Editing Sound

My first experimental project involved taking a portable recording device to different locations to capture sounds for a sound library. This proved to be a lot of fun, it is incredible what a high level of sound resolution we were able to achieve. But unfortunantly our group was not too technically savy and although our most talented editor remembered to set our scratch disks in Final Cut Pro and taught the rest of us how to do it, she did not remember to save the edited files.
By the time we realized that all our sounds were lost in cyber-space, we had wiped the external hard-drive of the sounds and had returned the sound equipment. This forced us to wait for the sound equipment yet again (special thanks to the technical staff of UNCW!) and start over with new sounds.
This experience, while it was a bit stressful and frustrating taught me several things: I did not even know about scratch disks in Final Cut Pro and was even uncomfortable with the whole saving process. I also realize that when dealing with technology you should check and double check things before you throw-away the origional files.  
(More later: I am going to work with another student on Final Cut Pro!)

What is Experimantal Film?

There are certain traits that Camper attributes to experimental film listed below with my commentary. As a whole, I think that he has identified some excellent ways to categorize an experimental film but I also believe that the nature of the genre makes every rule that one could pinpoint as nothing more than a possible trait, not an essential component of the genre:

1. They are created by one person or a small group with a very small budget and no expectation of commercial success. (I totally agree with the small chance of commercial success but I think that a film with a committee of directors directing different parts without seeing each other's sections could produce an interesting film similar to the game where a group of people must write a story without seeing more than the line previously written. I also think that a very rich yet eccentric filmmaker could make a wonderful experimental film.)
2. It does not use the production line model. (This is probably true most of the time but it is possible to make an excellent avante garde film that is very organized with a complex network of delegation.)
3. The story is not linear. (This is probably the most important rule to distinguish an experimental film in my opinion.)
4. It calls attention to the medium and its conventions. It also uses film in different ways- like writing directly on the film or scratching it for stylistic purposes. (This is the trait that most people would notice first in an independent film of this type. It is definitely an indicator of an experimental film although it really indicates a specific type of avante garde production not the genre as a whole.)
5. It is oppositional to mainstream culture and mass media. (This I would dare to say is almost always true of experimental films but it is also true of many mainstream narratives.)
6. It does not have a clear message and requires the active participation of the audience. (Once again, this is an excellent general statement but there are experimental films that have a very clear and often political purpose. "Big Screen Version" is a mash-up of Fox News clips and is very clearly a political satire. "Ballet Mechanique" and "Strike" are other films with a political drive and a clear purpose that are also avante garde.)

Intro to Avante Garde Film

The reading by MacDonald titled "Intro to Avante Garde Film" examines how cinema builds its own devices and grammar and over time a language has developed. He draws attention to the fact that we have probably seen hundreds of films and television programs by the time we see a single avante garde film. This makes me believe you should see at least one hundred experimental films before you can fairly compare the two styles of filmmaking. Who knows, if we had seen both genres equally we might actually believe the non-linear experimental style is more natural for the way our brains work. In fact, most experimental films mimic our dream state more closely than typical Hollywood blockbusters. And the dreaming mind is often the first type of fiction that individuals experience.
            I also found it very interesting that the Luminere (spelling?) brothers were selling cameras when they made their first films and the simplicity of these films could very well have been to keep demonstrations simple for sales purposes. It is interesting to think that we hold their films in reverence for their glorification of simple everyday life but in reality, these films may have been intended to be used in more of an infomercial context.

Meningitis Sound Symphony

I sat in a doctors office and took note of the symphony of sounds around me:

• A low gravel filled voice issuing from the television set and the solemn newscaster on it. 
• An elegant female voice answers with authority 
• A mid-range buzzing cuts through their voices
• On my right, glossy newspaper pages rustle and rub against each other
• A stuffy sniff comes from the blond next to me
• A clunk from the front desk startles me through the mixture of buzzing around me as a drawer is rapidly shut
•  "Meningitis"

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• A lilting television jungle sets the new tone of the room
• Thump, a hand falls on the desk, providing the base
• The soprano joins in with a light yet gravel filled melody of speech
• "Video game"
• A crumbly pencil comes in as the snare
• Syncopated sniffs join the percussion
• "Ha-Humph", the vocalist clears his throat
• A drum solo interrupts in a moment of clear, dry coughs
• The chorus enters the symphony with their voices blending in a rapid fire 2nd soprano melody line 
• A xylophone of papers rubbing against each other before a careful thumb and finger pry them apart
• "Meningitis"

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• A shuffling metronome of relaxed shoes scuffing across the floor
• A silvery flute of high pitched sniffling combines with the deeper, wet sniffs of the clarinet
• The tap and click of a cellphone interrupts the live performance, a premature drum
• The female vocalist trills a soft and gentle glissando 
• Keys hidden in a pocket clang in a cloistered run of symbols
• Thump! A chair leg falls loudly
• Thunk! A stapler joins in 
• Pitter-Patter; pens rain down on a wooden table with the gentle tapping of a magnified rain stick
• Heee-Huuuuuummmm; a syncopated and rich strings section joins in at the height of this composition as    an unseen copy machine spits out sheets of paper
• The cellos dominate for a moment as the copy machine rollers enter the swell of sounds
• Squeak, squeak, slacks trill at the crest of sound
• "Meningitis"

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• Pop!  A bottle hits wood 
• Click! A distant door lock closes
• "Injection"
• A swift intake of air preparing for percussive coughs
• "Alright Darling"
• "Stock Market Update"
• The metallic clink of a file cabinet cuts the vocal soloists
• Slip-Slap, flip-flops tap as the beat takes over the melody
• Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap the buttons on a silenced phone provide the faintest drum line
• The percussion swells with the crackle of a plastic bag and the crumple of packaging material
• "Cash you can use to pay off your credit card bills"
• An audience member clears her throat 
• A bell-like zipper emerges in a descant
• Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha; a punctuated and articulate laugh with the dissonance of a forced sound
• Twiz-Twit: whispers undercut the swell of sound
• Hu, hu, hu, hu, hu, hu; a suppressed laugh trills
• A laminating machine hums in an even haromy line
• Click! A pen taps mimics the conductors baton
• Crush! A punctuation of thin plastic rips through the other sounds
• "Appeals Court"
• "Girl, we are open 8-5 in the daytime"
• "Meningitis"

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• Snap! A binder shuts
• The faint trilling of a telephone begins
• Tap, tap, tap, tap; high-heels enter as the drums presence
• Squeaking flip-flops like a hesitant violin begins
• The vocal 3 part harmony: 
• A harsh female voice carries the melody
• The alto has a chocolate, smooth voice
• The third voice in the trio murmurs a barely audible descant
•  Two voices join the females:
• A hesitant soprano line is added by a soft-spoken juvenile male
• The melody is strengthened by a stereotypical television salesman
• Choot, choot, choot, choot; a low chant of boredom issues from the receptionist
•  "Kelly Thomas... brutal details.... graphic"
• The baritone groan of leather as it peals away from bare skin
• "Don't tell my boss"
• Blunt trauma to his head"
• "Meningitis"

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• The tapping of a keyboard sets the beat
• Swish! The conductors baton slices the air in the form of a backpack being repacked
• A zipper trills across the simple beat
• "Assault"
• A hard-backed chair creeks like a protesting viola 
• A door taps closed in the distance
• Ka-Plunk! An item drops onto a desk
• Echoing squeaks from a distant hall give the melody a haunting quality
• A whoosh of air escapes a chair cushion like the sigh of an impatient audience member
• Ritt-Da-Dum, a cabinet rattles closed 
• Tap, tip, tap, tip, a woman taps on the window
• "Brutally Murdering"
• The curtain comes down on this symphony with a scratch of a snack bag against rough fabric
• "Meningitis"

About Me :)

I am the definition of a starving artist. I am a film student who is currently couch-surfing and selling used textbooks for my friends to support myself. This has made me realize that my goals are to make a lot of money and create art. That being said, these two goals are completely separate; I never want my art to become cold and calculating the way business affairs should be conducted. That is why I love experimental filmmaking. It is filmmaking for the pure art and poetry of it. It is not intended to appeal to a commercial audience of pimpled, teenagers filled with the angst of their inexperience; rather it is an art form that expresses the intangible longing of the soul of the filmmaker. (And of course, this only defines a small portion of the larger inexplicable experimental art form where the only rule is to break convention.)

I also love to sing and I have recorded several CD's with one in the making this fall. I love the performance arts and have participated in over 20 plays and quite a few independent films as an actor. Now I am focusing more on my performance as a money-making venture and I intend to expand my horizons to play at new performance venues around town and even regionally.

I have a chocolate Lab, Great Dane mix who is a little over 1 year old and weighs in at a whopping 100 lbs. But his stature should not fool anyone. He is the sweetest dog. In fact, when he broke his leg last January and had to go to the vet for surgery, some other dog bit him and he just turned around and gave the dog a big, slobbery kiss. This dog is the love of my life and I would do anything for him. He makes me grin every day when I come home and he wags his tail like I am Santa Paws. (Excuse me; I tend to get sappy and corny when I talk about my dog.)

There is a lot more that I could share about myself but I would rather limit the categories I willingly place myself within. Living without restraints and confines is so much more exciting.