Final Project .. "Journey to Nothing"

            For the final project, Crystal and myself came up with the idea of shooting a short project based upon the idea of someone running late for class. With the amount of construction Hunter College has going on in terms of the escalator, we figured we would use this project as a way of emphasizing the impact this has on students journey to get to class.  We decided that Crystal would do the acting and I would be the director.

            Initially the project ran smooth. When we first began shooting we did receive commentary from school safety about shooting on the campus, but once they learned we were students and it was for a project, they backed off. Our film sets from the first floor of the North building all the way to the sixth. Only three of the scenes we shot are using the actual escalator, as most know after the third floor your options are the elevators if you get lucky, or everyone’s best bet, the stairs.

            As the director I had to learn how to steady myself with the camera. Any random movements could throw a scene off. I also had to keep track of the scenes and the progress we made in shooting. When Crystal and myself first thought we were finished with shooting, we looked back over our footage and saw that we missed some of the transcending shots. The shots were not in sync, so as director we went back and shot everything that was missing to keep everything in sync, after all the final project was based on continuity. I also had to cue my actor and do numerous takes of the same scenes in different angles, this helped out lots when we were editing.

            I also was the recorder for most of the sounds that we incorporated for our little film. Since we did not keep the original recordings from the shootings, we decided to go back and record whatever sounds were necessary and deemed prudent to our footage. Even though majority of the sound for our film is footsteps, it was not easy to get this recording. The sessions in which we had the recorder at our dispense turned out to be the quietest moments in the hallway, so we had to wait around for the traffic to pickup to get some of Hunter’s natural noise.

            In terms of editing Crystal did majority of the cutting, I primarily overlooked and gave my insight on what scenes I thought were better and would be worthy to keep for the final arrangement. In all the production was truly a team effort and a great experience. I hope everyone enjoys our little production of the hallway journey through hunter.

Museum of the Moving Image

      During the class trip to the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, my group participated in an activity in which we choose the music to accompany a scene from the film Casino. From doing this experiment, I learned that the specific music you put to accompany a scene can greatly affect the mood.  The scene was Robert De Niro gazing at Sharon Stone in the casino.  When we used slow tempo music the scene looked like a love scene. When we used dramatizing music, the scene looked like a revenge scene. We also got the chance to use country music, which made no sense at all with the scene. From doing this experiment I can say that the accompanying music to a scene, can make or break a scene.

         On the computers that are stationed near the flipbook maker experiment, I got to create my own animation by simply moving an object various times. The object given was a bush and the background was what looked like a field. On the computer you would move the bush and take a picture every time you moved it. In the end when the moving images were played back together in sync it looked like an animation with the bush moving through the field.  I never fully understood animation, but from this experiment I got insight into what is done behind the scenes in creating an animation.

   Overall this trip gave me more insight on the ways in which moving image technology has changed the way moving images are created, how they look, and how we experience them.

Relationship Between Shots

One of the most renowned movies of all time is the Godfather. In the ending of the first film of the trilogy, Michael Corleone is seen in a church as the baptism occurs for his sister’s child; he is chosen to be the godfather.  In this dramatic cinematic montage, we not only witness a baptism but the assassination of rival’s families being executed. By editing and combining the two scenes, we get a different feel on Michael from when we first meet him in the beginning of the film.  As the film progressed we saw his evolution and this ending of the first film paves the way for the destruction of Michael in the following films.
       In the background of these two scenes we are left with the church music, which in the beginning plays out in a slow rate. As we get closer to the end of the baptism and the family executions, it picks up. In a way it builds up our anxiety for the horrific action that is about to take place before our very eyes.  The relationship of the different images portrayed in the baptism scene, show that Michael is contradicting everything he is saying in church. He says he renounces the devil, yet at the same time he is the person behind the murders that are taking place as the baptism is occurring.
The shots are organized to go back and fourth from the baptism to the assassinations.  Both events are leading up to their conclusion. We see the priest performance and Michael’s facial expressions and his answers to the priest’s questions play out in the church. Outside of the church in the assassination sots we see the shooters as they prepare themselves for the executions, and later how the executions are performed. In the end as the baptism is over we see numerous shots of the different dead men.  The shots are placed in an establishing order. Both the baptism and execution scenes are built up in the order in which they are presented.
The shots are each held for a short time, but its enough time for the viewer to piece them together with the setting in which they pertain to.  There is not an exact “right” place to cut the scene, but in terms of the baptism we see the actions being performed on the baby and then we cut t the actions performed in the executions and this plays out until the end of the scene which concludes the film. The cuts are not seamless but they are interwoven in a way that drives the film. The cuts are obvious and it’s due to the two different settings that are put together to establish this montage.

Audio Interview

What I Hear

As I walked from Hunter College to the 4-train station on 59^th street, I became fully aware of the diverse audio that New York has to offer. Its 3-pm on a Wednesday, the middle of the week.  As I began my walk my ear caught the sounds of numerous car horns blaring at one anther in defense of who has the right away.  There was the screech of tires, its source a car that attempted to speed up on a yellow light.  You can here the cranking from the machines the construction workers are using; the disturbing sound is over powering the man walking next to me talking on the phone.  As I pass the F-Train station on 63^rd street, I hear the soles of dozens of shoes running to and from the train station. There’s the newspaperman standing by the train entrance chanting, “ Get your free newspaper”. As I pass the Starbucks across the street I hear the barista screaming out “tall caramel macchiato.”  I hear dozens of phone conversations, and phone noises. As I wait for the walking signal I come across a conversation between two girls in regard to what events are going to take place on the finale of the Fox Show Empire, which comes one later on tonight.  As I get closer to my destination I come into contact with all of the shopping stores. I can hear sales associate greeting shoppers saying, “Welcome” or if they’re leaving “enjoy the rest of their day.” As I pass another store I hear the alarm going off as some one walks out (this of course is followed by security action). As I approach the train station and take in the city before going under ground I take a moment to just listen and the sounds are a combination of car engines, horns, footsteps, voices, and the wind.

Define A Space

Artist Statement

From a very early age I fell in love with the written word. Books were my escape, my indulgence, and my therapy.  I remember being in elementary school and being a fanatic of the Junie B. Jones books series. If the title didn’t intrigue you, then the cover art did the job.  As I got older and my reading interest expanded and some of my favorite books were turned into films, it fascinated me how in about an hour or two producers and directors were able to take written work and produce the graphics that told the story. I guess you can say that’s when film became of interest in my life.

As an artist I want my work to convey my perspective without being taken to literal. In the past I’ve used a variety of mediums such as pen, paper, Crayola box, Photoshop, illustrator, iPhone camera, and iMovie. At the end of this production class I want to be able to add other mediums to my production history. I want my work to be its own fashion.  Living in a concrete jungle such as New York has made an impact on me.  It brings to the front line an eclectic variety of art forms. 

Outside of being a bookworm, I have a passion for decorating. I like being able to bring others ideas to light visually.  With the media industry constantly changing, I want to be apart of the change and be able to contribute my ideas and creative eye to others.