Hello readers!
In the past posts I've mentioned that I've been working on silent film as a part of our studies.
Actually, a few weeks ago I wrote this:
"Our silent film project, which our crew started months ago, has been finished and publicly viewed. It was great and it got great feedback. Among the best, hands down."
I promised to you that I shall write more about making of this film. And here I go.
Our first practical assignment (after some theoretical studies) had indeed been to make a short silent film, to give us understanding on how things work in practice. Our first approach towards making visual productions. Our camera and lighting teacher insisted that those films should be completely understandable without sound (which presented challenges to some groups), and they shouldn't be more than 2-3 minutes long. Otherwise there were no restrictions or supervision. Group members were selected in random.
After a short brainstorming within my group, we settled on an idea of mine about a man who's trapped in a room. But it was my co-workers, A and L, who came up with the idea of this worst-case-of-morning-after-scenario. I was a bit conservative, as I'd harbored my idea for some time, and I always saw it as a sort of tragedy. But their idea had more potential, and I bent. Style of the result is something of a tragicomic.
We finished the script in a few days and soon started filming, and were first group to do so. Our work distribution went so that I directed and edited, A acted and L shot the film.
Our silent film took place almost entirely in a bathroom and we used L's bathroom for it. The place presented some challenges with its tightness. Bathroom was about 2 meters wide and 3 meters long. And into that space we had to fit a camera and its stand, two to three lights with their respective stands, props, actor and camerawoman, and only the actor could be seen in the shot.
What that meant in practice was, that every time I wanted L to shoot from a different angle, we had to move everything to create sufficient room for the camera in its new location.
Every effin' time.
Good thing we decided early on to shoot every scene first from one side, and then the next day from the other, to reduce the unnecessary work to its minimum. Third day of shooting was for supplemental shots.
The highlight of the movie was to be a montage (not the soviet one). First I imagined it to be from a single angle, but in the end we did it from three different ones. The montage was a great success.
In the end, the shootings came together quite nicely. Sure there we some troubles. We had to shoot many scenes again and again until I was satisfied, and the bathroom setting was a bit challenging with the ceramic tiles and reflecting glare. We broke one lamp, and had to wait for some time for a correct weather for the only outdoors shot. Of course the camera's memory card run out in the middle of the shooting. And as said, we had to move all the equipment every time we moved the camera.
But those were minor complaints. Things could have gone much worse. Our team worked together better than I could have hoped for. We finished sooner than other groups had started.
Then came the editing. The part of the movie making I had waited the most. I had done some editing earlier during high school, and fell in love with it. But the editing part was also the hardest. Part of the fault goes to our schedules. We finished shooting so early, that many parts of the editing process was still to be taught. And I was too impatient to wait for others.
For example, we had a ton of material to work with, which is ideal. But I didn't know how to tag or color code material. So, when I wanted to find a specific shot, I either had to rely on my memory, or to scroll through everything we had filmed.
The editing process took longer than the filming. We filmed Exodus within three days, all together about 7-8 hours of work (a lot for a 2-3 minute film). I edited it for more than 10 hours. Partly because I didn't know "the fast way", partly because I am a perfectionist.
A large chunk of time went to color correction. Another thing that was still to be taught, but our Exodus desperately needed color correction, as some shots were very yellowish, others more greenish. So I self-learned how to correct colors, and did it. Yet again, my way wasn't the most efficient or the most accurate, but it eventually got the job done.
I had to slow down, speed up, mix, match and create mirror images of some of the shots, but finally the work was done and I was satisfied. The running time vastly exceeded the instructed 2-3 minutes: Exodus still is 5.5 minutes long.
I thought the title to be "Exit", but A came up with "Exodus", which was so pompous and grand and biblical that we had to choose it. When naming our characters for the credits, A and me came up with another Bible reference, which basically made to whole film into a Bible adaption. Which is funny because earlier when someone asked me what the film was about, I said that we were making a movie version of the Bible.
(Like this: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060164/)
Anyway, Exodus was successful. Our teacher liked it very much, and it was among the better silent films our class made.
I think we are supposed to make audio to the flick in the future, but that's yet to pass. I let you know about that process as well.
J.
And here's the silent film itself. I give you... our first silent film... Exodus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0_rhIgUhfw
maanantai 9. tammikuuta 2012
lauantai 7. tammikuuta 2012
About my Christmas holidays
Hello there! Long time, no see!
It's been about a month since I last published anything. I was supposed to write something, but my Christmas holidays have been a bit busy. Soon I will publish a post about our silent film project, Exodus, but in a meantime, I'll tell you a bit about how I've spent my time in the past month or so. Not that I expect you to be interested, but it's a little something something to keep the easily bored ones occupied.
So yeah. I've had quite long Christmas vacation, almost three and a half weeks.
First week I spent in Helsinki. I was supposed to take it easy, but I actually did much work regarding to Protu's 2nd winter camp. Sometimes I planned and wrote stuff for ten hours straight. There went the relaxation.
Then our whole family traveled to our little cabin to spend Christmas there. Like the good old days, though I'm not really a Christmas person. Lots o' nice presents: like external hard drive and Metro 2033 -book and money. It was all good, until a huge storm cut off the electricity.
Straight from our cabin I went to the camp. I enjoyed it very much and it was worth all the stress. I had high hopes, it didn't meet them all, but one of my better camps nevertheless. But I got sick around the half way point, and lost my voice for five days. Not so nice :(.
Now the last week I've spent recovering and relaxing. Played a lot of Metallica with my electric guitar.
I'm planning to go InterRailing the next summer, and I have this over ambitious idea about it. I won't reveal anything more now, but I shall when the time comes.
But that's it for now. Intermission is over. I'm still in Helsinki but shall depart for Virrat tomorrow. A new period is starting and new subjects as well, like "post-production" and "art history". Oh god, I can't believe I study something this cool!
Next time... Exodus...
J.
Hang the DJ.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyJdiE0l23c&ob=av2n
It's been about a month since I last published anything. I was supposed to write something, but my Christmas holidays have been a bit busy. Soon I will publish a post about our silent film project, Exodus, but in a meantime, I'll tell you a bit about how I've spent my time in the past month or so. Not that I expect you to be interested, but it's a little something something to keep the easily bored ones occupied.
So yeah. I've had quite long Christmas vacation, almost three and a half weeks.
First week I spent in Helsinki. I was supposed to take it easy, but I actually did much work regarding to Protu's 2nd winter camp. Sometimes I planned and wrote stuff for ten hours straight. There went the relaxation.
Then our whole family traveled to our little cabin to spend Christmas there. Like the good old days, though I'm not really a Christmas person. Lots o' nice presents: like external hard drive and Metro 2033 -book and money. It was all good, until a huge storm cut off the electricity.
Straight from our cabin I went to the camp. I enjoyed it very much and it was worth all the stress. I had high hopes, it didn't meet them all, but one of my better camps nevertheless. But I got sick around the half way point, and lost my voice for five days. Not so nice :(.
Now the last week I've spent recovering and relaxing. Played a lot of Metallica with my electric guitar.
I'm planning to go InterRailing the next summer, and I have this over ambitious idea about it. I won't reveal anything more now, but I shall when the time comes.
But that's it for now. Intermission is over. I'm still in Helsinki but shall depart for Virrat tomorrow. A new period is starting and new subjects as well, like "post-production" and "art history". Oh god, I can't believe I study something this cool!
Next time... Exodus...
J.
Hang the DJ.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyJdiE0l23c&ob=av2n
perjantai 9. joulukuuta 2011
About our short film project (and other stuff too)
Heyo!
It's been busy times for me for the last month or two, but finally I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel. In a good way ;). Soon winter holidays and total relaxation will be upon me. Except for the Protu's 2nd Winter Camp, to which I'm attending. But we're almost finished with that as well.
Our silent film project, which our crew started months ago, has been finished and publicly viewed. It was great and it got great feedback. Among the best, hands down.
We still have to do a report about making of the film and I'm looking into possibility of getting the flick on YouTube if my crew members don't mind. Its likely I also make a blog post about it. Soon.
Now we have another video project. This time it's significantly larger, more official and with an audio.
Those scripts we wrote that I mentioned a long time ago? We worked on them a lot and three indeed got chosen. Unfortunately mine wasn't among the chosen ones. In hindsight, probably because it would have been quite challenging to produce as a first proper film: it required the most extras (about twenty) and it had a church as the setting and there ain't too many of those around here (about one). But the drama would have suffered and it would have been one hell of a rewrite to make it work without them, as the core idea was about a priest holding a sermon. Nevertheless, I think it was a good story.
But every cloud has a silver lining: scriptwriters whose script got chosen have to work also as producers, as it is the most unwanted, but crucially important job around our education (nothing too artistic, mostly just organizing and stuff).
Those three that got chosen are now being made into film. I'm the cameraman in our black comedy project and it's the role that I most wanted. I tried my wings both as a director and as a editor in our silent film, and I liked it and succeeded in it, but the camera and cinematography were still a bit of a uncharted territory for me. But not for long. Of course I can't learn everything about cinematography during a shooting of a single film, but you gotta start somewhere.
Right now I'm working on a simple storyboard, that's likely to change a few times along the road, but is still vital for my success as a cameraman. Script is under some changes for the request of the director. Casting likely starts during or immediately after our winter holidays. Soon we will be doing location scouting (which I will be a part of, thankfully. I found out it's hard to design your camera angles when you don't know the layout of the environment). And so on. I'll probably tell you more about it soon.
Things are slowly starting. Then they stop. Then they start again, next year.
J.
I like folksy songs. I like Ray LaMontagne. Songs have too few animal protagonists these days...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3sUpbmBYyM
It's been busy times for me for the last month or two, but finally I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel. In a good way ;). Soon winter holidays and total relaxation will be upon me. Except for the Protu's 2nd Winter Camp, to which I'm attending. But we're almost finished with that as well.
Our silent film project, which our crew started months ago, has been finished and publicly viewed. It was great and it got great feedback. Among the best, hands down.
We still have to do a report about making of the film and I'm looking into possibility of getting the flick on YouTube if my crew members don't mind. Its likely I also make a blog post about it. Soon.
Now we have another video project. This time it's significantly larger, more official and with an audio.
Those scripts we wrote that I mentioned a long time ago? We worked on them a lot and three indeed got chosen. Unfortunately mine wasn't among the chosen ones. In hindsight, probably because it would have been quite challenging to produce as a first proper film: it required the most extras (about twenty) and it had a church as the setting and there ain't too many of those around here (about one). But the drama would have suffered and it would have been one hell of a rewrite to make it work without them, as the core idea was about a priest holding a sermon. Nevertheless, I think it was a good story.
But every cloud has a silver lining: scriptwriters whose script got chosen have to work also as producers, as it is the most unwanted, but crucially important job around our education (nothing too artistic, mostly just organizing and stuff).
Those three that got chosen are now being made into film. I'm the cameraman in our black comedy project and it's the role that I most wanted. I tried my wings both as a director and as a editor in our silent film, and I liked it and succeeded in it, but the camera and cinematography were still a bit of a uncharted territory for me. But not for long. Of course I can't learn everything about cinematography during a shooting of a single film, but you gotta start somewhere.
Right now I'm working on a simple storyboard, that's likely to change a few times along the road, but is still vital for my success as a cameraman. Script is under some changes for the request of the director. Casting likely starts during or immediately after our winter holidays. Soon we will be doing location scouting (which I will be a part of, thankfully. I found out it's hard to design your camera angles when you don't know the layout of the environment). And so on. I'll probably tell you more about it soon.
Things are slowly starting. Then they stop. Then they start again, next year.
J.
I like folksy songs. I like Ray LaMontagne. Songs have too few animal protagonists these days...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3sUpbmBYyM
keskiviikko 16. marraskuuta 2011
About soviet montage theory
This post is about film theory, or to be more precise, about one particular film theory.
I try to keep it simple, so it'll be familiar to all those who've read even a bit of the subject in hand.
But soviet montage theory just fascinates me, again and again. I just want to write about it, and hopefully it will open some eyes. So yeah, lecture ahead :P!
So... About soviet montage theory. Let it be clear, it has very little to do with what we normally think of as montage. This kind of montage is a sequence about something happening in a long period of time. But the montage cuts most parts out, leaving only short segments, and as a result we see, for example, character growing or going through a change very rapidly. Like Rocky. He starts training, montage begins with a cool song playing in the background, and at the end of the montage, he's ready. The montage cut through months of training and condensed it into a short piece of film. This is montage as we think of it.
But that is not soviet montage, which is a different beast altogether.
Soviet montage is about collision and conflict. Two or more shots are merged together by editing and they create an emotional impact they never could individually, or they contain a meaning that wasn't there until the shots collided. It's almost philosophical.
The best example of the latter is the so called "Kuleshov effect". Lev Kuleshov was, of course, a soviet film theorist. He demonstrated that a picture can have multiple meanings depending on the context. Hitchcock explains it well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hCAE0t6KwJY
Theoretically, Soviet montage argues that 1 + 1 equals something more.
Soviet montage was developed during 1920s in Soviet Union as a counter for a more traditional and predominant editing technique, that is still used today. Continuity editing tries to be seamless and undetected. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's the basis of all film editing. Not all cuts can be montages.
But montage strives to be something more. To create order and meaning where there was none. To electrify the empty space between narrative layers. To create more intense dialog between the film and the viewer. It invites to interpret.
Sergei Eisenstein was the most famous of the soviet montage theorists. His films like Strike, Battleship Potemkin and October are all classics in their own right, all of which use montage. In his films the editing calls for attention, instead of hiding. All films are about manipulation. Montage is the most blatant about it.
He argues of different levels of montage editing, higher forms being built on top of lower forms. Lower forms are about connecting with rhythm, emotion and tone. The highest form is the "intellectual montage", that connects with purpose and meaning. It's the purest and most complex form of montage.
For example, the ending of the Strike that cross cuts between violently putting down the strike and slaughtering of cattle.
Unfortunately montage has all but vanished nowadays.
A few great American filmmakers have utilized soviet montage theory. Francis Ford Coppola used it in the endings of the Godfather and Apocalypse Now. In the Godfather, Coppola crosscuts between baptism of a child and cold murders ordered by the baby's uncle, Michael. The result is chilling. I shall leave the interpretation to you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mziqF0IiJPg
I think that's it for today. It was but a brief overview on montage theory. Hope you learned something new.
J.
Today, no music will be involved. Instead you can actually watch Eisenstein's Strike, Battleship Potemkin and October from YouTube. The whole damn movies. And you should watch 'em. They're black and white and silent and the film score was performed afterwards but they are still important pieces of cinema history and great films. Unfortunately only October has English subtitles, but you can understand the story without the text.
Strike:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74ke_-BnkvE
Battleship Potemkin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmUef84ybXk&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1
October:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyme-uwgrRw&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1
I try to keep it simple, so it'll be familiar to all those who've read even a bit of the subject in hand.
But soviet montage theory just fascinates me, again and again. I just want to write about it, and hopefully it will open some eyes. So yeah, lecture ahead :P!
So... About soviet montage theory. Let it be clear, it has very little to do with what we normally think of as montage. This kind of montage is a sequence about something happening in a long period of time. But the montage cuts most parts out, leaving only short segments, and as a result we see, for example, character growing or going through a change very rapidly. Like Rocky. He starts training, montage begins with a cool song playing in the background, and at the end of the montage, he's ready. The montage cut through months of training and condensed it into a short piece of film. This is montage as we think of it.
But that is not soviet montage, which is a different beast altogether.
Soviet montage is about collision and conflict. Two or more shots are merged together by editing and they create an emotional impact they never could individually, or they contain a meaning that wasn't there until the shots collided. It's almost philosophical.
The best example of the latter is the so called "Kuleshov effect". Lev Kuleshov was, of course, a soviet film theorist. He demonstrated that a picture can have multiple meanings depending on the context. Hitchcock explains it well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hCAE0t6KwJY
Theoretically, Soviet montage argues that 1 + 1 equals something more.
 |
| Einstein shared the same hair stylist with Eisenstein. |
Soviet montage was developed during 1920s in Soviet Union as a counter for a more traditional and predominant editing technique, that is still used today. Continuity editing tries to be seamless and undetected. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's the basis of all film editing. Not all cuts can be montages.
But montage strives to be something more. To create order and meaning where there was none. To electrify the empty space between narrative layers. To create more intense dialog between the film and the viewer. It invites to interpret.
Sergei Eisenstein was the most famous of the soviet montage theorists. His films like Strike, Battleship Potemkin and October are all classics in their own right, all of which use montage. In his films the editing calls for attention, instead of hiding. All films are about manipulation. Montage is the most blatant about it.
He argues of different levels of montage editing, higher forms being built on top of lower forms. Lower forms are about connecting with rhythm, emotion and tone. The highest form is the "intellectual montage", that connects with purpose and meaning. It's the purest and most complex form of montage.
For example, the ending of the Strike that cross cuts between violently putting down the strike and slaughtering of cattle.
Unfortunately montage has all but vanished nowadays.
A few great American filmmakers have utilized soviet montage theory. Francis Ford Coppola used it in the endings of the Godfather and Apocalypse Now. In the Godfather, Coppola crosscuts between baptism of a child and cold murders ordered by the baby's uncle, Michael. The result is chilling. I shall leave the interpretation to you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mziqF0IiJPg
I think that's it for today. It was but a brief overview on montage theory. Hope you learned something new.
J.
Today, no music will be involved. Instead you can actually watch Eisenstein's Strike, Battleship Potemkin and October from YouTube. The whole damn movies. And you should watch 'em. They're black and white and silent and the film score was performed afterwards but they are still important pieces of cinema history and great films. Unfortunately only October has English subtitles, but you can understand the story without the text.
Strike:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74ke_-BnkvE
Battleship Potemkin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmUef84ybXk&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1
October:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyme-uwgrRw&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1
perjantai 11. marraskuuta 2011
About days of hurry
Hey!
Like you might realize from the title, I've been in a kind of hurry. I touched the subject in my last post, but this time... it's personal. Our school started slow (like they usually do), but suddenly all the deadlines have gathered at the end of the year. My room mate said, that's the way it goes in the biz: plenty of time, and then suddenly, deadly hurry.
We're finishing our scripts. My partner and I have spent so much time with ours. Never have I spent about 10 hours of work into one A4-sized piece of paper. But it has been worth it. Deadline for the "first final" version is real soon. The deadline for the "final final" version is a week from that. Out of 11 different scripts, 3 will be filmed. The winners will be decided by voting. Democracy isn't the best way to determine the best script, but it's the most fair, I think. I hope our script is good and appealing enough.
Also I have an essay to write, about alternative screenwriting. According to feedback I received from my unfinished essay, I still have a lot of work to do. Too complicated sentences, and so forth. And I have only written 5 of 10 pages required. It's a slow work indeed. A week for writing and perfecting. Great...
Deadline for our silent film is also approaching. Not sure when it exactly is, though. But I sure am satisfied that I started editing it weeks ago. It's almost ready. It pays to be pro-active, or something.
Lots of tests also. Math and economics...! Oh boy. And our 30-40 minute presentation about the visual composition of Fisher King is not going anywhere.
I'm itching to start with our own projects, but it has to wait. And I'd like to have a life outside of school. To start fitness boxing. To upkeep my relationships. To improve my guitar techniques. To civilize myself by watching classic movies. To play video games (and I have a lot of 'em to play...).
Also outside of school, I have a camp to plan. I'm a part of group that has to plan and make seven day camp for about twenty people. It's kind of "camp 2.0" as all the attendees have already been in one or two. So... We have to make a better and fresher experience than those they've witnessed before. I volunteered for the job and I'm excited and intrigued by it and the challenges it poses, but still. I have a fine line to walk between focusing on my studies and focusing on the camp. I want to neglect neither.
Nevertheless, the stress is killing me.
J.
Catchy song from one of the best movies I've seen in the last few years. A whole hearted recommendation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DSVDcw6iW8
Like you might realize from the title, I've been in a kind of hurry. I touched the subject in my last post, but this time... it's personal. Our school started slow (like they usually do), but suddenly all the deadlines have gathered at the end of the year. My room mate said, that's the way it goes in the biz: plenty of time, and then suddenly, deadly hurry.
We're finishing our scripts. My partner and I have spent so much time with ours. Never have I spent about 10 hours of work into one A4-sized piece of paper. But it has been worth it. Deadline for the "first final" version is real soon. The deadline for the "final final" version is a week from that. Out of 11 different scripts, 3 will be filmed. The winners will be decided by voting. Democracy isn't the best way to determine the best script, but it's the most fair, I think. I hope our script is good and appealing enough.
Also I have an essay to write, about alternative screenwriting. According to feedback I received from my unfinished essay, I still have a lot of work to do. Too complicated sentences, and so forth. And I have only written 5 of 10 pages required. It's a slow work indeed. A week for writing and perfecting. Great...
Deadline for our silent film is also approaching. Not sure when it exactly is, though. But I sure am satisfied that I started editing it weeks ago. It's almost ready. It pays to be pro-active, or something.
Lots of tests also. Math and economics...! Oh boy. And our 30-40 minute presentation about the visual composition of Fisher King is not going anywhere.
I'm itching to start with our own projects, but it has to wait. And I'd like to have a life outside of school. To start fitness boxing. To upkeep my relationships. To improve my guitar techniques. To civilize myself by watching classic movies. To play video games (and I have a lot of 'em to play...).
Also outside of school, I have a camp to plan. I'm a part of group that has to plan and make seven day camp for about twenty people. It's kind of "camp 2.0" as all the attendees have already been in one or two. So... We have to make a better and fresher experience than those they've witnessed before. I volunteered for the job and I'm excited and intrigued by it and the challenges it poses, but still. I have a fine line to walk between focusing on my studies and focusing on the camp. I want to neglect neither.
Nevertheless, the stress is killing me.
J.
Catchy song from one of the best movies I've seen in the last few years. A whole hearted recommendation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DSVDcw6iW8
torstai 27. lokakuuta 2011
About home and other stuff too
Heyo!
Last week I had holidays all week. I finally got to travel to Helsinki (with a trip through Tampere and Turku first) to meet my buddies. It had been two months since I last stayed there. I had planned to visit Helsinki more often, but an excuse and so on.
So I spent all week with my friends and I liked it very much :). I also shared some quality time with my one and only electric guitar and watched awesome flick called "Drive". It used a lot of techniques I'd like to use if I'd ever make a movie. Like telling a story without much dialogue.
After that truly enjoyable week, as I returned to Virrat, it actually felt more like homecoming than my trip to Helsinki, to the city where I have lived for almost twenty years, almost my whole life. Weird.
Perhaps Virrat has grown to me more than I realize. And I've always adapted to new fast.
Still I asked myself; what is home?
My pal suggested a more subjective answer: home is wherever one feels it is. True, but a bit obvious too.
I myself thought that home is a place where a human being "becomes" herself.
This leads to conclusion that in Virrat I have already become something and I continue to transform. And that sounds about right.
Like U2 puts it in a song of theirs:
"House doesn't make a home".
Random notes:
* We have to make a 40 minute presentation about composition of the movie "Fisher King" by Terry Gilliam. Not too bad, but I would have rather watched "Raging Bull".
* Also in the making is a 10 page essay about alternative screenwriting.
* And a list of scenes of our first screenplay of which we have already made a synopsis.
* And our group has a growing interest of start working with our own off-school projects.
* So yeah, a lot of stuff goin' on, and a lot more I can't write about now.
* I dyed my hair last week, for the first time in my life. Now it's once again this weird reddish colour.
* I cut my own hair. It shows.
* I also took two new piercings to my ears. I like 'em very much.
* At last I have a working television in the house. Not that I have watched it.
(I had a two month break from television before I traveled to Helsinki. When at home I opened it up to watch something while eating. I closed it after 15 minutes and noted to myself: "still nothing")
* I attended to a Halloween-party last night. Good times, conquering the dance floor dressed as a Nazi officer.
* Weather's cold 'n wet here... :(
That's it for now.
J
I have listened a lot The National for a while now. Perhaps it's a phase. A kind of phase were you listen to music about (as pastemagazine.com puts it) "the search of love, continually increasing paranoia, fractured relationships, the deterioration of youthful innocence and a generally bittersweet world", all the while being happy yourself.
Or I'm just a melancholic person.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KehwyWmXr3U
Last week I had holidays all week. I finally got to travel to Helsinki (with a trip through Tampere and Turku first) to meet my buddies. It had been two months since I last stayed there. I had planned to visit Helsinki more often, but an excuse and so on.
So I spent all week with my friends and I liked it very much :). I also shared some quality time with my one and only electric guitar and watched awesome flick called "Drive". It used a lot of techniques I'd like to use if I'd ever make a movie. Like telling a story without much dialogue.
After that truly enjoyable week, as I returned to Virrat, it actually felt more like homecoming than my trip to Helsinki, to the city where I have lived for almost twenty years, almost my whole life. Weird.
Perhaps Virrat has grown to me more than I realize. And I've always adapted to new fast.
Still I asked myself; what is home?
My pal suggested a more subjective answer: home is wherever one feels it is. True, but a bit obvious too.
I myself thought that home is a place where a human being "becomes" herself.
This leads to conclusion that in Virrat I have already become something and I continue to transform. And that sounds about right.
Like U2 puts it in a song of theirs:
"House doesn't make a home".
Random notes:
* We have to make a 40 minute presentation about composition of the movie "Fisher King" by Terry Gilliam. Not too bad, but I would have rather watched "Raging Bull".
* Also in the making is a 10 page essay about alternative screenwriting.
* And a list of scenes of our first screenplay of which we have already made a synopsis.
* And our group has a growing interest of start working with our own off-school projects.
* So yeah, a lot of stuff goin' on, and a lot more I can't write about now.
* I dyed my hair last week, for the first time in my life. Now it's once again this weird reddish colour.
* I cut my own hair. It shows.
* I also took two new piercings to my ears. I like 'em very much.
* At last I have a working television in the house. Not that I have watched it.
(I had a two month break from television before I traveled to Helsinki. When at home I opened it up to watch something while eating. I closed it after 15 minutes and noted to myself: "still nothing")
* I attended to a Halloween-party last night. Good times, conquering the dance floor dressed as a Nazi officer.
* Weather's cold 'n wet here... :(
That's it for now.
J
I have listened a lot The National for a while now. Perhaps it's a phase. A kind of phase were you listen to music about (as pastemagazine.com puts it) "the search of love, continually increasing paranoia, fractured relationships, the deterioration of youthful innocence and a generally bittersweet world", all the while being happy yourself.
Or I'm just a melancholic person.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KehwyWmXr3U
keskiviikko 12. lokakuuta 2011
About gender in film
G'day!
This could appear to you as a bit of odd post. A mixture of societal anger and philosophical curiosity. But sometimes I think stuff like this and my blog is about 50% about stuff I think about (3 abouts in one sentence! Success!), the other 50% being about stuff that happens to me. So... Expect more of these sometime in the future.
This is going to be a difficult subject to handle. After all: we are raised into our genders since childhood and it's perhaps one of the strongest identification points in ourselves.
Anyway, I'm just going to scratch the surface here. Gender roles go way back and I'm not really a professional in this. But... the subject came up today and I feel like talking of it. Even though I have talked about it many times before. Perhaps I write more about it someday.
People are different and unique in their own right and regardless of the gender. However it seems that men have much broader scale to express themselves within. This is best exemplified by how women are represented in films.
A few months back I was attending to a lecture about film industry and its relation to other aspects of culture. One of those other aspects was gender. In films, most women fall into few categories:
(I can't remember them all now, but I'll update as soon as I get my hands on my notes)
1. The Love Interest / The Sex Object
2. The Femme Fatale
3. The Loving and Wise Mother
4. The Innocent Child / The Cutie
5. The Big Momma
Of course there are exceptions, like Sarah Connor in Terminator or Ellen Ripley in Alien. But could we categorize all the male roles in films into 4-7 roles? I doubt it. We'd need about 20, at least.
Let's try. Here's all the roles for men I care to remember at the moment.
1. The Heroic Hero
2. The Tragic Hero
3. The Villain
4. The Comic Relief
5. The Boss
6. The Traitor
7. The Coward
8. The Mastermind / The Scientist
9. The Brawn
10. The Mentor
11. The Rival
12. The Father
13. The Ladies Man
14. The Smart Mouth Kid
...
And so forth.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jpmoore/men-ups-manly-men-in-classic-pin-up-poses
Rise to equality is difficult process. To overcome old societal differences between genders while minding the genetic differences. To achieve this we should pay more attention to the ways society subconsciously alters our perception of men and women. Like the roles women play to us and how they are represented. These are in a way more dangerous differences than the more tangible ones, because our "defenses" aren't up. We take it as it is.
When I studied to matriculation examination I read a comic book about philosophers. I liked it. But the ending was truly surprising. The book basically said that everything you've read so far has been from the perspective of men. Almost all great philosophers are men, they inspected the world from their manly point of view, and some of them even disliked women and doubted their intellectual ability. There have been great female thinkers as well, but they have been knowingly pushed aside by their male counterparts. So, congratulations! You've read a comic book about philosophers of history, but know shit as all of it is compromised by peers and historians lynching the thinkers representing the other 50% of the people because of their gender.
I fucking loved the ending.
J
A lovely song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj5RUNLQBQE
This could appear to you as a bit of odd post. A mixture of societal anger and philosophical curiosity. But sometimes I think stuff like this and my blog is about 50% about stuff I think about (3 abouts in one sentence! Success!), the other 50% being about stuff that happens to me. So... Expect more of these sometime in the future.
This is going to be a difficult subject to handle. After all: we are raised into our genders since childhood and it's perhaps one of the strongest identification points in ourselves.
Anyway, I'm just going to scratch the surface here. Gender roles go way back and I'm not really a professional in this. But... the subject came up today and I feel like talking of it. Even though I have talked about it many times before. Perhaps I write more about it someday.
People are different and unique in their own right and regardless of the gender. However it seems that men have much broader scale to express themselves within. This is best exemplified by how women are represented in films.
A few months back I was attending to a lecture about film industry and its relation to other aspects of culture. One of those other aspects was gender. In films, most women fall into few categories:
(I can't remember them all now, but I'll update as soon as I get my hands on my notes)
1. The Love Interest / The Sex Object
2. The Femme Fatale
3. The Loving and Wise Mother
4. The Innocent Child / The Cutie
5. The Big Momma
Of course there are exceptions, like Sarah Connor in Terminator or Ellen Ripley in Alien. But could we categorize all the male roles in films into 4-7 roles? I doubt it. We'd need about 20, at least.
Let's try. Here's all the roles for men I care to remember at the moment.
1. The Heroic Hero
2. The Tragic Hero
3. The Villain
4. The Comic Relief
5. The Boss
6. The Traitor
7. The Coward
8. The Mastermind / The Scientist
9. The Brawn
10. The Mentor
11. The Rival
12. The Father
13. The Ladies Man
14. The Smart Mouth Kid
...
And so forth.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jpmoore/men-ups-manly-men-in-classic-pin-up-poses
Rise to equality is difficult process. To overcome old societal differences between genders while minding the genetic differences. To achieve this we should pay more attention to the ways society subconsciously alters our perception of men and women. Like the roles women play to us and how they are represented. These are in a way more dangerous differences than the more tangible ones, because our "defenses" aren't up. We take it as it is.
When I studied to matriculation examination I read a comic book about philosophers. I liked it. But the ending was truly surprising. The book basically said that everything you've read so far has been from the perspective of men. Almost all great philosophers are men, they inspected the world from their manly point of view, and some of them even disliked women and doubted their intellectual ability. There have been great female thinkers as well, but they have been knowingly pushed aside by their male counterparts. So, congratulations! You've read a comic book about philosophers of history, but know shit as all of it is compromised by peers and historians lynching the thinkers representing the other 50% of the people because of their gender.
I fucking loved the ending.
J
A lovely song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj5RUNLQBQE
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