A Ball and its Ball! (Final Project)

My partner Noam and I, worked together on our final project called, A Ball and Its Friend. We first made a decision of what it is we want to shoot; we both knew we did not want to do a documentary. We did not want to involve actors, because of the time constraint, so we decided on capturing a day in a life of a missing ball that eventually finds its way to his friend.

Noam wrote the script, and I put together the storyboard for our project. On shooting day, we tried to follow our storyboard as much as possible; to be able to accomplish each shot as it was imagined via our storyboard. On our first day we did run into technical difficulties, where we had to split camera time with another group. That did not stop us; we kept working on as many scenes as we could fit in one day.

We both wanted to accomplish a shot where the ball is getting kicked and the camera follows the ball. We wanted the camera movement to be smooth, from the point it gets kicked; to the point the ball rolls down the hallway. Our Professor suggested we bring in a skateboard in order to get that smooth, moving ball shot. A skateboard was nowhere to be found, and Noam and I put our heads together to create something amazing. I put Noam on a big plastic garbage bag, and slid him across the floor as he shot the ball being kicked and then rolling down the hallway.

Our sound to each scene was recorded separately, and we created our own foley for specific sounds of the ball. We collected room tone from each location that we shot in, so we would be able to layer it during editing.

We chose classical music for our piece, as our piece came together like a silent film. The two actors, Noam and myself, don’t talk, but we show emotions in the film and to the music. Being that Noam is a genius when it comes to classical music, the choice for a classical piece was a no brainer.

We both sat together as the editing process began and worked and reworked our mini movie. We added the correct room tone, foley and applied the right pieces of classical music to go with the emotions of each scene.

A ball and its friend2 from Dennis Khrakovsky on Vimeo.

Images on our blog!

The four images I was able to identify on our blog’s banner are as follows, two movies Talk To Her, and Do The Right Thing, and two important filmmakers Maya Deren and Marlon Riggs. Marlon Riggs was an African American filmmaker that directed several television documentaries. Riggs is known for breaking boundaries with documentary filmmaking on subjects that include black male sexuality. Riggs used his documentaries to express criticism of racism and homophobia in the United States. Riggs was born on February 3rd 1957, at I time when America was still divided racially. He used his filmmaking skills to produce many documentaries that shined the spotlight on gay, black men, to show the positive side of gay, black masculinity in the United States. He was a true innovator for his time, as he used his films to communicate and create social controversy. His films include, Ethnic Notions, Tongues United and Color Adjustment. His relationship to what we have been doing this semester is how we, as students, are able to express ourselves through film and media making. The connection I make with Riggs’ work is our final project where we incorporate sound and images. In one of the lectures we were shown a short documentary about Natural Hair, from a student of the previous semester. Natural Hair is a topic that black women are always faced with, but no one seems to talk about it. The students put together a documentary where other students were able to express and voice feelings. Through media and film, we, the new generation, are able to explore the different dimension that filmmakers like Marlon Riggs broke through for us. Maya Deren, is one of the earliest avant-garde filmmakers that broke boundaries in the world of cinema. She broke the boundaries by being one of the first female filmmakers in the 40s and 50s. She was born as Eleanora Derenkowskaia in Kiev, Ukraine on April 29th 1917. Her use of editing, cutting, superimposition, jump cutting, slow motion and other camera techniques proved that not only was she an innovator, but also ahead of her time. Some of her works include, Meshes of the Afternoon, At Land, and Meditation of Violence. She is considered a key figure in New American Cinema, by breaking all boundaries of filmmaking. She criticized Hollywood for the monopoly it was creating in the American film industry, stating that what Hollywood spends on lipstick, she is able to make films out of. Her work is closely related to what we have been doing all semester especially towards the end. One of our assignments was to analyze a film, by showing what type of editing, color, sound, etc. the director chose to use, to be able to get his/her message to the audience. Marlon Riggs and Maya Deren, are American icons in the film and media industry. As filmmakers, they broke boundaries, with sexuality, racism and feminism. Today, we live in a world where racism and feminism still exists, but filmmakers have the freedom to create their art and have it be viewed by the public without much repercussion. Riggs and Deren, grew up in a time when certain subjects were highly controversial, however, they were able to convey their message through filmmaking. Media and films are a highly effective way to communicate with the world. Our semester has taught us many ways of how we, as new media artist, can convey our style, messages and representation of ourselves through the use of media.

James Aronson Awards

This was an extra credit project, and I was not thrilled about spending my Friday evening in school. I had already been at work since 4 am that day, and in class since 2:45 pm. I do have to say, I am glad I got a chance to see the James Aronson Awards. The whole award show touched me, and it was interesting to find out that one of my past professors Robert Stanley brought Mr. James Aronson to Hunter College. I was also struck by the “in memoriam” of David Carr, who was last year’s recipient of the career achievement award. David Carr was such a charismatic man, and a strong journalist for the New York Times. The award that touched me the most was presented to Andrea McDaniels for her article in the Baltimore Sun, “Collateral Damage.” She was not there to except the award, but her editor Diana Sugg was there on her behalf. Diana gave a speech and a little insight on what the article “Collateral Damage” is about. Her speech almost brought me to tears, mainly because I never thought of what young children go through in high crime areas. “Collateral Damage”, highlights some of the highest crime areas in Baltimore, but it takes a different perspective on crime, instead of focusing on what happens to the victims, Andrea and Diana focused on the innocent bystanders, the young children who are caught in these high crime areas. What happens to the five year old who just saw someone get his or her brains blown out, or the young boy who is looking out the window when someone gets shot? Life for these children just does not go on, they end up with nightmares, become violent, and act out in schools. There is no help provided from therapists or psychiatrist. Half the time these kids are scared to talk to the police, fearing for their own lives. This made me think of what is going on in the world today. With all of the police brutality, and innocent lives that get taken forcefully. The United States is experiencing one of the toughest periods in its history. The country is drastically changing, people want to be heard, people want equality. When we look at some of these journalists and documentary filmmakers involved in social justice, we need to give them more credit then they have been given. These journalists and filmmakers bring forth some of the most important stories, and they don’t get noticed because they may not have a celebrity status in the journalism world. In my opinion as a Media Student, I think Media students should attend the Aronson Awards every year. I was not sure what I was going to hear, but I am sure glad I went, and got to see these extraordinary people.

Gregory Barsamian’s “Feral Fount”

Feral Fount sculpture with its pieces becoming moving images in a dark room under a strobe light is something that must be experienced to the naked eye. This is one way of explaining this fascinating piece. On our visit to the Museum of Moving Images, we were guided to a room that had the exhibits of some early moving images and were able to see the original zoetrope that were discussed in the lectures. I was able to see and experience the Bird in Cage thaumatrope, and see the optical illusions that the piece conveyed. The bird is not in a cage, there is a picture of a bird on one side and a cage on the other, when you make it spin, it creates an optical illusion of the bird inside the cage.

            I also got to see a zoetrope and was able to make it spin and experience its function. Seeing the men, through the slits of the zoetrope, running, but in actuality the men are not running. There are painted pictures of men doing different motions, and when you spin the zoetrope the optical illusion shows the men running.

            Then the guide told us to go and check out what is in the room around the corner. I walked in and saw something that is still mesmerizing to me. It was the Feral Fount exhibit, which spins in a dark room with a strobe light flashing. I couldn’t understand at first what I was seeing. How was this sculpture alive? It was turning in a circle with all different kinds of gizmos attached to the piece. Some of the gizmos are a person’s hand, a green rocket, and what looked like white paper.

            As the Feral Fount went around in circles, the images that it was creating were the green rockets melting through the hands and turning into a plastic liquid. If you can picture what plastic looks like when it is melting, well this is what the optical allusion was creating.

            After a minute or so, the lights would turn on in the room, to show you how the piece is constructed. The elaboration of this piece in a spiral form with hands, rockets, papers, and other gizmos, the illusion created each of the different things melting into each other when in motion.

            In relation to our lectures and media in general, it is interesting to see how our eyes play with us, and how in the media industry there is so much work that goes into a certain shot to convey to the audience what the director or film maker wants the audience to see.

Pusher II: With Blood on My Hands (Car Theft Scene), by Nicholas Winding Refn

 What is interesting in the Pusher car theft scene is the rapid movement of the tracking shot as the camera follows the car thieves into the car dealership. We first see a medium above headshot, when the character is breaking into the dealership. Once he broke into the dealership the camera uses an unsteady motion, almost as if the cameraman is holding the camera on his/her shoulder and running with the characters, the camera moves quickly, using pivot moves from left to right and up and down. Through out the whole scene the camera moves rapidly and gives a feeling of nausea. We also get a direct point of view shot of the characters with the flashlight, as they are running to their next obstacle. Each camera angle coincides with what each character is about to do and gives their perspective point of view. I also think that the way the music was brought into the scene, right after the burglar alarm went off, was to give the audience a sense of suspense.

When the characters are changing the plates on the vehicles, the camera starts to track in on each character as he is changing the license plates, of the vehicles. As each of them change the license plates there are a lot of cuts and snips in the editing, going from one character to the other. The camera also focuses on the person who is changing the plates and the actual license plate, using the technique of a track in shot with secondary object in the foreground. There is also a very fast pan shot at about 0.52 sec which shows the inside of the dealership and the characters running from left to right. A few seconds after the pan shot, when one of the characters runs up to the big glass door to allow the other characters to drive the cars out, we are able to see a fast medium shot to a fast close up shot of the character in the ski mask, as he begins to open up the big glass door.

The scene of the crash is an extreme long shot of the two cars crashing into each other, and when the camera swings to the character’s masked face, it is a close up of the man’s masked face. Even though we, the audience, are not able to see the characters facial expressions, we can somehow understand what they would be. The director shows this, by going from an extreme long shot of the crash to an abruptly fast close up shot of the man’s shoulders and head.

After the crash one of the characters jumps in a vehicle and takes off. We are able to see a lot of his point of view through the camera work, and we are able to see an angle shot from the passenger side seat, where the camera is shooting. The camera continues to go from a point of view to a close up of the characters face who is driving. As the cars are driving and beginning to drive into the containers where the stolen vehicles are going to be stored, we are able to see a two shot of the cars. Then again characters point of view of the container and ending with a close up shot of the characters face.  

The music is used to evoke an eerie feeling that something is going wrong. Lighting is used very sporadically in the beginning of the scene and the rest of the scene, the lighting is tailored to the environment. In the dealership, there is minimal lighting, and on the street it is dark, because the break in happens at night. 

            The rules of continuity through out the scene are being followed, each character is following a rhythm within the scene, they continue to wear the same clothing, and cars follow the same pattern and are inline with the beginning of the scene.

            The choice of colors the director chose for this scene go well with the gritty soundtrack and the dull lighting. Instead of choosing a dealership with bright colors, we only see white, black and green colors. This is also true for the color of cars chosen for this scene; there are not red or yellow cars, but only white, grey and black cars.

            The darkness of this scene, the fast moving camera shots, the high and low angle shots of the characters and, specifically, the camera shots in the vehicles, brings the audience a feeling of suspense.

My Musical Interview

Sounds of SOHO!

            

          Walking through the cobble stone streets early in the morning and hearing clack, clack, clack, the six-inch stilettos hitting the streets are the sound signals in this fascinating place. These are the sounds that are heard in the foreground, sounds that captivates people into this place. Ladies running in and out of studios with big glass doors. Each time one door opens; it closes with a bang, creating soundmarks that are very distinguished in this place. Tires screeching, and maneuvering on tiny roads, creating keynotes, because cars will always be the background sounds, and become seamlessly unnoticed. Men and women are setting up their selling stands to sell art, jewelry and other trinkets. Each vendor has his or her own unique sound. Creating attracting soundmarks that are heard in this fascinating part of town. The jewelry-sounding like metal to metal is being rubbed together. The artist that is showcasing his or her street art is making a noise of wood rubbing together, as they display their canvas pieces all over their stands. It’s early in the morning so there are a lot of trucks that make their way through these tiny cobble stone streets, plowing down the street with sounds that tanks make when they are headed for war. As load and groggy as these trucks sound, to locals they are nothing but keynotes. The trucks only mission is to make its delivery and get out before the streets get to busy with clackers that are clacking with the intention to attract attention. The freight elevators that take these beautiful women with the clacking stilettos sounding like a sand machine, each time they go up and come back down. It may seem like all of this is so disorganized, but it really is not. If one was to close his or her eyes, all the sounds that this peculiar place makes, can be translated to beauty getting ready to unleash. The screeching tires and cars are the keynotes. The clacking heals and slamming doors, add more clacking heals makes the attracting sound signals in the foreground. Elevators making sounds of a sand machine, and vendors setting up are the soundmarks, and all these create a symphony of SOHO. A place where gritty streets turn into a fashionista’s catwalk, where one can strut their way and contribute to the beautiful eccentric sound of SOHO.

Walking Through Library from Dennis Khrakovsky on Vimeo.

No Limits!

            Being the small, wimpy kid in elementary school and through high school never landed me onto any school sports. Nor was I ever chosen first for any recess activities or intramural games. To this day, I can remember trying out for the cross-country team in high school and bailing out the first day. I never had in me the strength to push beyond what your own body is capable of doing, or so I thought…

            After high school I started hanging with a crowd that one may not want to introduce to his/her parents. That crowd led me to a place where I found myself and discovered that my body does not have any limits. I was standing around a bunch of guys, in the yard, with nothing to do! They are all doing pull-ups. One of them yells to me, get on the bar! I had never done a pull-up in my life. I was always the small wimpy kid, but something happened inside me. My thoughts shifted from I can’t, to I want to try.

            Today, I am not afraid to try anything that involves running, lifting weights, cross-fitting, etc. What I want to capture on film, is what goes into this type of sport by the athlete. A marathon runner: what are his/hers rituals prior to race day? A cross-fitter heading to the games: how much he/she trains before competition? To train for something that one is passionate about is art. The preparation that one puts in before heading out in front of the crowd is magic in itself. I want to document the pre–rituals that go into the preparation for a competition. If you are thinking I am a little late to the game, well you are wrong. Right now our media documents the big sports like baseball, football, and basketball and not enough for sports like running, cross fitting and weight lifting.

            The behind the scenes documentary of each athlete is what makes the event so beautiful and important. What the public gets to see is the end results at a competition. I want to bring forth what went into those end results. To convey a story of that wimpy kid, and show how one can do anything if one puts his/her mind to it.