You made me promises, promises

That song has been stuck in my head all weekend. Alrighty, so mine and bubba's first project is done. we screened it with andy warhol and he shit his pants. It's that amazing...i hope. This project was, for me, a relaxing process. Nothing high strung like omg is the lighting right, is the sound going to work? It was just a chance to chill and be as creative was one can exceed their limits to. Now that this project is complete it is time to look to the future because what matters is what hasn't been.

But backtrack a bit...last monday. That was tons of fun. My group and i kept a very linear narrative with a shocking twist (just when you thought it was safe for the children to watch). We had some camera difficulties and ultimatly had to switch to another camera. We tried our best to match everything has far as camera work goes so that there is continuity when we edit, which is sort of important. I really enjoyed working with the super 8 and i now aspire to be the first filmmaker to shoot a 3 hr epic on 8mm...and let my parents watch it because i don't think anyone else will. We'll see if i can't build up a fanbase first. One particle in this atom that is a stop-motion animated film that i'm looking foward to working with is sound. I'm hoping that we'll get to record our own sounds for the project versus hunting down sounds on the internet like its fresh meat in the middle of winter when i'm starving. Yea i roll deep with my similies. I'm also drinking an energy drink right now, so bare with me.

Lighting for the animation went smoothly and overall, again, this project was relaxing. Coming into this class i was really skeptical, but now i look foward to this class on mondays just because its an awesome way to start off the week, because it goes to shit by hump day. I really am learning a lot about experimental film and just creating in general. I think i can speak for both bubba and myself in saying that our confidence in experimenting has risen for the better. We both just sort of shrug and give each other the "we'll hope for the best" look when wondering about an approach for expressionism and i think that has helped the process more enjoyable. What's experimental about knowing how your finished product is going to look like? Yea...it's not. Until next time, this is Lucas Boger signing off.

back off man...i'm a scientist

the title has no relevance to what i'm about to discuss. so bubba and i are about to get dirrty (notice the 2 r's) this week and finish our first project. We have the water part of our project complete which i am curious to discover how it will appear because its often hard to continue drawing the same damn thing every 24 frames and moving to the next motion. hours of work for a few seconds...thanks film. the fire portion of our project is halfway complete and should be radical on the "big" screen with orange and red c-c-comin at ya. we've finally concured with each other for how we wish to express the earth through 16mm film which will involve some rayogram work so we'll have to get this completed. one aspect of our project we have yet to complete is the painting with oils and bleach, but i think we'll have something phenominal planned for it once we sit and think. so i would continue in sharing our other ideas, but then what's the point of wrapping the presents?

i am super stoked for tomorrows class in doing animation. the PES clips were awesome and i've watched a few more earlier today. i like the rooftop sex film. i could really relate to it because who doesn't compare themselves to dirty chairs while having sex? i've got some playdough for tomorrow, so watch out world...so that + film = good times!! this class has easily become one of my favorites thus far and i really am building a (soild) foundation for appreciating this medium. Can't wait for what's next. Til next time. Stay classy.

Experiencing the Experimental

Three or four weeks in and i already know more about experimental film than i do about women. I am really enjoying monday mornings where I'm chillin and actually feeling productive. Perhaps this is what i've been lacking in my film studies. I'm finally getting my hands dirty and learning through the process (yes i wash my hands before lunch). So what am i enjoying the most, you ask? Hmm. I would have to take every variable in to account because i love the idea of creating (which i feel every film major should love). So i dig everything i'm learning because its allowing me to express an idea through a different medium. It is one thing, for example, to read about how to do film processing and it's another to actually do it, which i did, and fucked up. haha. But now that I've learned from my mistake i know what not to do next time.

Though I am learning techniques such as magazine print on film and painting and scratching, I'm also able to express an idea through other forms of narration. Bubba and I have started on our film manipulation and i am confident with the creation of our forms for expressing earth, wind, water, and FIRE; though we still have much to finish. I find it funny that when class starts and Andre is explaining what we're doing how i immediatly shut down because it all seems over my head, but as soon as i start doing what he was explaining than it makes sense. For example, when explaining film processing i was completly lost (should probably wake up earlier than 25 mins before class), i didn't understand what it would do to the film other than "expose" it, which i really didn't understand whatthat exactly did. Then 2 hrs and 45 minutes later, i completly understood what processing did, how you did it, and how to manipulate the film this way. Keanu Reeves to Kung Fu is Lucas Boger to film processing. Whoa.

giving and taking book

Wow. There was a ton of information in the reading. First off, I am a projectionist working with 35mm, so a lot of information such as splicing, all the different leaders, single/double sprocket, base and emulsion, and gate are terms I am very much aware of. So I found all this to be a little bit of a waste of a read. However, coming into the second half of the reading I was a little blown away. By blown away I mean terms and ideas Brakhage was sharing were not so much foreign to me, but rather, hard to visualize. A lot of things that he shares, like the section on lighting and using a flashlight, etc., I feel are experiments that I need to try for myself. What I do enjoy is how he reaches the reader on a personal level by even admiting that "[he], too, [is] tired of these mechanical limitations" right after discussing that lengthy confusing-yet-shouldn't-be talk about Daylight and Tungsten film.

I also feel that the reading is for someone who either studies experimenal film or has made efforts in that field of entertainment. For me, the only studying I have really done was watching the experimental film in class and the only attempt at making something experimental was in class. So some technical terms I understand from previous classes, but had I not had that then I would totally be loss by Brakhage's directions, or should I say helpful enlightenments. Overall, I would have to say that Brakhage knows his stuff haha. It sometimes feels as though he is writing just to amuse himself; getting carried away on tangents like the section where he goes on about "sensing." I would love to read this article again come mid-March when I've worked on a few projects and am still learning new ways of trying express an emotion or just to make something quirky on 16mm film.