiderman is important and why the little boy admires Spiderman wonders where he went and why.

The scene at first is quiet except for birds chirping in the background. They might have recorded the sound before hand, taken it from sound library or recorded during the shoot. Then the silence is broken by music playing and the camera shows us aunt May as she is talking about how she believes there is a hero in everyone. As she talks about how she feels heroes keeps people honest and brave it switches to Peter. The camera slowly moves towards him working with the music to give the scene a reflective and slow sense of realization. It emphasizes Peter realizing that people need Spiderman to help them not only when they are in danger but to look up to. This part might also be trying to get the audience to connect it to the advice Peter’s uncle gave him before he died: with great power comes great responsibility. A hero’s responsibility is not just saving people; it is to be an example for others to be better and to believe that they can be better. The next scene after this has him returning to his role as Spiderman, swinging around the city to recover his costume and face the villain.

Museum of the Moving Image Trip

At the Museum of the Moving Image there was a display on the second floor on special effects for horror movies. Two of the exhibits were from The Exorcist and Freddy Krueger Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master and how the more memorable scenes from the movies were created. I decided to look at the scenes before I read how they were done to see how well the effects were used.

In the scene of the “The Exorcist” where the girls head does a full rotation, they used a life sized animatronics dummy of the actress. They showed a scene of the actress in the bed and then switched her with the dummy after that scene and used a controller connected to the doll to make the head rotate. When I watched it before knowing the trick the rotation of the head looked animatronic with the head sticking here and there. At the end of the rotation, the head completely stopped before snapping forward. I do not know if that was used as a way to surprise or shock, the audience but it made the trick more noticeable for me. When I watched it after I read the scene description the dummy was more noticeable. I noticed the line on the dummy’s neck where the head rotated. I think it could have been done better with a smoother rotation and if possible creating some way to make the dummy’s facial expression change.

In the Freddy Krueger movie, it was a scene of the souls of the people Krueger killed trying to escape his body while one of the other characters are exorcising him. For this, they used a larger version of the shirt Krueger wears and put a flesh colored latex rubber in the tear they made. They then had actors push against it to make it appear as if they were souls bursting from his chest. The scenes of the live actors and larger shirt where shot as a close up to hide the effect. For the shot showing the real actor playing Krueger they used a flesh shaped rubber that looked like the souls in the scene and placed it on the actor in the rip in his shirt. The rest to make them appear to be moving in the scene was done by computer. This was a lot harder to tell what they did and unlike the previous movie, the special effect was not easy to notice once I was aware of what they did to achieve the affect.

I’m not a big fan of horror films but this makes me curious of how some other scenes in a few horror films I’ve seen where done. Especially older horror films before use of green screen and computers were major tools for special effects.

Audio Portrait Assignment

Extra Credit: Anthology Film Archives, Program 5: Waste and Other Forms of Management

The filming of “Waste, and Other Forms of Management” involved seven different films There were two that stuck out for me the most.

In “Overseas” it Wawa Kai throughout the day. There was a nice use of scenes with the revel about Wawa. We see her sick in the bathroom as she was ill at work. But she appeared scared here, looking in the mirror towards the door before leaving to meet the police officer. We find out she was raped in a bathroom where the man had blocked the door. We also find out she is there to report the crime to get get an abortion. These scenes all tie this together as they lead up to this revel. One scene that really stuck out was the last bits where she asks the officer if he could protect her from the man who did this to her if, she gave a description like he is asking. Showing why she refuses to give a description and waited two months to report it. The officer is shown looking at her before looking down at his desk with no repose. Wawa is stuck in a situation where she needs an abortion but must give information first that could cause future harm from the man who did this to her. Police cannot guarantee protection. She is stuck in a losing situation either way, as the only option for her would be a dangerous illegal abortion. This is a good look into how women are treated on abortion rights and rape.

“Four Boys, White Whiskey, and Grilled Mouse” shows four boys drinking and eating a mouse they had caught and grilled in the paddy field. We see close-ups of the boys pouring drinks and eating with the paddy field in the background. It all seems like fun as they talk lounge around and then later leave for the day. But the last scene seems to hint at the boys being on their own. The last scene is of the main boy sitting alone in a room devoid of anything other than a television.

There was one film that everyone who watched it seemed to not like. It was a film of a recycling plant called “”. The filmmakers something to say about this one unlike the two I mentioned. The idea they were trying to get across was how so much money is spent on creating these machines and yet they often break or don’t work as well as they should leading to more money being spent on the process. I did see a lot of trash scattered around the machines in many still shots instead of running along the conveyor belt and the floors covered with pieces of plastic. One scene was done by placing the camera in-between the metal bars near a conveyor belt. The filmmaker had microphones on his glasses as well as on his shirt to get the audio recorded. The problem everyone had with the film was that it felt really long and tedious due to all the scenes of just the machines. Many people asked why only three shots were done of the workers. The filmmakers said that they tried to edit the film down to a reasonable size but the lack of workers was a choice they made. They felt look much footage of the workers would cause the audience to focus too on the workers instead of the environment of the recycling plant.

Three of the films “Bread”, “Spoon”, “Cream” were short two minutes of dialogue with the same man talking based on a prompt given. The camera was focused on him for the whole time with him facing forward talking. I think he used the prompts which are the titles of each as metaphors for all the problems facing his home of Damascus throughout the time the filming was being done. He talks about how the bread had drops of poison in it which could be the promise of freedom that ended up not happening. In Spoon he talks about the spoon working for him before it breaks and he has to eat with his hands. Maybe symbolizing how the government is supposed to work for the people but throws away those that need help. Especially in countries that are very poor and detailing with civil war like Damascus was as well as thirty years of occupation and the prime minister being assassinated. I wish this was made clear in the films as I had to read the handout given before we started watching to understand what these short films were about. Maybe they could have given their interviewee some more advice on it to make things clear what he was discussing. I think something was also wrong with the picture and audio when “Cream” was shown. There were moments throughout the film where the picture would lag and the audio crackled and had noise in it.

“Pigs” was a filming of a farm in Las Negas Nevada. It was mentioned that the film was made to show how foods from the casino’s and other businesses in the area that are spoiled or left over are used to feed the pigs to avoid wasting food as the casinos always make more food then what their customers will eat. But with how much time the pigs were shown before this I feel it could have had more of this. Maybe show some scenes of the casino. A shot of people eating, the table with plenty of food afterwards before it’s handed over the food to whoever delivers it. I originally thought it was discussing treating animals as waste from the pigs living conditions.

“The Last Supper” also did a similar message as “Pigs” as it focused on a message of wasting resources of food. It did this by placing a table floating on a swamp covered in green moss and placing spoiled food on it along with expensive looking dishes and silverware. The camera then shows the swamp and table at various angles. One shot showed the table with a dolly. The film makers found the swamp perfect and liked the green moss-covered water thinking it would work well with their idea.

The first film was “Soup Can” which was a short animation of photographs and old posters. They transitioned from one to another by animating figures in the pictures or in one case having the picture rip in half to show the next. It reminded me a lot of the opening animation to Monty Python. A lot of the work was done using papers elements in the way of moving the animation forward in an entertaining way.

Blog Assignment #2 "What I Hear"

My shoes scrap against the concert sidewalk as I walk along. I can hear myself breathing. Wind is blowing hard past my ears, my coat and the trees around me. It sounds like wind blowing against a microphone. Cars are driving by, engines slowing before coming back to life again and the engine sound getting lower signaling a cross walk nearby. People are shouting and the sound of sizzling and metal against metal means I am where the food carts and the entrance to the park are. The clopping sound of horseshoes against asphalt before the sound becomes sharper from contact on cobblestones near and the shouts of the vendors and carriage riders gets closer. I hear bicycles pass by sounding like mosquitoes buzzing passed as their bells ring. The sound of splashing water is in the distance. I hear quacking and screaming of ducks and geese and the sound of kids playing and throwing food into the water. It is mostly silent, a sign of winter. Normally you cannot hear yourself think here during warmer weather. There is the hollow sound of banging against metal far off. There are kids playing in the playground on the slide. They had to have hit the slide hard with something with how far away the playground is. The siren of a police car is coming from the street outside the park. People are yelling for people to move and the noise hurts my ears and makes them ring before it drives off.

Define a Space Project

Define a Space Park Avenue from BlueCloud_82 on Vimeo.

Selfie Picture

Artists Statement

Video is how I choose to create my work. Often the videos I create relate to forms of media a topic that has captured my attention. I also do videos reviewing and discussing gaming as a form of media. I feel using video to express my ideas makes it easier for people who want to listen to me. It allows them to understand what I am saying not only by hearing the words but by also hearing my tone. I find myself writing on the same topics if I cannot make a video. I try to make my videos fun but make sure the point I’m discussing is understood. When I'm doing a video I try to cover the thoughts and opinions of both sides of the matter. 

The news motivated me to create my own media and discuss with others. Media has dropped to entertaining the viewers first and informing second. Technology has developed to where it can help a lot in media. The internet can connect you to anyone in the world. Gaming is a piece of media that is useful. Many games stories touch on real life, social, and economical issues as well as stories from other cultures. They make people think about issues in the world. The number of people blogging and making videos on these games to discuss them proves this. To inform on unnoticed topics, events and other cultures while giving both sides equal time is what I try to put in my work.