r8ing!

Here is my rating of all of our projects this semester, starting with my least favorite and going to the best =]

6= found footage film. I appreciate that this is taking pre-existing media and making something new, creative, and different from it. I also understand how it ties into the class’s overall mission. However, I feel like this is a really overdone type of film, and I was not very enthusiastic while making it. I also think that a minute is maybe a little too short of time to get your point across, in manipulating other people’s work. As the audience already has an impression of the media, I feel like it takes longer to break through those impressions and create a new theme, which is difficult to do in a minute. But I suppose that’s the challenge of the assignment.

The found footage film is the only project in this class that I disliked. The remainder of my list, I really enjoyed these assignments. Based possibly on my difficulties with the project, and just my general interest, I graded the others. But I want to make it clear that I really loved all of them (sometimes in hindsight, sometimes the whole time).

5= Rhythmic Edit. I really liked this challenge. I’ve never edited in that style before, so it was a really fun and interesting way to approach telling Megan’s story. It has inspired me to use more varied shot lengths in projects I have edited since then, and it was fun to document the person we were already paired with for the first project, it allowed us to create a strong partnership, and we made a good team :D

4= 48-Hour Video Race. I love the idea of 48-hour video races, despite how exhausting they may be in the middle of the 48 hours. I also think it’s really really cool how you put the cameraless twist on it. I think this one challenged us the most to think outside of the box, which I really appreciate and enjoy being forced to do.

3= Cameraless Film. As a film projectionist, I’ve never before dreamed of scratching a film on purpose. However, this project opened my eyes to just how many things will effect film and make it look really incredible, giving it a look that really can’t be reproduced by drawing in Photoshop or filming some chemicals. It definitely opened my eyes to a whole new type of filmmaking that I had never even considered before.

2= Long Take. This project was one of my favorites, because my group and I had found a really good way to work together by this project. Also, that whole day was just a whirlwind. It is extremely gratifying to shoot, develop, dry, and screen your film in one day. Also, I love that we got to work with various cameras in this class such as the Bolex, and the 8mm camera used to document the day, it’s very sad that I haven’t touched one of these cameras until my junior year as a Film Studies major. It was really great having the opportunity to work with them.

1= Stop-Motion Animation. Stop motion is one of my favorite types of animation. I have made two stop motion films in the past (not including this one), and really really enjoy it. I liked this take on it, because I have never used a glass pane system before, and it was really neat to see what the advantages are of it, and also the drawbacks.

All in all, I really enjoyed this class. Not only did I enjoy the assignments, but I also loved the in-class workshops. It’s too bad that we weren’t able to make the pinhole cameras, but the 3-D workshop and making the fort was just really awesome. As a freshman I heard about the 6x1 class and was looking forward to taking it ever since then. I am happy to say that it lived up to, and surpassed all of my expectations =]