Reflection Blog

For our short film, Cafeteria Struggles, I took on many responsibilities to realize our finished product. After the idea of the student struggle was conceived by Stephanie, I helped come up with a few parts of the storyline and shots, including that of the reserved sign and the intimate couple in the cafeteria. It was difficult though to decide on what camera angles to plan for, but we at least had a solid concept and storyline.

On several occasions, we got together through skype to discuss what we wanted, keeping everything organized on google docs. I drew the storyboards and wrote the treatment as we were discussing more concrete ideas. It was a bit difficult at first, as we thought that getting actors to volunteer their efforts would not be so simple. I tried to coerce some friends I knew into acting, but nobody stepped forward. It turns out that people at Hunter don't exactly mind being filmed for a few minutes of their life even if we don't offer free donuts.

For the production process itself, I volunteered to be the student that the film followed, putting myself through some embarrassing moments. The most grueling part was working within the time limits, as there were a lot more shots that I felt like we could've gotten in. There were also moments when I had a vague idea of where else we could diverge from our storyboard to improve the flow of the story, but I had trouble communicating those ideas. I'm happy though that some more spontaneous ideas ended up being successful moments in the film at least. Stephanie and Regina pulled through and filled in to shoot and make definitive decisions. Music decisions were left to Stephanie and Regina, and toward the end of the process, I helped finalize and clean up the sound edits for the final version of the film.

Cafeteria Struggles: MEDP 160 Final Project from Amy Chen on Vimeo.

Extra Credit: James Aronson Awards

On April 24th, 2015, I attended the 25th Annual James Aronson Awards Ceremony hosted by the Hunter College Media and Film Department. Coming to the event, it wasn't exactly as I had expected it to be, as I was under the impression that the work and artists being awarded were all outside of Hunter. I was quite impressed with the kind of material that the Hunter students were putting out, especially with the scope of the issues.

The first award given was to Nathan Fitch, the director and producer of Mikros Soldier. For his documentary, Fitch traveled all the way to Mikronesia to show some of the life and experiences of two Mikronesian soldiers who join the U.S. army. Most of these soldiers though die in large numbers despite fighting for another country's cause. It is a problem I'm sure not many people, much less Americans are aware of, and I'm glad to have found out about it.

The next award recipient was journalist William Greider, who was given the Career Achievement award following David Carr last year.While I am not familiar with his work, I was inspired and touched by the speech he made that night and the optimism and hope that he had for this country. To paraphrase some of what he said, he expressed that the media has changed a lot over the past three decades. That the way politics has been run needs to be changed to benefit the people. And also that we need to be wary about what and how we tell the truth.

Museum of Moving Image

During my trip to the Museum of the Moving Image I was able to learn about a wide variety of things. The tour guide was extremely informative and engaging and brought us through several exhibits in the museum. I felt like I learned a lot of production secrets about some of the famous movies that I have and have not watched, including Titanic, The Exorcist, Black Swan, Nightmare on Elm Street and more. The first activity we did as a group was listen to a sound clip from a movie and identify which movie. Listening closely, I was able to deduce that it was Titanic I was listening to, a film I had watched for the first time only a few months ago. But the tour guide then broke it down, and had us listen to certain sound layers with the movie showing. I learned that James Cameron intended for the Titanic itself to be an animal, hence the sound of moaning elephants when one of the towers of the ship collapses. The editing itself and the foley used was also something I had never thought of prior to this trip—turns out the foley of the cables snapping on the ship were of rounds being shot from a rifle in an open range.

I also learned how sound was recorded back in the day. The term “soundtrack” comes from the roll of film that has two “tracks” or lines of magnetic tape. This allows for sound to be recorded alongside, or perhaps separate from the video. Then when editing, it goes through a very large machine with a monitor and a contraption that keeps the film reel taut.

Now that major films are recorded digitally, this lack of need for physical film and more for memory cards allows for lighter transport, higher resolution on film, and arguably a higher quality of film and sound recording than what we had in the past.  

Relationships Between Shots: Forrest Gump

For this assignment, I chose to observe a scene from Forrest Gump where Forrest first meets the school bus driver. I believe that because of the nature of this scene, each shot had to be very effective in introducing new characters and pivotal moments for the first time.

The first shot shows Forrest with his mother, and then zooms out to the right to reveal the rest of the world that Forrest is about to experience, starting with the school bus. The camera angle then changes to show a back and forth conversation between Forrest and driver Dorothy Harris, starting from when the bus door opens: From Forrest's angle, it is a two shot revealing the back of Forrest's head from his height and most of Dorothy's body down to the knees. Then when the driver speaks, the camera shows also the back of her head in a two shot, but from a much higher angle. Forrest's body is also shown cut off from the knees, but revealing of his body language and facial expressions. In the duration of the conversation, the camera switches back to facing Forrest before Dorothy has finished speaking in order to show his expression and reaction to speaking with her for the first time. The camera switches to Dorothy only briefly as she speaks, but after consciously observing, the focus immediately snaps back to Forrest. Finally the moment ends between the two as Forrest gets on the bus and the camera pans, first facing the door of the bus, then toward the side where he meets other school children for the first time. The cuts are seamless, following the flow of the conversation without being too jarring.

The next moment shows Forrest trying to find a seat on the bus, though most openly object to sharing a seat with him. A medium close up shot is used to reveal Forrest's expression after being rejected, and alternates between his view of the world, panning and zooming slightly closer to show him walking up the aisle. As he gives up looking for a seat, the camera changes to a medium shot of young Forrest leaning up on the side of a seat, as older Forrest narrates. The older Forrest is shown in a medium shot to introduce how he felt the first time he met the love of his life, Jenny. The phrase is completed as the camera returns to a medium close up of young Forrest again, this time tilting downwards as young Jenny invites Forrest to sit. In a very captivating and charming moment, Forrest is shown with his mouth gaping and backing up slightly when he sees Jenny for the first time. The camera shows Forrest in a medium shot to reveal the change in his body language and facial expression at that moment.

The pacing of the shots here are great in the way that it goes with the narration. None of the shots seem too abrupt, as the change usually goes to facilitate a change in the emotions of Forrest and to get a good look at the characters' facial expressions.

Audio Interview

Regina's Tattoo

Soundwalk

For my Soundwalk, I decided to explore Brooklyn's Chinatown, otherwise referred to as “Eighth Avenue.” Just outside of the subway station, I observed a cacophony of sounds coming from all different directions. While the neighborhood is by no means as loud as say, Park Slope during Celebrate Brooklyn, there really is so much to listen to on a normal day like this. Sound signals are immediately noticeable as I cross the street from the station: the sound of several greyhound sized buses rumbles in the foreground. The shrill wail of a police car siren sounds from a few blocks away. On this busy avenue, other than sound of the wind brutally whipping at my ears, the keynote sound that one really notices as a constant in Eighth Avenue are the cars. The streets are swarmed with cars on either side of the road, wheels audibly rolling over the pavement past me and away toward their destinations. The heels of women's boots clack against the cement, baby carriages roll past me, older siblings returning home from school, adults chattering away in Cantonese, Mandarin, English. It's 6pm on a weekday and children of mostly Chinese descent are returning home from school. Their voices are truly what I believe are the soundmarks of this neighborhood. This neighborhood is densely populated with Chinese families, many of whom are immigrants. Houses and cramped apartments line every block, and businesses too are plentiful. This family friendly atmosphere makes way for a wide range of age groups who speak all different dialects of Chinese, though really most of them understand Mandarin.

 This, my friends, is Eighth Avenue.

Artist Statement

I find it fascinating how so much of a story can be expressed within the confines of a single image, much less a series of moving images without the use of spoken word. Thus, it is the job of the director, lighting designer, cameraman, costume designer, and set designer in combination with the actor to not only set a mood, but to tell a story through the visuals.

Coming from a costume design and fashion background, I have learned that good design alone can carry a plot, imply past events, and express the current physical and emotional state of the subject of a piece. You could watch an entire film on mute and still get an impression of the world the characters reside in. Are the characters happy? Is the world chaotic and full of grief? Either of these qualities can be shown through any of the design elements in film. Even more specific details about the character's emotional state can be expressed through the angle of the lens of the camera.

My influences include Wes Anderson and Tim Burton, both of whom have very strong visual ideas and moods for each of their films. Wes Anderson leans toward the whimsical and borderline cartoony worlds, whereas Tim Burton goes for the moody, gritty, and fantastical.

I hope to be able to explore in film, the possibilities of good storytelling through compelling visual arrangement. Whether through specific costume or set design, or through camerawork, I aim to better understand the use of visuals to give subtext.