blog four

This semester’s class was very interesting. From the art of editing to coding in Actionscript, I feel I learned some things that I can put to good use in the future. The short video project we did earlier in the semester allowed me to get some hands-on experience with a camera that I had been waiting for. And editing that video finally introduced me to Final Cut, which I have been itching to learn for a long time. Then we began to learn how to animate in Flash. Now, for the first few weeks of this, I was completely lost, as I know a lot of my classmates were. I didn’t know what was going on or what I was supposed to be learning or doing. Then one day it just sort of clicked, and after watching the online tutorials over a few times, I just started hacking away at the program and eventually figured out what I was doing. And not to toot my own horn or anything, but I was really proud of the animation I had made. Overall, I thought this class was useful. But, it could have been a lot better if we had more time in front of the computers, learning things while we are being taught them, instead of the current method of lecturing one day and being in the lab another.

blog three

Teresa Almada’s film presentation was really fantastic. I loved her work, especially the one that displayed various images over the audio of interviews with family members. This was such personal material that she was sharing that I was very touched by it. I also really liked the way she used the images in that piece. The images of rippling water and the swimmer seemed to reflect some of the emotion of the interviewees. It was all very introspective and personal to the artist, but it was done so well that the audience can relate to it, no matter how different their stories may be. I also enjoyed her documentary work of the Mexican people crossing the border illegally. It was very revealing. We hear a lot about the ‘problems’ of illegal immigration, but too rarely do we hear about individuals. And although the clip we saw wasn’t very long, I think it began to show a lot of the struggle that these people go through. I think she is a very talented individual, and I would like very much to see more of her work in the future.

blog two

One of my favorite scenes of film is from Revolver, directed by Guy Ritchie and edited by Romesh Aluwihare, Ian Differ and James Herbert.   The scene is about a character named Jake Green, who has an extreme fear of elevators and tight spaces. Of course, in this scene he gets stuck in an elevator, and proceeds to have a meltdown.  (The link for the video is below.)
The editing in this scene really conveys a sense of terror and aggression that would not have been possible if it had been done in any other way.  It seems by breaking a lot of the conventions, editors were able to think outside the box and produce something powerful and different.  The scene was shot in two separate scenes, one with Jake standing calmly in the elevator, and one with him throwing himself around screaming and yelling.  However, both were shot with the camera in the same spots and both were lit the same, with a dim blue haze, to give it a sense of continuity and that it was all happening chronologically.
By editing a calm face mixed in with that same face in complete rage, screaming and smashing the elevator walls, it gives the viewer a sense of uneasiness.  And the dialogue that the two are having, which really just Jake talking to himself, sucks you into the psychotic episode that he is having. Overall, I think this scene is great and really adds to the building pressure that the film tries to convey. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNUpbKLmRQ0

blog one

One website I visit often is Pitchforkmedia.com,  a music website that has news, interviews, reviews, and videos about popular indie bands.  I like this website because it seems to have the most information about what I want in an easily accessible format.  When you first look at the homepage, you can clearly see everything that the website has to offer without having to look very hard, aside from minimal scrolling.    This site is a perfect example of user-centered design, because no matter where you go in the site you are hit with tons of information, which is all very easy to recognize and comprehend.  Click on a link about Titus Andronicus' new album, and you see a picture of the cover art, a link to a recent interview with the band, and a playlist of cool new music that you can instantly stream on your computer, and tons of other stuff.  You also see that every band, album, venue, or event is hyperlinked so you can easily jump to more information about each.  There is even a spot for user comments so you can see what other people have to say about a topic.  If you are interested in seeing a video, you can click the pitchfork.tv link at the top of every page and watch videos of you favorite bands.  I think this website was designed very well, because it holds a lot of information, but expresses it in a easy-to-navigate and cohesive way.