NMED 3850

Experimental Film Production

NMED 3850

Today’s Class…

Experimental Film Canon

Possibilities of Experimental Video

Composition #1

NMED 3850

• When asked how he would be remembered in 100 years Norman McLaren replied:

• “Well, if it’s the history of cinema – that’s a huge field. The big part of it is the feature film, then documentary films, and then you come down to the smaller films, maybe the animated films. I might be classed as an animated filmmaker or maybe there is a little subclass called the experimental filmmaker, in which I would prefer to be classed and would like to see myself.”

NMED 3850

• Norman McLaren :• Neighbours• Blinkety Blank• Pas de deux

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• Historical Canon of Experimental Film– Dziga Vertov– Maya Deren– Stan Brakage– Norman McLaren– These artists were filmmakers

• They worked exclusively with the tactility and malleability of the film stock

– Digital artists do not have access to the physical images they create

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• Producing Experimental Video– There are many types of experimental moving

image composition– Some experimental composition is formally

experimental others are technically experimental– Your challenge in this class is to ask what can you

as an artist do to:1. Take advantage of the uniqueness of working in video2. Up end the defaults of video production and storytelling

to experiment with the audio and video possibilities

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• Current Possibilities of Experimental Video– Digital artists do not have access to the physical

images they create BUT• We have an arsenal of media at our disposal how can

we revision their applications to generate original compositions with artistic merit?

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• Current Possibilities of Experimental Video– Blue screen is for more than just the weather…

• Access to W426

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• Current Possibilities of Experimental Video– Blue screen is for more

than just the weather…• I was contracted to do

a PSA for a human rights campaign for a jumbotron screen at Yonge & Dundas

NMED 3850

NMED 3850

• Experimental Video Production– Is the nexus of New Media curriculum. This is a course in

which all the technical skills you have developed can me implemented into one medium.

NMED 3850

• Experimental Video Production– Revisit skills developed in:

• Digital media and performance• Interactive animation• 2-D design• Web design• Motion-capture technology• Film and video production• Technology and communication• 3-D compositing and special effects• Narrative

– Experiment with how those skills can be applied and used to create moving image compositions

NMED 3850

• Glossary of Terms– Single-channel: The term "single-channel" refers to video or

media work that involves a single information source (such as a DVD), a single playback device (such as a DVD player), and a single display mode (such as a flat-screen monitor). To cite a familiar example, when you play a DVD and view it on your television at home, you're showing a single-channel work.

– Surreal: characterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtapositions; dreamlike: resembling a dream. Works of Salvador Dali

– Real-time: images that can be animated on screen at the same speed as the real-world object.

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• Composition #1– Creative intent: Create a single channel experimental

composition based on a surreal memory or experience in your life.

• I.e: A dream; love at first sight; déjà vu

– Technical intent: The technical imperative must be motivated by the question “What if I…”.

• I.e. What if I applied theatrical make-up all over my head to use my face as a bluescreen to represent thoughts that swirl through my mind about an issue?

– Each video must use 3-5 minutes of original real-time video shot by you.

• Due September 24th