https://vimeo.com/81812555

Updated Artist Statement

Although I do not consider myself to be an artist, for lack of a better word- I continue. I like to design and create digitalized versions of what I would otherwise consider to be rather mundane work. The internet is creating a venue for people like myself to do so freely, as can be seen in the emerging computerist culture. Design medium which I frequent are color, digitalization, and playful juxtaposition. I have a favorability towards even numbers, as can be seen in my keen adherence to symmetry in everything I create. Artistic endeavors upon which I embark tend to fall into place serendipitously. I like to think that art is about more than a simple, aesthetically appealing phenotype. I would consider myself more of a programmer than anything. And try to use my computer skills when working on more 'artisinal' creations. Computers are just creative as a human mind, and although composed of 0's and 1's, and although you have to figure out how to navigate their complex interfaces- the possibilities of any work I create using the combination of computers and art I feel are endless.

The scene I chose for this blog assignment was the lunch scene from “The Breakfast Club”. The reason I chose this scene is because like the rest of the movie, I feel that it is very well edited. In addition to being well edited, I feel that it is edited in a way that also lends to the character development. The shot length and frame placement also lends to the ideas of the movie as well; with certain characters receiving of a different angle than others, and at different lengths- thus somewhat speaking to their character traits. An example of this can be seen in Alison’s character (the one sitting in the back of the library with a black sweater and a sandwich covered in pixie sticks. Her shots tend to be longer and unlike the others who are all shot from either a neutral or angle which looks down at them, she is shot from an angle which looks up at her. I feel like her unique angles and shot lengths are testaments to the very different and almost stereotypically bizarre nature of her character, the ‘Basketcase’. I feel like the disparity in shot length between the different characters works perfectly for the reason lister above, it lends to character development. I do feel that the shots move around the library geographically; giving the scene nothing more special than a plain high school vibe. In this was, I feel that the shots connect very well to the mood of the film at this point- an almost mundane organization to the shots that are trying to convey a boring part of the day for the students.

UPDATED AUDIO PROJECT

        

TRIP TO MoMI 

        Not being a filmmaker myself, and knowing very little about the art, the MoMI really put the whole practice into perspective for me. The enormous displays elucidated just how far cameras and equipment have come- from big untransportable machines, to the small high-def ones found in every smartphone; whereas the interactive areas of the museum shed light on just how important the behind the scenes work of a movie really is. A particular area of the museum that I liked was where you can experiment with adding sounds to an image of a film, just like a foley artist. Prior to a couple of weeks ago I had no idea what a foley artist was, but now I have a whole new respect for just how much thought and skill goes into making the perfect sound effect/choosing the perfect noises for a scene. This along with the interactive activities that let the user experience how music can affect the tone and mood of something reminded me of a project I had previously done in a different- to tell two separate stories with the same set of images(and how I pulled an all-nighter, because I underestimated just how challenging this task would actually be). Very little attention is paid to just how important sound is in a film, and I am really grateful to be able to learn more about it.

My Audio Project

https://soundcloud.com/collin-james-k/collin-audio-project

i'll add more sound effects/stuff during the week..

What I Hear

I live on 11th street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. Upon doing this exercise, I have realized that my neighborhood is exactly what I have known it to be all this time;quiet, residential, secluded and a nice little getaway from crazy city life. I stood outside my apartment building for an hour, but didn't hear much. The most prevalent noise was the old woman who lives on the ground floor of my building, talking to herself in tongues as per usual. After tuning that out, I began to hear the light wind rustle the leaves on the trees and irritate those who felt their hairstyle may be in turmoil. I could hear the cars on the two avenues closest to me, but those sounds were faint as usual. There is minimal car honking down here because there is not much traffic. The strangest thing I noticed is the sound of my own silence. When one is so used to loud, persistent noise- the after effects can be described as almost a white noise. I have noticed that the absence of sound is sound in and of itself. Towards the end of my early afternoon experimenting, the NYU classes began to let out and the streets began to become congested with  college students, disrupting my pseudo-serenity. As I have noted after deleting my Facebook and other social media accounts,being disconnected from the world is definitely a meditative practice (which is why it was a bummer to have to go back upstairs and answer an hours worth of text messages). I also noted while outside that in order to listen to silence, one must erase their thoughts and inner dialogue beforehand. This project taught me that being disconnected from the social world for as little as an hour can make one realize just how many unnoticed sounds there are. Although I didn't mention them, I could hear birds, friendly conversation, children laughing and parents teasing. Sound is a lot deeper than just some waves and crests.