Monday, January 31, 2011

Andre’s shuffling around the room did not seem out of place with the soundtrack. The rhythmic sampling sounded to me like a song by The Books. The group uses human sounds in abstract ways and the mumbles and incoherency of the film’s soundtrack was reminiscent of that. The real world sounds contrasted with the abstraction of the film. This contrast forced me to look for relationships between visuals in the film from the real world, but there were none to see. The visuals to me appeared closer to the nature of the sounds themselves. It might not be a coincidence that our reading this week involves synesthesia, hmm….

I was tired, so that might be why the film reminded me of what I see when entering the hypnagogic stage of sleep- the weird colors and shapes I see right before becoming completely unconscious every night. The shapes were well drawn and I was surprised that I could be entertained by it all for 7 minutes- they went by quickly. I think this is because the film subtly induced a hypnotic state. The hypnotic nature of the film reminded me of an especially high quality music visualizer on a computer. The title sequence was cool- it looked like radioactive rain and appeared alien. 

The film had high production values for an experimental film- the visuals were crisp and well drawn. From the credits I saw that the director created both the music and the film. It is hard to tell which came first so the music and film were probably conceptualized simultaneously. 

I enjoyed this film and although Brackage would not agree, I think the music and film together gave way to a better sort of synthesis between both that would not have existed separately.

I took 6x1 because I heard good things about the class. I was recommended the class from multiple past students and graduates from the program (i.e. Rob Leon and Oliver Mellan). I hadn’t had either of the Silva’s yet and I had an opportune spot in my schedule so I filled it.  I haven’t taken any experimental focused classes either. 

I hope that this class will give me a wider perspective on film.  Each film professor I have taken has had a unique perspective on film that has helped shape my own. I also enjoy writing blog posts that are exactly four-hundred words long. exactly four-hundred.