alternative history

My film will probably involve the use of a refrigerator as a time capsule. I wrote a script for a scenario a few weeks ago, but I'm not committed to it.

7 out of 8 ways I've been thinking of the prompt for this assignment cast it as a cliche waiting to happen. In one way I appreciate the challenge to avoid the cliches and explore themes I usually stay away from. In another way it's frustrating to try and encourage inspiration upon a prompt I'd rather negate than follow.

Better Ideas

1) O Animal, My Animal: Part I

Racoons, Cat, Racoons, Dog

2) Aerial View with David Pedersen

Views, voice, wagon-wheel effect.

3) O Animal, My Animal: Part II

Zoo/aquarium. Stuffed animal in claw machine, successful grab.

4) Solo tree

Zoom pull-back + donut = Spiral out in parking lot.

5) O Animal, My Animal: Part III

"Whatcha thinking about (kid)?"
"(Oh,) nothing specific really"
[hand on hand]
"Don't get lost out there, (huh?)"

Haiku Ideas

These are some notes on the tentative ideas I'm having for the 5 bits of my project.


1) Trick or treat, My Father, speech, Happy Halloween note, waiting for the
answering machine voice, mousetrap car illuminated by "headlights", diagetic
driveby sound.

2) Aerials. My brother is the voice. Propeller speed.

3) Meadow Brook, Shady Space. Raccoon family displaced. Luxury homes vacant pit.
In car driveby through cookie cutter neighborhood.

4) CD's sparkling halo, UFO, alien bicyclist.

5) Warehouse work. camera on track, slide in. Cut open the camera?! Old Chinese man
laughs in slow motion.

Details missed in class

My video wasn't projected with sufficient brightness today, so I hope anyone interested in actually seeing it will either follow my youtube link, or, if you have a few minutes of free time in class I'll gladly play a full res copy from FCP on the computers. Just ask.

There were details that discussion couldn't touch on in class due to the viewing conditions. Nobody mentioned any of the optical effects, so I'll outline them here:

Scene 1: In the first shot, a large negative meniscus served as a fish-eye lens. The candles from the birthday cake are the only light source.

Scene 2: The camera aperature is changed on the fly, in order to shift the exposure to a range that reveals the robot.

Scene 3: UV light is the only light source. The glowing liquid is tonic water, which contains quinine, a chemical that fluoresces under blacklight.

Scene 4: 30fps is more than twice the strobe rate of the dream machine, therefore the camera is able to sample it without a quantization error. Yet the camera's image still possesses motion unlike viewing the dream machine with the naked eye.

Also, I welcome any comments on the narrative from people who watch an adequately bright version of it (youtube, etc.)

up on youtube

My 90 second movie has joined forces with some of the videos I made in Prague. I uploaded it a week ago, but forgot to mention that in this here blog. It's at http://www.youtube.com/user/kjellmikal

That's a wrap

Thursday night I got the inspiration for my 90 second film. Friday I baked a cake, checked out a PDX10 and otherwise prepared to shoot. Today my sister came down from Vancouver (Canadian Thanksgiving), bringing with her the two little actresses and actor I was waiting for. My nieces really seemed to enjoy being in a movie and Jess looked great in the welding mask. The film turned out pretty close to how I wanted it!


This photo of Quinn isn't from the production, but it's so adorable!

Last week I came across this edifying article of particular interest to film students:
"The Myth of Persistence of Vision Revisited," Journal of Film and Video, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Spring 1993): 3-12. http://www.uca.edu/org/ccsmi/ccsmi/classicwork/Myth%20Revisited.htm

Now I've got some time to read Cannery Row and re-watch Night on the Galactic Railroad for the first time in many years.

Finding 2 minutes

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams has been my favorite movie for a long time (since I was 8) and it still is, maybe. Two springs ago, Fando y Lis by Alejandro Jodorowsky challenged that old loyalty. The two minutes I present on Tuesday will probably be from one of these. A two minute Brakhage short would need no narrative context though and while considering alternatives, I also thought of the scene where Shinji strangles Asuka and the accompanying psychomontage in End of Evangelion...

Having never heard of him, I checked out what Guy Maddin titles Odegaard had this weekend. Though he's in good company with other weird art films I enjoy, so far his hockey stick has scored no goals on my heart. I know how things grow on me sometimes though, so I'll be reflecting and watching more of his work.