Project #3

everybody wants (to rule the world) from Debra Bree on Vimeo.

Blog 4: Museum of the Moving Image

The visit to MoMi was my first but hopefully not my last. The guided group tour was informative but left little time to really have fun exploring.

The World of Anomalisa exhibit was incredible. I was blown away with the detail of the model sets and characters. Everything down to a puddle on the ground was there, no CGI, and so well executed.

The prosthetics and make up as well indicated great detail of just how intricate everything in film is, from fore to background, even without the camera's focus.

Probably  my favorite part was the soundtrack, when we watched a scene from Independence Day without sound and then with several music pieces, ultimately choosing one that we felt worked best. Obviously, we all chose the one that was actually a part of the film but it was really interesting to take note of how music is used and how effective it really is on all that encompasses a scene - the emotion, the conflict, the tone, the voice, the action, etc. It's really layered and complex, how music direction takes on its own life within the medium.

Similar to that, what I was also really drawn to, was the costume design; how important it is for a designer to truly understand the characters when putting together their wardrobe, the little nuances and details (such as Annie's vest & where it's buttoned in Annie Hall or Axel's sweatshirt in Beverly Hills Cop) say so much about the character that isn't outright explained onscreen.

Had a lot of fun with ADR as well; our group used a scene from Babe which was fairly easy considering the use of animals. However, I do think it would have been a little more interesting if we'd (also) used a movie with people to show the difference and possibly how difficult it could be to properly sync up sound with image - you don't want the voice and lip movements not to correlate.

Overall, it was a really great experience, one probably made better the farther into the semester we are so we can fully appreciate certain things now that we've done a couple of projects.

Blog #3: Scene Editing Analysis

(OK so this got long which is why I only wrote about the first 1:30 of the scene. There is a lot happening) 

The beginning of the "But I Knew Him" scene from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, opens up with a wide, neutral shot of a bank in the evening. There's non-diagetic music but there's also a chilling humming sound, reminiscent of a welder, from within the scene that's more prominent. The shot cuts to within the bank vault, lights all around but it still deliberately feels dingy and dim because it's a secret facility in which hidden things must be kept hidden. In the background, we see the Asset, The Winter Soldier, sitting as his metal arm is being worked on in a surgical type room with instruments and people in lab coats all around. They are surrounded a few members of the Strike team holding rifles, securing the perimeter. Close up to the repair work being done, a nice juxtaposition of the metal arm against the Soldier's human body, the 'easiness' and 'cleanness' of operating on machinery versus flesh and blood.  Another close-up, this time of the Soldier's face, Bucky Barnes' face, kind of deadened, not even paying attention to the people working on his arm or even of the Strike team. The frame also gives us a clear shot of Barnes, showing us how young he is and how similar to Steve, he’s barely aged since CA:TFA. He has this deadened look on his face yet we can clearly see that it’s there for show and his eyes are bright, grasping into memory.

And here come the flashbacks, fuzzy yet clear indicating that they are buried inside Barnes but fragmented and possibly disordered. Zola appears, calling his name and the soldier reacts from the intensity of the memory, turning his face but we don’t get profile just a short sliver of his face because he’s not really Sgt. Barnes anymore. The memory of the train and Steve calling after him are clearer but faster and Zola’s voice comes back as we see, from Bucky’s POV, a Russian soldier dragging him in the snow with half his left arm missing. Flash to a surgery of stumping his arm and back to the present focusing on Barnes’ face, coming out from behind the hair as he starts to recall more of who he is. He pulls back and his face blurs out of focus and into a shot of a bright light, within another surgical room, as he raises his metal arm, testing it and choking one of the doctors. The scene fades into  a blurry frame of Zola, proud as he looks at his “creation.” Zola says to “put him on ice” and we see two figures through a rounded window (indicating this is what Bucky’s world has been reduced to) surrounded by bright lights that shut off and the figures are still unclear. Which gives way to the idea that Bucky’s memories are definitely random and this scene may have happened more than once. The lights shut off, the figures are more or less reflections but they aren’t - we see Bucky’s face clearly as the incubator he’s kept in starts to freeze up and we hear it as though we were in there with him. There’s a fear in his eyes but he’s not panicking, in some resigned way he knows that this is the cycle of his life. He reaches up with his metal arm and cut to the Soldier, angry and raising his arm, throwing the lab tech working on his arm across the room. The Strike team focus their weapons on him but the Soldier just sits there, and we know he can kill them all but he just sits there, catching his breath as memories rush through his mind and pays no attention to the team. The camera pans and shakes a bit, showing how inert the Soldier really is. The camera edges barely into the room, giving us pause that the Soldier is a live wire and not to touch him or get too close or else we’ll burn - just like he is from the inside.

The fact that this is all takes place in a vault is so symbolic because what’s in a vault? People’s valuables and secrets. The Winter Soldier is Hydra’s most valuable asset partly because of his identity which must be kept secret, especially from himself.

I could write a thesis on this movie.

Project #2: Audio Portrait - Jane

Blog #2: What I Hear

Most neighborhoods in NYC are quieter in the early mornings of the weekend. I take a walk through Woodside and Sunnyside, retracing areas I usually rush through during the week. The wind is rustling softly through the tree branches and bush brushes outside the apartment building. As I pass by a small alley, I can hear the the dance of a bag, kicking up as the wind whistles a little louder. A jogger passes me by, her short strides are heavy and her breathing labored. The streets are quiet but the cars along 43rd Avenue, waiting for the light to turn green, all have their engines on different keys. Some growl, some hum, and some thunder down the road when it's their turn to move. It's around 9 AM, and it seems most of the world is sleeping. I don't hear talking, television, the sounds of cooking wafting out of windows. What I do hear is birds chirping and the alternating keys of wind - soft whispers to strong whistles. Few people pass by, one person  here or there, rarely ever with a companion but talking on their cell phone, and their footsteps range from stalking fast to to soft, I barely hear them at all. A bus turns onto 48th Street as I wait for the light, rumbling by and breaking the mostly still silence. By the time I get to 46th Street, some shops are opening up, their owners greeting each other, some in various accented English and others in a language I don't understand. They are in good moods, commenting on their enjoyment of the nice weather of sun and blue sky. I've reached my halfway mark on the hour and turn right, toward Skillman where I can hear faint strains of Latin music. Sounds like everyone is starting to wake up.

Project #1: Define a Space

Define A Space from Racquel B. on Vimeo.

Blog #1: Creative Artist Statement

Growing up, a lot of the people I knew, family and community, just took news for granted or by its word, never really thinking about the other side(s) of the story. This was very common among my more religious community. There’s this idea of knowing what you know and not bothering to go outside of your little box, especially for women. Fortunately, even with growing up within that enclave, I was lucky enough to be exposed to television and radio, news and media which shone some light outside of those four walls. Adolescence was confusing at times.

As I grew up, I noticed the discrepancies more in what was taught versus what could be learned.  So keeping in mind both these models, I reconstructed and expanded my way of seeing the world. This pushed me to go for this degree of Media Analysis instead of one in a field I have no interest in but that would be expected of me or even no degree at all. So my double agent adolescence has developed into a more widespread understanding and interest in everything.

What I want to do is, analyze mainstream media stories and narratives - expand the story to include more extensive and varied voices, particularly women's voices. And a huge part of that is supporting and adding my own voice to a growing number of women who are looking to break down the woodwork and find a space within media for them to work. Sports, theatre, television, film - all are compelling to me and push me to talk about and analyze them. The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, and now Last Week tonight, have been major influences when it comes to political and social observation; while not always agreeing, I do appreciate their core - analyzing and calling bullshit on people who usually deserved it. The comedic but candid commentary is the direction I'm heading in but for everything.