Final Project

The Carousel from Kimberly C on Vimeo.


The final project was fun yet still a lot of work. Since this project was collaborative and the final result had to be one edit it was an experience working together creating one single video. Tiara and I decided on a meeting narrative. From there we came up with a story that was a little silly yet plausible. We wanted to shoot in the park because we felt it would work well with the task at hand. The treatment consisted of giving Tiara a map to meet me at the park by the carousel. We each took turns shooting each other's scenes and we tried to make sure we got all our essential shots. When it came down to editing we both worked together in figuring out the proper sequence and where it cut out unnecessary footage. We were able to work without a problem and we had the same vision for the final edit. We had decided before shooting that we would add music to the video instead of using the audio from the shots. While editing we worked together in finding what we thought was a fitting song then we edited it to fit the video. It was definitely a learning experience because there was more that went into this project than any other. Pre-production was crucial in this project, thinking about what type of narrative we wanted, the story we created, the type of shots we needed. The treatment and storyboard were a big help not just in concept but in time management. I think we both put in the same amount of time and effort making sure we came up with a video we were both happy with.

MOMI Response

My trip to The Museum of the Moving Image was a fun experience. Although this was not my first time attending the museum it was still amusing playing around with the different exhibits. The tour did not take very long and we only got to focus on a few aspects of moving image technology but I thought it was still a useful experience as a group.

The first exhibit we went to was the music for a specific scene. The tour guide chose a scene from Vertigo and played different musical options and asked for our feedbacks on each other. The music was important because it created an emotion and had the audience connect to the scene we were watching. Some of the musical choices did not coincide with the scene and the last choice won. It taught the group to understand how important it was to have a piece of music that worked with the message the scene was trying to communicate.

The second exhibit was the sound effects for a Simpsons scene. We were able to decide on which sound effects we thought were appropriate for which parts in the scene. This scene consisted of us choosing the sound of the clock, the answer fill in, the pogo stick, the erasing an answer and the eyebrow movements by Milhouse. The significance of this exhibit was to understand the importance the sound of a specific effect could have on a scene as a whole.

The third exhibit was the Titanic scene. This was really fun because the times I've come here before I was unable to experience this exhibit as you needed someone who worked there to log into the computer. The tour guide took us through the scene in Titanic step by step. She was able to break it down for us by the dialogue, sound effects and music. Understanding how these worked separately as well as together was very important. The group learned how these all worked together to come up with a smooth scene that exerted a special feeling and emotion to the audience it intended. We also learned how these artists created these sounds for the scene which was extremely useful.

The last exhibit was the part where they had special effects that were created on display. The group focused on Freddy Krueger's sweater from Nightmare on Elm Street. This sweater was created in a larger form with real actors seen coming out of it to create a specific scene in the movie where it appeared as people coming out of his chest. This was very useful because we understood the different ways in order to achieve a part of a scene in a film and how to use props. There was also a Blade Runner figure that was used in the film to show landscape of the building. These we were all important in teaching us different techniques in sound and visual creations to come up with an interesting film or video.

Overall it was a fun experience and having gone to the museum multiple times before I think that there was a lot more to learn about the development of cameras, lighting and even television sets that could have benefited us as a group. We were unable to go into the ADR room which would have been a lot of fun understanding how actors record or rerecord their lines in a film. The museum has a lot of hands on activities to help understand the the changes throughout the moving image history. Everything is more digital and we don't always appreciate the way things were done before our technology. Also understanding the way we were able to achieve our technology could give us a better understanding of the possibilities we are faced to create media.

Media Analysis

Rebecca Clip from Kimberly C on Vimeo.

The editing in this clip from Alfred Hitchcock's film Rebecca plays a significant role in the storytelling and vice versa. Here there are very few cuts and it is free flowing. The scene starts off with De Winter then quickly to Joan Fontaine's character and straight to where Rebecca was in his story, those are important because they build tension. From there it is one single cut back to De Winter. This relationship is significant because the small tension that builds from the shots turns into tension that is built from the story. The story is the one that determines how the camera moves, why it moves and for how long. It wouldn't make sense for the camera to stay in one part of the room when he begins to describe another section. The cuts are very seamless especially since the major part of the scene is a pan and tilt there is no need for too much cutting because it wouldn't fit with the story. The camera takes on a character and travels throughout the room following the story told by Max De Winter. I think it is important that there are no cuts during his story and the camera is allowed to move throughout the room. There is no stopping and switching around in either the movements or the story. The camera pans and tilts and finally lands back at De Winter. This is a revelation for the camera as well as the story because he says, "she was face to face with me", and therefore the camera also had to be close and visually see him. The dialogue is crucial in this scene because it is the reason the camera is even moving. The relationship between the story he is telling and the movement of the camera is extremely significant to the entire film's story as well as to the viewer. You cannot have one without the other because it would not produce the same feeling and emotion if there was a disconnect. The music is also really important. As a Hitchcock film, music is definitely one of the most important roles in suspenseful movie making. The emotion you get from the slow music is this building up that creates this tense and suspenseful feeling. There is an eeriness from the music, the instruments that come to life and capture your attention. The music really helps to create this atmosphere of fear and anger that works together with the dialogue and the camera movement. 

Interview

Soundwalk

I have days where as soon as I leave the house to make my way to school I put on my headphones, but there are days where I decide not to even bring them. I prefer to just avoid the extra noise and think about something whether its school or work just something on my mind. I didn't want to overthink the assignment so whenever I felt it was right I chose to listen.

108th Street in Corona, Queens. It's definitely a busy street and laying in bed, no television, no music just the sound of the streets below. It's pretty late around 9 at night and the bustle never really stops. The sound of the bus is consistent, it stops right at the corner of the apartment building and the screeching of the brakes becomes a keynote. The sound of the people coming in and out of the bus is just a murmur of voices. The sirens of the police cars or ambulances are ever so annoying and yet still keynotes. They occur so often that I don't always get bothered by it and it becomes a norm. These are all loud and obnoxious noises but what really stands out are the random vulgar things people will yell out from the street downstairs. Conflict or clash encounters are not unexpected here but they still take me by surprise. These would be considered sound signals because they definitely grab my attention. They are heard loud and clear and I would not want to be part of that situation.

Although most of these noises, the cars, sirens, arguments are common they're not necessarily pleasant. Even the dog barking from the apartment every time she hears a noise can be irritating. The only sound I really found somewhat pleasant was the sound of the pigeons. They come and stand on the ledge of the window of the bedroom. The hooting noise they make actually makes me smile especially when there's more than one. It's like they're talking to each other and observing the life below.

Opening up my ears and really listening I thought I would hear more, small unexpected sounds. I have these moments quite often where I just lay and listen so the sounds weren't anything outside of the ordinary. However, it was nice to pay even closer attention hoping I would hear something special, something I've never heard of before. It just made me really think of my surroundings and the type of character this environment would have.