Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Museum of the Moving Image

I really enjoyed our trip to the museum of the modern image. The highlight for me was one of the first things we saw, the room that demonstrated how we perceive motion using a strobe light flashing on many different sculptures. The result was what looked like stop motion occurring right in front of you and that may have been one of the coolest things I have ever seen.
I participated in the flip book demonstration with two of my friends. We were told to move around in front of a white screen while a camera took a bunch of photos of us. We were later given a printout of those photos to make into a flip book. This demonstrates the illusion of motion when viewing a series of single images in rapid succession. Modern film still uses this same essential concept.
Seeing all of the different cameras lined up chronologically was great. Our guide explained to us how Technicolor worked which is by splitting the image with a prism and then exposing three different lines of film simultaneously, then dying those film strips.
There was an area showing how sound effects were implemented and I was laughing at the fact that the movie Titanic actually used an elephant for a falling smoke stack, something I probably never would have picked up on, which is why it’s so impressive.
All in all a great trip, I have since made plans with other friends to go back and take more time.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Emissions Info Graph

The countries represented are USA, China, Russia, and India. I choose some of the basic ideas associated with them to question their seriousness about reducing emissions. I'm pretty sure Dev Patel is British..... Their is a Sausage on a bed or sauerkraut looking at them condescendingly, as Germany is probably the most advanced country in the way of emissions reform.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Hunter Still Photo Project

                            I chose this one for purely compositional reasons
     I wanted to get a larger group of people of with the building complimenting rule of thirds
          I thought this was a nice intimate shot with the building providing nice background

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Ethics Questions

What is your favorite piece of media you saw recently?
The film Anti-Christ by Lars Von Trier

How do you feel after you saw it?
I was amazed at how pulled in I was. I didn't really gather a message from the film, but an emotional state. The way Von Trier established this world of terror and emasculation was intense

Did you think or understand anything new?
I felt a connection to the main character and anyone else who felt the same way after wards. I'm not convinced the director had the same ideas as I ended up with, but something close to it I'm sure

What do you think the piece says about the world, about the way people live in it?
I'm not sure if it has anything to say about the world as a whole and any of its conventions. It seems like this film speaks to individuals, not masses. If it does speak, it speaks of a trapping fear of a lover, and how few things can envelope like that.

Do you think this media is ethical or has ethical concerns about it?
It has certainly has come under scrutiny for being misogynistic. I don't agree with those sentiments. Anyway I believe in free speech, especially in a privately produced film like this. There are plenty of things I don't agree with, but I'll argue against them intellectually, not try to have them silenced or defame their creators.


What would unethical media be? Is there a difference between media that is 'about' moral or
ethical notions, versus media that is not about ethical issues, but where the maker has taken
them into account in the making?

Well I suppose so much of it is intent and form of media. I think if you make something and call it a documentary the film makers commentary can still be there but should be much less than a fictional film about a topic. As far as intent, we can form our own opinions from obvious factors, but we can never really speak for the media makers so it's kind of moot. I'm not really sure what the last question is asking.

Artist Statement

I have been interested in the complexity of human emotion since my childhood. When I was 18 I joined the military and spent a year being taught Persian by several Afghan instructors with a visit to the Middle East following closely thereafter. My experiences during that time and since have taken my initial fascination with people’s inner desires and bred a new interest in how people fit them into what is expected of them socially, academically, professionally, etc. I first started writing with a theater group in Omaha, Nebraska where I was drawn to the power of visceral storytelling. I feel approaching art with the basest of feeling is the most compelling approach and can lead to a well developed intellectual experience. My artistic goals are to become as proficient as possible in all aspects of film production so I may one day produce my own films in their entirety. I look forward to a future in this form where technology allows me and everyone else to create their stories exactly as they envision them, from concept to execution. I am currently in the conceptual phase of a series of short films dealing with my personal experiences that I hope will eventually form one complete story.