sounds that prove that i'm alive from Aimee Easter on Vimeo.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Self-critique of frame-by-frame project
The title of my frame-by-frame project is Sounds that Prove that I'm Alive. The main idea that I started with was attempting to capture and record the real, everyday sounds that my body makes in order to prove my existence. This is something that I often think about, even since I was a child. Every now and then, I experience waves of existential crises- strong feelings that everything in my life is actually just a figment of my thoughts, in my head alone. Since I was a child, I have had the feeling that although the universe is huge, even infinite, I am only interpreting it through my senses. The piece, Sounds that Prove that I'm Alive, is about self-exploration, confusion, coming into one's being, and experiencing the uncanny. It's meant to question what is real and what exists only in the mind. Memory, emotion, sound, sight, feeling, etc.
I used a cut-paper collage for the visual aspect of the piece. It was shot one-frame-at-a-time. I recorded 4 different audio tracks of the "sounds that prove that I'm alive" and overlapped them to create the voice-over. Parts of it line up to what the animated character is doing, and parts of it don't. The reason I did this was to blur the line between what is real about the piece and what is constructed. The figure is obviously constructed yet exhibits human characterstics. The sounds might seem more real, but the outcome is a messy audio collage of everyday human noises. I want there to be friction between the real and the fake in order for the audience to question their own reality.
Initially, I want the audience to be drawn in by the aesthetics of the animation and overlapping sounds. I want them to wonder if the sounds are coming from the girl herself, from her thoughts, from an unseen character, or from themselves. I want them to be caught between what is real about the film and what is constructed. I want the audience to question the reality of the project, and ultimately question their own reality.
The main theme of the piece: It is a self-reflection upon existential crises that I've been experiencing since I was young.
Problem areas: I had some difficulty with technology. I accidentally imported the footage as "large" instead of "full size" into iMovie. I didn't catch this until I was done editing and ready to export. I plan on re-doing the whole thing in HD so that the quality of the video won't affect the content. I want the cut paper to be crispy clear.
In a post below, I included potential film festivals that my piece my fit into. As far as how it would be exhibited, I was thinking that maybe it could be rear-projected onto what looks like a mirror with a performance aspect: I would be sitting in front of that "mirror" doing the same things as the animation. Another idea is that a live-action video would be played across the room from it.
I used a cut-paper collage for the visual aspect of the piece. It was shot one-frame-at-a-time. I recorded 4 different audio tracks of the "sounds that prove that I'm alive" and overlapped them to create the voice-over. Parts of it line up to what the animated character is doing, and parts of it don't. The reason I did this was to blur the line between what is real about the piece and what is constructed. The figure is obviously constructed yet exhibits human characterstics. The sounds might seem more real, but the outcome is a messy audio collage of everyday human noises. I want there to be friction between the real and the fake in order for the audience to question their own reality.
Initially, I want the audience to be drawn in by the aesthetics of the animation and overlapping sounds. I want them to wonder if the sounds are coming from the girl herself, from her thoughts, from an unseen character, or from themselves. I want them to be caught between what is real about the film and what is constructed. I want the audience to question the reality of the project, and ultimately question their own reality.
The main theme of the piece: It is a self-reflection upon existential crises that I've been experiencing since I was young.
Problem areas: I had some difficulty with technology. I accidentally imported the footage as "large" instead of "full size" into iMovie. I didn't catch this until I was done editing and ready to export. I plan on re-doing the whole thing in HD so that the quality of the video won't affect the content. I want the cut paper to be crispy clear.
In a post below, I included potential film festivals that my piece my fit into. As far as how it would be exhibited, I was thinking that maybe it could be rear-projected onto what looks like a mirror with a performance aspect: I would be sitting in front of that "mirror" doing the same things as the animation. Another idea is that a live-action video would be played across the room from it.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Film fest ideas
Backyard Film and Music Festival:
Backyard Film and Music Fest seeks to create a welcoming space for the community; champions the immediacy of live music and of experiencing film in a communal setting; favors the independent artist; provides an outlet for new and original talent, as well as preserving unique voices of the past; believes the festival experience need not be predictable; and celebrates the ideal spirit of backyards everywhere.
NextFrame International Student Film and Video
DIY Film Festival
Bluestocking Film Series
Films made by/about women being represented in positive ways
WAMMFest
AniMazing Spotlight animation shorts festival
Thursday, February 9, 2012
New developments...
I did an experiment to try and figure out how to shoot my frame-by-frame final project. I was feeling like the character's actions were becoming too complicated and I wanted to go back to my original idea: Sounds that Prove that I'm Alive. The idea is that the girl is looking at herself in the mirror, contemplating her existence. So I decided to film my own face with this idea in mind in order to figure out my shots better. The result: A silly video of my face. But once I started doing the audio, my ideas became more developed. I recorded 4 different vocal tracks and overlaid them. When I watched them with the video on top, it looked almost as if the sounds were her thoughts coming out of her head. I still have to work out the setting and making it look more like she is examining herself in the mirror, but here's how the sound turned out:
In critique, my classmates agreed that the audio fits better with my original concept.
Something to think about:
-How is this going to be seen/projected?
One idea: The stop-motion animation is the reflection. It is rear-projected on to a screen that is set up to look like a mirror in a bathroom or bedroom. There is a performance aspect -- I, as a human (the "real" me), is looking into this "mirror" making live sounds along with the recorded sounds.
Next steps:
1. Film myself in the mirror and study footage.
2. Plan out stop-motion final based on mirror footage.
3. Finalize audio and add to video.
FINISH FOR TUESDAY!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Sounds that prove that I'm alive
I will have 120 new frames and corresponding sounds roughly lined up.
****I'm thinking that the final animation will be longer than 120 frames. By Tuesday I should know how the sound will work and a basic idea of how to sync up the sound with the video.
****FIRST THINGS FIRST: Figuring out how to hook tape player up to garageband, export as AIFF files into video program.
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