MOMI Reflection

Two weeks ago, our class took a trip to the Museum of Moving Images in Astoria, Queens. This museum gives people an understanding of the technology behind film and television, the art, history, and digital media that revolves around the notion behind the things we’ve watched growing up, through today's cinema. This museum not only holds thousands of collected artifacts relating to different production periods, but a vast collection of video games based from the 60’s (that you could actually interact with), magazine covers from different time periods, and various collections of themed toy figures.

What I liked most from this museum was the ability to interact with different types of production tools. My personal favorite section was the walk in studio which was used to re-record voice audio for a scene. It basically shows how efficient a person would need to be because it shows that timing is everything in production.

Aside from production tools, another section I favored in the museum were the display of costumes. It held costumes that were worn on set during the biggest films of that time, such as James Cameron’s, Titanic and Woody Allen’s, Annie Hall just to name a few. I thought this section was favorable because costume work is something I appreciate.

After visiting the museum, I learned that there is a lot more to film than what you see on the screen. The amount of work and production that goes behind the scenes never ceases to amaze me. Not a lot of people can appreciate the type of work that goes behind the making of a film, and I am just glad that this experience to the museum has expanded that for me.

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Editing Analysis

For this section on “Editing Analysis,” I decided to examine a scene from the film, The Darjeeling Limited, by Wes Anderson. In this scene, you’ll see a businessman (played by Bill Murray) running, as he attempts to catch his train. Then suddenly out of the blue, Peter (played by Adrien Brody) makes his first appearance into the film by running alongside of Murray, attempting to catch the same train. The scene ends up with Brody’s character successfully making it aboard, as Murray’s character, unfortunately, is seen drifting farther and farther away from the camera.

I chose to specifically focus on Adrien Brody’s running sequence. What I liked most from this scene was the slow-motion cut. While the cuts in this particular scene are obvious and not seamless, it still nonetheless clearly tells what’s currently going on well. This scene also maintained a direct screen direction of Brody’s character as he was running. Though while the entire scene was slowed down, the style made everything look so graceful, as it was shown on one continuous take until his character boarded the train. In addition, the colors in this scene were all warm toned, signifying, what I felt, as a light and graceful scene.

There’s always the thought of whether or not there is a “right” place to cut in a scene. For instance, for the scene I chose, I felt that the shots shown were cut in a particular order that I would’ve done myself. The only shot I wish they’d capture in the film were medium, close-up shots for both Murray and Brody’s characters as they were running towards the train. Other than this, there wouldn’t be anything else I’d change in the film as it was all a work of art to me.

Link for scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYK8r3anY6I

Raven's Audio Portrait by Alexandrine Baldillo

https://soundcloud.com/user-676513956/ravens-audio-portrait-by-alexandrine-baldillo

"What I Hear"

        For “What I Hear,” I spent it on a sunny afternoon in Central Park. Towards the south end entrance of Central Park, I managed to find an empty bench next to the pond. It was an afternoon on a week day, and it was surprisingly filled with people. Left and right, I heard different ethnic languages being spoken. Very few I understood, like English and Tagalog, and others that sounded like words to me without any meaning. In the background were distant noises of horse carriages. The horses heels would make a patterned noise as they walked their path, and then a couple seconds later, drifting far into the distance. That noise gets replaced in seconds with passing cars. Occasionally, sirens would emerge in the distance. During my sitting, I managed to hear a total of two sirens occur between a twenty minute span. In the foreground were people and ducks who shared the lawn. Some kept to themselves, as others would talk amongst other people in a appropriate tone. From overhead were the sounds of squirrels jumping off one branch to another. Some would scurry in race for a nut falling fresh to the ground, and another would be quickly chasing after it. People who were mesmerized by the interaction of squirrels were mostly tourists, and since I was sitting in a nearby entrance of Central Park, there was always a new face walking by.         Central Park holds a location for being so diverse. It’s considered one of the top places to visit in NYC, so it’s welcoming thousands of visitors each day. Of all the locations in the city, it’s also one of the most calming. Away from all the hustle noises Manhattan is known to have, being in Central Park gives a relaxing feel because you’re surrounded by nature and less of the heavy crowds in comparison to Times Square. And if you’re there long enough, sometimes you forget that you’re in the heart of Manhattan.

Artist Statement

        My work has always consisted on focusing on minimal elements. Within the last couple years, I used traveling as a way to get influenced. Mainly in photography, I capture things using negative space, symmetrical compositions, and sometimes through black and white. Time to time, I like to go classic and use film. Primarily with the use of my Holga, I find that it’s the closest thing to creating something vintage.

In film, I admire the works of Wes Anderson. Known for the films, “Bottle Rocket,” “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” and most recently, “The Grand Budapest Hotel,”(just to name a few) his distinctive visuals alone are one to be noted for. As I mentioned earlier, similar to my own interests, I enjoy focusing on minimal elements in my work. While there is so much out there in the world of photography and film, I feel like you can’t go wrong with focusing on the little things as well. In this class, I hope to experiment with continuous, uninterrupted shots, be introduced to a variety of different film techniques, and create new depths that I have yet to explore.