We started photography YAAY !!! During this unit we will be taking photos of industrial areas and nature's best scenes. Putting them together to make a presentation. So, first thing was, we went over some, basics like aperture, ISO and F-stops, which I found confusing, because this is my first time with all this. Then recently we watched a movie : Manufactured Landscapes, in which (Canadian) Photographer, Edward Burtynsky travels the world observing changes in landscapes/the environment due to industrial work and manufacturing.
The movie focuses on Burtynsky photographing industrial landscapes i.e factories, landfills and expanding industries. The movie really tries to show the shocking reality, that the western world is ignorant of. For example exploitation of workers, the movie shows how the ill treated workers, slave away for hours, in terrible working conditions to make a small wage. It focusses on the effects of globalization on the environment, natural landscapes around the world.
This video was a rude awakening for me, I had no idea that, somethings like our cell phones and computers caused so much e-waste and that poverty stricken people across the world had to sort through it with no protective equipment, putting themselves at risk of disease. The thing that really hit home, was the image of children playing in the e-waste!
Just like our projects the movie had incorporated visuals with sound. There were scenes in which a narrator spoke, then, there was other sound (natural). There was also an interesting use of still images, as well as film in motion. There were still images taken by Burtynsky, the actual film footage with the director and Burtynsky speaking and footage with sounds of machines,workers, tools etc... despite all these uses of mixed media, there was unification through out the video.
Personally, this film was interesting but, I had a difficult time staying focused. Burtynsky's photography and his process was intriguing. The Photographs were all extremely meaningfull, with hidden messages and layers of meaning. What I liked was that Burtynsky didn't want the viewer to have a particular perception by looking at the picture, nor did he try to create a bias with his art.
"Nature transformed through industry is a predominant theme in my work."- Edward Burtynsky
Take a look at his work, it's unique and one of a kind, I have linked his site above^.
I have been talking about this assignment and my excitement about in my past few posts so here it is... As I mentioned before, our assignment in Tech was to completely change the audio and overall mood of a movie or video game trailer ...
I chose Alladin, a Disney classic! I decided to transform it to a Bollywood movie trailer. It's obvious that I'm obsessed with Bollywood and I had a really great time working on this assignment. As you may notice, the original movie trailer is typical "Disney" movie with; a romantic comedy feel, along with a "evil villain" who tries to ruin everything.
The Original Trailer
In my version of the trailer there is a lot of singing, more than the original trailer, because every Bollywood movie is like a musical. where every emotion, conversation and scene is expresses in a song! The main story line of my trailer, is about a poor boy, who finds a magical lamp, from which a Gene appears.He’s in love with a princess, Jasmine. They fall in love and daydream about each other. But off course how could it be possible, poor boy rich girl.(I know typically Bollywood right) Aladdin starts to tell his friend the Gene, how he has fallen in love. The Gene turns him into a prince and Voila, off he goes to woo princes Jasmine. On a magic flying carpet and naturally they sing a song to express their love. Everything turns out well and so the trailer end with the Gene throw a party and singing and dancing, because all Bollywood movies end with a dance number these days..
You may be confused as to, why the gene is all ways singing/dancing. That is because, I like to think of the Gene's as my "item girl", every Bollywood movie has one. That is why I have particularity chosen to show the scene where the Gene dances and the monkey is counting coins. The Gene is multifaceted character, because the “item girls” are not only there for the singing and dancing and usually play a key role in all story lines. That is why The Gene is so important, he provides entertainment, a magical aspect and he plays a vital character in the story. I have come to realize, there are many things a “Bollywood Virgin” may not understand in my trailer. For Example at 1:10s the way Aladdin's arms move from is bare chest outward, this is a very typical dance move for a hero in a Bollywood film. Another key scene when, Jasmine covers her head with a Vail shyly and then flutters her eye lashes. This is a common element in Bollywood movies. I also attempted, to try and make certain scenes portrayed by lyrics of the same meaning i.e at 1:21s when Aladdin swoops down and offers his hand to Jasmine, the lyrics are “Haath Mera Thaam Lo..” which mean take my hand.
I have spent a lot of time paying attention to close details, so that my trailer can resemble a Bollywood movie. It may seem silly, but all these tiny thing, help make my trailer resemble Bollywood movies.
When I began my trailer, I completely extracted the audio and started fresh!
For my trailer, I used a blend of three songs: "Are Re Are" from the movie Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), “Dhoom Again” from the movie Dhoom 2 (2006) and Rock'n'Roll Soniye from the movie Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (2006) and I also used a bunch of sound effects from ilife. For example the sound of the waves, the monkey , the birds, the wind etc ... and I downloaded the fireworks sound effect from http://soundbible.com.
I definitely think there is room for improvement, I really should have worked on development of my ideas and organization in the earlier stags. I think I could have done a better job on transitions of the music in a few places. I will try to improve in my transitions of music for future projects. I also think I should really plan out every shot and scene in the future to avoid problems.
I forgot to mention, I'm really happy with my Bollywood Aladdin Trailer !
I have been asked, a couple of times, why I didn’t add subtitles, But I felt it would take away from the authenticity and most Bollywood trailer’s don’t have subtitles.If anyone has any questions or comments, I would love to answer questions, and comments are always welcomed!
