From Arthouse to Microcinema

Arthouse film lovers and academics are not limited to large cities. This article tackles something that I myself have been frustrated about for years. There is an audience for arthouse cinema beyond the clusters of population, and limiting showings to just large cities mistreats the films and the audience who yearns to see films. I is damaging to cinema. It is good to see the work that microcinema have done in the recent past. In the case of my home town Asheville, I have noticed a huge focus on arthouse film in the venues in the last 2 years. Hopefully this trend will continue and spread to even more small towns.

Harry Smith presentation: Matt and Kyle

I have never really learned much about Harry Smith. In researching experimental films and on the topic of Stan Brakhage, I had heard his name in passage. This presentation was really informative and I think that the group really emphasized Smith's personality. Although there is little to no footage of him that I can find myself, It seems that Matt and Kyle were intrigued by the personality of their subject. I found the presentation to be easy to follow and grasp considering the nature of Harry Smith and his films. I appreciate that the group went into detail regarding his obsessions and habits as well. For me it made watching the clips much more interesting with that context of character.

Jonas Mekas presentation: Lily and Rory

I have background information on Jonas Mekas and even a bit of an obsession with him as well. That being said, the man has such a prolific career that I have yet to learn everything there is about him. Lily and Rory provided information I had never heard before. For example I knew little to nothing about his film conservation efforts or the lengths he went to fund and assist other artists. This presentation touched lightly on a vast array of what Mekas has done in his life. I felt involved and I learned even more about Mekas.

Light Observation 2

The sun shines outside my window. The blinds are slightly open. The light filters through the openings. On my wall above my bed there are parallel lines that run across photographs. The light leads down onto my bed. There is another window open and light floods that side of the room. My stereo system is casting large distorted shadows behind it. In the window there is a leafy plant that is illuminated by the rays of sunlight passing through the bright green leaves. My cat jumps onto my bed and a line of light rests across his mouth as he sits on my pillow. A cloud passes over the sun and suddenly the lines dissipate but they return once again.

Light Observation 1

In the library at UNCW in the cube studying area the light has more detail than it seems. Although The lighting is not flashy or instantly interesting as I study it I find interesting qualities. The lights come out of rectangle lights that make a long pattern across the entire ceiling. The lights are yellow and are very dim. It may appear the lights are bright but it seems that each light has a dim quality and all together they form a brightness. When the light falls on a person it appears that they are dimly lit from all angles. The patterns on the ceiling lights zig zag and merge together to create a dizzying effect if you stare for too long. Each source of light is perfectly positioned in comparison to the surrounding lights. This is something I have never noticed before.

Assignment 1B learning outcome

Assignment 1B was helpful to learn a bit more about audio effects in premiere for me. I knew a lot of tools but there are so many that one ussually doesn't get around to using all of them. I was able to play around with more effects to see how they warped or affected the audio the class had recorded. AU Distortion is one of my favorite audio effects in the program and during this assignment I used the effect more than ever before and learned how to edit the degree of distortion of each setting. We also added reverb and other echo effects on our project. Overall it was a good learning experience.