Blogging Every Day

Let me just say that this assignment is a good idea in theory, but not so great in practice. It forces people to become creative even when they are not feeling creative, so it trains you to be creative, yet it also assumes that we have what absolutely NO college student has, and that is TIME. Yes, we should make time, for school assignments. Bu let me give you a rundown of my day, and perhaps you will change your mind.

2:30 AM: Wake up, get ready for work

3:15 AM: Leave for work

3:50 AM: Arrive at work

4:00 AM - noon: Work

Noon- 1:30: Drive home, go to the post office to pick up a COD package

1:30 PM- 1:45 PM: Change, check email, quick shower

1:45 PM- 2:15 PM: Drive to bus stop, get on bus

3:15 PM - 5:15 PM: Dance class

5: 20 PM - 6:30 PM: Bus home

6:30 PM - 7:00 PM: Drive to Bible study

7:00 PM - 9:30 PM: Bible study

9:30 PM - 10:00 PM: Get home, check my Panthermail for the email from Carl to do a reading and blog, only to find that the readings he wants us to do are back at school on EReserve, and the one that is supposed to be on D2L is not there.

10:10 PM: current time.

This is the busiest day of my week and I think it's ridiculous that when I finally do manage to get the time to do my blog, the readings are not made available. Therefore what I am I supposed to write about? I haven't experienced any art today. Maybe dance class, or some of the artwork at Trader Joe's. But no film art, certainly. And I have no photos to share.

So I guess I'll go to YouTube real quick. There's no way I'm staying up 24 hours today, so this better be quick.

So here goes. I'll do a search for experimental films and see if YouTube has anything interesting to react to.

Okies this one looks interesting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6X6R4inM08

I liked the beginning because it reminded me of a film we watched in I believe it was 210 class...it was called Man With a Movie Camera. I can see the resemblance between them because both dealt with the use of machinary; however, Man With a Movie Camera compared the human body to that machinary, and this one does not. Man With a Movie Camera was a film and this one is video. Also, Vertov (I think that was his name) wanted his camera to be the eye of performance. He used the idea of the "kino-eye" or "camera eye". He wanted to remain on the outside of the film, wanted the camera to see everything. Unfortunately no one can truly have no control over a film, because he still chose where to put the camera, so he still had say in what the camera saw, no matter how much he tried to stay out of it. But this YouTube video doesn't try to stay away from interaction. The video is altered in funky colors, so you know that whoever edited it was interested in the special effects a computer editing software program can offer. He tested those waters in many interesting ways. I really liked it. I didn't think it was as artistic as Man With a Movie Camera, but I liked it better because it was in color and more contemporary to my time.

Then again, once the actual dog and rap video part of it starts, it all goes downhill. You can tell right there that it was not made with artistic intnetions, but rather was made just to be funny. Alot of things are considered funny that I just stare at and think "What the H was he thinking"? That's definitely what I'm thinking now. This is experimental? No, this is a home movie by some loser who thinks he's funny. The rest pf it is a little more interesting, branching off into odd colored planes and slightly distorted images of everyday things like cars and buses. I even sort of liked the dancing pigeons. In a way, it is a contemporary version of experimental films, with all the special effects of video. I just think that whoever made it needs to try to focus on staying artistic, instead of putting in weird "funny" things. (like the rapping dog or the kid going down the slide) Or real images that make no sense, like burning the dollar bill. I mean, why? And the kid doing a weird hip hop dance, and the break dancers. This is an experimental film. We are not here to watch a kid dance, not unless there is something new in the way we are made to view it. But there was nothing interesting about those shots. I felt rather taken out of the film there. Instead of being artistic and experimental, it was very home movie. In the end, there were moments I enjoyed and I liked how it had a steady theme of hip hop, but if it was to be considered a good artistic video it would need major improvements. Then again, rules are always being broken in experimental film, and for all I know this kid could become famous and this could be his signature work. Ya.