Final Project

My primary role in this project was editor, which meant I had to figure out which clips to use, which parts to get rid of for the sake of brevity, and how to navigate the combination of narrative and documentary styles. One big issue was sound, as Premiere is capricious when it comes to .mp3 files, so I had to convert the songs into a .wav format. I had to trust my partners' judgements as they told me when the shots should ease into each other and when jump cuts were acceptable. As opposed to other films which mostly center on one person running to class, we wanted to deviate from that style and create something original, as well as have each of us act. Our original script was more ambitious, including more scenes and extra characters. but we had to cut much material we originally had to fit the time constraint.

Technicolor Camera

The Technicolor camera transformed the film industry by acting as the "first commercially practical, full-color motion picture process". It used a mix of red, green, and blue filters. These colors combined formed the spectrum. Because of the Technicolor camera, black and white films became increasingly rare, before fading out almost completely from Hollywood films. Just like the first "talkie", the advent of color changed the medium to what we expect to see onscreen today. The Technicolor camera was challenged once Kodak introduced a one-strip system of filming, which was much more efficient than the three-strip system that Technicolor ran. Technicolor adapted quickly, and evolved into a one-strip system as well. The images shot on Technicolor sometimes seem lurid because, in post-production, there was a process in which editors would saturate the different scenes.

Thanks to the Technicolor camera, Disney could transfer from the desaturated animations of Steamboat Willie (1928) to the bright hues seen on Snow White (1937). Citizen Kane's (1941) shadowy images had to work hard to compete with the flashy images seen on The Wizard of Oz (1939), which was released two years before. Sometimes, black and white will make a recurrence, like in the case of The Artist (2011). However, these films are seen more as artistic experiments, which speaks to the ubiquity of color in film.

Scene Analysis

Partrooper Scene from Red Dawn (1984)

The scene begins with rhytmic medium shots of Genghis Khan and includes maps of Asia, creating the chain of meaning that the students are in a history class. Then there is a medium long shot of the professor lecturing, then a long shot of the class, then a close up of the professor. After, there are medium shots of the individual students who will be the main characters of the film. Bringing the zoom in creates a sense of intimacy. When the professor notices paratroopers descending onto the field, he walks to the window, and there is a tracking shot following him as he walks, giving the sense that we share the professor's perspective. The first Extreme Long Shot shows the troopers descending from the sky, which turns into a long shot, then medium shots of the soldiers, showing that they are an imminent threat. Changing the proximity adds suspense to the scene. Later, there is another tracking shot following the students as they run from bullets, adding to a sense of immediacy. There is a quick pan along the outside windows, making this part feel urgent. Toward the end, the shots are shorter in duration and cut quickly from one to the other. Overall, this scene shows how editing fast shots, zooming in closer to a subject, and moving the camera to track a subject or pan quickly add to the tension of the film.

Audio Project

Project 2

https://soundcloud.com/dlutsker/audio-project-160

What I Hear

The underlying white noise is coming from a bakery's ventilation unit. Raindrops punch a staccato beat onto plastic awnings. Soundmarks invade the sky - laughter from a bar, distant honking on the Gowanus Expressway, the barking dog, the bus. The B63 purrs and creaks and beeps and sighs. Slowly driving cars crunch wet gravel and clonk manhole lids. A bicycle tire squishes along the pavement. Sound signals abound, from the legato slide of a car horn to a door slamming to a boot click to a cough. Water gurgles into the gutter. A bodega door creaks open, tripping tintinnabulation and a two-note alarm. Someone's television set gives off an ambient drone.

The noises were observed in the residential community of Bay Ridge, flanked by the BQE and full of stores. The sounds are languid, reflecting the peace of the nighttime and the rain. Water is the keynote speaker here, setting the rhythm for the neighborhood band. Cars are the lead instrument, punctuating the slower moments. The bus rolls by occassionally to play his solo. The dog barking and stamping her paws on the ground clue us in to a nearby park. The running ventilator, awning, and bodega bells show that this area has many small businesses. The droning TV gives the sense of an area where people live. A special sound here is jingling - there is an underlying understanding that this noise means entering or leaving a store. An unexpected sound was the television, as I didn't realize that people turned theirs on to such a high volume.

Defining a Space Video Project

https://vimeo.com/121294808#t=0s

<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/121294808" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe> <p><a href="https://vimeo.com/121294808">Med 160 Project</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user15604856">Dan Green</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

Artist's Statement

I pursue knowledge and adventure, hoping to learn and disseminate facts and stories. I have been teaching elementary school students English for their state tests for three years. I constantly try to learn new things - one day it's the stock market, the next, playing piano. This accounts for my eclectic class schedules. Socrates knows that I know nothing. Hank Green sees I am a towering mountain of ignorance. 

Most money I save goes to alternative forms of travel. I’ve biked to Philadelphia, surfed couches in the Mid-Atlantic, and camped out on boat docks. This is a tourism that lets one know the people and scenery of an area much more intimately.

One big influence is Craigslist Joe, who traveled across America solely relying on people he met on the Internet, discovering inherent goodness in everyone he encountered. I hope to find what he did. Another is David Choe, an artist-turned-millionaire who still enjoys the uncertainty that hitchhiking and freight riding allow, even though he has the capital to avoid it. VICE, the company who filmed his exploits, has reporters stationed around the world who, as they say in their Youtube channel, specialize in "exploring uncomfortable truths and going places we don't belong". This motto has resonated with me. 

I capture my experiences and those of the people, places, and events I encounter, whether in writing, film, photography; or best of all, all three. These forms conserve, the facts, the stories, the adventure, the magic.