Reply to another students blog.
I am replying to Sher Li’s blog post found here.
Firstly, I have to agree with the first paragraph. I always loved that you could watch a film with a couple of friends and when it’s finished, all come out of it and individually spill about how the film made you think in relation to the ideologies that you and they personally hold onto.
“Automatically, we compare the ideological statements made in the movies to the ones we personally hold.”
True. I like the idea that either during or after viewing a film, we can directly observe how that film either resonates or creates dissonance with ones’ personal beliefs and conceptual thinking.
I must disagree with something though, as I believe it is not of significant worry that somebodies biases leak into their films.
I believe that such is a very human aspect of film which is genuine to the discipline and is also problematic to attempt to avoid.
It is somewhat problematic that this can affect people due to misrepresentation as was exemplified in the blogpost by “Birth of a Nation”. Humans are ripe with flaws and film making is no exception when it comes to filmmakers who use their movies as platforms to promote dominant ideology. It is unfortunate but it is also a way of identifying our social and ethical progress as people, in that we can see which ideologies are most prominent and most problematic.
I also don’t believe in these people, no matter how immoral they may be, being silenced. I think that one way forward is to eliminate taboo, give voice to everyone and have as many people heard as possible.
I love what you wrote about disability and its misrepresentation in film. I too agree that the representation of the disabled in film stands as a direct reflection of their given place within society, as burdensome and rarely discussed by those who it does not directly affect. Most would be found covering their ears and staring at the ground if disabled people and their sexuality were brought to conversation, which is a shame. We all need love and physical affection.
That being said, although Tropic Thunder was a woeful film, I do not think that disabled people should be excluded from being made fun of simply because they are disabled. If we could each all practice a heightened sense of humility, the world would be a much brighter, and less frustrated place.
1. What problems do you see with how genres are classified, if any?
The only real problems with classifying movies within a certain genre is that it may restrict the audiences interpretation of the ideology within the particular film, for the most part however, it makes sense to classify film for sake of easy distinction. I believe that reading that X movie is Y genre before watching it might have a ‘priming’ effect on you as a viewer in that if you are watching a film within the Comedy genre, you would expect it to be humorous, uplifting etc. and probably even find it funnier than you would if you had no idea what genre the film lay in. This ‘priming’ effect may lead to a less genuine and open experience of the film.
2. Do you think making a genre film means you can still be artistic and creative?
Absolutely not. I believe some of the greatest creativity is tested when faced with restriction. I think that Pop music is a good example of this, as many pop songs stay true to the roots of pop whilst still experimenting with more technical songwriting and themes (“Countdown” by Beyonce is a wonderful example of this). Making a film within a certain genre and pushing it to its absolute limits, whilst still staying true to its given genre and being able to be identified as such, is far more creative than simply making something open-ended without any genre.
3. In what ways can you apply approaches to genre in your own filmmaking practice?
Although I don’t really see myself making films in the future, if I did however I would like to apply approaches to genre in my own films by challenging the definitions of them and blurring the lines between what can be considered a particular genre whilst still defining it by one. I think it would be cool to make a film which would obey the laws and definitions of a particular genre but end up deceptive as a final product, without anyone really able to ascribe it to any particular genre.
Some films I believe to be given a genre whilst actually being quite ‘genre ambiguous’:
Julien Donkey-Boy – Comedy? Drama? Experimental?
Batman and Robin, one of the strangest movies of all time. Action? Comedy? Superhero film? Gay rights propganda? Troll film?
Grierson’s defined features and purpose for documentary:
Bound to present evidence and information about the socio-historical world; it must be more than a quasi-scientific reconstruction of reality
The documentary filmmaker needs to employ a number of creative skills to construct the fragments of reality (fragments due to the nature of filmmaking itself as a manipulation of time and space through editing)
“‘…creative treatment of reality’ where they are at once entertaining, aesthetically satisfying and fulfilling a clear social purpose.'”
I agree with Grierson’s definition of documentary film making in part but not entirely, I feel as though many aspects of his definition have simply lost traction since their time of origin (1926).
Without a doubt, a documentary film is supposed to “present evidence and information about the socio-historical world”, though in modern practise it is not limited to this definition anymore. I believe that the majority of documentaries are of the “expository” nature, meaning that they provide visual, textual or audial information related to non-fictional events, in a manner that addresses the audience directly eg; via narration. In this sense, a documentary does adhere to that of Griersons first point of definition, although I do have some problems with his “quasi-scientific reconstruction of reality”, as that phrase could, in our (if you will) post-postmodern world could be interpreted a million different ways.
I also do not agree with Grierson’s second point of definition, in that firstly I do not believe that the documentary filmmaker needs to employ a number, or any creative skills to “construct the fragments of reality”, or secondly that he or she needs to really edit anything at all to document something or create a documentary film. For example, if I placed a hidden camera in a workplace staffroom for the entirety of the staffs’ lunch break, I believe I would be creating a documentary on the inner workings of that workplace’s staffroom and staff people. It might not be the most ethical filming, nor would I probably be able to release it for money legally, but it would however come pretty close to being an objective piece of poetic work in that there was no interaction, participation or voluntary changes such as editing or the pressure subjects suffer when having a camera placed on them.
In conclusion I believe that Griersons points of definition might well have been relative to the documentary work being made in his era and of his visions of documentary flimmaking for the future, but that the documentaries which exist in the present do not conform to his definition as they have taken on many multiple forms, disciplines and modes of creation besides his own.
In the Realm of the Senses is a Japanese-French art-film from 1976, directed by Nagisa Oshima.
The film is based around real events, but explores the intimate sexual relationship between Sada Abe (Eiko Matsuda) and Kichizo Ichida (Tatsuya Fuji).
Sade Abe was a Japanese woman who created an amass of controversy in the mid 1930’s, when she erotically asphyxiated her lover and partner, Kichizo Ichida, and proceeded to castrate him, cut off his penis and carry them with her in her handbag until her arrest. Sada suffered a traumatic adolescence, suffering multiple sexual assaults and though not without adequate love and support from her family, became a very troubled and problematic teenager. Her parents sold her to a Geisha house in 1922, hoping to give her some structure and direction. It is unclear how Sada felt about becoming a Geisha, some accounts say it is what she wanted, while Sada on multiple accounts, gave differing opinions.
Sada’s life as a Geisha continued to be difficult and disappointing.
Sada met Ishida in his resturaunt at which he was known as more of a womanizer than head of any resturaunt.
They began their affair which lasted around four months before Sada committed the murder.
This film was an interesting exploration of the intense, passionate, and equal-parts loving and violent affair between Sada and Kichizo. The film contains many scenes of unsimulated sex and sexual activity between the two actors, which I believe was necessary to achieve the heightened level of emotion you experience as a viewer.
The film takes place almost entirely within Kichizo’s resturaunt, which is really as much of a Geisha house as anything.
While there are multiple other films about Sada Abe, which detail her life and story, In the Realm of the Senses dedicates itself entirely to the intimate relationship between the two. To be fair, the majority of the film is sex. Many reviews I have read say that it can be hard to draw the line at times between this film and porn. To me however there is an obvious distinction which lies solely in what the film is all about; Sada’s intense love and obsession with Kichi, and the viewers understanding of the raw emotion which lay between the two, so much so that Sada was driven to do what she did, because the thought of Kichi being with a woman besides herself was impossible to handle.
The film itself, in terms of lighting, colour and cinematography is beautiful to look at. A contrasting lighting, exhibiting both dark and light scenes with an abundance of natural light. Rich, vibrant colours of early 20th Century Japan make up the palette of the film, emblazoning itself with a vivid colour scheme in moments of celebration and becoming dull in their extended sessions of intimacy, as they begin to take on a somewhat sloth-like lifestyle, doing nothing at all besides having sex.
It’s hard to review this film without being taken as someone who just enjoyed it for the endless sex, but being genuinely interested in the story of Sada, I found that this film used that intimacy as a vehicle to express the passion, love and unique connection which Sada and Kichi shared, an aspect of the story which is important to explore.
In terms of film form, three which are instantly obvious; editing, mis en scene and sound.
The first scene is edited so as to seem somewhat frantic, and the sounds of knives sharpening compliments that. The soundtrack makes you instantly realise that this film is set in South America; the salsa beat, the flamenco guitar, jazz bass and clapping make you certain. The knives sharpening, carrots being peeled onions being chopped, chickens looking worried… You know a meal is being prepared. The music switches from being diagetic to non-diagetic in regards to whether you are watching the meal preparation or the band playing.
The close-ups of the man yelling of the escaped chicken provides the viewer with the emotion of the scene; frantic yet humorous, important yet not. As the boy with the camera is surrounded boy, the sweeping shots, from the police to the gang, easily make you attent to the seriousness of the calamity he has found himself in. Through the time travel the audience is made aware that life in this country has always been a battle for him and the others, that he lives in a dominance-culture and is quite poor.
The camera click, non-diagetic, reinforces the boys character and interest in photography as he begins to introduce himself, Shaggy and the Tender Trio.
This years fifth trimester was easily the most challenging yet.
I came back from China in a pretty weird mindset (as you usually do coming to Australia back from an extended travel in such a drastically diverse country), and in the first week was pretty blown away by the first lecture with Kelly. Both by the signalling of the massive workload I was about to tackle and by how one person can talk about their self for over an hour.
The first project we got stuck into was pitching ideas for the web series. I was grouped with a girl from Film called Laura, and Hugh and Bryan. Laura and I wanted to do something positive, so we collaborated and came up with an idea of a web series presented like the popular Australian travel show “Getaway”. Each episode was to feature a different capital city of Australia. Instead of a blonde-haired Australian woman, the show was to be presented by a man hailing from a small African nation. The purpose of this series was to point out both Australian first-world entitlement, and the refusal of its people to acknowledge the racist, classist and aclohol-fueled violent society we sometimes live in (hence the theme of Resistance). Well, not a single person except me put their hand up in vote for this idea.
To be honest, I think creativity in general and the motivation by some students, especially in Film, to take risks and create something which might incite positive change is massively lacking where it doesn’t actually seem to restricted. Speaking to Samuel Fairlamb today, the near-constant internal tensions that seem ripe in the Film unit appear to flourish from an initial clash in those wishing to take risks in the name of originality, and those wishing to simple rinse and repeat old and dull ideas. “The Foil” was a joke idea, and it is of no surprise that it didn’t turn out too good, because it carried no weight or creative backbone. Hopefully there will come a time at SAE where people will decide to create great films and series that aren’t centered around violence and drugs, because that shit’s old.
With the two pitches “The Foil” and “The Dough” winning by a highly democratic vote, we were then instructed to record a song released pre-1990 in the style of another genre. In my group, Bryan suggested “Calling explorers of interplanetary craft” by Klaatu (made popular by The Carpenters) for the Foil series, in a 60’s garage surf style, and I came up with the idea of doing the nursery rhyme “Paddy Cake” in a 50’s rockabilly style. Everyone was cool with those ideas, Hugh pointed out the possibility of doing Paddy Cake in a Tom Waits style instead, which was a cooler idea.
We got to recording these. I played guitar and engineered/produced “Interplanetary Craft” and we got Tim Dalton to do vocals for us which sounded sick, although I think Timmy D is so energetic and ecstatic that it was hard to do anything proper in such short notice. Darren (I think his name is?) did drums for us. We did the “Paddy Cake” track in the Neve room. We laid out bass first, along with some midi that Hugh had created. We then got Darren to lay down some drums for us which he, of course, nailed. Dave came in and banged on some tables and metal easels for a bit, then laid down some killer Gat which really drove the entire song home. This song turned out perfectly as an intro track for the series.
I won’t go over the Hesh Lords session as I already wrote about it below. One of my mixes got chosen for the EP which was more surprising than anything, but cool nonetheless.
My group then did the trailer for The Foil. We had to replace most things for this trailer. We recorded all Foley, ADR and FX in the D-command and SR6 rooms. This project was pretty smooth with most members pitching in equal amounts.
I then recorded a band called Jonesingtown in the Audient. These guys seemed super motivated and really keen to be recorded for free. I set everything up a good hour before they were told to come in, we set up the drums and laid down the drum track first, then on the second session they came back and recorded the rest. The band had assured me they were well-rehearsed and down to record 5 tracks. They spent a lot of time arguing in the live room and generally weren’t great musicians. I did try to keep them cool and productive which worked sometimes, but the end result kinda spoke for itself, in that it was disjointed and unmusical in parts. They were unhappy with it but admitted to the fault being on their behalf. I’m rerecording them next week. All things considered it was still a decent experience in being the sole producer, having to instruct progress and redirect anger towards motivation to keep grinding it out.
We then worked on the dreaded Foil episode. In this stage of the Trimester we were given multiple cuts, usually at the worst time (when we had just finished aligning and mixing a previous “final” cut), with literally zero direction from the Film students on what kind of product they were seeking. We all watched the first cut through and laughed. Half because it was so bad and confusing that it was funny, and half at our collective fate, all realising we ain’t getting out of this studio anytime soon. Hugh originally took the lead on this project (Hugh and Pat essentially alternated the lead role which seemed to work decently), I believe I am a good leader and have absolutely no problem stepping up to the role, but in this case that role was filled and that was fine. Essentially we began working from the start. We watched it through a couple times and assigned roles for everyone which worked. We maintained constant communication with eachother and what had been done and still needed to be done via a group chat on Facebook.
Honestly I am happy about what we did with that episode. I don’t necassarily think it is something that I would proudly stand behind and exhibit as an example of my work, but really, we did what we could. And it took a lot of hard work.
Still, without a doubt, those deadlines and unpredictable turns (“hey guys, we just got another final cut.”), stress and super long hours are an integral part of what this industry is. It was a great experience and there is without a doubt a strong feeling of comradery between those of us in the group who knuckled down on this one, lots of hi-fives and pats on the back included.
I honestly really enjoyed this Trimester. It was perfectly challenging. Dave’s tutorship, instruction and advice was on point the whole 13 weeks, and I think most of us in the class would agree that he is just a pretty sick dude in general.
In terms of weaknesses, which I forgot to point out in my presentation today, I could definitely spend even more time at Uni than I do already. I find I am much more productive at University than being distracted by guitars, books, housemates etc. at my place. I have definitely improved in my attendance this Trimester compared to last one, but the juggling act of working until 4am and starting uni at 10am more often than not is real. Again though, good experience.
I have really enjoyed my time at SAE, and am pretty gloomy about the next Trimester being my last, but still, bigger and better things await.
It seems like a few people are somewhat confused by how exactly the project which Lynden and I are aiming to complete will take form. The best way to understand the concept is to consider it as a project consisting of three parts;
I – The 6 track EP. Thematically this EP will be centred around nature, mankind and technology, and how we must incorporate all three of these things holistically to move forward in a sustainable manner. Sonically, we are going into recording this with the genres “psychedelic, pop, electronic, folk and mainstream” in mind. These too seemed to confuse a lot of people. It seemed to be agreed upon that an EP comprising of these genres cannot be or should not be aimed at achieving a mainstream sound or structure. Lynden and I are hoping to use this project as a positive vision for the future. With the EP, we want to do new things, but also to make it accessible, as our target audience is that of a consumer based culture.
There also seemed to be a large amount of negativity towards the idea that the EP will be both organic in instrumentation and also electronic. People seemed to think that an EP about nature should only contain ‘natural’ instrumentation and an ‘organic’ recording process. This EP is about not about being an eco-romanticist, nor is it about being an ego-capitalist. The proper way forward is not to go back to nature, it is not to go backwards at all. It is to go forward with respects towards both nature and technology, and assimilating the two into one. This is one of the more important things I learnt this year, as I was massively eco-romantic until this dawned on me. As such we will continue with our combination of organic and electronic sounds, it is an integral part of the concept.
II – An ‘informational music video’ for the single from our EP. We are not sure which song this will be yet. The video will comprise of footage of permaculture-in-action, from places around Australia (CERES – Melbourne, Mangrove Valley Ashram – New South Wales, The Food Forest – Victoria) which will either be filmed by us, but in the case of MVA I am sourcing the footage from a friend who lived there for 4 months. Lynden and I have also spent a large amount of time initiating communication with people whom we look up to in the world of permaculture, simple living and environmentalism. David Holmgren (essentially the co-creator of permaculture) will feature in this video, alongside with Rob Greenfield (Ambassador of One Percent for the Planet, The Greenfield Group, Activist), who I have been in communication with for about 6 months, has already agreed to take part in this and has shared his enthusiasm for the project. Ted Trainer (Simplicity Institute, Lecturer at UNSW) has been approached by Lynden and will also feature.
III – A series of visual artworks which will serve as a solely visual aspect of the project, working to tie the entire concept together as one holistic piece of work. This visual work will be completed by my cousin, Thomas Cullen, who specialises in oil painting, is studying at Sydney College of the Arts. Thomas has started drafting ideas which I will be receiving shortly.
Comprising of these three parts, I believe that we will be creating a ‘vision of the future’. This project is not about the glorification of Nature as it seems to have been understood as. It is not about walking barefoot along the beach, smoking weed, not cutting your hair and growing Kale. As cool as those things are, the scope of this project is much larger, and ideally, will serve as an integral and integrated vision which might just allow people to understand that being good to the planet and to yourself is not reserved for dreaded musicians from Rainbow Serpent. More and more people are beginning to wake up and realise that our consumerist life style is slowly stripping away the Earth’s life forms’ and are reacting by adopting a lifestyle where they treat themselves and their planet with the respect it always deserved, not by going back to Nature, but by utilising the fruits of the modern age.
“The Loudness Wars/Race. Trace the roots of the mastering loudness wars and make a comment on the current state of mastering for modern media.”
The “Loudness War” is one of many popularised terms given to the trend of increasing loudness within multiple audio formats in the modern age. The foundations of this belief are quite simply that “Loudness is better”, ‘better’ in this case meaning to sell more copies. There are however, many conflicting opinions about this statement, and certainly the idea that loudness is better is not without its critics. This brings to light a theory that The Loudness War (TLW) is merely a trend which has taken the form of a competition, with those on the ‘for’ side of the debate, simply finding themselves as such to make more money.
The origins of TLW can be traced back as early as the mid 20th century when mastering was applied to 7″ vinyl, reducing the peal amplitude and limiting the dynamic range. Similar techniques were used up until the introduction of the Cassette tape and Compact Disc that we see TLW start to become a trend and enter mainstream, radio-play music not only as a form of mastering or limiting for release, but as an actual trend in perceived ‘betterness’. But is this new found loudness better?
Studies have shown that listening to music loudly fatigues the listener in a very short amount of time, leaving them exhausted and probably in a more agitated mental state. In a track with has been severely limited and compressed, obviously you lose most of the dynamic properties of the track and eliminate proper spacing of sounds, as everything in the mix is fighting for room. In my opinion there is nothing better about loudness when used in this manner, it simply sounds “better” for a short amount of time (and gradually worse for extended periods of listening) but is essentially a trend utilised by figureheads in the music industry to make their singles sound more impressive, which has been interpreted by those seeking success as a way to sell more singles and albums.
There are however, artists who use limiting, compression and lowered dynamic range in their favour. Obviously things like a high sample rate, wide dynamic range and lossless playback serve nearly no purpose when listening to crust punk. The first example which comes to mind is Flying Lotus’ 2014 release “You’re Dead!“, an album which is heavily compressed, with a narrow dynamic range and intentional clipping in certain parts of the album, all used creatively and tastefully, which suits the new age free-jazz, bebop and hip hop inspired album amazingly.
The 14th track off of Flying Lotus’ “You’re Dead!”.
Just as there are genres in which loudness and compression either do not negatively affect or in certain cases, aid the music in a creative manner, there are then genres which one should never accept to enter in the TLW. Classical, ambient and many forms of experimental music are some amongst many which rely on a large dynamic scope in a big way and, as such, suffer the greatest when they are limited and made louder.
Despite Bob Katz’ claim in 2011 of TLW being over, it is far from it, as popular and radio music is being compressed and made louder now more than ever. It is only with an adequate counter revolution resulting in high quality releases and usage of clipping and compression in creative manners that we might consider The Loudness War to be over, though I doubt loudness in music as a means of monetary success will ever completely disappear, as it is now so engrained in modern music industry and culture.
tautochrone 