Project 3

https://vimeo.com/218083863

Editing Analysis

WARNING - THIS IS A GRAPHIC SCENE.

(top video shows the unconventional camera movement in the beginning and the below video is the same scene but with English subtitles and it doesn't have the first couple seconds that the first one has)

The Scene I chose to look at is from the french art film Irreversible that came out 2002.  The scene is a man looking for a man at an underground gay/bdsm club that he believes did something to a girl he knows and he is going throughout this club to find him and he ends up getting into a fight, starts losing getting his arm broken and about to get raped until an unknown male hits his fighter in the head repeatedly with a fire extinguisher until he couldn't move and helps the other man up to his feet.

I chose this because of the rawness of this scene as well as the very unusual camera movements. This is shot as a long take scene but does not follow the 180 degree rule and lets the camera move on its own. Basically like having the camera roll around while the person is walking. It gives the scene a very uncomfortable and dizzy feeling. Along with the siren sound playing non-stop that is annoying but also can hypnotize you while watching the scene helps with making this scene feel even more unreal that it already is. The scene is all red lighting which sets it in this weird place especially seeing the very strong sexual content of men raping another man while another is jacking off while watching can be very off putting but to me makes this a scene to never forget. The edits are mainly there to give impact when the man is bashing the males head in. Each time the fire extinguisher hits his head there is a motion blur and motion tracker edit they use to follow the hit and when it is lifted back up. I think having it all in one take shows it doesn't need cuts to successfully create a great scene and I think adding cuts or another angle would disrupt the tone the scene and film was taking from the very beginning. The film is very gory, violent and graphic so its not an everyday watch but I recommend seeing this film if you are someone who is studying film or enjoys good art films/ good movies.

MOMA Trip Blog

During the visit to MoMa I have seen lots of interesting pieces of art work and styles of multiple artist. The works from the 6th floor for Louise Lawler: WHY PICTURES NOW was what interested me the most during my look through the museum. Louise Lawler exhibition "consists of a sequence of mural-scale, “adjusted to fit” images set in dynamic relation to non-linear groupings of photographs—of collectors’ homes, auction houses, and museum installations—distinctive of Lawler’s conceptual exercises."  - MOMA

One of the works that got me was right in the middle of the floor was this huge picture called Big (adjusted to fit). What strike me about it was seeing that big mannequin head sitting on the floor and a body that the chest and up is cut from the photo. The work leaves the rest of the mannequins body unseen on purpose and it made me curious about if that head is part of that mannequin or something else. It made me wonder whats the reason for having something so random in a way happening with a picture of people in a gallery photo behind. I only seen it once but it I keep finding new things about it and makes me curious about more things in the picture like the reason for the head to be covered in plastic bag or why is the body laying on a rug? All in all, this artwork is one of the works I remembered the most during my day.

Project 3 - Storyboard

Here is my storyboard for project 3.

Project #2- Audio

https://soundcloud.com/user-886799576/project2-audio

Sound Walk

I walked around Union Square during the afternoon and of course since its union square in the afternoon it was crowded and a lot of noise. Lots of cars driving sounds and I hear car honking their horns in the distance. I hear the multiple conversations people are having about many things. People talking about going to Whole Foods or Trader Joe's because that area has those major stores around. I mainly heard just the movement of the people walking to wherever they were going and birds flapping their wings. While passing by stores I hear the music that they are playing in their stores. I also noticed sound marks of the trains below me. Hearing the automated voice saying what the next stop is and what trains are coming, and hearing the trains coming into the station and leaving the station while the people are walking up the stairs passing on another. I heard people trying to sell something to people passing by or trying to get them to sign up for something that union square typically has. Hearing skateboarders riding around and doing tricks and the group of friends that are commenting on if the other landed the trick or not. When moving down to more quiet streets I mainly heard tree rustling and things in the distance. Doors opening and closing and the random passerby conversation. The last sounds I remember hearing was keys and someone unlocking their door to go to their apartment or office building and the door closing. It was an interesting experience and would think about doing it again someday.

Define A Space Assignment #1

https://vimeo.com/207677217

Netherlands Meets New York

I went to the screening of Hogeschool Utrecht University and Hunter College students short films and they had some interesting and unique ideas for their films. There were a few of them that caught my attention with how they decided to present their ideas into their shorts.

The first one was called Democratic Phone Bank by Ana Marie Rico and it was about the people who call to ask you who are you voting for on election day and it revolved around people on the democratic/Hilary Clinton side calling to see who is voting for who. The story isn't what interested me but the video its self. They used only the audio of the interview coupled with pictures of the workers on their phones or pictures of their phones. It interested me because it is something that I have recently been thinking of doing one day and to see how someone else does it was cool to see. Also it was the only film shown that was like that so it stuck to my mind.

The 2nd short was called Multicellualrity by Zoya Baker and the director said she wanted to make something about how cells, humans, and universe can be expressed in a certain space and being in between those things and she came up with this. The short has animation of cells and zooming to 1 cell forming up with other cells and then it zoomed out to show those cells combined make another cell in a repeated loop. The director also told us she animated it herself and also filmed real cells using her iphone and a kids microscope which was impressive because she did it all herself.

Lullaby by Joaquin Palma was the most impressive to myself because everything from audio, cinematography and music was really professional. The story was unique and the director also said he was planning on sending his film to multiple film festivals. It was more inspiring to me to try and make films like his.

I'm glad I decided to come to this screening because I was not planning on it at all but it gave me a little bit of more inspiration to work on my own projects in the future.

Artist Statement

Since Middle School I have been interested in cartoons, mainly anime and manga. I watched and read Dragon Ball Z to Naruto and have enjoyed the story and the animation from the shows that was different from american cartoon shows. The action along with the character designs and the music really got me and from the end of middle school I wanted to become an Animator and (because I loved to draw would copy pictures and draw them) work on the anime I grew up watching or work in the same company at the very least.

When I got into High School which was a Specialized Art school they forcibly put me into Architecture major and for 3 years learned some interior designing, 3D modeling on Autocad and it was okay, but I didn't want to be an Architect. But during the summer of 2007 my family got a desktop computer. We did not have internet for a while so we just played games and movies on it, but one day while it was my turn on the computer I decided to make a AMV (anime music video). I have watched video on YouTube of people having scenes from anime that they added to music and I really enjoyed that. So I took pictures from my Shonen Jump magazines with my brother's camera, uploaded it to the computer and used Windows Media Maker to add the pictures and the music together. I tried to make the person who was singing have the same character appear from each singer. 

When I was done I showed my brother and sister and they really liked it and said it was really good. From then on I continued making more videos like that and posting them on Youtube, watching more AMV's from other people and friends. I moved my way from only using pictures I took to gif's mainly from Photobucket to downloading episodes and movies as well moving from using WMM to using Sony Vegas Pro.

During this time it made me realize that I don't want to become an Animator anymore but to be an Editor of videos. I enjoyed making my own work, editing and making my own story and my own input into and feel satisfied when I finished. I didn't care for recognition in the beginning. I learned a lot from other better editors on YouTube and when I saw a editing technique in one of their videos that was cool I searched how to videos and Tutorials and tried them myself. I didn't have anyone around me that could teach me how to edit better so I taught myself basically everything I know. I entered myself in competitions, Cons, collaborating with other editors on a video and more. Learning more and more.

My taste in music changed a lot that influenced me. I naturally listened to Rap and Hip-hop in the beginning like 50 Cent and Eminem then I began listening to more Alt Rock, J-Pop/rock and metal, Grudge like Slipknot, Coldplay, and Uverworld to Pop, 1960's to 1990's music, basically I listened to every genre of music and that I believed helped me realize that music really inspires many things and if the lyrics are good that's even better. You don't need to know the language or understand them to enjoy the music. That's what I have learned since watching Anime and Non-English movies and shows.

Films that I enjoy that did help me grow are some M. Night Shyamalan movies such as The Happening, The Village (Which I don't get why people hate his movies so much, some might not be that good but its still entertaining and thought provoking) Korean movie Oldboy, Kick Ass, Harry Potter, 500 Days of Summer, The Ring, and Scott Pilgrim Vs The World just to name a few from multiple genres. What I enjoy from these movies is that they all are unique ideas that come out well in the movies. They make you think of the world and the environment around you, they make you feel scared, but still entices you to watch. As well as the post production that's done to make the film stand out from just the other movies with the unique story and characters gives me inspiration to one day think of a story like those or learn techniques that I can use to add to the film.

Recently I have moved my focus from Japanese media to Korean media from K-Pop to their dramas I am really interested in Korean Culture and have used their music videos and music in editing my side projects which are clips of movies, music videos and shows with music I edit.

When I entered College at BMCC I took audio, video editing, and web design classes that really helped me learn more about working in the professional field of the Film business. Learning how to use a camera, tripod, edit using other editing programs, lighting, sound, Pro Tools, etc made me look at other areas to learn about than just learning to become just an editor. Now I want to work in every area of film production as I can. I ultimately want to be a Professional Editor but still want to have the other skills and know how when it comes to film production that I can have a job in.  I just want to enjoy my job and even if I don't become a professional editor or end up working in film production, my love for editing and arranging video and music will always be there and will continue doing it.

https://vimeo.com/129368962

You can get a sense of what I like to do other than the videos I linked from my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/eurekaseven14

Tahsheem Brown