For a long time I've had it in my head that I'd share some of the notes that I've held onto since film school. Given that all of these assignments have now been uploaded, I figured the syllabus from Film 486: Experimental Film Production, was as good a place to start as any. Check out the list of projects we were assigned in the fall semester of 2006, and then check out my links below to see what I did for each one.
Video Collage
For this one I took it upon myself to bring new meaning to time travel. Check out The Other Time Machine.
Formal Film Project
Shot on 16mm and presented at the Sask Film Pool, for this assignment I created X.
Media Diary
My goal with this assignment was to create a photographic quilt of my past using cropped images and textures from my childhood. What I made was, from 84.
Over the last couple of weeks I've started working on a new video project with Stream Media. What makes this one noteworthy however, is that for the first time in months it looks like we're going to get to create something that won't feel so obviously corporate. If our meetings so far have been any indication, it's actually going to be a lot of fun to pull this off.
Between rough storyboards, discussing techniques for shooting with a DSLR, sharing music, and fine tuning our concept, I'm finding myself wading more in the creative end of production for a change. Part of it is that our message isn't as didactic as other projects we've done either, so there's room to play and make something that actually feels more cinematic.
My role in acting solely as an editor has been changed up given the nature of this project. Like I said, I've been involved a lot more in the pre-production and concept than I usually am, and will play a significant role in how our promo is shot. It's been a few years since I've been reminded of so many different film school exercises.
I don't want to give anything away while we're in production, but I thought it would be nice to mention that corporate video isn't always as cold as it's sometimes made out to seem. And while I feel it's always been a creative outlet, it's not quite so often that I've felt like we get the chance to make something with some art behind it. Who couldn't use a bit more work that doesn't feel like work?
Presented with the challenge of shooting (and manipulating) an experimental short on film, X was the result of a few late nights spent scratching my reel and coloring individual frames with a red sharpie. I can't say I had much of a plan during the process, but it was fun. This experimental film class also resulted in some of my other random edits like, The Other Time Machine and from 84.
What made this project stand out was that we each presented our films at the Sask Film Pool in downtown Regina at the aptly titled, Terrible Film Festival - a regular event each semester for those taking the avant-garde class. It was a pretty casual affair where some films played on a loop, others were screened traditionally, some in make shift tents, and some overlapping each other. The entire exercise was really about playing with film, not just from behind the camera, but actually working with it, splicing it, and in some cases, tearing it apart. I remember my friend Tyler actually tried burning a piece of his film and it sounded like cooking bacon when it played through the projector.
I kicked things off with my film on a loop, and a last minute decision to use a mirror to reflect the projection around the room. My entire idea really centred around 'X marks the spot' because I figured so many of the films would be just as busy and nonsensical as mine, but at least mine would have a red X throughout to give you some place to look. It kind of worked.
At the very least the evening was something out of the ordinary, and it created a more lasting memory for a project that would have otherwise just stayed packed away. Our professor, Gerald Saul captured highlights from the evening and gave each of us a DVD of our short films.
Looking back at it now, this was one of those stereotypically ideal film school situations that I'm glad we were forced to take part in. And I couldn't forget it if I wanted to, as that mirror I was using ended up broken in the back seat of Tyler's car and stayed there for my remaining few semesters in university. See my experimental film below.
