5*5

1. A very sad continuation of the forest that surrounds my neighborhood
2. The sun in the west
3. Sunlight on the leaves of the trees
4. Passing by a few sturdy trees
5. Into the trees










       I have an excellent Cannon camera which I use for important documentation. Naturally, I saw it fit that I use it for this project. To my misfortune, I couldn't find my chord, and I remember that I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen it since Christmas when I first got it. I quickly remembered that many hip photographers use their iPhones when they are in need of a camera, and haven't got a proper DSLR. I remembered that iPhone cameras are quality, and that mine could serve me well.
     I have a 2009 iPhone 3G, but the camera is extremely fluent and clear. As I walked home one day, I decided that it would be the premise of my 5 by 5. My walk home is very peaceful, and there's much wildlife. I can hear the crickets and all the other things that live near the creek, and I figured this would be a sort of music for my diegetic sound. As I walked home, I filmed each of the things I admire. I first filmed New Hampshire road, which was sort of boring, but it provided an establishing shot.
      I decided that although I'd caught a shot of a taxi (my favorite automobile) I didn't want to use it. I didn't delete it so that I'd have reference, but instead I took a shot of a collection of trees entering my neighborhood. Once I got on my way, I filmed the houses leading up to mine. I filmed these houses in the sun, so it created an artistic effect. Sometimes I felt uneasy because I felt like I was stalking people.
    I filmed the plants and trees in my neighbor's yards, which is a bit creepier than filming their houses. These plants glittered in the sunlight, and I thought this sort of summarized the serenity and peace I have when I walk from school. I left the last shot as one that will leave an open perspective for the viewer. As such, I am very pleased with my 5 by 5.
           I decided to edit on Youtube Video Editor. It went rather smoothly except for the first time I edited on my personal account, and then I had to edit on my school account which was really annoying. Other than that, it was very easy to edit.
         I have an issue with how shaky my camera is, however I realize that I was walking down a hill while I was filming, and it would be difficult to stabilize anyway. I suppose this is an excuse, but if I could improve my video, I would most definitely make it more stable.
        I very much like 5 by 5. For our next video challenge we should film High Schoolers. We shouldn't tell them how, of if they will be filmed, and as such their reaction will make an entertaining and perhaps introspective videos. If we film each other, the reactions to the videos would help us learn much about ourselves. There shouldn't be a reaction, however, for the final product, and instead it should reflect people doing daily activities. I'm not sure how to make this not boring, but I think it would be a nice commentary to our lives.
     

Trailer Review

 Mad Max  George Miller  R  May 9, 1980

     In a future of total disregard of human governance, Mad Max embodies the last hope of justice and sanity as he endures the horrors of the aftermath of his killing of the Dark Knight, the leader of a terrorist bike gang. 

        Mad Max creates an audacious and attractive trailer in its use of constant movement, provocative diction of the narrator, and angled shots. Mad Max is a trailer of transitions. The clips are only five seconds, cohesive, and tell a story without providing the viewer with excess information. The transitions work in movement. A shot of a car coming towards the camera would seem as though the camera would be damaged; at the last second, the shot would switch to the car driving away, but this shot would expose the reckless speed of the car. These surprise transitions expose the chaos and the accelerated nature of Mad Max's world, thus concluding that it is a Dystopia. The shots that comprise of these transitions are taken from the view of Mad Max towards his world. As such, many shots are of people directly talking to the camera. This upsets the viewer, and makes the viewer feel uncomfortable with the dissonance of something unreal on the screen becoming upset with that person. Mad Max's character is portrayed in almost secretive shots, ones that are taken from behind walls, and from the sides of cars. The ability to see Mad Max's world as Mad Max encourages the viewer to understand his struggle, but the reasons why he continues to rebel against total rebellion. 

             In order to better explain the shots and the transitions, there is a narrator with a diction that pertains to riddles. The narrator evokes a sort of fear and paranoid sense in the viewer in as he describes that "somewhere, on the abandoned highways of tomorrow, where law is another word for vengeance, where justice is a distant memory" Mad Max lives. There is a lonelieness in "abandoned highways of tomorrow", and this loneliness devolves itself to fear when he says "law is another word for vengeance". Ultimately, this loneliness and fear is epitomized in "justice is a distant memory", and the viewer is awakened to the dire conditions of the Dystopia. It would be wise for my group to use a narrator, because this way we can truly evoke fear and strange emotions in our viewers to convey our message, and the awful dystopia we will have created. The concept of shots taken from the view of our protagonist is very relevant to our society, in which people live on the internet and with screens. We could employ this by constantly shooting through the world that the protagonist sees through the screens. Our trailer would have to be fast paced, as this excites the viewer, and is excellent for quality shots, our transitions will thus be cut and quick. Mad Max is a compelling, well made trailer, and it will be very useful reference for the Dystopian Trailer Project. 

New York, I Love You

New York I Love You (2008)

       New York I Love You is a series of vignettes set in a fantastical city of the same name, set to mirror the magic of the city and it's bending promises. The New York Times spoke as the voice for its city, and took the film as a sort of insult. The Times was not pleased with the misrepresentation of the city for which it writes, as in the film, New York is simply Manhattan, but this does not include Harlem or any other place unfashionable to the New York tourist's eye.

    Naturally, A.O. Scott, the author of the article, is very particular of the cinematography and direction of the film; it would fit that the author wants his city portrayed as it is. Scott begins his article this way. He acknowledges that his readers are New Yorkers as well and tells them their city is still a fantasy to the French and Chinese directors who shot the film. Scott notes that the film, although very artsy and naturally ridiculous (it centers love in New York. Apparently this is silly to a New Yorker because that's not what New York is about), doesn't work well because the stories aren't intertwined closely enough.

     A.O Scott uses very obscure references that require much time from the mind. In this respect, Scott labels the cinematography as very cheesy, and thus commences to reference the plot to a collection of badly written stories from an angsty college course. The plot isn't mentioned in depth, as the movie doesn't really have one. Instead, Scott writes about the plots of each vignette, largely accusing the stories to not make much sense. Scott credits this to the actor's performances, which he finds dry and unappealing; almost as if the actors are trying too hard.

This means that the to A. O Scott, the film is aloof and a wannabe indie film.

   I think we should write a lot like A.O Scott. We should be able to use obscure references, and to write metaphors that make little sense to a reader at first glance, but make the reader think. As such, we should be given creative freedom to the assignment. There shouldn't be a structure, because the structure will come naturally to the nature of the review, and the person's connections with the film.This would make the assignment more understanding and important to the writer. It would also be much more fun to write, and I'm sure there wouldn't be as many students doing it last minute in the library and turning it in a minute after they finished it.

Peace

http://diigo.com/0sywi