KCC's FST 553 Experimental Film Blog

  Reflection of Bolex Shoot So much to think about at the same time! It was an enjoyable experience overall, but it was a little draining, both physically (lugging the equipment, holding the camera, etc) and mentally (the notetaking and so much math!). My biggest frustration was that it didn’t seem to fully focus. I just kept telling myself, “It’s an experimental film! Experiment.” I definitely want to do it again now that I’ve worked out a lot of the bugs and got the first “fumbling around” time out of the way. If all goes as planned, I think I may have some cool shots. Fingers crossed that they’re not too blurry or under-exposed!

Presentations  Jan Švankmajer Švankmajer’s relationship with food seems to be present in a lot of his movies. After Ryan’s presentation, I found and watched Dimensions of Dialogue, which was just as strange as the others in my opinion. For example, it appeared as if two people’s heads (made out of food waste and trash) were talking to each other, then one seemed to eat the other. In fact, I remember Ryan commenting on this….something about objects cannibalizing each other. Welp. That was it. I find his obsession (?) with mouths interesting, “a symbol of civilization’s civility.” I guess it makes sense. After all, we eat, breathe, and communicate with our mouths. The Brothers Quay So I kind of like that these guys have a foot in the commercial world ie. mainstream film and tv (not sure if that’s the correct word) Makes me think about their work and wonder: is their work commercial or is the commercial world leaning/dabbling more into experimental content? Their Sesame Street piece, ...

  Marlon Riggs I concur with Ashley’s statement that Riggs is a provocative filmmaker that encourages the audience to go through a wide range of emotions. The clip she showed from Tongues Untied is indicative of that. His storytelling approach pulls you in to empathize, but then the shocking statements of the different “mouths” repulses you. Just when you’re spinning, it becomes rhythmic and addictive. The subject matter is so fragile, and yet he’s in your face with it, so his quote stating, “They can't touch me" resonates strongly and loudly, and we get a sense of his struggles as “came through the fire.” By putting the offensive words and concepts in our face, he is able to shed light on them in (I believe) an impactful way). Sky Hopinka I just love his idea that he “Rejects the idea that history is confined to the past.” That makes sense even though I’ve never heard it phrased like that. Humans (both the species in general and individuals) are just an accumulation of everyt...

  Assignment 2 Project Plan: Adventure Option 4-Surrealist Stop-Motion Animation Short Description: I plan on creating a sand animation project based on the first stanza of Robert Frost’s poem “The Grindstone.” The first stanza shows the grindstone alone in a field, commenting on how it has a wheel and legs, but it never moves from the same spot. The narrator comments on the change in seasons, noticing the grindstone sitting alone in the snow and remembering how last summer he worked hard to grind a blade. I will attempt to “draw” images to accurately depict a grindstone spinning, hands moving in and out, an axe, an apple tree, etc. I’d also like to incorporate zooming in and out. However, I’m not really this type of artist, so it may become more of an abstract art project. I’ve read the chapter in Fluid Frames about sand animation. I’ve also watched DIY videos about how to build a lightbox and (I think) every Youtube video about sand animation. Some showed true stop motion anima...