Jonas Mekas

Natalie did a wonderful job of showcasing the beautiful life of Jonas Mekas. Having escaped Nazi labor camps, Mekas voyaged to America in search of a better life. After washing up on the shores of New York he purchased a 16mm camera that he soon fell deeply in love with. Mekas loved the concept of catching the “snapshots” of life and soon he found himself shooting anything and everything around him. His first film “Guns of the trees” which displayed no real plot but rather a spontaneous slice of life feel to the film with an ambiguous ending. As he grew his own personal style Mekas soon started to gain a reputation and popularity for his documentary style shooting, simple editing and repetition. A tremendous experimental/avante garde community began to sprout up out of New York with Mekas, Warhol and Brakhage at the center of it all. As a self-described child at heart, Mekas saw film as a celebration of life and which often included his family, friends and loved ones in his pieces of work. In one of his most famous films “Walden” the viewer is shown a chronological home movie style film that showcases the people and places in his life. Jonas Mekas still lives till this day influencing and creating as much as his young heart desires. A special shout out to Natalie for making such a great presentation on his work and life!  

The Absolute Film

Absolute film or “visual music” is a unique form of cinema that perfectly blends together the two Medias, film and music. Dr. William Moritz beautifully defines it as,  “The most unique thing that cinema could do is present a visual spectacle comparable to auditory music, with fluid, dynamic imagery rhythmically paced by editing, dissolving, superimposition, segmented screen, contrasts of positive and negative, color ambiance and other cinematic devices.” The first Absolute film was created early in the 20^th century as artists would simply paint on the film stock frame by frame to create images that would rhythmically match the music or sounds being played. After watching some of the examples Moritz provides in his writing, it is truly unbelievable the amount of meticulous work the artist must have put in to create these films. In fact the complexity and difficulty of these films often forced artist to completely abandon this art form for example. At a large Absolute Film screening of some of the best artist, “Hans Richter’s 30-second “Film is Rhythm” had been listed on the program, but when Richter realized the scope and complexity of Ruttmann and Eggeling’s films, he withdrew his little test.” While absolute film is quite an odd genre it directly influences cinema around the world. One movie in particular that you can see direct correlation would be Disney’s “Fantasia” in particular Mickey Mouse’s sorcerer’s apprentice scene. The striking composition of the orchestra accompanied by the visual of Mickey directing a band of mops reminds the viewer how incredibly important rhythm is in not only music but also film. 

Cymatics

My first memory of cymatics was in 5^th grade when I watched Jurassic Park for the first time. We all remember the scene of the T-rex stomping closer and closer and the waves in the water in the glass cup growing bigger and bigger. When sound is given a medium, it comes alive. Whether it be water, paint, sand or any other movable mass we have come to realize that the invisible wave of sound can make art. It makes sense because we understand how sound waves work but never before have we been able to visualize it. The field of cymatics is still very green and inexperienced but the possibilities seem endless in this hidden language of nature. In these sounds waves could be patterns. Patterns we could understand and create universal understandings for communication. Through these studies we have figured out how far whale mating calls travel. That dolphins give other members of its pod names and have a unique language with each other. All of this knowledge is locked away. But cymatics can help bridge us back with the animal kingdom or make beautiful art. The amount of possibilities is only limited to the imagination. 

Sound Project 1a

Birds chirping. Air conditioning units. Cars passing by in the distance. These are all things you hear all day everyday but hardly ever notice. As our group traveled around searching for sounds to isolate and record we quickly noticed the loud drone of these sounds in the background. Things like “Wait, there’s an airplane flying overhead in this recording” or “no the AC unit is humming really loud in the background” were said many times. The trouble is not finding sounds. The trouble is in isolating sounds in nature. It became a fun challenge to see what sounds we could capture as cleanly as possible. After some trial and error, we developed a knack for what worked and what didn’t. Building a sound library is an endless task because no two sounds are the same. Every sound can be used for a different situation in film. This is project truly makes you realize that video is only half of the equation in film. 

Theory of the Film: Sound

We are never without sound. Very few times in our lives are we met with complete and udder silence. We merely slide the array of constant sounds to the back of our minds without noticing. As Bela Balazs puts it, “Our ear, however, is not less sensitive, it is only less educated than our eye.” The very power of your hearing is immense but our lack of sourcing the noises and identifying them is where the power of hearing falls subsequent to your sight. Sounds can completely change your emotions. A loud thud or scream can pump your blood and adrenaline or a soothing lullaby from a mother can calm us into a meditative peace. We never fully understand the power of sound until we close our eyes and truly try to see the world with only our ears.       

Sound Observation 2

A distant cry drones in the background. A group of birds take turns chirping and squawking as loud as they can. Their high pitches chime into the low buzz of the massive amount of traffic noise that roars from the highway behind my house. You can tell when the light turns green because of the massive increase in volume. Squealing brake pads almost resemble the bird chirps in the trees. The gears of the shifting cars sound like a singer changing octaves. A pair of crows shuffle around a tree branch creating a cacophony of wood flexing and leaves brushing against one another as reverberates off the other trees and eventually down to my ears. With your eyes closed you really feel close to the sounds but as you look around you can’t see exactly who is making the noises. 

Sound Observation

As I sit and contemplate the sounds that surround me, the first thing I hear is the rotation of the ceiling fan above me. The metal cord that controls the speed of the fan clink clink clinks against the glass light creating a rhythm. I can feel the cold air being sliced through by the blades above which creates a low hum that is naturally soothing to the ears. I can feel myself getting sleepy. I notice a buzz stirring outside my window. The sound of crickets in unison as they take turns playing their songs. Some hold long, strenuous notes like an opera singer and some ribbet back and forth like a creaky old chair screeching along the wooden floors.