My Animation Project

Haiku

http://fmundergrad.hunter.cuny.edu/~fedit/mainhaiku.html

Portrait of a Family: Alex Martinez

http://vimeo.com/32218739

Blog Entry #3: New Productions: portrait of a person analysis

It’s been a long road working on my, “portrait of a person,” project and now it is finally complete. I have made a few videos along the same premises in the past and this one by far seemed to be the most challenging for me. My niche is usually creating works that are comical and this piece involved more serious subject matter an with the limited resources and time it was definitely challenging to whip up something that would directly translate my vision into something tangible. I do not have a Mac computer at home and so I could not work on this project outside of school, which definitely was a major reason I felt it didn’t come out the way I hoped it would. At home it is quieter and I don’t feel rushed and it is just a much better work environment for me personally. Also the only time I could really get any work done at school was during the open lab hours on Wednesdays during the day for the duration of my actual lab class is so short and I nearly always just spent that time working out the kinks of all the technological difficulties I always seemed to have. I was very disappointed that I also was not able to shoot footage outside of class because of my work and school schedule plus the lack of equipment I have. I feel that my footage is rather random and just does not fit with the piece because I was only able to film my subject running around Hunter rather then getting him with his family and at his house and whatnot. So if I could do this project over again I would definitely have planned a bit better from the get go; I would have storyboarded a well organized outline of specific shots I wanted and felt would fit the piece better. Right now I feel that the piece came out too and kind of drags on a bit because of the footage playing as the interview proceeds, if I had the right footage I feel like it wouldn’t feel so prolonged. I definitely learned a lot from this experience about what it means to make a film and what goes into it. I learned that the audio and visuals are recorded on different channels and it is in the editing process that you mix the two together and are able to make alterations then such as tweak the way it sounds by using the pen tool. I learned a lot about how to use Final Cut in general. I learned a lot about the different hot keys and how to quickly be able to cut clips, use the pen tool, and set my inputs and outputs. I also learned how to add text to different slides, which will definitely come in handy with other projects to come. I was definitely pleased with how the interview turned out, I feel like had to a lot to work with in that aspect and I also really thought I ended the portrait itself on a good note. This project actually did help me to look at commercial movies in a different light; I am definitely more critical and analyze every little shot and transition as I am watching the film. Overall this was an awesome project and I wish I could have done something more creative with it and I feel that would have been possible if I had more time and more access to different resources but hopefully I will be able to do this again one day and do it exactly as I anticipate it. 

Tracee Fedi
MEDP 160
Anderson/lukas
Blog post #2: sound image and image-image relationships

For this assignment I chose to concentrate on a video I made in the first part of this class last semester. The video conveys a story because of the way I chose to allocate the footage. I constructed  sequences of moving images that would be pertinent in relaying my overall message. Where I chose to cut certain parts, stick footage filmed toward the end of shooting day in the beginning of the video, what song I chose, where I chose to zoom in and pan, why I kept shakey footage and where I chose to place it within the video are all just a few of many crucial decisions I had to make in order to create an effective piece that would engage my viewers and provoke their minds to run wild with what they thought was really the meaning of my work. If you notice, the beginning of the video is the only time throughout the whole video that my subject looks directly at the camera, as you continue to watch you notice that all the other footage is from a vantage point of the audience watching him as he looks deep within himself for answers, for help to make a decision to stop using drugs and to free himself from his mind's own entrapment. When filming these different shots were recorded in a different scheme than they appeared in the video, I chose to make the opening scene of footage from when I directed my subject to look straight at the camera with the plan in mind to have every additional scene loaded with images of him doing his own thing for the audience to look over him and have a less direct relationship with him and just gather ideas in their mind as to what's going on in his mind and what his next action was going to be as well as what his final revelation would be. When he was looking straight into the camera at the beginning he was making a direct connection with the viewers and engaging them in a way that perhaps wasn't so obvious right off the bat but if you watch the video a couple times you can start to realize that the relationship with the subject is indeed more direct and intimate and meant as a basis for comparison to the relationship you have with the subject after that point. Editing plays a major role in establishing these kinds of relationships and elements such as the specific music chosen and the transitions placed between shots are all crucial to the flow of the story itself as it is to the message as well.

http://vimeo.com/23831387