Rituals – Animated GIFs

Published at November 26, 2009 in Collaboration, Ephemera, Experiments, Life Moments, Videoblog and Voodle.

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PumpkinGif

Update: The animated GIFs were causing my server to throttle the loading time here, so I’ve removed the GIFs to Flickr. Check ‘em out here instead! (Be sure to click “All Sizes” to see them go!)

It’s NaVloPoMo ([Inter]National Vlog Posting Month), and this year, thanks to Rupert, a month-long video-chain called 30 Days 30 People 30 Videos has been created in lieu of the traditional post-a-video-a-day-all-month insanity. This year, vloggers were asked to sign up for a particular day during November and, based on the video that came before theirs, make and post something for that day. I chose American Thanksgiving, 26 days into the vlogging festivities.

After viewing Trine’s NaVloPoMo video, I started thinking about the rituals we perform to mark moments in time. This Thanksgiving, I didn’t get to see my extended family, and, to my surprise, I found myself particularly missing those traditions that happen year after year. So I decided to document a few little rituals that took place on my holiday: baking, opening the window to the unusually empty street, a long day watching TV specials (this year, a “Band of Brothers” marathon that I only occasionally partook in).

I’ve also been thinking quite a bit about loops lately, and of course the very notion of rituals or traditions implies a loop or cycle, a way of passing on heritage from one generation to the next. These little documents then became loops in the form of animated GIFs – a departure from conventional vlogging, I know, but it seemed the most appropriate form for these little moments to take.

It’s an idea I’d like to explore more – animated GIF as documentary.

Next up: Brook Hinton! And for more animated GIFfy goodness, see my students’ animated GIF exercise.

Notes from UFVA

Published at October 11, 2009 in Academia.

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Although this year’s University Film and Video Association conference at the University of New Orleans wrapped up in August, this round-up of links from a few of my favorite panels is still more than relevant. Here is a mishmash of tips and information that I found valuable.

Intriguing and powerful films

For Memories’ Sake by Ashley Maynor – short, moving, funny documentary about Angela Singer, a Southern homemaker and obsessive photographer whose snapshots now comprise a 150,000 piece collection.

Nam June Paik: Lessons from the Video Master by Skip Blumberg – playful and thoughtful documentary/work of video art shot during Paik’s funeral, with memories offered by those in attendance.

Surface Kinetic by David Ellsworth – experimental documentary about the human relationship to architecture and how it shifts as the seasons change, all centered on an area near the Iowa River in Iowa City (my alma mater).

Teaching Motion Graphics and Animation

Mara Alper and Jason Harrington, Ithaca College; Francesca Talenti, UNC-Chapel Hill, Daria Tsoupikova, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago; Roger Good, Ohio University

Assignment idea: ask students to choose an artist they like and animate in their style, with suitable transitions (using After Effects or Flash)
Inspiration: the use of well-known works of art in the intro to the TV show Desperate Housewives

Inspirational animation: Tyger by Brazilian artist Guilherme Marcondes

Recommended texts: After Effects Apprentice by Trish and Chris Meyer
The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams

Insights: Roger Good – Editing now is about layering as well as sequencing. In editing, we must now consider Bezier and B-splines when thinking of basic design principles such as line and shape (especially in terms of motion vectors), as well as time remapping as a form of pacing, the interaction of layers as a way to generate color, and the role of virtual lighting, all of which have been enabled by digital media production.

Is this the Real World or the Classroom: What’s the Difference?

Mary Dalton, Wake Forest University, Jack Lucido, Western State College of Colorado, Joseph Bierman and Diana Nicolae, Rowan University, Cindy Stillwell, Montana State University, Christopher Zydowicz, Bob Jones University

Insights: Model industry practices in student and student-client productions, including holding production department meetings with minutes and building in resume workshops in to classes. Follow standard work practices, such as adhering to agreements, schedule breaks, SAG contracts, etc.

Recommended film: Who Needs Sleep by Haskell Wexler, about the risk of exhaustion and overwork in causing serious accidents.

Workshop: Live VJ Performance Solutions

Simon Tarr, University of South Carolina

Most highly recommended (but not perfect) VJ software: VDMX5 by VidVox
Demo is available, but won’t allow you to save work. Can take live input, and link to any midi input. Can also bring in effects created in Quartz Composer (such as a Flickr RSS feed or green screen designs). Can bring in a live internet feed, like Google searches. Includes a two-channel mixer with a slider. Only allows output to one channel though, so can’t be fed to multiple projectors.

Other software options:
Isadora by Troikatromix (borrows from MaxMSP Jitter). Problematic, but useful for doing live feeds along with green screen
Resolume – a simple interface, but handles audio and video well. Demo available.
Module8 – powerful program, but expensive.
Arkaos – Very little control afforded. Least recommended.
Onyx-VJ - Open source, flash-based VJ software (and FREE). Must be rendered out to .swf
FLxER – Also open source, flash-based, and free.

Insights: There is a need for scholarly work on VJing to establish credibility and codify/track its aesthetic form. Visual music is a related and relevant area of study and practice.

The Truth at 24 Frames Per Second: Teachable Moments in the Arena of Film Editing

Ellen Feldman (independent), Alyn Warren (National University), Sam Kauffman (Boston University), Brigid Maher (American University)

Insights: Sam Kauffman – Think of editing as choosing which seat to sit in to watch the action. A cut means to change seats, as in a theater.

Film clips:
School of Rock (15 “seats,” 45 “movements” in the editing) – scene in which Dewey decides he’s going to start a band with the kids
The French Connection (compression of time) – scene in which Doyle runs up stairs, and then back down, in pursuit of a sniper, revealing parallel action
Searching for Bobby Fischer (compression of time) – scene in which Josh and his father play chess over several hours, via parallel action
The Departed – scene where Billy Costigan meets with his therapist for the first time. All straight cuts, no L-cuts, with lots of listening and reaction shots.
Midnight Run – scene with Grodin and DeNiro on the train. Again, mostly straight cuts with a just a few overlaps. Demonstrates reasons NOT to cut in certain places.
Platoon – scene where DaFoe is killed. Useful clip for illustrating screen direction.
Lost in Translation – scene in sushi bar between Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. Wider aspect ratio means both actors are in the shot, so there are more continuity errors, but worth the mistakes for the advantages and opportunities.

Insights: Brigid Maher – Perhaps the most intriguing presentation for me. Maher has coined the term “smart montage” to mark the current trend in blending the dialectical montage goals of the Soviet filmmakers with the digital tendency toward spatial montage (as explored by Lev Manovich). So – multiframe, spatial montage, together with the mashup approach to editing, yields new forms of filmmaking, distribution, and meaning-creation, especially on the web. Examples: Pet Shop Boys’ Integral video; Wreck and Salvage’s multiframe videos such as Call and Response; feature films such as The Tracey Fragments.

The Rapidian

Published at September 19, 2009 in Collaboration, Home movie, Motion Graphics, News and Projects.

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The Rapidian is a new venture in hyper-local citizen journalism here in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and I couldn’t be more proud to serve on its steering committee. Launched September 15th and still in beta, the project is the brainchild of the Grand Rapids Community Media Center and GR Community Foundation with the support of a grant from the John S. and Jame L. Knight Foundation. While The Rapidian exists simply as a website right now, the near-future goal is to establish physical neighborhood hubs – meeting places with computers, video equipment, and other resources for use by citizen reporters.

Although strong and interesting citizen journalism efforts exist already around the country (and the world), part of what sets The Rapidian apart is its dual emphasis on open access and journalistic integrity. Anyone can sign up to be a reporter, but their first three stories are vetted by an editor against a value statement and journalistic policies, the overarching values of which are civility, accountability, originality, and accuracy. Once new reporters demonstrate an understanding of and adherence to these policies in their work, they graduate to official reporter status where they can add content to the site immediately. The Rapidian strives to balance its commitment to freedom of speech with the accountability and trust necessary to build a journalistic presence the community can rely on. Continue reading ‘The Rapidian’

Star Wars Uncut

Published at August 1, 2009 in Collaboration, Experiments, Film, Found footage, Mashup, Motion Graphics and Videoblog.

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My contribution to Star Wars Uncut, Casey Pugh‘s work of crowdsourced database cinema that re-imagines Star Wars as a collective DIY film. Each contributor grabs a 15-second segment to re-create (or “swede“), then has 30 days to upload the final product. This segment was created with rudimentary rotoscoping and animation in AfterEffects, and some ridiculously lo-fi puppeting. The process was instructive and tedious, but the force was with me.

Soon, the completed, compiled full-length film will be available for viewing. This should be fantastic.

A License to Write: The Iowa Workshop Experience

Published at May 20, 2009 in Collaboration, Film, Found footage, Projects and Videoblog.

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This film is pretty much done with the festival rounds, so on to the web it goes!

(2008, 18:00, digital video and found footage)

An energetic documentary that offers an insider’s look at the writing workshops at the University of Iowa through reflective, funny, and touching interviews with former and current students. The film surveys the hardships, the passion, the self-doubt, and the triumphs that come along with devoting a life to the written word.

Created for the exhibit “A Community of Writers: Creative Writing at the University of Iowa” at the Old Capitol Museum on the University of Iowa campus.

Produced by Jennifer Proctor and Jennifer New

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