Theory of Animation

Jeeeeeez…Who would've thought there are so many different forms or animation? Technically, guess that's a pretty naive thing to say as a film studies major, as there are a ton of ways to make a film, and a ton of types of films. But I guess I was really blown away to read about them all at the same time. Lots of nostalgia tracing back to my childhood watching animated cartoons with some of the hottest cartoon stars of the era, including Daffy Duck and Yosemite Sam.

Reflecting back on the various forms, I found the section on Abstraction to be particularly interesting. Often times, animation and experimental film can be overlooked due to the abstraction of its form. It's hard for the average viewer to make sense of the moving images at first glance, contrary to traditional filmmaking which seeks to orient the audience as opposed to experimental, which has a tendency to disorient the people watching it. When it really comes down to it, though, these types of film require the most concentration, creativity and thought to produce. A random assortment of colors, shapes and movement does not bode as well for positive audience reception as a creative narrative which utilizes that various objects in the frame in synch with a score and pace. It almost makes me want to revisit some of the Brakhage films I watched in FST 200 and attempt to make sense of them again. HEY…I said almost ;)

All in all, reading an article like this is any discipline makes my mind race and jump all over the place. It gives you the drive to get started on your next project because you have literally so many ideas that you just want to tell everybody about them and ramble on for hours about this and that. That's a good feeling. Maybe one of the best feelings.

I was never as interested in animation as I was in working with a camera or a crew. I guess I just never realized all of the different avenues that animation can travel on.

Until next time, my noble compatriots.

Breezy

Crowdsourcing

…

I'm a little blown away by what I've just seen and read…ok I'm in awe.

Connected is officially on my cue of films I need to watch.

An entirely new era of filmmaking is ahead of us. As a firm believer in the power of the people over the individual, a trend NAY a movement such as this is a truly incredible innovation to the world of filmmaking. The Let It Ripple article stated, "What was so powerful for us was that we were no longer divided simply as filmmaker and audience, or creators and receivers. With Cloud Filmmaking, we were collaborating on the film as one." I read that and a little voice in my head screamed, "YES!" It seems as though somebody here is finally getting the point. Building off of Jimmy Wales' ideal when when he founded Wikipedia, "Empowering people everywhere to have the information they need…" this movement empowers the world to tell their story and contribute to a global connection of experiences and ideas. This brings up a film that I remember hearing about last year called Life in a Day, where Ridley Scott executed his own crowdsourcing efforts by asking people around the world to film themselves for one day, and took the submitted footage and turned it into a feature.

I was actually a part of a team at UNCW that tried to re-create this, not enough participation unfortunately. But it really opens your eyes doesn't it? The power of creating a film with no crew, no set, no equipment, no budget, just people. People and their stories. 

Now obviously, as the Problem with Crowdsourcing article suggests, "For tech companies and anybody involved in trying to mediate the crowd (for example, websites that solicit user submissions or reviews) the trick is figuring out a careful balance." Everything is moderation, the middle ground, is the key to any endeavor such as this. But that's a learning process that we as filmmakers and individuals must experience along the way. Wikipedia wasn't built in a day!!! But as we step forward into the future, innovations in these sorts of projects will continue to be made until a balance is found. LetItRipple seems to me to be leading a movement that will soon impact the filmmaking community in a huge way. I am all for the interdependence that they portray, and would find so much satisfaction in working on a project like that. 

Hmmmmmmm, maybe I will. Jimmy Wales said, "The real struggle is not between the right and the left. It’s between the party of the thoughtful and the party of the jerks, and no side of the political spectrum has a monopoly on either of those qualities.” That's damn right. 

Until next time, noble followers

ConBreezy

Reflection doe

Synesthesia and Cymatics

Wow.

I'm literally blown away by the videos for Synesthesia and Cymatics. I thought the lecture on Synesthesia did an incredible job of taking an abstract idea and simplifying so that everyday viewers can comprehend. When you really think about it, certain words have almost CERTAIN expressive qualities that accompany them. Take "disgusting" for example. This is a very expressive word that most always has a negative connotation. When I hear that word, I sort of associate it with a pale greenish brown and a bunch of scribble. Don't ask me why, but I think it ties in pretty well with the idea of Synesthesia. Also, the word "serene" seems to me to be a vocal/phonetical representation of a harp. Both of these words have relatively similar dispositions, as a harp most often exudes a serene, tranquil instrumentation. But when I see "serene" or hear "serene," sometimes it goes as far, for me, as actually hearing the harp in my head. I always thought that was cool, and now I have an expression to represent that immediate association in my brain. My immediate Google search of "serene" rendered this image. Can you imagine a harp strumming gently in the background?!?

Now, with Cymatics, I was really blown away. But I think it echoes the idea of Synesthesia pretty well in the sense that sounds, as well as formed words, have shapes and patterns as well. This particular pattern from the video was my absolute favorite.

That is also the coolest machine I've ever seen. I believe the sound being made here was an extremely high pitched frequency, which rendered a fairly complex pattern. The earlier noises projected by this machine were a tad lower, and the pattern started relatively simple. To be able trace these audial differences by way of visual representations is probably one of the cooooooolest methods I've ever seen. 

Until next time, noble followers.

Peace, Love and Happiness,

Knocker