panorama-for-auteur101.jpg

My panorama for the “Death of a Hired Man” performance.

Final Process Blog

Feeling pretty confident that I wouldn’t have to do anything too drastic to revise my first two shorts, I took it upon myself to make a third film. I really wanted to do something with clay, and, despite all the troubles I had obtaining said clay, I had a lot of fun making the actual animation. I would have liked to do something a little fancier, but, time constraints being what they were, I’m really pleased with how it turned out. It was fin to go through the whole process of claymation again, from storyboarding to working the clay to taking the photos. I was fortunate enough to get a positive response to my claymation in the workshop and not to have to do any revising for it.

For my first stop motion, the one with the paper, I mostly just had to enhance the contrast and play with the background color a little. I also ended up adding a brief moment of negative color at the end on the suggestion of the workshop. I had to look up how to get to the filters on Final Cut Pro three times, but, other than that, it went quickly and smoothly, and I think it came out looking really nice! I also had to swap out the audio, which meant I had to change the timing of my film very slightly, but it all worked out in the end. The revisions for “Under The Greenwood Tree” were also minor–we mostly just moved some shots around.

I am really pleased with my work throughout this class, and I feel like I might continue making short films in the future.

Fin

Our shorts have been edited, and revised and maybe revised again. They’ve been screened, and today is our last day of class! It’s crazy how a whole semester packed into one month has gone by. On my final revisions, I decided to fully listen to my critics. Since I didn’t have strong direction on how I wanted to edit my two shorts, I decided my peers knew better. Therefore, I didn’t change my stop motion, as they recommended, and I cut out and added some shots to my dynamic motion assignment. I also changed the ending shot which I had particular internal turmoil about. I found that no matter how much I liked the idea of the ending shot, it wasn’t working. So I let it go.

It was really neat watching all the shorts together on a large screen. It was nice appreciating what an impact films can make and the work that’s put into them. I really enjoyed the band playing in sync with the films, and I felt like the whole experience was like an ode to performance and art. I’m so thankful that I got to learn with some very different and interesting people I wouldn’t have met otherwise.

In our two final classes, we are working on a still picture. I took mine on campus. When I read the poem I was assigned to go with our assignment, “A Servant to Servant” by Robert Frost, I thought of a tunnel. The narrator is  so eager but isn’t getting anywhere. Somehow, that reminded me of a tunnel, or at least tunnel vision. To find a picture that felt like this, I decided a narrow path would work. Here it is below!

 

I like how the picture is divided by the path: to the left, there is lush life and to the right, there is barrenness. It worked well in the room I was assigned to as my room is the servant’s quarters. Therefore, I had lots of blank space. This was an interesting change in assignment as it examined how a still photo can function to create a setting.

Final Revision Process

For my final revision I had a process. I took notes at every critique so for my final critique I sat down at my laptop, opened up my notebook and went to work. I took all of my collective notes and made sure to keep or add all of the good notes and did my best to remove any bad things in my films. I was incredibly excited to start my final revision and be finished with everything. The class was all fun, but it was relieving to be working on my final steps. For my final revision I knew what i needed to do and I did it. I went on and, after hearing that it was difficult to keep track of my ending, I added effects and changed durations to make it more understandable. All in all I was happy with my finished product and was very proud of the work that I did in such a short time. 

HOME BURIAL

This will be the last video event in which the 2013 students of “Auteur 101” are involved as a class.

HOME BURIAL: a site-specific spectacle based on poems from Robert Frost’s “North of Boston,” at the Homewood House Museum on the JHU campus, on Thursday, August 1st, at 5:30 PM. Admission free but reservations *required*; admission is extremely limited. Call 410-516-5589 to make reservations. Facebook event here.

Reception, 5:30-6PM: free refreshments and live music.
6 PM: Performance.

With video projection designs by students from the “Auteur 101” class in the Film & Media Studies Program at JHU, under the direction of Mónica López-González.

ANTHOLOGY III wrap-up

Thanks to everyone who came to last evening’s screening of ANTHOLOGY III at The Creative Alliance! We will post pictures and video when everything is edited. For now, here’s another one of the students’ films: “Nomade,” directed by Abby Francis, based on the poem by Pierre Reverdy.

The Revision Phase

                On Monday and Wednesday of last week, I had both of my videos workshopped (To See A World and Who robbed the woods). There wasn’t much that needed changing, except for a few minor details. In Who robbed the woods, I had to apply a filter onto the shot of the feather so that it matched the colors of the rest of the shots. I also made sure that the timing of the cuts according to the music and poem were exactly right. Finally, I asked a friend for another opinion. He and I eventually agreed that one of the black frames needed to go. It felt choppy compared to the flow of the rest of the cuts. Now there is only one black frame on the word ‘trees.’

                As for To See A World, there were just as few changes that needed to be made. However, I took out a brief black frame that came before the shot of the girl at the end. I also inserted a close-up of the flower toward the middle of the video. I did not already have a close-up on hand because it was so difficult getting the focus just right on the camera. So instead I used some advice that was actually meant for another classmate: I found a clear shot of the baby and the flower; I cropped everything out but the flower; and then I blew up the image to fit the frame. It was a simple process that did not require any re-shooting. Thus, the revision phase was a downhill process for me, and the revisions were more like touch-ups if anything.

The Black Riders and Other Lines – FINAL

The final version !

To See A World FINAL

Final version of To See A World, directed by Cat Wityk. Poem by William Blake.

Who robbed the woods FINAL

Final version of Who robbed the woods, directed by Cat Wityk. Poem by Emily Dickinson.