Blog Post 4 : Sound-Image and Image-image Relationships

     The first three minutes in the film Boogie Nights (directed by Paul Thomas Anderson) captivated me ever since I saw it for the first time. The only other film that hooked me in from the start would have to be Saving Private Ryan with it's gritty realism and action. The thing with Boogie Nights though is the way in which the intro scene was filmed. This three minute scene was done using one long tracking shot. Throughout this tracking shot we see three key things: the title sequence, the setting, and an introduction to most of the main characters.

   

     The way in which this scene was constructed was well thought out. The first thing that we see is the film's title, cleverly used as a feature film for a movie theater in the narrative world. Alongside the title, we instantly hear the hit single of The Emotion's “Best of My Love”, which was released in 1977, the year in which this movie takes place. These two elements alone give the viewer a sense of where and when the story is taking place. To further reinforce the setting, the camera also shows a sign that reads “Reseda” alongside text that reads “San Fernando Valley, 1977”

     

     Next is the way in which characters are introduced. Throughout the intro, we are shown eight characters that appear throughout the film. This is significant because we actually get a sense of what some of these characters are about. You can infer that that Luis Guzman's character is a club owner, Burt Reynolds' character is a director of some sort and Don Cheadle has a weird fashion sense (which later affects him in the film). This storytelling along with the frantic, yet pleasant pacing of the camera help to make the viewer feel as though they are living the night life in a club (bright neon lights plus the music) following important figures around. On top of that, the song selected for this intro (“Best of My Love”) encompasses one of the main themes of the movie, love. Not just romantic love, but the love of a family. Not much editing was done in terms of cuts due to the scene being in one long take, but the blocking preparation involved made it flow smoothly.

Link to the scene from Boogie Nights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiXtFyZqvQQ

Final Project

Final Project from Jacob Gonzalez on Vimeo.

I along with Tommy and Amanda from FILMP 160 (LAB 009) created this short film. We all had a hand in filming and it was a very fun experience. I now know what to look for when planning and executing such a project. We spent over 6 hours trying to get footage and even took non-class time to shoot, I think it was well worth it.

Jacob - Editor/Acting
Amanda - Camera/Director
Tommy - Camera/Actor

Blog #3 - The Museum of the Moving Image

At the Museum of the Moving Image I was able to see many aspects of what happens behind the scenes for films. The first part of our tour consisted of viewing vintage portraits of actors. What was interesting about these photos was the fact that they were themed to a particular actor's role. For example, there was a picture of Shirley Temple looking all innocent with her curly hair and happy smile. These pictures were very important because they could help casting directors see what a specific actor could bring to the a role just at looking at their portrait.

For the next part of the tour, we viewed masks and makeup. Two masks stood out to me the most in the exhibit, Chewbacca's mask and Jim Carey's mask for The Mask. One very interesting fact brought up by our tour guide was how simplified Chewbacca's mask looked was compared to the one worn by Jim Carey. This is so because in Star Wars, Chewbacca doesn't really have any lines of dialogue besides the occasional growl or snarl so there isn't much needed prominent facial features. Jim Carey's mask totally relies on facial features to fully see every expression that he can make.

We then moved on to costume design. There were many outfits on display at the exhibit from Bill Cosby's iconic sweater from The Cosby Show to Robin Williams's Mork outfit from Mork and Mindy. It was very interesting seeing the many costumes and how vastly they varied from one another. One important piece of information our tour guide told us about costume design is that not only do outfits help to give the viewer a sense of the time period a specific character is in, but it also helps to give us a window into the character's personality.

Lastly, we visited a sound recording booth. In the booth our guide was talking to us about automated dialogue replacement(ADR). To demonstrate it's importance, we had three volunteers dub over a scene from Babe. While it was humorous, it did help to give me a better sense of how dubbing works in post-production. Overall this was a very informative trip and I'm glad I came along.

My Sound Walk

I attempted my sound walk on Halloween. The reasoning behind this was to compare the sounds of my neighborhood in the afternoon to the wild chaotic sounds of Halloween night. To do the comparison, I took advantage of the fact that I had to work from 12pm-7pm and during this shift I would have to walk around nine city blocks to and from work. This was due to me having to pick up a client's at her house and bring him back to my job (dog daycare).

On my way to my client's house I could hear the wind brushing against all the trees and brushes around me. Accompanying the wind was the sound of idle car engines as the drivers were waiting for the traffic lights to turn green. An interesting thing I noticed was that as certain streets got narrower (which is common in Harlem), the easier it was to hear bits of conversations from strangers whether it be from their phones or their friends/family. Along my afternoon walk, I came across a brownstone building that was preparing for Halloween night by testing out their speaker system and blasting classic horror music. One song caught my attention, the theme to John Carpenter's Halloween. It felt weird hearing that horror theme playing in broad daylight.  The theme only invoked the imagery of the pumpkin in the opening credits to the Halloween franchise, not the masked killer Michael Myers. I did not feel that sense of dread one would feel while listening to that song. That gave me a real lesson about how not only does audio invoke emotion, but the atmosphere around you can also have a great effect.

At around 6pm I went back outside and Halloween had officially started. The most noticeable thing, audio-wise was all the laughing and screaming from nearby children. The wind was picking up speed and kids started to yell at each other across the street from one another about how scary one particular building was or how much candy they received from said house. Off in the distance I could hear Michael Jackson's "Thriller" playing faintly. Once again I heard more classic Halloween songs playing from multiple houses as children walked inside. Just hearing the music and the children having fun brought me back to the time when I used to go trick-or-treating with my parents. I thoroughly enjoyed this exercise, especially comparing the calm relaxing sounds of the afternoon to the chaotic sounds of Halloween night.

Audio Project

Art Takes Many Forms. from Jacob Gonzalez on Vimeo.

Define a Space (1st Project)

Define a Space Project(final) from Jacob Gonzalez on Vimeo.

My Artist Statment

The long-term goal for my future career is to become a film editor. Editing is a very essential aspect of film production. It can potentially make or break a movie or television show no matter how well actors perform or sets are decorated. I found this out in at All Hallows High School in the Bronx. The media class in my sophomore year opened the creativity in mind and helped me to learn many fundamental aspects of the editing process such as sound mixing, gathering and sorting through raw footage, continuity, etc. It takes great skill and patience splicing scenes together and turning them into a fluid narrative. That is why this part of post-production is so interesting to me as a film major.

As of last the Spring semester in at Hunter College, Paul Thomas Anderson, while not being an editor, is such a huge inspiration to me thanks to a film analysis class. The opening scene in Boogie Nights is one of my favorite scenes in any movie due to the sound mixing and great camera work blocked by Anderson. Although not much editing was done in that scene due to it being a single take, it however exemplified how sound could help establish the era in which the narrative is taking place in compared to just using text stating the year. Anderson's Magnolia actually emphasizes editing to a greater degree due to the fact that the film to tells the story of multiple characters throughout a 3-hour time limit.

Although I took a break from editing due to not having the proper software and hardware available to me, I do try to analyze film from both a entertainment and technical perspective and it helps greatly. I would hopefully like to work on documentaries due to the fact that it is a rewarding experience after countless hours of sorting through b-roll footage and interviews. I don't currently know what type of message I would want to get across to my audience, but I would like that message to stick to them for the rest of their lives.