Guy Maddin

Watching surrealist films is always such an interesting and definitely unique experience. I think it is really cool how even though Guy Maddin has access to color and video, he still chooses black and white film for the most part. I would be interested in experiencing one of his art installations.

Aaron Koblin

I have learned about Aaron Koblin in Andre's class, so learning about the different projects he has done that I didn't know about was interesting. I didn't know about the Netflix-esque virtual reality website, and I am definitely going to explore that more. I think Koblin is a genius and I am glad to alive during his era because I think he is doing stuff that will completely change the game.

Final Class Reflection

This class was a roller coaster for me. There were moments where I seriously considered dropping the class, and there were other moments where this was my favorite class. I definitely believe that my classmates contributed a lot to those good moments. Though I like working alone, I learned that having other people contribute to one project can create amazing work and it can be fun making them. I also learned that working with others is hard, especially due to the range of schedules and personal life activities. I have not made many experimental films before this semester, and doing so has made me grow in many ways. I have learned new editing hacks and techniques, and I have now worked with actual film. I learned that you can create mesmerizing films only using still images and sound which is something that I am definitely going to continue to explore. Because of this class, I have attended my first ever film festival which taught me a lot about being filmmaker and what it takes to reach that level. I have also grown in the sense that I made a few friends from this class that I would totally work with outside of school. It is important to have the option to work with a group, because sometimes that's just what a film requires. I still don't have my life figured out, I don't know exactly what I want to do but this class makes me want to go towards the experimental path because of the freedom you have to create art unlike any other. My biggest takeaway from this class is that I am a filmmaker. This class and the people in it, especially at the end of semester screening, gave me the confidence that I did not have before.

Martha Colburn

I find Martha Colburn's work to be astounding and I have no idea how she is able to add so many layers and different elements in her work without going insane. In the films presented today, there was so much to look at and I felt like I could stare at one of those stills for hours, and I could still find something new about. In my notes I wrote: Pug Adventures     wut? And I think that's all I have to say about that.

Self-Portrait Experience

I am someone who prefers to work by myself, so this was definitely my favorite project of the semester. I was pleasantly surprised by my end result, especially since my ideas were initially separate and I put them together. I wasn't expecting it to work so well, but it did! I had a fun time shooting, especially on the beach. The hardest shot for me to shoot was the bathtub scene. For one, it was hard to frame it the way I wanted it since I was in front of the camera rather than behind it. SECOND, breathing underwater isn't a thing...so I couldn't breath. LAST but not least, I had to do it twice because I didn't like the framing of the first one. But of course, I used the first shot so I almost died a second time for no reason. I had a lot of fun with the soundscape in the first half of the film. I had layer after layer, and listening to all of it come together to convey a sense of panic was really awesome. I was a little disappointed in the transition from claustrophobia/anxiety to my boyfriend and dog. Once again, getting the right framing was difficult and people on the beach were staring so I really didn't want to keep laying on the sand and sitting up. It was also really interesting to see everyone else's self-portrait, which I think connected us all just a little more.

Installation

Our idea is to really play around with people’s fears and anxieties. We have a lot of ideas but not a concrete plan yet. We want to have an enclosed space where only a few people can fit into it and have anxiety inducing sounds playing. We’re playing around with the idea of blindfolding the audience and have them touch and eat something that looks and feels gross, but is completely edible. We want to possibly project found footage of things that give people anxiety onto three scary looking girls in a white gown, and possibly have them move around and perform something. Overall, we want people to leave completely freaked out!

Self portrait Revised

Originally, I had two separate ideas that I didn’t think I could put together, but after thinking about it they can go perfectly together. Now, my idea is to start with the feeling of anxiety and claustrophobia. I want this section to be in black and white and I’m going to film myself in small spaces reacting to the lack of air. I want the soundscape to be heavy breathing and sound bites from a monologue layered on top of each other. I have other shots planned out but I am mostly excited for a specific shot where I am going to be “drowning” in the bathtub, and then I’m going to come up for air and “break free.”  I want to do a match on action where I come up from the bathtub and then I end up at the beach coming up from the ocean. The video will then turn from black and white to color, and I’ll begin to focus on what makes me the happiest, my boyfriend and my dog. I want the first shot of this half of the film to be a POV looking at my boyfriend and dog out of focus, and then I want it to come into focus.  I want to use some candid footage I have of them as well as other planned out shots. I’m not 100% sure about the sound but I think I want this section to be completely quiet to show that the chaos stops when I’m with them.