Weekly Journal 9_28_07

Overview of Online Source Group Critique

For our videos we watched “Queensbridge Wind Power” and “Funk Plastic”. For the Queensbridge video I really enjoyed the architectural design shots of the bridge being manipulated or shown as a blue print on the computer. Overall the length of the video was a little lengthy and at the end it felt like it dragged on. It wasn’t as thought out as it could have been, with the diverging of the topic from the bridge to a global view of pollution and environmental responsibility starting with the individual. Although I thought that the shots were interesting, I felt that there wasn’t a glue that held together the shots and made it seem very jumpy and random.
The second video was “Funk Plastic”. I enjoyed the shots and felt that most of them were well done. I liked the contrast between the person’s interview shots and the drumming shots. I liked how the interviews were shot/made in black & white, it gave me a more relaxed feeling. And in comparison to the drumming shots that were in color and contained numerous special effects, which gave a more energetic feeling. However I didn’t like the middle of the video with the explanations of physics and it’s relation to drumming, I felt that it was overdone. Lastly, the plug at the end was very off from the rest of the video. I felt that the drummer at first really had a passion for what he was doing and although it’s alright to want to achieve more, I feel like it wasn’t the right place or time to include a plug at the end of the video.

Response to Sans Soliel

I thought that this movie was really interesting. To be honest I feel asleep for like 15-20 minutes during the movie, sometime in the middle of it. I didn’t really know where the video was going or what it was trying to show or prove or if anything at all. I did however like how it ended by making a complete circles back to the emus. It also had some good phases that caught me attention, but overall I felt that all the information at once was too much to absorb. I felt like the movie was trying to go deep, but instead it just went over my head. It would jump from one culture to another and somehow try to relate the two and then it would just end and jump to another scene/topic. I have a bunch of random notes I wrote down for the film and that’s exactly how I feel the movie was, random. I have things about the Japanese rituals, and then I also have notes about PacMan, Alfred Hitchcock, lighthouses, the island people, prayer, etc. I didn’t feel that the video or film was planned out, like there was no ending and that the movie could go on and on and on. As far as the shots went I did enjoy some of the close up shots, the shots that would really show someone’s face and them starring back at the camera. But the movie was just not entertaining enough to me, whether or not that was the purpose, it just didn’t make me interested or spark a thought or provoke me to think further.

Journal Aesthetic Writing Assignment

One of my memories from my childhood that I can vividly remember would be the time I learned to ride a bike. It was on a Saturday mid afternoon. The weather was perfect, there were absolutely no clouds in the sky, it was a pure sky blue. There was a light cooling breeze with the sun shinning just right. I stepped out of my garage and onto my circular cul de sac with three trees in the middle positioned around a circular garden. The flowers were in there annual blossom with yellow, pink, orange, and purple flowers all opening to the sun. I could see the asphalt half white-half gray, from the wear and tear of the cars driving past it day-in and day-out. I got my blue and white bike, with little beads on the tires that move when the white wheel rotates. And of course I had my bell that sounded like the chirping of a bird with every pulling of the lever. I get on my bike with the soft cushion of the seat and I start to pedal down the slanted driveway. I am flying, but then I fall. I get up and try again, but I fall again. With every fall I feel the hard bumpy sharp rocks against my skin. But after every fall I get up, once again to try my hand at mastering the skill of the bicycle. After many many tries I finally get the hang of it. I am able to go around and around without a single fall. I feel the wind against my face, the sweat of my body is being slowly evaporating with every revolution of the cul de sac. I am gliding along the ground as if there were no ground. I feel light, I feel free. I am not seeing anything, everything around me is a blur. I can’t focus on anything, I can’t see a single person, it’s just me and the bike amongst the open refreshing air. The smell of pine is filling my nose with every breath, with every inhalation of more strength to ride my bike.