Our final film project is due on June 5^th by 3pm. The assignment was inspired by our reoriented relationship with time since we began sheltering in. I know many students have been reverting to their natural sleep patterns and perhaps have finally begun getting enough sleep during the last couple of months. Perhaps students are also beginning to dream differently, literally while sleeping, but also while daydreaming about “reality.”

Here is the stated assignment sent out last week:

Your final project this year is to create a 30 second (or less) film, which explores dream logic and/or an experience of time. The final project must be submitted via email or uploaded to Vimeo or Youtube with link sent to my email by 3pm on June 5^th. 

All films must include at least one slow motion shot. Films may consist of a single shot, uncut, if you do not have an ability to edit at this time or if you prefer to challenge yourself to create a moving-master-shot (without any cuts). You may also edit shots together into a traditional sequence, if you choose. Regarding sound, films may be silent or may include score (music). If you borrow music from another artist, please try to credit them in some way. If you are unable to create credits, simply email me pertinent info. Please refrain from including dialogue in your films, unless you choose to record non-synch voice-over.

I imagine, your film ideas today may be vastly different than those you were toying around with last week. I challenge you to go with your heart and create something that means something to you.

Joel Meyerowitz, a photographer, shared a promising message to those looking to document our ever-evolving world: “You don’t have to be an artist, you can be any person with a camera and a question.

If you have an impulse, a stray thought that just comes through your mind that triggers a moment of reflection, follow that,” he explained enthusiastically. “Don’t try to intellectualize and think, ‘Oh, I should do this, or I should do that.’ Do the thing that comes like a fragrance.”

CTE Film I and Film II Final Project Due Friday, June 5^th by 3pm

In “Meshes of the Afternoon,” Maya Deren delves into dream logic and a state of becoming oneself (metamorphosis). In “La Jetée,” Chris Marker scrambles temporal order (linear time) and pieces together memories of the future. Quarantine and remote learning have caused many of us to re-orient our relationship with both sleep and time.  

Your final project this year is to create a 30 second (or less) film which explores dream logic and/or an experience of time. 

All films must include at least one slow motion shot. Films may consist of a single shot, uncut, if you do not have an ability to edit at this time or if you prefer to challenge yourself to create a moving-master-shot (without any cuts). You may also edit shots together into a traditional sequence, if you choose. Regarding sound, films may be silent or may include score (music). If you borrow music from another artist, please try to credit them in some way. If you are unable to create credits, simply email me pertinent info. Please refrain from including dialogue in your films, unless you choose to record non-synch voice-over. 

Watch “An Open Letter: Portraits and Voices in Quarantine.” http://cchs.ccusd.org/apps/video/watch.jsp?v=270035

In my opinion, you will need to turn off Closed Captioning to fully enjoy the film.

Please email Ms. Reyes a comment about this film by Friday, May 29^th at 3pm. Please make the subject of your email, “An Open Letter.” You may discuss individual images you enjoy or the body of work as a whole. 

Reminder: I will be at CCHS on Wednesday between 10am and noon at the Huron Gate (off of Braddock Dr.) to receive SD cards and return props and binders to you, if needed. Please email me (if you haven’t already), if you plan to visit campus on Wednesday. Also, please make sure to wear a mask and maintain social distance when you are visiting. I will be in the shade near Mr. Wisner's Ceramics classroom. The gate will remain closed but we have been given permission by CCHS Administration to exchange items through the gate (: 

We will resume Zoom sessions this Thursday and Friday for all classes. I will send out a reminder and the Zoom link on Wednesday. Attendance at Zoom sessions is worth participation points. Please live stream your image for full points. In order to maintain a community, we need to see each other.

Covid 19 Silver Lining: I now hear birds chirping in the mornings :>= Ms. Reyes

Film Viewing Assignment

https://vimeo.com/340430995 (in English w/out subtitles)

or https://vimeo.com/309034119 (in French with English subtitles)

or https://vimeo.com/398558010 (in French with English Closed Captioning)

La Jetée, the legendary science fiction film about time and memory after a nuclear apocalypse, was released in 1964 and is considered by many critics to be among the greatest experimental films ever made. (It provided the basis for Terry Gilliam's 1995 film 12 Monkeys and David Bowie’s “Jump They Say.”) Chris Marker, who is the undisputed master of the film essay, composed this post apocalyptic story almost entirely of black-and-white still photographs. The story concerns an experiment in recovering and changing the past through the action of memory, yet the film can be read as a poem dominated by a single moving image, which in its context becomes one of the supreme moments in the history of film.

Chris Marker, filmmaker, poet, novelist, photographer, editor, videographer and digital multimedia artist, challenged moviegoers, philosophers, and himself for years with his complex queries about time, memory, and the rapid advancement of life on this planet. Marker's La Jetée is one of the most influential, radical science-fiction films ever made, a tale of time travel told in still images.

*After Viewing La Jetée by Chris Marker and also last week’s film assignment, “Meshes of the Afternoon” by Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, please send me an email entitled TIME TRAVEL. No content is necessary.

Further viewing (required)

Mira Nair on La Jetée

https://vimeo.com/281289405

Further reading (optional)

Thrilling and prophetic: Why Film-maker Chris Marker's Radical Images Influenced So Many Artists

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/apr/15/thrilling-prophetic-chris-marker-experimental-films?CMP=share_btn_link

Further viewing (optional)

Remembering Chris Marker

https://vimeo.com/50283533

Kanopy Film Viewing Assignment

Please watch “Meshes of the Afternoon” by Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid

https://lacounty.kanopy.com/video/masterworks-american-avant-garde-experimen-0

Further reading (optional)

https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/maya-deren-meshes-of-the-afternoon-1943/

Further viewing (optional)

“Meditation on Violence” by Maya Deren

https://lacounty.kanopy.com/video/masterworks-american-avant-garde-experimen-0

Further viewing (optional)

In the Mirror of Maya Deren: An Innovative Avant-Garde Filmmaker by Martina Kudlacek

https://lacounty.kanopy.com/video/mirror-maya-deren

Audio recording Assignment Due Friday May 8^th at 3pm:

Record the “letter to yourself” you wrote and email audio recording to me. Please note: you can edit the original letter if you decide you do not want to reveal something to your peers or if your ideas or sentiment have changed.

Begin recording of the letter with the words “Dear Alexis (please insert your own name).” Then read your letter. You can sign off any way you want J

Use the Voice Memos app on your iphone

Watch this video for easy Voice Memo app instructions: https://vimeo.com/83811743

*disregard the fact that you are not on a phone being interviewed…

Android phones don’t always come with a voice memo app already installed, but there are plenty of good options in the Google Play store, such as ASR Voice Recorder, or Easy Voice Recorder. 

Instructions:

After recording, click on file name and change file name to be your First and Last name

Hit elipses (…) to send

Hit share (box with up arrow)

Choose Mail

Email to alexisreyes@ccusd.org

More Tips on using your phone to record audio:

Sit in a quiet place (not the bathroom as it has too much echo)

DO NOT tap fingers or wear clothing that makes noise if moved

If your letter is printed on a sheet of paper make sure you set the paper down (or read off of a computer screen) so we cannot hear you holding or moving the paper

Drink a glass of water before recording so your mouth does not sound dry

DO NOT sit near traffic or any device that generates white noise (refrigerator, window near traffic or birds, TV, computer fan, printer, fountain or source of water, etc.)

Place your phone on a table (ideally at mouth level) with the mic towards your mouth – DO NOT hold phone in your hand while recording

CTE Film I and Film II Assignments for the Week of April 27 ~ May 1, 2020

Sign up for Kanopy to watch films via the LA County Library: https://lacountylibrary.org/

Kanopy can be found under the DIGITAL LIBRARY tab in the left hand column (near the bottom).

If you have a LAPL library card, then use the number on your card to sign up for Kanopy permanently (for free).

If you do not have a LAPL library card, then you must first create a digital library card (valid for 90 days). Use the link found under the DIGITAL LIBRARY tab in the left hand column (under EXPLORE) named “Digital Library Card.”

Please send me an individual email when you have successfully signed up for Kanopy (DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL).

Watch the following 3 films on Vimeo prior to our Zoom Meeting:

“Thrush” by Gabriel Bisset-Smith and Graham Turner 2010 (04:28)

https://vimeo.com/4131811

“Bär” by Pascal Floerks 2014 (08:14) *You must click the CC (closed captioning) button to see captioning in English

https://vimeo.com/174254407

“Portraits from a Storm” by Peter Jordan 2011 (03:48)

https://vimeo.com/59041495

April 20, 2020

Hello from the Inside,

We discussed and studied practical lighting last week. You watched three videos and we discussed color temperature and three-point lighting in our Zoom class (refer to the Zoom agenda, if you missed class).

This week your task is to take a portrait of yourself or a family member using practical light(s). In your photograph, light should be thoughtfully employed and the image should tell a story.

Note: Do not submit a thoughtless selfie. If you choose to use yourself as the subject, please set up the shot using a stand-in actor and then when you are ready to take the photo of yourself, ask someone else to hold the camera/phone and shoot.

For inspiration, take a look at these portrait artists.

John Edmonds Anonymous

https://www.lightwork.org/archive/john-edmonds-anonymous/

Jill Greenberg Baby Don’t Cry

https://mymodernmet.com/baby-dont-cry-jill-greenberg/

Carrie Mae Weems The Kitchen Table Series

http://carriemaeweems.net/galleries/kitchen-table.html

Endia Beal Am I What You’re Looking For?

https://www.bjp-online.com/2017/04/endia-beals-am-i-what-youre-looking-for/

Cindy Sherman Untitled Film Stills (scroll down to the bottom of the web page to look at Untitled Film Stills #1through #83)

https://www.moma.org/artists/5392?locale=en&page=1

Please email/share your photograph with me by Friday at 3pm. You can take your photograph with any camera or phone. Thanks!

p.s. Last week, many of you only signed up for one or the other of the website subscriptions. If you notice in Aeries that you are missing points for one of these two assignments, please go back in to the CCHS teacher home pages and subscribe to both my Alexis Reyes teacher home page and your specific class period.

p.p.s. I will be taking attendance during this week’s Zoom session on Thursday or Friday depending on your period. I will send out the invitation/link on Wednesday.

Participation in your class Zoom meeting is worth points this week.

p.p.p.s. Hello (from the Inside) An Adele Parody by Chris Mann is very funny, if you haven’t seen it yet.

https://youtu.be/M5azNpTwVk8