Posts

Meg's Presentation - Martha Colburn and Kelly Gallagher

I am grateful to Shannon for assigning me these two incredibly artists who have inspired me ever since I watch a minute of each of their films. The complexity of their work and devotion to ensuring a stellar product is something I have great respect for. I had a great mentor who would always say, "you can't rush art". I love that Colburn sometimes spends years on her projects and am in awe of her work in progress of the 52 minute stop motion animation, The Garden. After finding out Colburn was Gallagher's mentor, the commonalities fell into place. Gallagher did not create works mimicking those of Colburn, but used a lot of the same techniques. Since Colburn is 15 years older, Gallagher had the privilege of working with another strong female who had trailblazed this path. Kelly was blessed to have a mentor who had already figured out most of what works and what doesn't, so she had an advantage in stepping into this genre without having to do a plethora of tests.

Joseph's Presentation - Nam Jun Paik & Aaron Koblin

I had not heard of either of these artists befor this presentation, but suppose that is the purpose! Nam June Paik is extremely interesting and unique to his art because it's base is complicated technology I could never understand! The K-95 Robot Synthesizer was unreal and appeared very expensive, although it was mentioned it was not at the time. My favorite of his shown works was the Black Box museum installations. The vast number of television screens creating different images flowing throughout as time passed is not just art, it's an experience... and one I'd like to have!!

Megan's Presentation - Barbara Hammer & Autojektor

Barbara Hammer seems to have had an interesting life! From an almost Shirley Temple to obtaining 3 college degrees in the 60's-70's, and unknowingly making the first lesbian film, she seems to break the mold for even women today! Autojektor is for hire and I'm all for it! I found it fascinating there is little record of this artist's life and that Megan personally had to reach out for information. The most fascinating concept was burying film in rotting meat as an experiment!! I sincerely enjoyed the short experimental film perfectly timed with the hardcore music that accompanied it!

Grant Writing Exercise - Summer 1 Project (Documentary)

Logline: 46 year old, Joel Bentley, is the oldest male living with the rare disease, Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome. This intimate portrait documents a day in the life of this extraordinary human who just so happens to be in a wheelchair. Short Description: Documentary short film, Man with Mittens is an intimate look into the daily life of the oldest man living with Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome. The average life expectancy of those living with this disease is mid-20's; Joel is 46. LNS is extremely rare and stems from a mutation of the X gene on the mother's side. Although documented occurring only in males, there have been 6 cases of females. Lesch-Nyhan is unique in its cruel attributes of uncontrollable self-mutilation, such as head banging and finger biting (sometimes off). Mittens are worn to prevent self-harm and restraints are bound to their wheelchair and bed frame. This documentary is not your talking heads informational film about the disease, rather the man living with the dise

Hugh's Presentation

George Kuchar & Guy Maddin It's difficult to write about Hugh's presentation due to the two week break between his first and second subject. I would have liked to have seen this presentation all at once to get a better understanding of the similarities of the artists. I do know that HUMOR was a commonaility between the two! I have a bit of a twin obsession, so I find it very interesting that Kuchar had a twin who was also involved in film. I am curious how the death of his brother affected his art... What I found most interesting about Maddin is his intentional use of mistakes. The fact that he entrusted himself to make the mistakes knowing he could not fix them was intriguing and led to some incredible films.

Final Project Plans - Choose your own Adventure #5

Meg Lansaw Final Project: Adventure #5 Surrealist Stop Motion Animation Research: Martha Coburn and Kelly Galliger are my assigned artists for my presentation and they create stop motion animation, so I will definitely drawn inspiration from them. I also plan to research tutorials online the best way to technically accomplish this film. I will be experimenting with several phone apps designed specifically for stop motion, Description: Arrow is a stop motion animation about a feral dog surviving in a landfill as he awaits his forever home. The set is a shoe box sized landfill comprised of items my previous dog destroyed, as well as trash accumulated from the project. The dog is made from a flexible plastic-coated wire my old dog ripped out of a cat toy. Adjustable toy bulldozers and construction workers will doze in the background, and aluminum birds will litter the top of the frame. Trains and planes will pass by in the background with a backdrop o

Visions - Social Justice Panel

The catalyst for attending this social justice panel was my friend Hillary Pierce. We worked together ages ago as Set PAs on the 2nd round of Bolden. She was professional and knew her stuff way back when. It's great to see how far she has come over the past dozen years. What is even greater is that I truly love and appreciate her films. I've seen two of her documentaries, Tower, and The River and the Wall, and both were impactful and still resonate with me. Tower, the animation of the first mass shooting at the University of Texas in the 1960's was my favorite film at Cucalorus several years ago. The fact a friend and Wilmingtonian made my favorite film in an International Film Festival was a beautiful feeling. I look forward to seeing her next film about the three young teenagers! I found Lizzie to be very interesting and genuine human being. The way she talks about her work and how passionate she feels about filming documentaries about issues or happenings in her hometo