Monday, September 26, 2011
Light Observation 2
As I sit on the balcony and look at the natural light that is surrounding me I think about how neglected and unappreciated it is. By this I mean that besides the sunrises and and sunsets we take for granted the beauty of natural light.
Although the rain and the cloudy skies effect my energy level, there is something quite peaceful about them. This sunlight struggles to push its way through the clouds and every now and then there is an opening where the beautiful golden light floods through. The rays of light create strips of harsh and soft light as if a hard light was placed directly next to a defused light. As the sun is once again covered by the clouds my eyes begin to get bored with the light coming from the sky.
My eyes bounce around from place to place until a large puddle catches my attention. The puddle sits still on the side of the road. The same white light that was peeping in through the windows onto the babies faces is now engulfing the surface of the puddle. The water is acting like a mirror and reflects the light off of the top of it. As the rain begins to spit once again the sprinkles allow the puddle to dance about making the reflections of the light wiggle around on the puddle. The rain creates what would normally be another unappreciated beauty, however, this time is does not go unappreciated or unnoticed.
I sit an admire the puddle but the smell of a dirty diaper from one of the twins that I take care of brings me back to reality.
Although the rain and the cloudy skies effect my energy level, there is something quite peaceful about them. This sunlight struggles to push its way through the clouds and every now and then there is an opening where the beautiful golden light floods through. The rays of light create strips of harsh and soft light as if a hard light was placed directly next to a defused light. As the sun is once again covered by the clouds my eyes begin to get bored with the light coming from the sky.
My eyes bounce around from place to place until a large puddle catches my attention. The puddle sits still on the side of the road. The same white light that was peeping in through the windows onto the babies faces is now engulfing the surface of the puddle. The water is acting like a mirror and reflects the light off of the top of it. As the rain begins to spit once again the sprinkles allow the puddle to dance about making the reflections of the light wiggle around on the puddle. The rain creates what would normally be another unappreciated beauty, however, this time is does not go unappreciated or unnoticed.
I sit an admire the puddle but the smell of a dirty diaper from one of the twins that I take care of brings me back to reality.
Light Observation 1
As I sit in the living room of the family whom I nanny for observing light, I notice some new aspects to a room that is very familiar to me. I look at the sweetly sleeping seven month old twins. Their soft skin is kissed with a white light on the right side of their faces. The light is trickling in from the slightly cracked blinds, giving me a small glimpse of the light gray sky. The sunlight tries to push through the rain clouds that are acting as heavy blankets creating this white light that is reflecting on the babies faces.
There is a yellow tinted light coming from behind my head that covers the left side of the twin's faces. Softening the harsh white light as well as reducing shadows, this pale yellow light acts as a fill light. The more I observe the twins I notice how they perfectly lit they are. The white light coming from outside as the key lighting, the soft yellow overhead light acts as the fill light and light that is peeping through the french doors behind the twins becomes a backlight. This creates the very appropriate "halo effect" on the crown of the babies heads.
All of a sudden this well known space seems completely new again.
There is a yellow tinted light coming from behind my head that covers the left side of the twin's faces. Softening the harsh white light as well as reducing shadows, this pale yellow light acts as a fill light. The more I observe the twins I notice how they perfectly lit they are. The white light coming from outside as the key lighting, the soft yellow overhead light acts as the fill light and light that is peeping through the french doors behind the twins becomes a backlight. This creates the very appropriate "halo effect" on the crown of the babies heads.
All of a sudden this well known space seems completely new again.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Assignment 1A "Do You Hear What I Hear?"
This project went very smoothly actually. My group and I worked very well together! We all collaborated in creating the sound effects we needed and finding good ambient and vocal sounds. At first, noticing the more quiet noises was a challenge. However, once in a better routine it came easier to pick up on the more faint sounds around us. We recorded sound outside of my house that is on the corner of 8th and Princess St, as well as, downtown on Water St.
The most interesting sound we found while we were simply walking around my neighborhood was broken glass on the sidewalk leftover from hurricane Irene. We were able to scrape it on the concrete, drop it on grass to make a hallow sound, throw it against something hard to make it shatter, and simply move piles of it around to get "clinking" sounds. I thought these were a few of the most interesting and unique sounds that we came up with for our sounds library.
We experiment with the differences of the mics. A couple times we would record something with the omni mic that is attached to the H4N and then record the exact same thing with the shotgun mic so that we could truly hear the difference in the pick up patterns.
Between the sound observation exercise and the recording and editing of the sound library I was able to have a much stronger hold on the idea of sound and creating sound effects. This project was overall beneficial to me for learning about sound.
The most interesting sound we found while we were simply walking around my neighborhood was broken glass on the sidewalk leftover from hurricane Irene. We were able to scrape it on the concrete, drop it on grass to make a hallow sound, throw it against something hard to make it shatter, and simply move piles of it around to get "clinking" sounds. I thought these were a few of the most interesting and unique sounds that we came up with for our sounds library.
We experiment with the differences of the mics. A couple times we would record something with the omni mic that is attached to the H4N and then record the exact same thing with the shotgun mic so that we could truly hear the difference in the pick up patterns.
Between the sound observation exercise and the recording and editing of the sound library I was able to have a much stronger hold on the idea of sound and creating sound effects. This project was overall beneficial to me for learning about sound.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Sound Observation: Public
This evening I went to my favorite coffee shop to hear what I could hear...
Entering the coffee shop I was overwhelmed with the grinding sound of coffee beans accompanied by the loud hizz of the milk steamer.
Customers spoke in calm murmurs as they gave their orders to the employees while the cash registers beeped.
An occasional giggle.
Clinking of coffee mugs and other various dishes filled the air.
Deep clunking sounds of footstep came and went with an occasional high pitched clapping of heels on tile floors.
I heard a long swooshing sound followed by a thud every time the door opened and closed.
When open, the sounds of the outside world flood in: cars swishing by, a dog barking, birds singing and crickets chirping and the day comes quickly to an end.
Chairs squeaking again the floor, followed by a plop of body weight hitting the seat.
I could hear the heavy downpour of water out of the faucet as if the water was racing to get to its destination.
Constant tapping of keys on a laptop to my right was interjected with the occasional throat clear from the man to my left.
The sound of a fast moving fan for a cooler begins loud and slowly drowns off.
Car keys drop loudly onto a table creating a high clank.
I heard the scrapping of paper against clothing as pages in a book were turned.
Mellow rustling of items in an oversized bag.
A low clicking of a pen, open, closed, open, closed.
Flicking of fingernails.
Deep breaths.
Sniffling nose. With an occasional powerful horn sound from the old mans nose into a handkerchief.
A woman on her cell phone talks in a high pitched, nasally tone as she walks into the coffee shop. She tells the person on the other end of the conversation her issues of finding the right wedding dress, making sure to accentuate the important words by saying them much louder and more pronounced than the others. Eventually her jabber is drowned out by the saving sound of hizzing milk as it is frothed for a coffee.
One by one the people began to gather their things, creating rumbling and crinkling sounds, thuds, zippers closing, chairs squeaking and dull footstep trailing until they reach the door that swooshes open and they march out into the night.
As the coffee shop empties I hear softer noises like the dull humming of the AC unit.
The faint jingle of jewelry clanking together.
Muffled vibrations from a cell phone.
Pens scratching on paper while the hand that controls it slides across the paper.
A long exhaled yawn is released representing that the symphony has come to an end.
Entering the coffee shop I was overwhelmed with the grinding sound of coffee beans accompanied by the loud hizz of the milk steamer.
Customers spoke in calm murmurs as they gave their orders to the employees while the cash registers beeped.
An occasional giggle.
Clinking of coffee mugs and other various dishes filled the air.
Deep clunking sounds of footstep came and went with an occasional high pitched clapping of heels on tile floors.
I heard a long swooshing sound followed by a thud every time the door opened and closed.
When open, the sounds of the outside world flood in: cars swishing by, a dog barking, birds singing and crickets chirping and the day comes quickly to an end.
Chairs squeaking again the floor, followed by a plop of body weight hitting the seat.
I could hear the heavy downpour of water out of the faucet as if the water was racing to get to its destination.
Constant tapping of keys on a laptop to my right was interjected with the occasional throat clear from the man to my left.
The sound of a fast moving fan for a cooler begins loud and slowly drowns off.
Car keys drop loudly onto a table creating a high clank.
I heard the scrapping of paper against clothing as pages in a book were turned.
Mellow rustling of items in an oversized bag.
A low clicking of a pen, open, closed, open, closed.
Flicking of fingernails.
Deep breaths.
Sniffling nose. With an occasional powerful horn sound from the old mans nose into a handkerchief.
A woman on her cell phone talks in a high pitched, nasally tone as she walks into the coffee shop. She tells the person on the other end of the conversation her issues of finding the right wedding dress, making sure to accentuate the important words by saying them much louder and more pronounced than the others. Eventually her jabber is drowned out by the saving sound of hizzing milk as it is frothed for a coffee.
One by one the people began to gather their things, creating rumbling and crinkling sounds, thuds, zippers closing, chairs squeaking and dull footstep trailing until they reach the door that swooshes open and they march out into the night.
As the coffee shop empties I hear softer noises like the dull humming of the AC unit.
The faint jingle of jewelry clanking together.
Muffled vibrations from a cell phone.
Pens scratching on paper while the hand that controls it slides across the paper.
A long exhaled yawn is released representing that the symphony has come to an end.
Sound Observation: Nature
I went to Greenfield lake, sat in the grass and listened...
I heard the chirping of birds nestled in the trees.
The low hum of children playing and people talking in the distance.
Leaves rustling in the calm breeze.
The quite chirp of a cricket hiding in the grass.
Squirrels jumping branch to branch above me and hopping in the grass, scavenging for nuts.
Insects buzz around my head.
The high pitched "SLAP" of my hand hitting my skin as a mosquito attempts to make me the main course of his lunch.
A faint, quick, clicking sound appears, as it grows louder I notice it is a biker approaching. I listen as the clicking gets louder and louder until the sound is right in front of me and then again fades until I no longer hear the clicking.
I hear muffled, delicate, trotting sounds approach and fade as joggers pass by.
The occasional quack of a duck.
Random disturbance of the lake from fish jumping, and frogs and ducks entering the cool water creating different pitches of "plopping" sounds.
Calm waves swish as they wash up upon the shore of the lake.
Quick, light steps of a toddler running appear behind me.
His young, stress-free laughter and squeals fill the air.
A man on the phone with an angry tone paces around the grass. His heavy footsteps trampling and crunching everything in his path.
The sounds of Greenfield lake turn into a peaceful symphony surrounding me.
Bio
My name is Maryosha Eggleston. I am a Film Studies major going into Documentary and minoring in Studio Art with my focus in photography. I love composing interesting and unique frames, within film and photography. Although I have not had any experience with film besides shooting on a Bolex, I think I will really enjoy working with film and the development process. With photography, working in the darkroom is my favorite part of the entire process. Manipulating and experimenting with negatives until you've gotten the desired outcome is such a rewarding experience.
Although I am not exactly sure where my career will take me after school, I hope to have some kind of videography job that allows me to travel. I am, however, very interested in post-production as well.
Although I am not exactly sure where my career will take me after school, I hope to have some kind of videography job that allows me to travel. I am, however, very interested in post-production as well.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Camper and MacDonald Response
The Fred Camper article touched on the how challenging it is to properly title an avant-garde or experimental film. It was quite humorous reading the part where Camper stated that he has students show up to the experimental screening expecting to see films for science experiments! All jokes aside, Camper brings up a great point about the genre title of "experimental". Camper states, "I made many experiments in the process of making film. I left then all in my editing room". If they are finished products then why DO we call it experimental? Camper wraps up the article with six steps or guidelines to follow for experimental/ avant-garde films. These "tests" were actually quite helpful to someone like myself who is not greatly educated on the genre, yet, and will come in hand while I watch and create my own experimental films. The MacDonald article explored the fact that when most people experience avant-garde films for the first time, they are old enough (usually in the teens or early twenties) to have a great understanding what movies are, what they are supposed to do, how we are supposed to watch them, etc. But avant-garde is introduced and wrecks those understandings. I enjoyed MacDonald's point of, "we recognize that the obvious anger and frustration are a function of the fact that these films confront us with the necessity of redefining an experience we were sure we understood". The article continues with a brief history of avant-garde filmmaking and MacDonald states that it is up to the filmmakers and their level of passion to keep the genre rollin!
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