Video
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Yesterday Tymm, Kacie and I shot our video at Tymm's apartment in Carroll Gardens. Though we had story boarded the shoot entirely, actually carrying it out was more complicated than we had anticipated. The most difficult aspect of shooting was definitely the lighting. We took out a couple of tripods, a DV camera, a lighting kit, shotgun mic and a beachtek from ITP to do our basic shoot. We haven't watched the video yet, but hopefully we have enough footage to edit together something cohesive. It's much more clear to me now that pre-production is equally as important as the other stages of a film shoot.
Here's a super-compressed version of the video that we made:
posted by Amanda @ 10/28/2007 03:19:00 PM, ,
Storyboard Project
Monday, October 22, 2007
As part of a larger video assignment, Tymm, Kacie, Adam and I did some storyboarding for today's class. A pdf can be found here. Next week we'll shoot the video, and the week after will be spent on post.
posted by Amanda @ 10/22/2007 11:22:00 AM, ,
Chris, Jose and I made a stop motion video this week using water color ink and a lot of water:
posted by Amanda @ 10/16/2007 01:27:00 AM, ,
Stop Motion
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Downloaded the demo version of iStop Motion and made a video today while I was at the office. Mixed in some clips from the time-lapse setting on my powershot (the rest were imported stills), and set a track behind it (not mine). Video is a prototype for a project I'd like to do when I have a little more time. I'd like to shoot for a week in and around all the places I find myself. School, home, my two offices and the hospital .. and of course the train. Please excuse the watermark..couldn't part with 40bucks today.
posted by Amanda @ 10/14/2007 09:05:00 PM, ,
Comic
Monday, October 8, 2007
Vikram and I made a comic about losing keys, you can find it here.
posted by Amanda @ 10/08/2007 11:01:00 AM, ,
Response to Understanding Comics
Reading this book made me realize something important: I've never really thought about comics. I've read them, sure, but I've never given much thought to what actually makes them work. The idea of stripping things down to the bare minimum in order for the images to have more force really resonates with me. Indeed, I never thought about why it was so easy to identify with cartoon characters - what makes them so universal. Everyone can identify to some extent with a smiley face (or another face that's equally as simply drawn).
I loved reading this book, and I'd like to read it in its entirety. I particularly appreciated his exploration of timing through different frame juxtapositions, gutters, etc.. I also liked his discussion about different cultures and their comic tendencies (he primarily discussed japan). His description of America as a goal oriented culture, vs. Japan as one in which the journey is more highly valued seemed apt.
I completed this reading after I completed the comic assignment for class. I think that was probably not the best order in which to do things. I would have liked to explore the universality of cartoons through storytelling - and the ability of readers to identify. Perhaps for another time.. for this assignment I used a character that would be almost impossible to identify with, as I used a photographic representation of myself. It would be interesting, in the context of McCloud, to go back and draw out the same comic, with much more neutral characters.
iconic v. non-iconic
The idea of receiving v. perceiving
Closure (observing the parts but perceiving the whole)
Text writers v. comic artists
pictures are rerceived, words are perceived (need to be interpreted)...in comics these two tend to switch. The more abstracted the image, the more perception is needed. With words, as they become more simple to adapt to the comic style, they are received an no longer need strong perception.
Closure of electronic media as something that really can't be perceived. Closure in comics as something completely voluntary.
Comics as a medium that takes advantage of viewer participation very often.
Transitions: moment-to-moment, action-to-action, subject-to-subject, scene-to-scene, aspect-to-aspect, non-sequitur -- McCloud charts the usage of these transition techniques for many different comic artists. Regardless of how different the styles are, the charts are mostly very similar.
Aspect-to-aspect as setting a mood/place
American as goal-oriented - Japanese comics tend not to be as much. Reflection of the culture.
Going through other types of art.
posted by Amanda @ 10/08/2007 01:24:00 AM, ,