For the past seven weeks, I’ve struggled with a topic to storify for my final project. My ideas have ranged from randomly simple (Gorillapod) to bewildering (DMV) to complex (Medicaid). Still, when I’ve tried to flush each of these out, nothing was sticking. During weeks 6 and 7, a topic idea started to germinate. I don’t know what triggered it (perhaps a story on NPR? Or, an episode of The Amazing Race?), but the phrase “melting pot” kept popping in my head. As a first-generation immigrant to the U.S., I have not been comfortable with the phrase to describe an end goal for the immigration story. I understand the importance of integrating and assimilating, but I feel it is a disservice to everyone if each of us lost our identity and melted into one indistinguishable blob. I used to prefer the term “salad bowl” over “melting pot,” because each ingredient in a salad retains its own identity, but together they make for a delicious meal. Now I prefer the term “sangria pitcher,” not only because sangria is similar to a salad where each ingredient retains its uniqueness but also because “sangria” is a term derived from “sangre” meaning blood. No matter how different each of us are, we bleed the same. It makes a melting pot of whatever ingredients sound flat, doesn’t it?
So, where am I going with this and what does multiculturalism have to do with my final project? I storified my sangria recipe to serve as a metaphor for how I see multiculturalism. I personified d the strawberry, the main staple ingredient in my recipe, to act as the central character in the story. I named it Strauss Behre. I humanized a strawberry by adding eyes and a nose using bits of a blueberry. I also personified a navel orange and a yellow mango by adding eyes, ears, and a mouth using grapes.
O. Range, Strauss Behre, and Manny Go
Strauss Behre
Strauss Behre’s story follows him from his farm origins to his last adventure at Assateague Island National Seashore. The story spine of Strauss Behre’s story is as follows: Once upon a time, there was a berry named Straus Behre. Every day, he lived on a farm, basked in the sunshine, and enjoyed the soil. Until one day, he was picked along with other mature berries. Because of that, he was able to leave the farm, go to a different location, and meet other fruit. Because of that, Strauss became an ingredient in sangria, a portable drink. Because of that, Strauss was taken to a beach camping event. And because of that, Strauss met his demise at the teeth of a wild Assateague pony.
I used Windows Live Movie Maker to create a video of Strauss Behre’s story. I downloaded two videos from YouTube to follow a strawberry’s lifecycle. One video showed the phases a strawberry went through from planting to packing. I split this video to insert a timelapse video of a potted strawberry plan growing. I also created four short videos of me cutting the fruit, marinating it in brandy, and talking about the portability of the libations. However, I only kept the video narration on one of them. I eliminated the audio on the three other videos. I added a newer version of the Staple Singers’ “I’ll Take You There” as the soundtrack to the video. I found it appropriate and befitting an adventure/journey story. I found that with Windows Live Movie Maker, I can also split an audio track like I can to a video clip. Below is the screenshot of this work:
I designed the sangria recipe using some of the design elements previously discussed. I used Comic Sans for the font, to convey informality and funb. For the graphic, I used one of the photos I took of the sangria pitcher at a friend’s party. I recolored it using Photoshop, so that only the contents of the pitcher are in color. Below is the screenshot of this effort:
I have thoroughly enjoyed myself in this course; the assignments were interesting and challenging, and more importantly, gave me the opportunity to be creative.
This is the journey of Strauss Behre, from soil to sand:
Strauss Behre
Strauss Behre grew up on a farm, surrounded by other berries just like him. In their early years, after the flower stage, they were all green , but as they matured, they turned red. Strauss enjoyed being out in the sun with other berries. He liked the feel of the soil and the occasional refreshing rain.
One day, when he reached the age of maturity, he was picked. Strauss was very excited; he had yearned to get out of the farm, see other places, meet other fruit, and this was his chance! Everyone in his berry community looked forward to this rite of passage. What Strauss did not expect, however, was that the journey would involve certain discomforts. This included being tossed in a box, the box being stacked, then the box being emptied onto a moving belt, and Strauss being washed along with other berries. Up to this time, the only washing he got was when it rained! Strauss did not like that at all! It made him quite dizzy and the time in the box made him miss the sunshine. To add to the indignity, Strauss was picked up and scrutinized, then tossed into another box. He was then packed into a much smaller box, which was stacked along with other boxes in a crate. Luckily for him, there were other berries in the small box with him, so he did not feel alone and the trip was pleasant. The crates went on a long road trip, but because Strauss ‘s box was neatly stacked with other boxes, Strauss could not see anything throughout the journey.
When he was offloaded from the crate with the other berries, the tiny box he was in was placed on a shelf. From his vantage point, Strauss could see other fruits. Some were in boxes like his; others were free standing on other shelves. He would have wanted to socialize and get to know the other fruits, but they tended to keep to themselves and did not seem very social. Before long, his box was picked up by a female shopper and placed on a rolling card along with another box filled with pineapple slices and blueberries. The shopper also picked up a couple of mangos and a bag of grapes, as well as several glass bottles. Along with the other fruit and berries, Strauss got a good washing after he was taken out of the box by the shopper. Unlike the washing he received immediately after he was picked, this washing was more thorough and Strauss felt he received more individualized attention. After the washing, Strauss was laid on a cutting board and cut into three pieces. This did not bother him; instead, being in two other pieces allowed him to see more of his surroundings. He befriended two other fruits, a navel orange and a yellow mango, both of whom were twice as large as Strauss. Because of their size, the mango and the orange were cut in more pieces than Strauss was and to Strauss’s delight, his number of new friends quadrupled in no time. After she finished cutting all the fruit up, the shopper divided the fruit pieces into a few quart-sized tupperware. Along with pieces of the mango and orange, Strauss met a few grapes, blueberry and pineapple pieces in his container. Most everyone was friendly and excited for their new adventure. A couple of the blueberries, who were not cut because of their small size, kept to themselves. As the fruit pieces, including Strauss were settling in, brandy was poured into their Tupperware. It was unexpected but not unpleasant. Strauss noted that the liquid had a cherry taste to it. He vaguely wondered what a cherry piece might have thought of it, had there been any in the Tupperware. Strauss and his fruit companions were marinated in the Tupperware and refrigerated overnight. The following morning, the Tupperware was transferred to a small cooler and was packed in with several of the bottles purchased by the shopper. They went on a car ride. A short time later, they arrived at their destination. Strauss could hear ocean waves and seagulls. When the cooler was offloaded and the Tupperware unpacked on a picnic table, Strauss could see (through a small window created by a blueberry and a pineapple piece) they were at a beach with white sand. There were several people around, busy chatting or setting up their tents. Strauss had never been at a beach before and this was the first time he’d seen sand! It looked very different from the soil he grew up in. In the far distance, Strauss could see a couple of ponies. Having grown up on a farm, ponies were nothing new to Strauss, but how come they were at a beach? Strauss did not have much time to ponder this, as the contents of the Tupperware were emptied into a large pitcher, followed by an entire bottle of white wine and an orange liqueur and finished with cubes of ice. Along with the other fruit, Strauss was then swirled around. Strauss was now infused not only with the cherry-flavored brandy but also with the dessert wine and the orange liqueur. The content of the pitcher was poured into small plastic cups; each person holding a full cup seemed very pleased with the drink. Strauss was stuck to the bottom of the pitcher, so he did not get poured out yet. When the liquid in the pitcher became low, someone refilled the pitcher with another bottle of wine and sparkling cider this time, and once again, Strauss was swimming with the other fruit pieces inside the pitcher. When the pitcher was half-empty, the people decided they would all take a dip in the ocean. They left their snacks as well as the pitcher on the picnic table. Strauss was just about to settle down with the other fruit inside the half-empty pitcher to enjoy a few minutes of peace when tragedy struck. Strauss saw a pony approach the picnic table and nose around the snacks abandoned by the campers. The pony then took notice of the pitcher and sniffed it. Strauss marveled at how large the pony’s nostril seemed through the acrylic wall of the pitcher. Then, Strauss’s world turned upside down as the pitcher tipped over and the contents spilled on to the picnic table and down onto the sand. “Aaah,” thought Strauss, “that’s what sand feels like,” right before he saw the pony’s tongue dart out to grab him. After that, darkness.
Below is my sangria recipe:
As the slideshow below illustrates, sangria ingredients as easily portable:
I’m glad we had two weeks to complete the video assignments, because I need that time (and more) to not only make sure I had all the necessary tools but that I also knew (or remembered) how to use them. I did not realize until last week that I never had Windows Live Movie Maker installed in my laptop. Fortunately, it was a quick download from the Microsoft site.
I found the inspiration video, Ken Burns: On Story thought-provoking, particularly, “Truth is, we hope, a byproduct of the best stories, and yet there are many, many different kinds of truths. And emotional truth is something you have to build.”
Until this course, I had not thought much about cinematic techniques. After viewing the various examples of camera angles and techniques, my appreciation for cinematic techniques increased.
Spurred on by Ebert’s How to Read a Movie, I did a comprehensive analysis of a clip from Pearl Harbor (2001). It strikes me that the movie was released a few months before the terrorist events of 9/11/2001. The audio of a foreign-accented male voice talking about sacrificing his life to serve his country by attacking the United States resonates across generations. The sentiment expressed was as applicable in 2001 as it was in 1941. The audio and video in the clip both contributed to effectively telling the story of how America was caught unaware by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
I was initially intimidated by the Chaplin foley assignment, since I could not think of what story to re-imagine the video clip into. As a result, I procrastinated on it. I finally decided on using the Darwin Awards angle, having been inspired by the assignment posted by a former DS106 student. At first, I was overly concerned about lining up the foley to each segment of the video clip. That took a lot of time. Then the lightbulb came on and I realized that this assignment is for a Digital Storytelling course, not a Sound Editing course. So, while the foley sounds don’t exactly line up in my assignment, I did come up with a possible, if not anachronistic, explanation for Chaplin’s actions in the clip.
I enjoyed completing the two video assignments because it allowed me to think of new stories. For the first assignment, I picked actors in A Few Good Men (AFGM) who are still active in the entertainment industry to create a “where-are-they-now” story for each of them. I avoided using the obvious (e.g., Kiefer Sutherland in “24;” Tom Cruise in “Mission Impossible,” etc.) so that their post-AFGM story was a complete departure from their AFGM role. I am pleased with the stories I created for these characters. I am less happy with the second assignment, because I imagined it differently than what it turned out to be. Using the video assignment prompt for “Sardonic Tours,” I created a video of a tour of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, from the perspective of an interior decorator working for HGTV. I suppose I could have been more creative in this if I wasn’t under a time crunch. One idea that came to mind is similar to what I did for one of the visual assignments, the historical selfie. I could’ve had one of the Byzantine emperors time travel to the present and marvel at the changes in the Hagia Sophia. Maybe next time…
I’ve enjoyed reading classmates’ blogs. Because most, including me, tend to submit assignments at the end of the week, feedback provided and received also comes later. Feedback provided by classmates are helpful in spotting things I may have missed in the final review process. As you know, when you’ve been looking at something for so long, you tend to miss certain things. It’s always helpful to have someone else’s fresh eyes. The feedback I’ve received from the professor as well as other classmates have been positive and motivating. They are what spurs me on to spend time on each assignment and create a good product.
Create a video taking us on a tour of somewhere you love or hate, providing commentary that points out the unusual in a tone distinct from most “tourist” videos.
I made a slight modification to the guidelines for the Sardonic Tours video assignment. Instead of narrating the video I made, I inserted captions instead. I must admit that the execution of this assignment was different from how I imagined it to be when I was planning it. The video clip as well as the still photos included were taken during my 2012 birthday trip to Turkey, during which I visited the Hagia Sophia twice. I could not tire of taking photographs inside . The 00:38 video clip was my starting point for this assignment and I supplemented it with some of my favorite photos.
Originally, I had thought to do an annoying voiceover of an interior decorator casting a critical eye inside the Hagia Sophia. However, I was in a time crunch and adding captions to the Windows Live Movie Maker project seemed faster. I found instrumental Turkish classical music by conducting a Google search for “Turkish classical music instrumental free download.” I downloaded an MP3 audio file from Stafa Band. The music video is below:
Completing this assignment has made me realize that I need to review and edit those countless video clips I take during trips. If only I had the time to do it…
I repurposed this 02:55 clip from Charlie Chaplin’s 1928 film “The Circus” to create an anachronistic story about a mime who missed the ultimate Darwin Awards top prize. The criterion for the Darwin Awards follows:
“In the spirit of Charles Darwin, the Darwin Awards commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives. Darwin Award winners eliminate themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species’ chances of long-term survival.”
Darwin Awards Honorable Mentions recognize individuals who survive their misadventures with their reproductive capacity intact.
I used the recommended site to download Charlie Chaplin’s The Circus from YouTube.
One of the challenges of this assignment was finding the appropriate foley for each segment of the clip. My method was to turn down the volume on the Chaplin video clip and then listen on SoundCloud to each of the submitted assignments to see if it married well with the segment. To find the submitted assignments, I followed the tags listed on the Week 6 & 7 page. However, I found that some of the SoundCloud submissions were not set to be downloaded. I found the fourth segment, 01:31 – 02:00 to be particularly challenging, as some of the submissions either did not have any sound or were not set to be downloaded. I also discovered that while I had tagged my WordPress assignment submission, I didn’t apply the correct tag to the SoundCloud file, so that when it came to the fifth segment, I did not see my assignment listed. I immediately applied the correct tag (chaplin-lion-05), so it now shows and can be downloaded.
I saved each downloaded audio file with the segment in the file name (e.g., 0000-0030.mp3)
I used The Tokens’s “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” as the main soundtrack, which I downloaded from MP3Skull. Because the entire song was shorter than the video clip, I supplemented it with several trumpet audio files that I downloaded from FreeSound. This was a good review exercise for using Audacity and working with the timeline and layers. Below is my Audacity screenshot:
The foley does not match up perfectly with each segment, but given that this is the first time I’ve used this application, I am satisfied with the results.
After finalizing the Audacity project as an mp3 file, I added it to the Windows Live Movie Maker project. I then added captions in select areas of the video clip. Below is a screenshot of the Movie Maker project:
Windows Live Movie Maker screenshot
In keeping with the travel theme of this blog, here is a slideshow of my own Darwin Award-worthy lion encounter in southern Africa in 2011:
For one of the video assignments, I thought it would be fun to complete Where are they now?
“Don’t you hate how some movies just leave you hanging!! Do you ever wonder what happens to the characters next? Well this is your chance to let the world know where they are today! Choose a movie and then create some type of video update on the characters current life. Use pictures, video clips, drawings; whatever you want and compile them into a video.”
I chose the end of the courtroom scene of A Few Good Men, although the video clip does not show all of the characters for whom I created a “where-are-they-now?” story.
I used Savefrom.net to download the A Few Good Men video clip from YouTube. Then I searched for photos and videos using Google. I selected the actors that I knew had a diversity of work post-A Few Good Men. This made it easy to make up a “where-are-they-now?” story. See matrix below:
Actor
Character
Where are they now?
Movie/Video Clip Source
Kevin Bacon
CAPT Jack Ross
Became an astronaut and flew with Forrest Gump to establish first colony on Saturn
Apollo 13
Tom Cruise
LT Daniel Kaffee
Couldn’t contain his happiness at being exonerated from “..f+++g the wrong Marine” and jumped on Oprah’s couch. Decided to become a rock star
Oprah and Rock of Ages
Demi Moore
LCDR Joanne Galloway
Had an affair with an enlisted sailor and was kicked off the Navy JAG Corps
N/A
Jack Nicholson
COL Nathan R. Jessup
Still in jail and mad for not being able to “piss on [Kaffee’s] dead skull.”
The Shining and Batman
Kevin Pollak
LT Sam Weinberg
Became a professional poker player
N/A.
Keifer Sutherland
LT Jonathan Kendrick
Bitten by a banana rat and became a vampire. Feeds off detainees in Guantanamo Bay.
The Lost Boys
Before I went on my first trip to Guantanamo Bay, I kept getting asked whether I had seen A Few Good Men. I had only seen it once before and the first scene that always came to mind is Jack Nicholson yelling, “You can’t handle the truth!” For this assignment, I wanted to pick a different clip, not that one. I’ve seen the movie a few more times and it is inextricably linked to my memories of Guantanamo Bay. Here are a few of my favorite photos:
I have seen this movie multiple times and in 2012, I had the privilege of visiting the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Historical Monument on O’ahu, Hawai’i. As such, I felt I had more than enough context to complete an analysis of this 3:44-minute video clip:
Cinematic Technique/Camera Angle Used
How does the cinematic technique tell/guide the story?
00:00 – 00:15
High angle shot showing an island beneath the clouds during daybreak. Scene transitions to a young Asian man who places his head on his hands. Scene then transitions to a religious shrine with candles. An object has Chinese characters.
The high angle of the daybreak shot as well as the shot of the religious objects convey spirituality and closeness to a higher being intertwined with the mission
00:16 – 00:30
Panoramic traveling shot of a roomful of young men getting dressed. Camera focuses on a young man sitting at a desk with paper and writing instrument in front of him. Scene cuts to a young Asian military officer with a fierce expression waving through a group of running airmen. Scene switches to a liquid being poured into a drinking bowl.
The panoramic traveling shot and the switches show that this is story is both of one person and an entire nation
00:31 – 00:45
Camera shot of military personnel toasting with the drinking bowl. Military personnel are shown putting on bandannas emblazoned with the Japanese flag. Camera pans to a scene showing weapons being transported and loaded to aircraft, and senior military officials overseeing this process.
Cinematic techniques convey that the operation shown has been planned in advance and being executed with ceremony and precision
00:46 – 01:00
Close up shots of the propellers and long shots fighter plans set the stage for an impending air attack
Use of frantic zoom foreshadows military action involving airplanes
01:01 – 01:15
A pilot wearing the Japanese flag headband is shown inside his plane giving a “ready”signal. A plane is shown taking off from an aircraft carrier. Another plane is show taking off to sea
Cinematic techniques clearly show that attack planes are being launched from the sea (via aircraft carriers)
01:16 – 01:30
Panoramic traveling shots of more fighter planes taking off from the aircraft carrier. Horizontal panning of a fleet of Japanese fighter planes flying past the entire length of the aircraft carrier. A pilot is shown flying past the rising sun.
Horizontal panning shows the might of the Japanese Navy. Shot of pilot with the rising sun in the background is symbolic of the Japanese flag where the red disc represents the sun
01:31 – 01:45
Long take of the fleet of Japanese fighter planes flying through clouds. A zolly was used to show a coastal hillside from overhead and then a group of naval ships anchored on a bay. Long take of a sailor in dress whites sitting on coiled rope on a sailing ship in front of an American flag.
Cinematic technique tells the story of an impending surprise attack from the air
01:46 – 02:00
Long take of a man in a motorcycle approaching a mountainside doorway. Zoom in to a roomful of men in front of radio equipment. Rapid zoom of airplanes in the clouds, an instrument panel, and Caucasian man sitting in front of an instrument panel while on the phone. Long track shot of Japanese fighter planes in air and American fighter planes parked on the ground.
Cinematic technique contrasts previous scene of tranquility (and unreadiness) with scene of military personnel monitoring operations around the island in a hidden location. Contrasting scenes of Japanese attack planes in the air and U.S. military planes parked on the ground.
02:01 – 02:15
Tracking shot of a military man at his desk. He is speaking on the phone held in one hand while his other hand moves a chess piece on the table. His feet are propped up on the desk. He takes his feet off the desk , sits up, sets the telephone handset on his should, turns around to take a clipboard, reads the clipboard, looks up. Low angle shot of Japanese fighter planes.
Cinematic technique shows a person who is unconcerned and relaxed in their office, despite the short moment where tension is infused in the scene
02:16 – 02:30
Rapid zoom of the men in the radio room talking, marking the instrument panel, fighter planes in the air, and men playing golf. A Jeepful of military men arrive on the golf course. A man dressed in Navy brown uniform jumps out from one of the Jeeps and salutes one of the golfers. Quick zoom of fighter planes in the air.
Cinematic techniques employed show the relaxed atmosphere on the island and among leadership (the salute conveys that the golfer is an important man)
02:31 – 02:45
Military man in brown Navy uniform continues to speak to the golfer he saluted earlier as a tracking shot of fighter planes flying over water is shown. High angle shot of a person typing on a typewriter. The words “REFUSAL TO COMPROMISE” are typed across a tape. A worried looking, middle-aged Caucasian man wearing glasses reads the tape.
Cinematic techniques convey that news of an impending attack is reaching U.S. military leaders
02:46 – 03:00
Zoom in to a young Caucasian man in Navy uniform with a headset typing and the words, “PEACE TALKS USEL…” are typed across a tape. Close up and quick zoom shots of the middle-aged man reading the tape; a telephone handset being picked up; the man, now without his glasses, speaking on the phone; the young Navy man continuing to type and the middle-aged man continuing to speak on the phone.
Cinematic techniques introduces new characters in the drama personified by a junior and senior U.S. military officer
03:01 – 03:15
Zoom in shot of the middle-aged man continuing to talk on the phone. High angle shot of a single Japanese fighter plane over water, with shadows of other planes nearby. Close up shot of the wing of the fighter plane showing the Japanese flag. Low angle shot of the Jeep pulling in front of a building. The golfer jumps out of the vehicle and tracking shot is used as he walks rapidly toward the building. He is met and saluted by another military man in brown uniform and handed a piece of paper.
Interchanging shots of the major players in the drama make rounds out the story, emphasizing how the U.S. military was unprepared for the attack by the Japanese military
03:16 – 03:30
Tracking shot of the golfer as he continues to stare at the piece of paper. He stops walking and camera zooms in as he looks up with a worried expression. He turns to speak to the man in the brown uniform. Camera zooms in to a black and white photo of a naval ship captioned in Japanese characters and Roman letters underneath it that reads, “U.S.S. Oklahoma.” There is also another black and white photograph of an Asian woman placed to the upper left of the ship photograph. Low angle shot, then zoom in of the Japanese pilot wearing the bandanna and looking determined.
Cinematic technique of zooms and tracking shot clearly shows that the Japanese attack planes have assigned targets
03:31 – 03:43
Long take, tracking shot of island underneath white clouds, with a group of fighter planes swarming towards it
Aerial shot of the island reminds brings the clip to full circle as it reminds the viewer of the aerial shot of the island at the beginning of the clip. This time, the Japanese fighter planes are shown descending on the island as a group, instead of taking off individually from the aircraft carrier. The shot intensifies the drama and creates a feeling of impending disaster.
Audio Track Analyses
For the audio track analyses, I let the video clip run in the background as I had a Word document on screen. I noted the audio elements I heard in the Word document. When listing out the dialogue below, I used Navy acronyms: ADM for Admiral; CDR for Commander; and LT for Lieutenant. Through various audio elements such as human voices and mechanical sounds, the story of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor unfolds. There were a few things that I missed when I viewed the clip with the sound off that were clarified for me when the audio elements were turned on. The dialogue revealed hierarchy of the various people and the locations of the scenes.
The clip begins with flute music which fades to the background as a male accented voice speaks in English about destiny, honor, and service to the nation:
“Revered Father, I go now to fulfill my mission and my destiny. I hope it is a destiny that will bring honor to our family. And if it requires my life, I will sacrifice it gladly to be a good servant of our nation.”
Background music switches to drums beating and male voices yelling. Steady beating drum. Engines revving, music escalates, propellers and planes taking off. The drum beats fade away.
Male voice with an American accent, states uncertainly, “Hey I’ve got a large haze. Propellers That’s too big to be planes, right?” This is intertwined with increasing sound of propellers.
Male voice with American accent speaks in English, “Is that what you want to do? Knight to knight 5. Boom. Wrong move! “ Sound of small object being moved on a desk.
Another male voice in American accent urgently states, “Lieutenant, radar’s picking up a large return moving in from the northeast. “
LT: “Relax! A flight of B17s is coming in from the mainland.”
More propellers .
Male voice with American accent states in English, “That’s a heck of a lot of B17s.”
Golf ball being hit. “Good shot, Hot” Sound of a vehicle slowing down and braking.
“This better be good, Commander.”
CDR: “One of our destroyers reports having fired and sunk enemy submarine attempting to enter Pearl Harbor at 0653.”
ADM: “It’s 7:20 [a.m.]”
CDR: “We had decoding delays, Admiral.”
ADM: “Relay this to Washington. Recall the staff.”
The sound of propellers and flying planes gets louder then fades. Sound switches to mechanical typing .
Male voice in American accent reads, “Failure. Peace talks useless.”
Handset being picked up. Male voice in American accent states urgently, “Thurman here. Tokyo transmitting to their embassy in Washington: ‘Discontinue use of your decoding machine and dispose of immediately. Special emphasis on destroying important parts.’ Do you read that? Acknowledge!”
Breathless American male voice states, “Admiral, Naval Intel intercepted a transmission to Tokyo from their embassy in Washington instructing to break apart all decoder machines and burn all secret documents.”
ADM: “Japanese are expecting a war. Should we?”
Increasing sound of airplanes and high-tension music. Video clip ends.
“We Got a Large Haze” Analyses
With both auditory and visual senses engaged at the same time, I was able to get a more powerful story from the video clip. When I only had either one of these two senses engaged, I missed some parts of the story. For example, without any sounds or dialogue, I could not distinguish the ranks for the American military, nor could I place some of the scenes in context. Without any visual, the sounds tended to mix together and if I had not viewed the video clip beforehand, the sounds alone would not have told me a coherent story. Because of my previous viewing of the video clip, I was able to associate the sounds to scenes I remembered from the viewing.
When I viewed the entire clip with both audio and video elements, the story was more intense for me:
In the beginning of the clip, when you hear the accented English saying, “Revered father…” and you see a young man put his head on his hands as if in supplication and the camera pans to altar-like table, you wonder if he is praying to a God he is calling father or if he is addressing his parent. Only later on, when the accented voice mentions “…honor to our family…” and you see a young man writing at a desk do you realize that the “father” being addressed is a parent.
The scene that shows young Japanese air men running, torpedoes being loaded onto planes, the ceremonial toast, and senior military officials overseeing the activities is immediately preceded by the accented voice ending his letter with , “And if it requires my life, I will sacrifice it gladly to be a good servant of our nation.”
Interchanging shots served to provide a contrast between scenes and emphasized how well-planned the Japanese attack was and how unprepared the Americans were.
The scene immediately preceding the Jeep arriving at the military headquarters was of a Japanese plane in the air and the mechanical sound of the propellers blended in to the mechanical sound of the Jeep slowing down and braking. I would liken this to the “match cut” camera technique.
By turning off the audio the first time I viewed the clip and then not looking at the video when I listened to the clip, I was able to notice more of the audio and video elements used. As a result, I appreciated the techniques used when I viewed the entire clip with both video and audio elements.
In keeping with the travel/history theme of this blog, below is a slideshow of the photos I took during my 2012 visit to O’ahu. The slideshow includes photos of the USS Oklahoma Memorial. The USS Oklahoma is depicted in the video as being target of one of the Japanese attack planes, as shown in 03:24 – 03:25 of the clip:
I admit that I’ve never really thought much of cinematic techniques in play when watching movies, nor how much I have been manipulated into liking a movie through these techniques (e.g., such as orienting the viewer). This DS106 section on “Reading Movies” has been an eye-opener. I feel I’ve gained some literacy in cinematic techniques! Of the 12 short videos on filmmaking, I watched the following five:
I found Kubrick’s one-point perspective interesting and creepy at the same time. The one-point perspective is when the movie is seen from one perspective, the viewer’s. As the viewer, I felt that I was the only static entity there; everything else happened around me. It gave me a feeling of helplessness and being out of control, as the camera angle seemed to trap me in place and I could not move to avoid uncomfortable scenes. I appreciate how effective this technique is in making creepy movies. I have not seen many of Kubrick’s work but from what I’ve read about him (in websites and magazines, not movies :-)), this is just the type of cinematic technique he would employ.
I may be the last person on earth who has not seen The Shining. I have seen stills of the movie, especially that iconic one of Jack Nicholson peering through a crack in the door, but I have not seen the entire movie. As such, without context from the story, I could not appreciate the zooms employed as cinematic technique in the montage I watched.
I enjoyed viewing both the Top 20 Cinematic Techniques and the Camera Angles and Techniques videos. Both provided me as a view with different perspectives, however the terms cinematic technique terms included assumed that one was familiar with them. I had to look each of them up to fully appreciate the value they added to the films. I did a Google search and found the following resources helpful:
I selected only six of the 20 videos from Top 20 Cinematic Techniques to analyze below, specifically, the movies I had previously scene, having the context helped me appreciate the cinematic techniques employed the selected scene:
Film
Technique/Camera Angle
Value
Children of Men (2006)
Long Take, Doggicam
With the doggicam technique, the camera moves freely 360 degrees and shows the rioting on the street from the perspective of each of the four characters trapped in the car. The camera also allows the view to see each of the character’s reaction to the chaos.
Children of Men (2006)
Long Take, Tracking Shot
The tracking shot allows the view to see the chaotic scenery from the perspective of one character (Clive Owen) as he observes first from a window, then through a doorway, until he eventually unsteadily crosses the street while dodging danger.
Ato)nement (2007
Long Take, Steadicam
With the steadicam technique, the camera becomes the perfect observer as it moves freely like a person through a scene. However, unlike the doggicam, the movement is one-directional. The long take in this scene shows the landscape. Because of the steadicam, instead of focusing on the two characters walking forward, the viewer’s eyes (and emotions) are riveted towards the background scene where the horses are being shot point-blank
Star Wars IV (1977)
Extreme Establishing Shot
Shows the “distance” the spacecraft, the Millenium Falcon, traveled, past a few planets. One shot shows Earth (blue planet) in the distance then the planet gets larger. The Millenium Falcon enters earth, hover over Tikal National Park in Guatemala, and landing by a Mayan pyramid
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Establishing Shot
The scene shows Hobbiton, with the sun shining and a gentle breeze blowing over its green hills, as Gandalf arrives at Frodo Baggins’s house. It establishes Hobbiton as an idyllic place that Frodo will eventually leave to go on his quest.
Cowboys and Aliens(2011)
Pan
The camera pans through a chaparral landscape that seems abandoned (completed by audio of insects) and the viewer is lulled into thinking that it is a peaceful scene, until Daniel Craig’s character is jolted awake (and so is the viewer)
In April 2009, I visited the Tik’al Mayan ruins in El Peten, Guatemala. The national park’s claim to fame has always been being in Star Wars IV (see 01:35-02:04 of the Top 20 Cinematic Techniques video). Having been on the same spot on top of Temple IV as that Rebel in 01:57-02:01 of the video, I can further appreciate the cinematography involved. Those ledges are narrow! I’m sure George Lucas and his film crew used all sorts to equipment to get the camera shots they wanted. What damage to pre-Columbian Mayan temples caused by modern equipment during filming, I hope was offset by the fact that Tikal National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979, two years after Star Wars IV was released. I’d like to believe that the film contributed to Tikal being listed. If George Lucas had used the wrong cinematic technique, would it have taken Tikal National Park a few more years to make it to the UNESCO World Heritage list?
Film and Travelis a great site that highlights places around the world that have been featured in TV and movies. There’s a post on Star Wars IV and Tikal National Park, but I thought I’d post my own photos to this blog:
This weekly summary should be titled, “The Sound of Silence,” or at least the second half of the week. This week started more auspiciously than it ended, I am sad to admit. I created a SoundCloud account and posted my first audio assignment on Monday. I was very proud of posting something early in the week, that I was on cloud nine!
Then my productivity went downhill. I was stymied by audio editing tool, Audacity. I must admit that early in the week, I was filled with trepidation at the thought of audio editing. It is an activity in which I do not have any experience. I have not worked with either SoundCloud or Audacity. To help mitigate last minute panic, early in the week, I prepared for the assignments:
I explored the various websites where I can download audio files. Some I found too confusing; whereas others seemed to want my billing information despite touting “free” audio files. I liked the ease with which I could navigate, search for, and download audion files from FreeSound. So I used this site.
Instead of randomly downloading audio files from FreeSound, I developed a story idea first. I decided on a snapshot story of a day in the life of an inanimate object, my travel backpack, Becki. Having a story outline made it easy for me to search for specific audio files from FreeSound.
I watched my assigned segment of Charlie Chaplin’s “The Circus.” Then I watched the entire 3 minute clip to get an overall context of the story.
I further broke down my assigned segment into five-second pieces and in a table, mapped out actions that required foley sounds.
I downloaded the support software LAME library. Or, so I thought.
As mentioned, Audacity and audio editing were challenges for me. I found the tips helpful but it still took time for me to find ease in manipulating the track timeline and adding effects. The true challenge came from the support tool LAME Library. I admit to not following the directions correctly (hmm….maybe this can be a candidate for storifying…), so I ended up downloading a few files that negatively impacted my internet connectivity. I had to engage the Help Desk to get rid of these files and restore back to my system’s functionality. Yes, by now, this is Sunday and I had wasted a few days. Granted, it was a very busy week between personal and professional conflicting priorities. I am glad, however, of the prep work I completed, because as soon as I got my Audacity tool sorted out and I was able to export MP3 files to SoundCloud, completing the assignments was relatively easy.
Due to the time crunch, I chose a fairly simple second audio assignment, Taking Back SPAM. I was looking for the good ol’ Nigerian bank scam or one of those “you’ll get 10 years of bad luck if you don’t pass this on” e-mails, but it seems my e-mail programs have gotten better at filtering these old SPAM classics. I suppose mail order bride and relationship seeking SPAMs are timeless, so I was able to find one to use.
The sources I used to search for SPAM mail were my personal e-mail accounts; however, I soon found that I did not have very interesting things in my SPAM folder. The one SPAM mail I finally settled on was an e-mail from someone trying to make a personal connection…by sending SPAM mail!
I used Audacity to record myself in a baby voice reading the e-mail. I have a negative opinion of women who talk in baby voices with their partners in romantic relationships. So, I applied this “ridiculousness” to this assignment. The SPAM mail reminds me of those messages in a bottle that people throw into the ocean in hopes of stranger picking it up and taking action on the message. To create that ambience, I layered the recording with an audio file of waves crashing against rocks I used an audio file that I did not use on the Sound Effects Story assignment, which I had downloaded from FreeSound. I exported the Audacity file to MP3 and uploaded it to SoundCloud, so I can embed it to this blog post.
Below is the screenshot of the SPAM e-mail and the photo I used for the SoundCloud avatar:
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