St. Louise Reaction

"St. Louise" seemed like more of a thrown together film, as opposed to "Begone Dull Care." The music was used differently as well. The music did not move with the images.  It seemed like they used magazine transfer for part of the film, specifically when you could see pieces of paper or pulp on the film. The film was an interesting use of the music video format, in that music videos are generally very produced, contain images of the band, and follow a story format. I liked that the video was expressive, it seemed to fit the tone rather than the beats of the music. Using scratching and film manipulation fit with the rock n roll feel of the song.

I loved the vibrancy of the blues and greens, as well as the cutout shapes. The palm trees were clearly punching. I am curious as to how they made such clear letters on the films, although they could have been punching or magazine transfer as well.

The use of blocking out images on developed film was really cool. It seemed as though they were using bleach but I am unsure of this. It added variety to the film which seemed dominated by the use of paints and oils at first.

The patterns with the scratching were particularly well done, they moved together and transformed very clearly and made an interesting image.

Overall, I think this was an interesting and fun film to watch, though not as accomplished as "Begone Dull Care."

Crowdsourcing

My first encounter with crowdsourcing was the Freaker campaign, the bottle sleeve business that was created in Wilmington. I followed their campaign and was impressed by their audiovisual advertising. Their campaign video was being shared by people all over Facebook and their aesthetic and unique persona really sold their idea, and they were funded by 2,416 backers who raised $62,770. I was immediately taken by the idea of a community donating funds to an idea they wanted to see succeed. Crowdsourcing brings people together in that way. I have since used crowdsourcing myself to fund a campaign for funds to send a film to festivals. We were funded mostly by friends and family, but without platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, we would have had to apply for grants or come up with other plans for funding. I am grateful for crowdfunding in that scenario, but I think that it is a trend that will disappear in the future.

In terms of using crowdsourcing to create art, rather than fund it, I think it is an interesting idea. I like the idea of everyone bringing their own ideas and abilities into a project and seeing where it goes. In a globalized world, it is possible to create art from people from every continent.

Here is the Freaker USA campaign that inspired a community to give them money for bottomless socks!

Acoustic Ecology

The reading and video about Acoustic Ecology was eye opening for me. I don't often think about noise pollution, but it is a very real thing. I like the idea of creating music in nature and with nature. It sounds like it would be a beautiful experience. I am from a rural area and love the sounds of nature. I visited New York city once and it was immediately evident that the soundscape was different there. Particularly I noticed the sounds of honking horns, it seems like there it is a form of communication not practiced in the South. I often notice the drone sound that was mentioned, it seems as though the world is never really quiet anymore. I find it difficult to read in public spaces, like libraries, where even the sound of the lights is noticeable.

I like the idea of coming together as a community and designing a healthy soundscape. It is interesting that they have created one in Japan, and even work to protect their sacred sounds. I think it would be difficult to create rules like that for America, people are more complacent about their surroundings and their environment.

Overall, I'm glad I was able to read about this topic. It made me feel more aware of my surroundings, as I was sitting in a cafeteria listening to the drone of technology mixed with the distorted mumbling of everyone around.

My favorite sound in the world- the sound of cats purring.

Media Fast

First of all, a complete media fast was impossible. I am currently managing all social media platforms for a local film festival, which I could not avoid. That being said, during my fast I only used social media for work.

My first feeling was of despair. I was sad that my next three days would be devoid of Candy Crush, binge watching Glee, and constantly streaming Pandora in my car. I was constantly taking out my phone and then reproaching myself for being such a robot. I realized how much I use social media to avoid doing all of the things I should be doing. For me, social media has become the ultimate excuse to procrastinate- because it feels good to check out and absorb the creativity of others.

Without using social media, I felt like I was somehow missing out on everything. The whole world was broadcasting events, ideas and thoughts and I was being left behind.

On the upside, I got a lot of work done. I also played board games with friends. Without having to check my facebook every ten seconds, I felt more present and connected to the people around me. I learned a few songs with my brother, and read a little of a book my Aunt sent me.

When I finished the experiment and finally checked my Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, etc I realized that I actually hadn't missed anything. Nothing in those applications felt like something I should have seen three days ago, or necessarily needed at any point. Everyone was still broadcasting, but I could have gone on forever without 5 snaps of cats being cats or an event invitation to something I made it to anyway.

Overall, I clearly waste a lot of time on the internet, and I don't think that it would hurt to cut back- especially on the Glee.


And everyone around me was all--

Week One: Begone Dull Care Reaction

The film felt organic. It was like a dance of shapes and colors, set to the tempo of jazz music. It reminded me of a cartoon I saw when I was a kid, called "The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics", because it seemed to appropriate feelings and meanings to shapes and lines. The colors changed with the tempo and timbre of the music. It was as if each sound had it's own shape and color. Watching the film also made me curious about the medium. It was interesting to see a film made with scratching and bleaching, and one that calls attention to the way it was made. It seemed to be made with a rhythmic and intuitive process, but making the image match the tempo had to be more of a mathematic process. At times it was hard on the eyes. It would take an understanding of music in order to make a film like it.