Monday, April 12th 2010

Critical Presentation

Joel R:

Dan Graham-

As a graphic design major, I was mostly impressed by the design of his slides. I'm assuming Joel did this? Very well done and professional. Video was weird and made me feel as if I was in the audience I would probably feel uncomfortable.

For FINAL, create:

1) Data DVD

2) DVD Studio Pro

DVD Studio Pro Notes

Working in DVD Studio Pro

NTSD Video

Create an SD DVD

Click "Ok"

Create a new folder on desktop with all final projects

(on data dvd put both, on playable dvd put the whole thing)

Import whole folder into bottom left of dvd studio pro

PHOTOSHOP TITLE_720x480px

Add button

Uncheck "motion" on right hand side menu

Response to Chapter 14

I have read this text book multiple times for multiple classes, and each time I read it, I learn something different that I didn't know before. I know I obviously read those certain parts before, but I guess the difference is what I'm learning at the time. Since I am learning about time based media and focusing primarily on that for this course, I guess I'm not surprised that the part that stuck out to me the most was the section from scene to screen play. That was mostly about time based works, but I also found it interesting that even the parts that weren't about time based works I associated with film and video.

For instance, a group is a collection of images that are related by subject, matter, composition, or source. This could be related to film and sequence structure as well. Different movie clips or frames could be grouped due to similar subject, matter, composition, or source as well.

Wednesday, March 31 2010

Melissa Bonnewell:

Gary Hill Around and About

Gary Hill has a very interesting voice. The visuals with the voice are simple yet dynamic. Even thought some of the images were static ones, they felt very dynamic and there was a lot of movement.

If the visual events had taken place in any other sequence, it would have portrayed a different message.

The fact that the artist chooses to record his feelings towards a personal event while adding what he sees on a day to day basis, allows the authenticity of his affairs to be frozen in time and converted to an area of isolation, yet opened to others so that they can see it again and again.

Jim Kirkwood:

Stanley Kubrick Barry Lyndon

I thought it was interesting that he directed movies that I've seen. I don't often think about who the directors are when I watch movies but I am going to start paying attention and paying even BETTER attention to little things I notice different directors do.

Wednesday, March 24 2010

Critical Presentation

Kristin- Joe Wright on Pride and Prejudice.

I like that you chose to do something a little more main stream.

I liked the insight you gave us into the little details that Wright includes in his scene that I might not catch on to if I was simply watching it for fun.

Olga:

Loop 1: The voices and different sort of accents they had contrasted well with the music in the background. It sounded like Death Cab for Cutie or the Postal Service? I maybe wish it would have played a little bit less of the song or maybe chopped it up a little bit more because it sounded like it was just playing through.

Loop 2: I really enjoyed how you created it with all nature sounds getting chaotic. I appreciated that choice.

Melissa Bonnewell:

Loop 1: I liked the choice of clips but it felt almost a little disconnected to me. Although maybe that's what you were going for?

Loop 2: I liked how soft, yet chaotic your second piece was. I also find it interesting when foreign languages are used.

Response to the Stockhausen Reading

I found the reading slightly confusing just because there were a lot of terms that I had never used before but basically what I took from this article were that there are three groups of moments that characterize a piece of work: M-moments, K- moments, and D-duration (moments based on measured durations). I listen to music all the time but it was interesting to see it all broken down to facts.

Overall I understood the article to say that "the degree of change is a quality that can be composed." There can be many variations of change and these form the moments in a piece.

"An emphasis on randomness within limits"

Limits: time, pitch, duration, etc.

But still be able to create limits within them.

He is structured within his lack of structure.

His ingredients aren't notes, he uses moments that he creates using precise doses. He calls it moment forming saying the more he gets into moment forming he realizes that he needs less material.

I DID find it interesting that although there were some things I didn't understand, one thing I commented on was about how the degree of change could be composed and this is something that we discussed in class. I thought it was great that I managed to pull that sentence out of the reading when that was one of the key points.

Monday, March 22nd 2010

Fragmented Sound Critique

1-Emily Sneeden:

Loop 1: Like the use of rap songs in the loop.

Loop 2: Good portrayal of chaos and order in the second loop. During "order" I noticed that it was mostly voices.

2-Ryan Rudock:

Loop 1: I wish it didn't just cut off in the middle like that though. It almost seemed to repeat and then replay. Wish you could have done more repeats of certain clips. I felt like there was too much continual playing of each song. It was still very interesting, however.

Loop 2: I didn't like when it got so quiet in certain places. but I liked the chaos in it. I liked the second one best! I also enjoyed that simple words and phrases became a sort of song.

3-Joel Ramnaraine:

Loop1: This was so great! It reminded me of a mix between Ace of Base, Celine Dion, and September.

Loop2: I visualized scrappy and scooby tip toeing around a haunted house. Didn't really get the whole chaos and order thing so I think you could have pushed it a little bit further.

4-Kelsey Olson:

Loop 1: It sounded like an old 50's film or commercial that was playing on a reel but there was a scratch or a skip in it like a record scratching. I kind of enjoyed the change to the different type of clip and then you ended it again on the "lux" clip.

Loop 2: I loved that I could hear what sounded like a disney "A Whole New World" song in there but it was sped up to sound like chipmunks. You definitely compiled a lot of interesting sounds, etc.

5-Nicole Pennington

Loop 1: Very humorous

Loop 2: Could have gotten more chaotic for me.

6-Jim Kirkwood

Loop 1: Enjoyed it, but it got a little bit too repetitive for me. I felt like I wasn't hearing much to catch my interest so maybe push it a little bit more because you have good clips.

Loop 2: LOVED you chaos and order piece. I liked that there was no music and that it was purely voices. Very successful.

7-Kristin Anderson

Loop 1: Good work.

Loop 2: Appreciated that you did loop 2b since that's what I did. Reminded me of when you're walking through a line to go on a ride at Epcot only this one was a Hawaiian ride.

8- KT Stemper

Loop 1: Really enjoyed it.

Loop 2: Good portrayal of chaos and order. I liked the opening line. Those few parts that were loud and sounded almost like nails on a chalkboard and so although I disliked that part purely because it hurt my ears, I think it worked VERY well in your piece.

9-Gaby Mendez

Loop 1: Like what you did with the Betty Boop audio clip. It's very fun and sassy with the words you chose to repeat.

Loop 2:

10- Sara

Loop 1: Wish there could have been more to it. I feel like there was just two clips and one played the whole time and the second one that said "last night I saw you in a dream just played randomly every so often.

Loop 2: Really great. I enjoyed it but maybe when it sped up that could have been a little more gradual. I think that that guitar playing could have been taken out although it was a nice juxtaposition to have a relaxing guitar playing but a really fast heartbeat.

Fragmented Sound Project

I thought this video was interesting. It relates to the Fragmented project number 2b. I've known of this video for awhile, and when I was reading the project description and watching the helicopter string quartet, it reminded me of this video.

Monday, March 15th 2010

Things to Focus on for MY critical presentation

Reasoning behind the title

Camera angle: why it was filmed from a certain angle

Props

Outside influences to the subject in screen

Passage of time

Critical Presentations

Anthony Moltisanti- Errol Morris "First Person: The Little Gray Man"

Interesting choice of work. Loved the camera frames he showed us as he went along and analyzed the piece.

Kelsey Olson- Pierre Huyghe "No Moment"

Made some interesting points. Definitely seemed fluxus to me so I think that was a good assumption. The source of light shows a gradual passage of time. VERY interesting that she showed it to us without the music because it showed me a whole new perspective to the piece.

Wednesday, March 3rd 2010

Group 1: Emily Sneeden, KT Stemper & Kirstin Anderson- There was something disgustingly interesting about every single one, but I really enjoyed Kristen's the most. I think it was very well done artistically. It reminds me of this artist who did a bunch of screens with videos of different people singing a song. I think it was the Beatles or something. I felt like Emily's was good, but I liked the loogie and tonsil hockey pieces were the strongest out of the three olympics.

Group 2: Kelsey Olson, Anthony Moltisanti & Melissa Bonnewell- I thought the first one with the guinea pig was interesting as well. I liked how there was noise and stuff going on around her but she was sleeping and then dreams were still flashing, but I would have liked to see more dreams. The guinea pig was a little out of place. It was very interesting. LOVED the title in stop motion. I didn't really understand Anthony's that well, but I liked how still the camera was the whole time. Liked the editing in Melissa's. I liked how the footage wasn't shot as if there was a fly on the wall watching, it was shot in first person.

Group 3: Joel, Gabby, Olga- Although I didn't really understand the overall theme of the score (because I didn't know what the word meant) I enjoyed the intro title with the raisin box. I really enjoy the way Joel concluded his. Olga's was repetitive but HILARIOUS just because of their accents. OKAY, Now that I understand what sisyphean means, I get it everyone's piece and I liked them all.

Group 4: Didn't understand what the overall theme was.

Wednesday, February 24th 2010

I was not in Class today, but I know that there was a guest speaker, and that we were supposed to get to have a little time to work out our final individual score since it is due Monday, and the final group score is due on Wednesday. I worked on mine all weekend and I think it turned out pretty good.

Monday, February 22nd 2010

Presentations

Sara- Bill Viola "The Reflecting Pool"

Uses water as a motif. Influenced by zen buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. Focuses on Dualism as well.

This video was interesting but sort of tedious. I got tired of watching just a pool, but I actually found myself enjoying the sounds around outside, etc. It reminded me of being outside.

He uses symbolism. When the three drops of water drop from him in the air when he hasn't even gotten wet yet, was symbolism about how he doesn't have to physically be in the water to be "submerged" and "submersed".

Will- Spike Lee "The 25th Hour"

Likes how he tackles controversial issues (ethics, morality, racism).

I found it extremely interesting that there were so many racial and controversial slangs and terms and words towards all types of people contrasted at the end with the words fuck you written out on the mirror. I didn't like when it said "fuck you" j.c. because I am a Christian but I guess that just shows that he has achieved what he was going for. Hitting most constroversial issues.

Group/Individual Score

My group is made up of three people so we decided to go with something that has threes. Like rock paper scissors. We rock paper scissors-ed for it and I got paper! I have decided to just film a bunch of random acts that you can do with paper that will add up to three minutes!

Wednesday, February 17th 2010

Presentations

Emily Sneeden- Michel Gondry "Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor"

Uses mostly cuts as transitions

Rhythmic relationship set up

Camera panning with movement so actors don't go out of the frame

Bright lights- fantasy or magical realism

Camera is stationary and the actor moves his head closer and farther away to simulate zoom

Spacial relationships as bodies move in and out of the frame

Normally actors exit stage right and enter stage left. Gondry has them both enter and exit from the same side.

Nicole Pennington- Paul McCarthy "Psychoanalytic Theories in Family Tyranny and Cultural Soup"

Cinematic Elements- External shot superimposed onto an extreme close-up on certain objects

Two types of viewpoints

Phallic Representations

THIS VIDEO IS SO CREEPY.

Event Score Project

So I am going to be out of town for the Event Score project day and I freaked out a little when I saw that it was 60 points for participation that day. I really was disappointed that I was going to miss it so I really started to think of ways that I could be there when it hit me. I could use skype! Not only would I be able to be apart of the class that day, but it could be part of my own event score. I am SO excited to be doing something different than I normally would have and I wouldn't have gotten that opportunity unless I was going to be absent! Who knew?!

Thanks to Olga, she is going to bring her computer into class on that day so that I can be skyped into class and proceed with my event score.

I did my event score today! It was really interesting to see everything going on from skype. It was like I was actually watching it in a movie or something. I thought it was interesting how everyone was doing their own event score, but certain things caught peoples attention and everyone would look over. The things I noticed the most, were the singing and olga tearing out pages from a notebook and laying on them because they were particularly loud.

Monday, February 8th 2010

FLUXUS NOTES

- started in early 1960s

- Some Fluxus Artists: Allison Knowles, Yoko Ono, etc.

- Concept of an aesthetic object as an object ( a self-contained structure limited in space and time) is fundamental to all modern thinking about aesthetics.

-Human Experience is diverse, resulting in diverse work and therefore productive of the as yet unknown.

FLUXKIT

- offer "not the perspectively controlled and controlling visual model of veristic art...but sensory information for a radically empowered experience of art that connects the individual to a greater social or environmental context.

- The items in a fluxkit are offered to be touched and explored by the viewer of the work.

THE FLUXUS EVENT

- Originated in John Cage's 1958-1959 music composition class at the New School.

- His idea was to accept whatever sounds occurred within a specific period of time. Those sounds determined the music.

- John Cagee did 4'33" in 1952 where he sat at a Piano and did not do anything. AT ALL.

GEORGE BRECHT'S EVENT SCORE

- The demeanor of a performer in an event score performance is much like that of a painter than that of an actor on stage.

ACTION PAINTING

- In the fluxus movement as well.

LIFE MEDIA

- Spontaneous decisions, the relationship to the environment, and the physical parameters within which the work occurs.

- The Blurring of Art and Life by Allan Kaprow

EVENT SCORES

- Involved simple actions, ideas, and objects from everyday life recontextualized as performance.

- Event Scores are texts that can be seen as proposal pieces or instructions for actions.

Reading Response to Fluxus

I found this reading to be somewhat interesting. What I got from it, was that Fluxus is basically about changes in the world and changes in the way that we see the world. I have always known that I see certain changes in the world but never actually put a term to this thought. Something I found specifically interesting was that it said Fax is transforming the way we send and receive messages. I really never put a thought to this before. Fax seems so old to me, but I guess not.

It was also interesting that it says the Elizabethan Age is just coming to a close and that a new age is starting to form. I knew this, as I know the world is constantly changing and trends form and dissipate and then this happens over again, I didn't really think about the fact that these "ages" don't really have a name until way after they form.

So basically, Fluxus has 12 main criteria, as written by Dick Higgins. They are: Globalism, Unity of Art and Life, Intermedia, Experimentalism, Research orientation, Chance, Playfulness, Simplicity, Implicativeness, Exemplativism, and Specificity. Each topic lends a certain thing to Fluxus and what it is all about or what Fluxus has done for us.

Wednesday, February 3rd 2010

Today was our first critique day in TBM.

Critiques people gave ME:

"Did you consider adding sound?"

"Why the typeface choice?"

"Add more to the effects at the end?"

They liked the focus change at the moment where they met.

Sara-Constellations

Loved the effects she added to make the pushpins appear like stars. I found it interesting that materials so simple could look like a night sky filled with stars.

Joel Ramnaraine- Sunlit Romance

I really appreciate all of the small touches he added to make his piece (i.e. the time of day so the sunlight was just right, how his actors were both wearing white, the music, what he did with the title, etc.).

Nicole Pennington- Dead Leaves

Loved that she got such a great reaction from everyone. The music really added to the piece. The last note especially was great. I really got a sense of foreshadowing from it as well as the fact that death brings life/endings bring on new beginnings, etc.

Melissa Bonnewell- Separation Anxiety

Loved the title and the face on her desktop really made it.

The part where all the different faces happened felt a little awkward and odd to me. Like it was just a flash thrown in there. I think it was hinting at the fact that not just she was attached to her computer that it happens to a lot of people in our generation, but maybe not?

Jim Kirkwood-Les Lapins

Loved that the music said roll when the bunny rolled over the carrot. The end was the best for sure. I really appreciated how long it all probably took.

Olga Brahollari- Moot

Like how she did the title after a little clip of herself dropping the cup. I had seen it a lot already since she sits next to me but I still really liked it. Loved the edges that she applied on photoshop. I know she was really struggling on what to title it but I think her title "Moot," was really successful. Liked the blue water and that she was wearing blue shoes.

Gaby Mendez- The Sacrifice

I was a little confused overall, but thought it was very creative, especially how you did the beginning and the credits. I also really enjoyed the faces on the mini wheats, especially when they are on the spoon about to be eaten.

Kristin Anderson- Buaia & Baruk

Loved the set. It really looked like water. The music was great as well. The puppets were so elaborately cut. I was very impressed by that.

William Scott-Under My Skin

I like the change in composition from a horizontal plane to a vertical one. I found it very odd, however it was still very intriguing to me. I don't know why. I almost felt like I was invading personal space but it was sort of funny.

Kate Stemper- Towel Dry

Loved that the towel took on a personality. When the towel looked into the drier, that part was very effective because I got that he was scared and then he turned around and ran away.

Emily Sneeden-Check Your Spam

I thought that the concept was VERY well thought out and very creative. It was a great play on the word spam. Out of everyones, I thought that this one had the strongest comment about "checking your spam."

Ryan Rudock- Flashed

It almost looked like the character took himself way too seriously, which I thought was funny. I didn't really understand the whole thing, but because of the title and the way he was moving so slowly, I think I got that he was supposed to be this fast superhero, yet he moved at such a slow pace? The effect of him walking with the drop shadow behind him was interesting. The past tense of Flash, which is the title, tells me that he USED TO be fast? Was that the intention?

Anthony Moltisanti-Familiar

Loved the use of effects to show how the cookie and the cookie jar were "special". It was a great use of the lens flare. The whole thing was just cute and funny. Even the way the student at the end ate the cookie.

Kelsey Olson-Film Colorer du Furbe

I love the use of subtitles. Even though it was not in English and couldn't understand most of it, I could put together some of the phrases. It was such a cute video. I don't know what made me like it so much, maybe because it is all of the childhood toys coming to life. I also like the shot of the Furby walking away with the shallow depth of field.

Response to Chapter 13

I found this chapter to potentially help me with the time based media course. It discussed things that I want to take into consideration when creating all of my projects for the course, especially this first one. Not only things like relationships and transitions need to be taken into consideration, but what types of relationships and transitions. There are graphic, spatial, temporal, and rhythmic relationships to think about. There are also action-to-action, subject-to subject transitions, and scene to scene transitions.

There are many things to think about that I don't normally have to think about in my major (graphic design) so I found it very helpful to go over some art techniques I am not familiar with that deal with time based media.

Frame: How you compose your shot. 29.97 frames in a video so one frame is 1/29.97. So basically 1/30th of a second.

Wednesday, January 13th 2010

It was interesting to learn that we can edit our photos in photoshop before we put them into final cut pro. We could do some interesting things with them that way. I think everyone's will look really great.

Response to Chapter 5

I found this chapter very interesting. Especially the section about seven characteristics of creative thinking. One of the characteristics was having a wide range of interests. I have always thought this of myself as a creative person. I have a very wide range of interests and so I feel that when I have to get my creative juices flowing to brainstorm, I can usually pull something from one of my many interests.

It's funny, because a lot of the time, creative minds are bouncing all over the place and often I think that there is no method whatsoever to creative thinking and to cultivating creative ideas, but this book (this chapter in particular, reminds me that there are organized ways of being creative and there usually is a method to doing so.

Stop Motion Project

Research:

I found a great website with stop motion videos for anyone who is interested! If so, CLICK HERE!

Also, while looking at stop motion youtube videos, I found this incredible video. It's got to be my favorite stop motion video that I've seen so far. It is directed by Oren Lavie, Yuval & Merav Nathan and it is to Oren Lavie's song Morning Elegance.

Okay, so I decided what I'm going to do for my project. I am going to create a story on a bland backdrop of a drawing figurine that is lonely. It will show him in sequences alone, pacing back and forth, time passing, etc. He will be lonely until one day he is sulking and another figurine comes and taps him on the back. When they meet, there will be some abstract reacti

on with the environment to show their energy.

I took some pictures over the weekend of the set I will be using. So far, I haven't decided what type of backdrops or props I will use but I took pictures to make sure the lighting was okay and that the table setup was large enough for the wooden dolls. Here are the pictures I have so far.

So far, I have taken about half the pictures I needed to take. It was actually a lot of fun to do. I have taken enough pictures to take up 40 seconds and I still have some left to do. I think that the last part will be fun to do because the two figures finally meet. I even enjoyed working on it in final cut because I got to adjust opacity and do things to the images to change the way the movie looked.

Monday, January 11th 2010

Stop Motion Work

William Kentridge - drawing stop motion

Svankmajer- clay stop motion

Wednesday, January 6th 2010

Screenings

Le Voyage dans la lune by Melies

The beginning of Melies film reminded me of a weird cult where they all wear tall hats and meet. Then, it switched and started to remind me of a weird mix between the Wizard of Oz and a black and white Alice in Wonderland.

Global Groove by Nam June Paik

I personally think that Nam June Paik is absolutely insane. I am not a fan of the work. It made me so dizzy to watch and I found it very irritating. I almost felt as if I was watching tv on some type of psychadelic drugs in a twilight zone. It really freaked me out. I just felt very angry and annoyed watching it if I'm being honest.

About Me

Hey, I'm Leslie. I grew up in a small town outside Orlando called Windermere, FL. I went to Clemson University my freshman year and decided I wanted to transfer to UF so I went to Santa Fe College my sophomore year and was accepted to UF after that. This is my second semester as a Graphic Design student at UF and I love it. I am really interested in all types of art (drawing, painting, photography, design, etc.) I am currently the graphic design intern at Big Brothers Big Sisters.