Russian Church redo

I made a few changes after class critique. Enjoy.

Aqua

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My original idea for this short was to summarize my trip to Baltimore and Washington DC by making a video montage consisting of different short video clips and photographs that I took during Thanksgiving break. Because a majority of my clips were taken at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, I decided to stick with just the aquarium. However, because I enjoy nature and animals I wanted the video to focus more on the fish and sea creatures, and the mood of the deep-sea environment. I didnt want the focus to be on the aquarium itself. I wanted to give it desolate, lonely and somewhat eerie feel. After finding adequate ambient music I then synched the video clips to the songs. The main difficulty was that in all of my clips there were children running by and reflections of people and camera flashes. Also, because it was very crowded and I was using a still camera to take short clips, I had some difficulties taking quality shots and keeping the camera still. I made some compromises and left in a few shots with obvious reflections, flashes, people or shakiness because I liked the piece overall, and frankly I did not have very many clips to choose from when creating the final edit. Music by Ecko.

Artist's Statement-Annie DeVane

HAND DRAWING

I thrive on circumstance and beauty. My first love will always be hand-drawing. Ink, pencil, marker and pens of any sort are my preferred tools and I'm striving to translate my skills on paper into meaningful digital projects. I see movement in every drawing I do and am frustrated when they don't immediately animate themselves. All still drawings have movement when I look at them.

In this particular piece, I'm combining the hand drawing of a still image with stop-motion frames that animate the process. As an added bonus, I used a clip from my father's composition "If It Itches" off of his album Strutting the Dog. My father always entertained my fanciful drawings and songs, so his presence here carries on that tradition of playfulness.

Chili Dog, Triumphant - revisited

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For this piece I wanted to capture the rhythm and timing of working in the kitchen, as well as capture the monumental accomplishment of creating the chili dog. The entire piece is meant to feel like a crescendo, a build up to the final explosion of sensory elation. When cooking any meal this escalation is obviously evident; you start with raw ingredients and climb your way to the finished plate.

However, on a more personal level the culmination of sprinkling cheese on top of a child dog is the pinnacle of my college football Saturday. It is a conquering feeling knowing that I get to watch football, drink beer, and eat chili dogs for the next several hours. For me, finishing the meal preparation is truly triumphant and is the highest point of the day.

The synchronization of the scenes with the music is meant to exemplify the need for rhythm in the kitchen. Obviously the music lends greatly to the feeling of accomplishment, but it also creates the rhythm of the piece. The pace of the music is meant to match what happens in the kitchen, with periods of frantic rushing, but also with slow, more sensual moments, like the spreading of the chili. The heroic music and the scenes from the kitchen meld about as well as chili and hot dogs.

Music: Frederik Magle - Rising of a New Day

Artist Statement

While far from boring, my life has become fairly predictable. I came to this realization while working on my film "Rob Goes to Work"

I am not sure if I should be worried about this.

My second film tries to show viewers that basically, this is my life, and this is where I am coming from.

Toothpicks with Artist Statement

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We eat toothpicks when there's nothing else




I initially had not intended to continue the zombie theme. I had shot footage of my parents home, my father, and a cat. I was going to juxtapose the comfortable situation I had as a child, with the situation i am in now; a little broke and in school. It was highly exaggerated, I don't eat toothpicks obviously, but I have always been afraid I won't have any money when I need it. The scene with the three poor men is also my hyperbolic take on the current economic recession. We don't eat a lot of filet mignon in my house.

Final Assignment

My final assignment and artist statement:

http://www.simplymelissa.com/art/TimeBasedMedia/

Music and Sound

Artist Statement:

From the good to the great movies, I've often realized that the feature which enhances a movie (or sometimes provides its sole redeeming quality) is usually the music and sound. Images and sound are the primary contents of a movie and while images can deliver a message on their own, for me music can be just as powerful. It can enhance or detract from the scene it is linked to. Sometimes even music that is in discord with its accompanying image can bring forth a desired reaction (such as a feeling of unrest or agitation).
I wish to expand on my knowledge of composition and matching scenes to sound and interesting music. I listen to all kinds of music and I have as much love for the classic pieces as I do the modern tracks (there's nothing wrong with appreciating both Lil' Wayne and Chopin).

Adel Abdessemed

Going over my posts, I realized I didn't publish my bit on the exhibit earlier. So here it is...

I liked the two adjoining videos. They first caught my attention because of their names (even with my paltry German vocabulary I understood the titles). Both videos conveyed the message of departure, a “goodbye”. The first piece, “Tschüss”, featuring Adel's son waving goodbye was gentle and almost wistful. The second video “Schnell” was a free-fall from a helicopter, a more violent send-off. The contrast between the two was what kept my interest. Why would anyone choose such a violent end? Wouldn't the pull of a child's love not be enough to keep them? For me, it was the most compelling of Adel's work on display.

Artist Statement

Most of my work exhibits layout, color, and design. Throughout college my art work leaned towards painting or drawing people and still lifes. Color and contrasts of lights to darks have always fascinated me. My work captures things in my surroundings.

For the final project in this class I chose to revisit my composition of Transformation. The definition of Transformation is, "A marked change, as in appearance or character, usually for the better." I have always been on the print end in the art world. I feel my life is in transformation. I am now going back to school to learn the digital end too move forward and change some direction in my life.

I have read how artist's should write their statements by analyzing all of their work and then talk about what inspires them. Since I am in this "time of change" I felt this piece symbolically shows my life now.

B-Movie: The Shredder

This is a link to the compressed version of my short task-oriented film.
Enjoy the thrills. Spooky.

B-Movie: The Shredder

On a related note, JOIN THE BOSTON DIGITAL MEDIA NETWORK!!! Post your work, your bio, and network with classmates and other digital media professionals. Work it!

www.bostondmn.com

Quincy to Cambridge

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Artist's Statement:

My favorite view of Boston is from the Longfellow Bridge at sunrise. I'm always surprised at how few of my fellow Redliners even bother to look. In this piece, I document my Redline ride from Quincy to Cambridge.

Quincy to Cambridge

Final Assignment

Artist Statement

I have enjoyed photography for over 20 years; discovering digital in 2005. The program at Northeastern has allowed me to further my artistic vocabulary in the digital arts. Several years ago I acquired a collection of family slides dating back to 1958. I’ve wanted to incorporate these slides into my artwork through collage to explore themes of family, memory, and culture.

WBUR recently aired a segment about a special exhibit from the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, at the Russia at the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, MA. I was able to visit with my parents over Thanksgiving, and later interview my Mother about the exhibit, and our family history with the Russian Orthodox Church. My personal history with the church was intermittent and I never became grounded in the religion, but certain aspects of the culture are inescapable.

With this collage of video, family slides, and music I explore an important element in the cultural backdrop of my childhood and our family history.

Backdrops by Ted Garland

Artist's Statement

I love movies.  I love to watch them and I love to make them.  I never tire of the magic that comes from filming one thing and having the audience believe it's another thing.  That's the experience that inspired this short film.

When my youngest daughter was cast in a recurring role on the TV show "Brotherhood", we began filming the pilot in a proud but poor neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island.  When we returned a year later to film the second episode, the neighborhood had been photographed and the images turned into enormous backdrops hanging in a soundstage, several miles away. This video conveys my journey from the real world to the make-believe world of motion pictures.  The music is from the soundtrack of "Paycheck" composed by John Powell.

Artist Statement

Artist Statement

I've been interested in photography for as long as I can remember, but it was a friend who lived in my dorm freshman year of college who inspired me to start taking classes. I went into her room one day and she had these really amazing black and white photos tacked up on the walls. We started talking about photography and she showed me her portfolio. The next semester, I enrolled in what was to be the first of several classes. And I've been hooked since then.

I've noticed a theme in my own work, one that shows up over and over. I am fascinated by architecture, but not just by the buildings themselves; I like to explore the way light and angle can transform them, making them into something abstract. Sometimes I'll be walking down the street and, looking up, I'm shocked by what I see. I grew up in a small town in Michigan, so I think my love of architecture and cityscapes comes from the fact that they still seem so foreign and exotic to me.

Adel Abdessemed

I just went to the List Visual Arts Center to view the Adel Abdessed exhibit. After hearing that it helped having a guide, I decided to do a little research on my own first. Still, after reading up on his background I think I definitely needed a tour guide.

This exhibit was nothing like I have seen before. Immediately entering the exhibit all of the combined noises and the different films going on portrayed a lot of emotion with out even reading any statements or articles. For example the films with the foot crushing different objects showed anger and frustration.

This exhibit is a perfect example of one that the audience would need some type of artists statement. For example, I was confused with all the small TVs with the cats until reading about them in the second room.

All in all my favorite two pieces were the burnt car and the short film where camera was dropped out of the helicopter. I walked around the car a few times. Just standing next to this piece was very powerful. When I first entered the next room the loop of the helicopter film was at the end. I almost overlooked it. Then it was interesting to see it start up again after realizing what it was.

My least favorite two pieces were the short clips that showed a man talking. One was in the first room and he was wearing fangs and the second he was wearing a clown nose. Even after reading about what they meant in the statements on the wall, I just found them not interesting at all. I found the last one that he was laughing and talking about being a terrorist especially annoying to even watch.

I do feel this exhibit made me feel uneasy and a little confused. This is not something I normally would go to see but I would like to go back on the 20th to hear what the guide would have to say about my unanswered questions.

Assignment for December 11

1. Revisit a previous piece you created for this class or create a new one -- in any medium you choose -- and write an appropriate artist's statement, or project statement for that piece. Here are some links to look at.

2. You can download FrameThief if you want to work with that.

B-Movie (task is shredding)

this is a link to my wee movie on my online storage space. spooky.
https://myfiles.neu.edu/devane.a/B-Movie%20The%20Shredder.mov

redo of assignment 2

I reworked assignment 2 with final cut express and music which is royalty free. While I prefer the previous music. This music is suitable.

Taking the Dog Out

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hopefully larger... I've tried this three times and in larger formats and still looks small when posted.

Yeah... just viewed it. No matter how large I make the dimensions in Final Cut it gets squished within the black area around it. help.

Organized Chaos

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Toothbrush

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The relationship between man and toothbrush. I had some frustrations with my movie clips not resizing properly.

Rob goes to work

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Going to be late

I'm going to be late. See you in half an hour. :-)

Organized Chaos

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An unexpected visit leads to a hasty clean-up!

Assignment 6 Ted Garland "Wake Up"

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A look at a typical morning in my home.

Chili Dog, Triumphant

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Coconut Shrimp

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A new recipe

Coconut Shrimp