animation project

Chuck Norris Haiku Assignment awesome

Production Notes

It all started with a simple command, "pair up and pick a partner" and my date was sealed. Over the course of the first half of the semester I was paired up with Anna Glekmans, where we was to interview each other as per the assignment and create a short film, interview style on something that made her unique and me vice versa. The first step was too do an audio recording of Anna, which was suppose to last 20 minutes but only lasted 10. After uploading the recordings it became clear that the audio levels where too low and I had to bump up the audio. The first bump in a long road of hills, after the fine-tuning of the audio levels was completed the next step for the project began, shooting original footage. When it came time to shoot footage, my partner wasn’t there on time, which gave us less time to shoot. I wanted to do the audio over again so I had her hold the camera and answer questions. The next hiccup in this was that my partner wasn’t in class to participate for this part. So I shoot some footage of students in hunter roaming the hallways as transitional scene fillers. After I shot the original footage, the editing process began. Since I had no actually footage or pictures shown, I took as many images as I could from Anna’s FaceBook page and some from Google, as well as some videos from YouTube. The common theme through out the entire interview with Anna was the subject of food. So in addition to the still images of Anna I used some images of food and videos of people cooking. The editing process was a long one, cutting out my voce in certain parts and adding a musical score in the background. After that I matched the images and videos with what Anna was saying about food, added black scenes full of questions in txt in-between each part of dialog that has a specific food themed response. At the end of this there was a grade a piece of movie magic that I doubt the world will ever be ready for, now only if there was a font for sarcasm. 

Anna Glecksman Project

Anna Glecksman Project from Radames Joel Garcia on Vimeo.

Media Sound scene assignment sry its late

BLOG POST #2: Sound-Image and Image-image Relationships

The specific piece of media I choose is the final scene of the first Godfather movie. More appropriately named the Baptism scene. In this five minute video it starts off in a church with the remaining Corleone family. The holy hymns are loud with a crying newborn baby in the background. Giving off the idea and feeling of all things pure, then the pastor starts reciting all prayers necessary in order to baptism Michael Corleone’s nephew. Which the music in the background playing throughout and the cold look on Michaels face directly contrast each other. Then a series of shots showing other members of the Corleone family, one handling a gun, the other walking to his car with a package and shots of Michael again in the church continuing the baptism. Then a shot to the five heads of the other crime families, all the while the preacher continues his prayer. The more the preacher goes on, the more the family members of the Corleone family advance to their predetermined spots. While the preacher is reciting the prayer to the baptism no words are in English, then the climax is reaching higher as the preacher asks Michael if believes in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, continues on his prayer as all the members of the Corleone family are advancing then the baby starts to cry at the same moment that the heads of the other families are shown. The climax is reaching higher, then the baby stops crying the music is at its loudest and the preachers asks Michael is he renounces satan, the five heads now meet their fate as the members of the Corleone family meet then and assassinate each and every one of them. Michael say’s he does renounces him and all his works. And finally asks if Michael will be baptized. This scene is wonderful in the fact that it shows the exact opposite of what Michael is doing, he is being evil killing men and becoming the only crime family left all the while in church. The juxtaposition of images and shots between each scene is powerful and showing opposites of Michael’s “pure” moment, all the while the music is along helping each shot, each action in a powerful fashion.

story board with wonderful illustrations by Radames Garcia

What I hear, is much more than what I see.

My day starts with loud beeps, almost like a siren going off only inches away from my head. Slowly but surely the sound starts to fade away as if it was never there in the first place. As my eyes begin to close and I get comfortable the sirens return within seconds, yet what felt like seconds, in reality was 10 minutes. As my day starts so do the many noises that follow. From the brushing and scraping sound I hear when I brush my teeth to the faint machine gun fire of my shower head. As I continue on my path to begin my day I arrive at the train station, just in time to hear the monotone sound of the station’s computer telling the riders to keep their valuables in close proximity and to be aware of unlawful activity. Then a low almost guttural sound begins to emanate accompanied with familiar rumbling. The train approaches and as it makes its stop the screeching noise sounds like a rusty nail against a dusty chalkboard, cliché but appropriate. As I enter the train it is almost like entering a music studio, every five or so people on the train has their iPods plugged in and turned the volume up way past 10. In addition to being treated to many various music types I hear the monotone M.T.A. computer voice letting everyone know what stop the train is at what the next and final stop is and, of course to stand clear of the closing doors with its trademark “bing bong.”   

Extra Credit Scene Analysis The Opening Scene in the Godfather

The opening begins with a very smooth but alluring jazz soundtrack, which sets a mood of uncertainty, essentially gearing you up for something you won’t expect, yet it is symbolic for a suspenseful crime story. This is also coupled with a pure black background, which implies bereavement, mystery, and evil, and then is contrasted with white writing, which also implies a different sense than before, of something that stands out of all the evil and mystery, more like a greater good. This foreshadows how the audience will see the Godfather as the protagonist in a film full of men above the law. Then it continues to show and say “The Godfather,” with a hand holding puppet strings attached to the word father portion of the title. This s foreshadows and symbolizes the power that the godfather will have in the film has as well as how he controls the people around him like a puppeteer. Giving off the implicit meaning of whoever the Godfather is, they hold the true power in this movie.The title disappears and is filled with a black screen, highlighting the implication of the black color, strengthening the mystery and suspense because the there’s nothing else to give the audience anything to follow on. The music ends, grabbing your attention because that was the only thing for the viewer to grasp on, signifying the start of the action. A male voice starts on with, “I believe in America” in an Italian accent. The scene now fades in, and the first face is shown. The shot is a close up of Signore Bonasera, as he talks to the camera, with the camera being the viewer’s surrogate it is as if Bonasera was speaking to the audience. Emphasizing the explicit meaning of the scene, the significance of what Bonasera is speaking about. The camera zooms out very slowly whilst he tells us about his daughter's rape. The mise en scene here is still dark, absolutely no lighting outside what is shown to us, Bonasera, his collar showing he’s wearing a tuxedo. This first shot is highly vivid in its lighting method, and the audience is drawn in immediately to one single detail. As he reveals the details of his daughters incident, and during all this we still don't see who he is talking to, there is a light above the Bonasera. The lighting is perfect because it creates dark areas under the Bonasera’s eyes, which stress the passion and disgust of what happened to his family. This essentially brings up a major theme in the Godfather movie, family. The background is completely black, so that the only thing we can see is the man. As the camera zooms out the shoot changes from a close up to an over the shoulder shot. The next character is slightly shown bringing that sense of mystery into the film as well as revealing some more about the setting. Since the camera has moved out of a close up you can now see a desk full of clutter, from papers to a phone giving the impression of an office setting. The camera stops zooming out, and as Bonasera starts to cry about his daughter’s situation you can see the over the shoulder shot is from a slightly higher point than how Bonasera is shot. Showing the audience where the power lies and how much of it Bonasera does not have. Even the character in the foreground is completely covered in black. Then it’s revealed that the man in the foreground is the Don Corleone by Bonasera. Marlon Brando’s character speaks with a hoarse, raspy, mumbling accent, showing Don Corleone’s age and essentially giving off the idea of Don Corleone having wisdom and experience of an older more powerful man.The composition of the following close up is used in an interesting way. After Bonasera ask for justice, Don Corleone asks him what. The way Bonasera looks around as if scared or ashamed to ask out aloud where everybody in the room can hear. The camera then moves to focus on a close up of the Don and Bonasera talking implying that Bonasera is asking the Don for a favor; however we can’t hear what either of the characters is saying. The closeness of the shot gives off that close relationship to the characters, yet even thought you are very close to the characters you cannot hear a word, symbolizing the power of Don Corleone that only he is able to hear a request of that magnitude.Then the camera’s shot changes from a shot of the two talking to another close up of Corleone’s face. His face looks like a bulldog facade signifying strength. Yet the props in the scene are a perfect in helping convey the mise en scene. After saying no, the shot moves out to an eye level shot of the entire room. The Deep focus Photography of this shot now brings everything into light. The foreground, middle ground and back ground are all in focus. The set design suggests Don Corleone’s mind state, how he sees and views the world and whoever is in that room is in his world and adheres to his rules. The lighting in his under lit office and as Bonasera states, American justice has failed all symbolize that the Don is the one man who can go past the laws and bring justice to Bonasera, with the dark room as the place where he decides whether or not to give the favor he ask for. On Brando’s lap is a cat, showing two things, a calm humility to the Don’s demeanor, who he pets gently, showing us that the Don softer human side which contributes to the family theme. Even though he pets the cat, he wields colossal lethal power as he decides on the privilege of real Two being the actual presence the Don gives off. To help make this strong another over the shoulder shot is used to focus upon Don Corleone, which then switches into a medium shot. The medium shot brings more significance to Brando’s character, in which you notice him playing with the cat, making Don Corleone seem powerful as he isn’t giving his full attention to Bonasera’s request. Another thing to mention is once the Don’s face is shown it is never in the dark, more so it’s never half in or out of light. Yet the eyes of the Don are almost always in shadow which gives off a very intimidating feel be a big deal to the Don, because you can never tell what he is focusing on. In this sequence of shots the 180 degree rule is used effectively. It establishes the right way, or the way Don Corleone sees it, and the wrong way, the way Bonasera sees life. The Don stating that Bonasera is disrespecting him and asking for something that is essentially an overkill, the camera switches to Bonasera after being refused his murder wish, which represents irrational and passion. He then wants the suffering of the two people who assaulted his daughter. Here we see the Don as a voice of reason and a strong force, since he The shot then switches from a middle shot back to behind the Don looking up at Bonasera to back to the Don. Even though the camera is looking up to Bonasera the visual dominance is still with the Don, because he chooses to sit down while hearing about Bonasera’s plea for murder. As if it’s not that big of a deal to the Don. The linear editing between the shots in this scene establishes that there is only one ongoing force, that won’t stop and will always get what he wants, that force being Don Corleone. As the scene progresses the shot moves to Don Vito walking up and telling Bonasera what has he done to warrant his disrespectful behavior. Here is a keep part in camera placement, movement and Actor-Character interplay. The shot continues with the camera following Don Vito, as if we are Bonasera and we’re watching the Don Vito decided our own fate. The camera pans right, then moves to another middle shot form a lower angle shot. With Bonasera in the foreground in a smaller statue then Don Vito and the Don in a taller light with a physically imposing aura around him. Brando’s acting also helped convey his onscreen persona, the Wheezing, aspirate voice cracked with his age is strengthening with his deliberate gestures, penetrating stare. All which allude to his implicit social status as a Lion, and Bonasera as a sheep asking for help. The light throughout this entire scene was a floodlight, giving the setting of his office a soft, scattered quality, as if the Don himself was in all places of the room that no matter where you stood his presence was there and accounted for. The clothes all the characters wear are suits, suggesting a high status such as authority, prosperity, and a qualified touch within them. As the scene ends Don Vito does a trademark gesture of his and there you see his wedding ring very clearly. Showing he is a married man in all this crime business. However, the ring more importantly signifies that Don Vito is a man of honor, thus an honorable and dependable man, even though he is the head of a family who come into view as being above the law.

Museum of moving image

The one part I found really interesting while going to the museum of moving image was the audio tracks. how you could edit them to match and correspond with the scene your working with. Another fact that I learned was that you could use any sound to help with the sound of a film. Even if it is something completely different from what is supposed to be used, as long as it fits and sounds perfect for the scene. Like for instance the roar of the T-Rex in Jurassic park was a combination of a baby elephant, tiger and alligator sounds which is fascinating to me because no one knows how the T-Rex really sounded, yet the roar was perfect for the movie.  The parts where they showed the soundtrack for the titanic sinking scene was my favorite part touring the museum of moving image. 

The Big Snooze

http://www.vimeo.com/23642249

This is my movie, the tale of frantic and hectic journey with deception and action. All a result of one persons decision.

The Greatest Strongest Stamp Of them All. Fight!!

What Hunter College means to Me

A Day In Hunter

The diversity and unexpected-ness that Hunter brings.

The Hustle & Flow that Hunter brings out in its students to strive

The Ride to Hunter, Long and Crowded

The Godfather

After watching The Godfather there were a few things racing through my mind. The first was to rewind the movie and watch it again, the second being that I wanted to start my own crime family. I already had the family, I was already 50% done, all I needed now was the crime part, at any rate the one thing that did stand out was the way the Corleone family was portrayed. The media maker did portray the Italian family as the picture perfect image of a mafia family. I really didn’t think anything new because nothings changed. There is nothing really covertly said in this movie, everything is out in the open, crime pays if you’re the “good” mobster and the world is a dark gritty place, where anything can happen. As for the people in it, they will do whatever they can to get ahead in life and only family is absolute. The move maker, Francis Ford Coppola, didn’t seem to really show any ethical concerns as to the characters, the climax of his movie was the transformation of Michael Corleone during the baptism. As amazing as that seen was there wasn’t really any ethical issues he was trying to get across, at least in my opinion.

And if you want to start a crime family with me just holla, I'm ready.

Introduction to Greatest, a Taste of the Future

This is pretty new to me but it seems simple enough, even though I‘ve never done a Blog before. I’ve done writing, took programs on editing and making movies before. I’m not saying I’m a Steven Spielberg nor have I made a “Law and Order” caliber of a show. But I’ve done my fair share of small documentaries. From one documentary on Facebook to a documentary on the movie program I was participating in. I liked the new experience a lot. When I was participating in this program I was still in high school. Little did I know that this was a stepping stone for what I wanted to do. It was a big step forward in helping me decide what I wanted to do with my future. I was accepted into Hunter College right after high school and immediately dove into media and film classes. I’ve been told that I have a creative imagination, too be honest I just believe that I’ve been being myself. At the risk of throwing an "lol" somewhere here I’ll end this quick. My aspiration is to create commercials for big brand name companies, hopefully getting a chance to air a commercial(s) during the super bowl and maybe stick my hands in the television field and make my own sitcom.

I do think that Radames Prime Entertainment has a nice ring to it.