Category Archives: Week 4

In Review: Self Portrait v2.0

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Presentation is one of the things I fear most in the world. Slowly but surely the pillars of my self-confidence are building, largely thanks to my move to Melbourne (I think) and to some degree my growing faith in my ability to create and write. Oral presentations are my definite weak point, and while I don’t fret at the idea of screening something I created it’s not something I am particularly keen on.

The audio in my assignment plays an enormous part of its overall intention and precision in editing, and (sorry Rachel) I think the volume was a little too low for my work to have any real impression, the omnipresent reverberated ticking of the clock and distorted conversation between my mum and sister seeming to pass over my classmates’ heads. Either that or it really did blow.

Wildly embarrassed by my attempt to incorporate photos in my project from the moment I imported them (the first 40 seconds flow so smoothly that I can help but feel insanely self-conscious at the final 20), I thought up a better way to add them literally 5 minutes before my screening but by then it was too late; my fate was sealed. Following that, the overly obnoxious onscreen ‘TICK TOCK’ acted to deepen the redness of my, at that point, already rosy cheeks. There were so many things I wanted to change after watching it with an audience that I’m surprised I didn’t notice them in the editing process. After having watched my video at least 20 times by the time I closed Premiere for the last time honestly thought I had perfected my idea, but seeing them come (briefly) to life on screen I couldn’t be more against the majority of my creative decisions. I’m glad my class gave me an awkwardly reserved clap. That’s all it’s worth. Always room for improvement.

Movies I watched this week – 01/04/16

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Week #4. My eyes are less bloodshot now. The majority of films I’ve seen this year have been older films screened in the cinemas. I love it.

 

Burn After Reading (2008) dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
27/03/16
rewatch

A masterpiece for reasons I can’t explain. Every single performance here shows its respective actor at their absolute best. ★★★★★

Super (2010) dir. James Gunn
28/03/16

Gunn’s take on the average man willfully turned superhero is a tonal mess, but this doesn’t detract from the sheer guts it has in its gory and nihilistic presentation of violence in contrast to Frank’s (Rainn Wilson) unhinging devotion to God. Ellen Page goes against all morals to play this part. Seriously, shut up crime. ★★★

Tropic Thunder (2008) dir. Ben Stiller 
28/03/16
rewatch

I only managed to catch about 3/4 of this but it still remains a fairly volatile experience, treating its familial narrative with a quietly restrained emotional core and extending satire that hits further with every passing minute. A pleasure to see Downey Jr. channeling some long lost psycho-Australian vibes (I’m looking at you, Natural Born Killers) and Tom Cruise’s physical appearance deserves no other word than ‘gross’.  ★★★★

Greed (1924) dir. Erich von Stroheim 
30/03/16

My first silent film, experienced in the glory that is 35mm. For a film of its time, it certainly boasts some outrageous violence (husband murdering wife, men dying of dehydration in Death Valley). Greed forces its titular term on the viewer with no restraint, the destruction of all human connection comes at the cost of a shimmering coin. It’s hard to pick a single character that doesn’t express this desire, Stroheim’s world created solely on the belief that man is a glutenous monster, finding the possession of wealth a greater satisfaction than any humanly touch. ★★★½

Queen Kelly (1929) dir. Erich von Stroheim
30/03/16

My second silent film (thanks Cinematheque), also experienced in glorious 35mm. The fact that this was never completed is one of the most depressing things in the world. Glimmers of Stroheim’s genius are caught floating in every frame, every scene, every second–MGM studio execs were blind not to see it. Resorting at some points to a radical transitioning between still photography and title card, frantically trying to piece itself together, Queen Kelly in its now state remains one of the great films that never was. ★★★½

Le Cercle Rouge (1970) dir. Jean-Pierre Melville 
31/03/16

Glorious 35mm!! (dear Astor, please fix your projectors, I do not appreciate the clipping). Truly an inspiring gateway into French crime cinema, one tinged with a melancholic blue in each frame. Melville is more interested in letting silences speak for themselves (that heist scene! an unspoken tension like you wouldn’t believe). “All men are guilty“, Melville knows this, and by the time the leading trio find themselves in the titular red circle we know this cycle never ends. ★★★★½

Form (or the use of expectations and its ability to engender meaning)

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Debuting in the heart of the 90s, Todd Haynes’ Safe (1995) stunned critics and audiences alike, findings its eventual place in film history after being voted the best film of the 1990s in the 1999 Village Voice film poll. On the outside, Safe may appear simply a drama, elevated by Julianne Moore’s phenomenal (and breakthrough) performance, but within, thanks to the meticulously expressive hand of Todd Haynes, the film operates on multiple levels. Stretching its metaphorical meanings from a methodical allegory for the AIDS crisis in the 80s to acting as the cinematic definition of the feeling of anxiety, Safe is bursting at the seams with symptomatic meaning.

Through the gracefulness of Hayne’s creative talent the film is able to convey these themes and ideas without appearing as preachy or overbearing. Haynes reserves an exuberance of explicit meaning and opts for simplicity and subtlety to drive the core message to viewers. With this he achieves (at least by my definition) narrative perfection; the ability to craft a gripping and investing story while lacing it with poignant social commentary which bleeds from every frame.

It’s easy to tell Haynes put his heart and soul into this feature, composing each and every shot for maximum emotional reach, aesthetic beauty and symbolic prowess; he frames Moore (as Carol before Carol) in ways that act as an extension of her isolation within her materialistic lifestyle, working in complete control of every facet of the frame. Moore is shown endlessly trapped within the confines of her designer San Fernando villa, shot hovering on the peripheries (even in her own garden, Haynes positions her lost amongst her own jungle, a slow zoom out wholly encapsulating these emotions). Sound design here also plays an enormous part in capturing the ambiguities of Carol’s disease, the perpetual whir of electricity detailing her deterioration and superimposing the sound of silence during the film’s brooding first act. Thematically, Safe (to me at least) defines the feeling of anxiety; the hopelessness of an explanation and an understanding from others which is epitomised by Carol’s final relocation to Wrenwood, and to a greater extent, the enigmatic Lester (pictured on the poster).

Safe remains inexplicably ambiguous. Audiences formal expectations are toyed with even from the film’s theatrical release poster. Contrasting the insanely polished look and feel of the film with a gritty, and in many ways trashy (colour balance is off, text is scattered and raw), poster, Haynes and co. attempt to mask the film’s prejudices. If you saw that poster and said you expected a first-class drama run solely by Julianne Moore which pokes hints as self-help culture and speaks volume and the materialistic state of Western society, you’d be lying.

Movies I watched this week – 25/03/16

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Week #3. My eyes are bloodshot.

 

Hail, Caesar! (2016) dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
17/03/16

Cinema as gospel. My friends who didn’t enjoy this told me that their cinemas consisted of a scatter of 5 or so people, none of whom were familiar with the Coen’s sense of humour-suckers. For me, the cinema was packed, Caesar having found its way into the largest of Nova’s cinemas (at least that I’ve seen) and into the hearts of the masses. Not a joke went astray. Josh Brolin is a star and Alden Ehrenreich is a superstar. ★★★★½

The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004) dir. Wes Anderson
22/03/16

Odd how the Intro to Cinema course screened the least Wes Anderson-y movie (I am yet to see The Darjeeling Limited so I can’t say this in full confidence) for its obligatory Wes Anderson screening (ok, the screening was actually for mise-en-scene but it wouldn’t be an introductory film course without an Anderson). Handheld here plays a big part in breaking his typical visual style but it isn’t all for the worse, creating a certain freedom of expression which is vacant from his other works. Also contains one of the craziest scenes Anderson has put to screen (this one) which is a riot in itself. ★★★★

Night Nurse (1931) dir. William A. Wellman
23/03/16

Pre-code era worked wonders on Night Nurse. Barbara Stanwyck undressed multiple times on camera, sleeps with both a skeleton and a woman, is almost raped only to be knock unconscious by a drunkard, and attempts to stop a couple from systematically starving their children only to laugh the film to its conclusion after discovering the death of a man. ★★★★

Meet John Doe (1941) dir. Frank Capra
23/03/16

The finale of the six-part Barbara Stanwyck showcase at the Cinematheque. Also happens to be the worst of the bunch; I was sadly left feeling every minute of its 2 hour runtime. Stanwyck is great as per usual but is kept in the background for the most of the picture, leaving an (admittedly fantastic) Gary Cooper front and centre. Alludes to communism in ways odd in a 1940s American picture also. ★★★★

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) dir. Zack Snyder
23/03/16

Don’t even get me started. This is no way deserves the title that it has. Not the Batman v Superman we deserve, nor the Batman v Superman we need right now. No rating

Henry Fool (1997) dir. Hal Hartley
25/03/16

★★★★

Fay Grim (2006) dir. Hal Hartley
25/03/16

★★★★

Ned Rifle (2015) dir. Hal Hartley 
25/03/16

Written for the trilogy. Also written for Letterboxd. 

If there’s one thing I love and adore about Hal Hartley’s Henry Rifle trilogy it’s his commitment to the absurdities of his self-contained universe—these joyous implausibilities range from Simon Grim’s humble beginnings in the domestic epic Henry Foolas a garbageman to his fantasies of arousing a career as a stand-up comedian following his Nobel Prize-winning poetry venture in Ned Rifle, and to the adjacent timeline of his sister Fay concerning a wholly-tilted dreamlike espionage segment (the entirety of Fay Grim) in which she is sentenced to life imprisonment after committing treason against the United States). And this is only the beginning… Hartley has stumbled onto something fantastical here, a truly unique three-part masterwork of hilarious oddities which embrace the buoyant possibilities of transcending the mundane disposition of suburban life while equally balancing the more morbid and melancholic sides of the human psyche.

As Henry Fool once said, “Certain work needs to be experienced all at once in order for one to appreciate the full force of its character”, and this globe-trotting tragicomic saga is one of those works. ★★★½ (for Ned Rifle)

 

For real, my eyes are bloodshot.

Sounds I love VS sounds I don’t particularly love

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Yesterday’s lectorial had me scratching my head for my most and least favourite sounds; most of my dislikes are fairly minor and pedantic (maybe in comparison to those with enormous lists of common noises) but I’m fairly easy going when it comes to things like this (unless your song titles read anything like “song title – artist name [HQ] (with lyrics) [highest quality!]” and your iTunes library is full of albums without covers. Then you’ve crossed a line). So I used this as another excuse to link videos in my blog posts.

 

Love: The Star Wars theme song

A classic. I don’t think I’ll ever tire from hearing that sweet sweet symphonic boom. Give it to me any day.

 

Don’t particularly love: The iPhone ‘opening’ ringtone/alarm

Hated especially for its ability to slip into my dreams and wake me up from there, and in combination with my phone vibrating on my bedside table.

 

Love: The iPhone ‘opening’ ringtone/alarm remix

Less love, more enjoy a little bit. Better than the usual xylophonic chime.

 

Don’t particularly love: Songs that have clearly been ripped from YouTube to mp3

That distinct muffled overlay boils my blood. Have some respect for the artistry.

 

Love: Frank Ocean’s voice

Self-explanatory. An angel sent from the heavens to serenade the people of earth. channel ORANGE #1 album of all time. www.hasfrankdroppedthealbum.com.

 

Don’t particularly love: People constantly talking at the cinema/yelling out/having no respect for the artistry

During a screening of The Hateful Eight I attended in January, a guy sitting up the back of the theatre thought it would be a great idea to shout “yeaaaah!” and laugh hysterically at regular, unwarranted intervals, especially after every line Samuel L. Jackson spoke. It only took 150 minutes for someone to turn around and tell him to shut the hell up.

 

Love: Rain

Tagged under: cliches.

 

Love: Greta Gerwig’s voice

Hailing from Sacramento, California.

 

Love: Synth driven film scores

Namely:

Other:

 

I love more than I hate. I guess that’s the way life should be amirite

 

Project Brief 2 – ambient rhythm

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AMBIENT RHYTHM – Project Brief 2 – Samuel Harris from Samuel Harris on Vimeo.

In terms of communicating something about myself, I set out to provide a fairly broad scope of my life. In a holistic manner I attempted to convey a contrast between young and old, the memories of old and new, the concept of time. Artefacts range from photos of my pets, to home video, to footage that has been flipped, removed and overlaid.  Audio tracks feature candid conversation between my mum and my 8 year old sister discussing birth and the friendship between my brother and I, while video footage attempts to differentiate between the past and the present; where I was and where I am now.

The mound of dirt (deemed in my youth as ‘the castle’) down which I ride my bike has now been removed and we’re now living in a house built in its place. The flash-forward sequences which interrupt the grainy home video show where I am now in my life and location, the concise and polished look of the now juxtaposed with the word recording (now upscaled and plastered on a HD TV). To have asked the young Samuel in the footage about his future would be a question to which you would receive no definite answer; my grandma tells me I used to tell her I wanted to work on computers when I grew up (in fact I can still recall a memory of me telling her that). And in that sense, I guess the whole video is deeply meta, here I am doing what, in a way, I longed to do in my youth. Computers. Editing. Creating. And maybe in a way the contrast between where I was and where I am now isn’t teeming with complexities.

Hightlights for me include the timing between cuts and the ticking of the reverberated ticking of a clock, assisted by the ominous and existential nature of the audio. In this way I attempted to envelop the video in its entirety with noise and clutter, in a way alluding to our memories; an explosive and jumbled string of echoes.

Lowlights are without doubt my poor incorporation of images.

(Would write more words if I could but 350 is unfortunately the max (and I say I have trouble writing)).