Module 9

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, “Rain Dance,” for example, was really cool and obviously for children, but at the same time, it has a Tim Burton feel to it, making it slightly creepy.  I do have to say that after working with animation for Assignment 2, I have the utmost respect for anyone who does it full time, so I can’t even imagine how long it takes them to complete a piece. 


Bolex Film Plan

Who are you writing to and why?

I’m writing to Alex Manly and the other victims of the 1898 coup in Wilmington. A couple of years ago, I interned at Third Person Project where I transcribed all surviving Daily Record newspapers. I became very interested in the topic and after a lot of research, wrote a feature-length screenplay during the next semester. 


Where will you shoot and why?  

I will shoot several locations and landmarks around downtown Wilmington. 

These are locations where people were murdered, buried, hid, had their buildings burned… or planned a mob march and/or made speeches about white supremacy


What images will you need to capture during the shoot?  

  1. Pine Forest Cemetery

  2. Josh Halsey’s gravesite

  3. Wilmington Light Infantry Armory on Market 

  4. Cape Fear River

  5. Vacant lot where the Daily Record stood

  6. 1898 Monument

  7. Thalian Hall

*more may come to mind


What sounds will you need to record for your soundscape?

Gunshots, southern male voices (reading parts of Waddell’s speech, another reading parts of Manly’s editorial, some reciting headlines from the Daily Record, News and Observer, Star News), screaming, crying, mob walla, river flowing/waves lapping, frogs, crickets, whispers


What do you need to prepare for technically before you shoot/record? 

Bolex camera, lenses (16mm, 35mm, 75mm), film, light meter, Zoom H6


And finally, with only 2 minutes and 45 seconds of footage, 

What skills can you employ to make your project as strong as it can be? 

Storyboards, weather checks, an assistant, making a geographic plan to map out order of shots, knowing the Bolex!


Click here for Storyboards!

Comments

  1. Ryan Patrick HealyMarch 21, 2022 at 8:51 AM

    Isn't it odd that some stuff for kids is scary to adults. There is some kind of psychology that I am not smart enough to understand going on... that's probably why I love this style of animation so much. I definitely recommend watching more of Svankmajers work. The whole catalogue is interesting to watch.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dusty AbernathyMarch 21, 2022 at 10:37 AM

    Totally agree with you on Švankmajer, he has such an odd obsession with how people eat. The claymation in the film Ryan showed, while they were placing "food" into their mouths, is so interestingly weird. haha.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Emily PMarch 21, 2022 at 5:41 PM

    Kim, I love your idea for your epistolary film! I can't wait to see how it turns out because I'm sure it's going to be beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Emily PMarch 21, 2022 at 5:41 PM

      - Emily

      Delete
    2. silvashanMarch 23, 2022 at 7:51 AM

      Love as cannibalism. Life as cannibalism. Disturbingly poetic. :)

      On your Bolex letter - I love that you are focusing on local historical interest and connecting it to the epistolary form of this assignment. Perhaps it will inform your feature at some point. Also, your research and pre-production are always on point.

      Delete
  4. shvkexperimentMay 11, 2022 at 12:42 AM

    Well in a more objective sense everything we do is disgusting, we just have a context and a narrative to make it normal and acceptable to us. Although, pulling back even more, it's not so disgusting so much as it is simply necessary. In a physical sense, it's just a consequence of being an organism that needs to sustain itself and replicate itself.

    ReplyDelete

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