The Witness (final cut)

As i worked through my rough cuts, they continued to inspire new ideas for my final edit. I intend to compose a somewhat serene setting, but soon the presence of a being is founded and chases me. See if you can figure out who it really is...

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The Observer

I consider this cut a "pg" version of my final edit, in the sense that sonically, the audio track to me sounds more meditative and less violating than The Witness.

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Peeping

This is my attempt to compose the presence of "the other." Really, I'm just experimenting different combinations of sound and imagery. I introduce panic at the beginning and the progression is a means to personify paranoia.

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Light Show

This piece is simply an exercise or a quick but throughly executed idea of how i wanted my soundtrack to support my imagery and vice versa. This first rough cut fully inspired my final concept between the sound-image relationship.

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Production Strategy

I plan to pursue my drift at night, in an area between my first and second drifts. Here, I believe that I will be able to capture the true presence of my home town. I will traverse a little of the suburbs, a little of the city, a little of the corn fields, and as well as a new addition, Fowler Lake. I’m trying to find areas that feel uneasy because frankly Oconomowoc makes me feel very paranoid and distressed. It might be all the horror stories that I’ve heard of werewolves, Bigfoot and UFOs, but I’m certain there’s something lurking within the shadows of my town and I intend to uncover it. Even if I don’t document any scary creatures, I plan to manipulate my footage so that the viewer feels the existence of something unnatural.

My image capturing strategy will be limited to imagery of motion that imitates eye movement and of human-made light.

I will also capture sounds of only close up industrial or mechanical machinery and of the “air” within a space.

Brain Storm

1. How does Oconomowoc transform in respect to imagery and sound from day to night?

2. Can I suggest the presence of an individual without showing a single person?

3. Are there any areas where I may be able to explore externally and internally?

4. How can I use transportation as a vehicle for narrative?

5. Are there any areas where I will be able to isolate sounds from other distractions?

6. Can I evoke claustrophobia by capturing open space?

7. How do the suburbs and “city” compare and contrast?

8. How can I remove man-made lights out of context?

9. What and where are the most uncomfortable locations in town?

10. How can I make mechanical sounds sound organic?

Treasured Moment

What I’ve come to realized through my experiences from these drifts is what I value the most is never really the material I produce but the state of mind that I achieve during. About three hours after walking around I enter an almost autopilot state, where I don’t even pay attention to what I’m capturing. I just keep shooting. It isn’t because I’m tired or lazy, rather I’m seeing with a different set of eyes. I would relate it to some kind of high, where I see what the best way to capture an individual, place or thing is. I love it. I enter a trance where no matter how mundane or spectacular the subject is, it is always visually interesting. I can’t really explain how it all works. All I know is that it only occurs far along the journey with an incredible euphoria. Although I do not believe I need this experience to produce quality work, I do believe that it has allowed me to realize the potential within me and for that alone, I consider that feeling priceless.

Woah! That's News To Me

Some things people can’t help are preconceived notions, whether they are cultural or social or even as simple as the predicted outcome of an idea. It’s just how humans naturally function so that we’re able to problem solve and determine the consequences of our actions. As I went out on drift one I had imagined finding all these amazing sounds I had apparently been to busy to notice, but the wasn’t the case at all. I struggled through the entire drift because I wanted the sounds I heard in my head. When I finally stopped searching, that’s when I was bombarded with an abundance of fantastic soundscapes. I understood then that natural sounds can not be manipulated, at least not during that stage of production. It would be nearly impossible to isolate any one sound among an ever long-lasting city orchestra. I was surprised to hear as much as had, only after I had stopped listening.

Did you know someone can call the cops on you if you do your homework? Yup, it happened to me, it’s crazy! Alright, so I’m on drift two, taking some photographs here and there, minding my own business. Suddenly, as I turn around from taking some shots of a telephone pole, a police car startles me with its siren. It turns out that some lady had seen a shady looking fellow walking suspiciously, taking pictures of homes. I was shocked. I mean I suppose I can understand her position, but one: I’m pretty young and well dress (for the most part) and two: does it not occur to her that there might be students in the area? Anyways, the cop, whom I right of the back gave attitude to, turned out to be genuinely interested in my project. His wife, turns out is also a photographer interested in the textures organic foods provide. Heh, who would’ve thought?

Near the beginning of my drift two I took a number of stills within a children’s miniature golf course. It was a pretty interesting location, granted it was abandon for the winter. I must have taken at least fifty different shots of golf lanes, holes and the space in general. However, during post production they all ended up on the cutting room floor. I concluded that the feelings the course evoked in me had simply not shown through the photo medium. It didn’t occur to me to shoot any video, since there would be no action occurring in the frame. Reflecting back now, a simple slow pan across the course would have worked perfectly. Even though I expected to but didn’t use this material for any of my drift two videos it has inspired a side project which I will be working on during the summer. No work ever goes wasted, just recycled.

Special Memories

Somewhere near the middle of my second drift I turned unto a wide open road. There was a desolate corn field to my left and another one to my right. You see, I live in a town the native folks like to call Oconomowoc. Pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, there are many empty fields in the surrounding areas. Curious as to what kind of imagery these locations might possess, I decided to explore. At one point I struggled with my batteries, hoping to get a shot of a few geese flying from afar. I managed to capture a few seconds before the camera died again. Repeating the process, only this time much more frustrated, I noticed the geese heading my way. “Come on, I have to get this,!” I said as I attempted to warm the batteries in my hand, licking the ends over and over again. The birds landed on the same street I was on and began to walk toward me in a straight line. All at once I was baffled and angry, but completely at ease. As the birds continued to walk past me and down the side of the street, I just watched them. Because my camera was useless to me, I wasn’t preoccupied with trying to figure out the best angle to shoot them or how I would use the footage in my video. I recorded the memory with my own eyes and that in itself makes that experience much more meaningful to me.

Further along the same drift and almost at its end, I came across a small bridge over the Oconomowoc River. The sun was nearly setting and by this point my camera laid deep within its grave. As I watched the yellow light dancing across the shallow water, I reflected. Is this really what I want to do? I mean really, what am I trying to prove? I suppose I’ve always questioned if I’m heading in the right direction, but I think I may have found an answer during that brief moment. I have a complicated relationship with my family, so much so that I guess I try to avoid them. Maybe that’s how it all began or maybe it’s a reaction to it all, but in either case I realized my purpose. It isn’t to show the world how my mind works or what interests me or even anything that may be wrong within it. I make film just to make film. I do it to reveal to myself my strengths and weaknesses. I do it to create new experiences and challenges. Making film helps me understand myself at a more intimate level and if that isn’t the meaning of life, I don’t know what is.

I Have A Problem

During my first drift I have to admit that I was quite resentful of having to walk for four hours so that this notion of the “comfort zone” would be overcome. Nevertheless, I held up to both this and my walking strategy. About two hours into the drift I was completely dissatisfied with all of my field recordings. To me, there was nothing special about them. It was the same old cars passing by or birds chirping in a tree track after track. But, I still trekked on and wouldn’t you know it, but about 3 hours in I ventured into a treasure cove bountiful with rich and dynamic ambience. Not until that very moment had I captured a single worth-listening to sound. My mood completely changed, overwhelmed with the possibilities before me. I was so caught up in the process that by the time I glanced at my watch to see how much time I had left, I was well over the suggested four hours by nearly two hours. I don’t know how exactly to explain how or what had happened, but I can say that pushing me out of my “comfort zone” was not all what had really happened. I don’t know what zone or state of being I am in right now, but back then, when I got caught up in the moment, that was my comfort zone.

The stress and resilience I endure during this experience, I would say stemmed from the particular walking strategy I chose. Basically, at every street corner I would choose at random a coin from my pocket that I marked with an action. I actually thought it was quite clever and creative, but I quickly thought otherwise. From only a few minutes into the drift and even until the very last, I was plagued by the left turn. Committed to the strategy as I was, only to disprove that this method of walking was completely asinine, I soon found myself to be the ass for judging an experience before actually experiencing its some how mystical effects.