I must say that this class is pretty interesting. The main reason I took this course was because I thought it would help my chances of getting into a senior seminar. However, I like the professor, he seems to be really knowledgeable about this type of medium. I also enjoy the way he allows to do hands- on work in the classroom. I began to learn a lot about the different types of film strips that are used in the medium. Also, I always thought that strips of film of that type could not be tampered with in such a way. Strips of film could be written on, painted on, scratched, and even punched; its amazing to see what can be done with filmstrip. I enjoy the readings in the class also, they really offer an insight into how films can be made without the use of a camera.
This class is very different from the other production classes that I am taking right now. This class allows you to actually use your imagination rather than adhering to a a strict set of rules. On the project that I'm working on right now, we have to create a strip of film that coincides withe the four elements of nature: Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. I'm a little bit nervous about this project; only because I want to get a really good grade. At first I thought this class would be easy, but its not. It requires a lot of hard work.
I want to talk about some of the things that I learned so far. Cameraless film making is one thing. I guess the name says it all. in the beginning we learned about different manipulation techniques such as ink applications and scratching. We also did some hole punching and sanding. These techniques can be used using common household items. We also learned to make guides for drawing on film animation. You are given a sheet of paper that has an animation template. You make several drawings of your animation and then you trace them onto a filmstrip; you must make sure that you do not go outside the sprocket hole because they can ruin the filmstrip and can cause problems when it is shown on a projector. Another type of film manipulation that I learned was magazine transfer. This was really interesting and I must say weird. You take strips of magazines and you place them on some packaging tape. You then cut them into strips and place them in hot water. While they are submerged in water, you peel the magazines off the tape. You then take the tape and put them on a strip of film. We also did applications of oil and ink. Last week we did something that was really interesting. We did some type of film manipulations that involved turning out the lights and using the light form our cell phone to manipulate the image on a film strip.
Most of the workshops are preparations for our first project that's due on September 25th. I think its really great that he showing us all of these neat things to do with film. Someday, I'll decide that I want to do some experimental short films and I can apply what I learned in the class for future projects.
The upcoming weeks should be very very interesting. Tomorrow, we are gonna watch a few screenings and gonna work on Super 8 film and other camera. After the 25th I have another assignment that's due on October 2nd. During week 6 we are gonna learn different methods of collecting sound; that should be very interesting; I'm really looking forward to that.
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