Light observations

Inspirational photos

The first picture is inspirational to me because it is Vincente and Liza Minnelli. Not only is it cute, but Vincente Minnelli is one of my favorite directors and I love the lights hanging in the background.

I really like the photo above because the contrasting colors look so good together! I love the burnt orange against the foggy, misty sky.

Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick! Enough said.

The Sound of Music was the first movie I ever loved. This picture was one of my favorite moments because I love the cinematography and lighting.

Above is one of my favorite pictures. It was taken at my cabin in Minnesota and shows the silhouettes of my dad and I sitting on the dock.

Assignment 1a: Response

The first assignment for this class was fun and at some times, challenging. It was really interesting to learn how to use the equipment. I'd never used the H4n microphones or anything, but they were pretty easy to figure out.

I liked being able to meet a few of the people in the class during this project too. We all worked together pretty well, even though it can be hard to plan out everything with 4 people who have busy schedules. We all made sure to contribute and made a pretty good team, even when we didn't know exactly what we were doing.

As for the actual project, after recording all of the sounds and listening to them, I've found myself paying closer attention to sound effects and ambiance in the films I've watched recently. Just sound in general has become more interesting after this project.

However, the biggest thing I learned from this project didn't have anything to do with sound. The thing I realized is that it is incredibly important it is to pay close attention to directions! Our group recorded the sound, uploaded the files, and then managed to do a whole project putting together 10 minutes of a sound mix. We later found out that we did more work than we had needed, and had to go back and start the editing portion over again. It wasn't that big of a deal (for this project anyway), but I definitely learned from this.

Sound Journal

Outside the University Apartments

I was sitting cross-legged on the picnic table just outside the University Apartments. At first, there were a lot of sounds to adjust to - everyone seemed to be leaving for class. I heard the click of doors opening and closing and a person came by me every few seconds. I could hear the whir of bike tires and the smooth hum of skateboards as they went past me. It's the afternoon, and people seem to be a bit lazy as they shuffle past. A few people wearing flip flops pass by and drag their feet as their shoes make a soft, padded tapping against the sidewalk. If I really listen, I can hear some side conversations, like one about what two guys were hoping to eat at Wag for lunch. Soon, all of the people had disappeared and it seemed quiet. But then I noticed that there were bugs around that wouldn't quit buzzing. Suddenly, I could hear the air conditioning whirring for all of the apartments. I heard a little bird chirping every few seconds and leaves rustling in the nearby tree whenever it got a little breezy. I heard the construction off in the distance - clanking, knocking, banging, and metal scraping. I listened to all of this background noise and off in the distance heard someone sneeze in their apartment.

Artist Bio

Hi, my name is Amy and I'm a National Exchange Student from the University of Wisconsin in Oshkosh. There I'm a Radio-TV-Film major and a journalism minor.

I'm originally from Minnesota, and really wanted to get out of the Midwest to live someplace that didn't have snow on the ground 6 months out of the year... It's always been my dream to live on the ocean and I am loving it in Wilmington so far. It was really hard to leave all of my friends and the safety of my own college, but UNCW has always been my dream school, and I'm really excited to finally be here.

I've always wanted to be involved in film. It started out with me watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang almost daily (my parents would fast-forward the parts with the creepy child catcher...) Then I saw The Sound of Music for the first time when I was 10 and fell in love with it! I watched every behind-the-scenes feature on that DVD and found out that day that there are people out there who make movies, and that's what I decided to do.

Ever since then, I've never looked back. I love film.

Camper Response

The difficulties of putting a label or name to Avant-Garde film is looked at in Fred Camper's article, "Naming, and Defining, Avant-Garde or Experimental Film". Camper described "six tests" to define whether a film can be defined as Avant-Garde, or experimental. While I agreed with most of the "tests," I think that Avant-Garde cinema is something that has to go on, in part, undefined. It is always changing and is something that is not mainstream and (usually) does not follow any rules. I do think that for the most part, the definitions were correct, but I don't believe that every film must follow the rules.

MacDonald Response

The article "Introduction to 'Avant-Garde Film'" by Scott MacDonald was interesting to read and find out how Avant-Garde film came about. Also, it is interesting to see how people react to Avant-Garde films since many people are not exposed until later in life. I agree that most people watching an Avant-Garde film will already have the traditional "Hollywood" movie as a frame of reference as to what a film "is." There are a lot of misconceptions about Avant-Garde films, probably because they are not completely understood and are more abstract than commercial films. Even these films cannot always be entirely understood, I think that's what makes Avant-Garde cinema so interesting.