project 3 - continuity scene

final project to upload from elizabeth escobar on Vimeo.

Museum of the Moving Image - Reflection

This was my first time going to the Museum of the Moving Image although I had always wanted to go I never found the time, so I was pleasantly surprised that the class was going as a field trip. My group was rather large so it was a little difficult to stay together and hear what our tour guide was discussing. However the aspect of the tour I found very interesting was when the tour guide took us through a scene of Titanic (1997) and stripped it of all its sound elements and adding them back in one by one. Because she stripped the scene down and re introduced the elements it was easy to pick out the differences when she added new elements. For example, during the lecture we discussed Foley artists and the labor intensive process of making sounds for a film. It was one thing to see it in class but to actually experience it at the museum was very enlightening for me and it showed me how important it is that your sounds are accurate to the environment and that they are well timed. After she added back in all the sound elements, I felt like I had a new interpretation of the scene and truly appreciated all the hard work that was put into the entire film. Once the tour ended, I found a station where some of the sound elements were removed from a film and your job was to put them back. Although it isn’t the same as choosing from an entire sound library, it was still similar and I enjoyed the creative freedom it allowed. Overall, my experience at the museum was fantastic and I would love to go again to rediscover and learn about how the industry has changed and all the ways I, as a media maker, can contribute to its growth.

Extra Credit- The Girl Screening

The Girl directed by David Riker is a thought provoking film that redefines the ‘immigration story’ commonly portrayed in the media. The film centers around an Anglo-American woman who is at a crossroads in her life. She wants to reunite with her son but refuses to take responsibility for her actions. As she grows desperate, she plans to smuggle people across the border into the United States for a large fee. However she fails to think through the plan and several of the migrants drown in the river. She forced to deal with the consequences of her actions when a young girl crosses the river but has lost her mother in the process. Throughout the film, this woman attempts to leave the child several times but never succeeds. As she grows closer with the child, she realizes she cannot abandon the child and instead decides to reunite her with the rest of her family. However this action comes at a cost and she misses a court date as a result. This selfless act shows the character’s development and gives the film a larger context in which to operate. It shows the woman that although she thought nothing was going right in her life, there are always ways to improve your situation.

Initially I was confused as to why the protagonist was a Anglo-American woman seeing as the story revolves around immigration. However after the Q&A with the filmmaker David Riker, it became increasingly clear that the film was attempting to turn the immigration story completely upside down. In my opinion, he succeed in this because commonly in the media we are confronted with negative immigration stories. These stories are commonly presented as individuals migrating to the North for better prospects in terms of employment, educational opportunities and overall higher quality of life. However this is a single narrative of immigration and there are various stories that are not told through the media. This is why I found Mr. Riker’s film so moving because it opened my eyes to the fact that there are so many other stories surrounding immigration that are being hidden from the limelight and we need filmmakers like Mr. Riker to remind people that the stories we hear in the media are not the only ones that exist.

Relationship Between Shots - Whiplash 2014

This scene from Whiplash (2014) directed by Damien Chazelle demonstrates continuity editing through the relationship between shots and how they are united. The scene begins with a fade from back and a long shot that establishes the setting, in which the audience is presented with a hallway that ends with a drummer practicing. In this first shot the camera begins to push into the drummer slowly at first but the pace quickens as the drumming quickens, this signifies unity and rhythm. The following shots are captured as shot reverse shot, which is commonly shown in conversations. Throughout the conversation, the camera angle becomes increasingly important. For the man in all black, the camera is placed at a low angle; this shows that he wields great power. Whereas the drummer is seen through a high angle shot, giving the audience the notion that he is weak and timid. These characterizations are also enforced through the characters dialogue and mannerisms. During the shot reverse shot sequence, something changes between the characters, instead of reversing back to each one while they are speaking the camera instead focuses more on the man in back, signalling that he is in complete control over the situation. At the height of the scene, the camera continues to push in towards the drummer to a medium close up, becoming immersed in the music as well. This abruptly stops once the door slams shut and the camera pans quickly to the door where the man in black once stood. Immediately, the camera returns to the drummer in a medium shot, where he is flabbergasted at his missed opportunity. Interestingly, when the door opens the camera remains on the drummer instead of following the sound. The man in black has returned in a medium long shot to retrieve his jacket. For the final shot, the camera returns to the drummer as he is deflated and fades to back to the darkness.

Project 2 - Audio Portrait

"What I Hear" - blog post 2

For my ‘soundwalk’, I spent an hour in Clinton Hill Brooklyn. It was a very unique experience for me since the majority of the time I usually have my headphones in and don’t stop to “smell the roses” as they say. The texture of the sound varied by where I was walking. For example, while I was near a park I heard the shuffling of sneakers and loud Reggaeton music as a basketball game/party was going on. However, when I walked further down, I heard the click clack of heels as friends were entering and leaving some local restaurants. A sound that was unique to me was the sound of skateboards, particularly when the person on the skateboard would do tricks - the sound was almost rhythmic because the person kept practicing. I also enjoyed hearing families doing everyday activities such as going to the laundromat or going grocery shopping. It reminded me how innocent children are and why childhood is so special.

Sounds that are common to the neighborhood are frequent construction sounds such as drilling and hammering. My neighborhood is becoming more gentrified and the constant construction is evident of that. The conversations I witnessed were about daily dramas of various individuals, but I found it very interesting how many languages were spoken in my neighborhood (I noted 5 different languages). Throughout the entire experience, I heard several keynotes, such as cars honking and buses stopping to pick up passengers and continuing on their journey. I did the ‘soundwalk’ activity on a Saturday afternoon so it greatly affected the sounds I heard, as opposed to if I did the activity at 10 pm on a Friday. Overall, I found this experience very exciting because it allowed me to look at my neighborhood from a different perspective, which made me appreciate my surroundings.

Define a Space Project

Link to Define a Space Project