Monday, April 25, 2011

in a classroom; in a tent.

Last class we had a screening under a tent. Yes, a tent...a tent in a classroom. Utilizing the equipment room, our bed sheets, and Barrett's vision, we made a large tent. At first I thought it was kind of hilarious and ridiculous, but it was a lot of fun. It really fit well with our readings on the "rough" theater. Together, under the tent, we screened our past few film assignments as a class. It was a really fun way to view our films, and watching them projected on a sheet gave them a very interesting texture.
I was pretty nervous to screen my 24 hour video race film, because I like having time to formulate an idea, and with this project I didn't have time to do that. I just picked an idea and had to follow through with it. I am happy with the way my film turned out, but I hope the quirkiness make up for the nerdyness of it.
I was really surprised at how different everyones films came out. This assignment really gave everyone different boundaries depending on what they had to work with, and what skills that had acquired over their years here. Some people did maya animation, others animation with a scanner, others videos with their webcams. It was a very interesting and refreshing mix of films and I really enjoyed watching them in our makeshift theater.


Monday, April 18, 2011

The Rough Theatre

"In other forums of architecture there is a relationship between conscious, articulate design and good functioning: a well-designed hospital may be more efficacious than a higgledy-piggledy one; but as for theatres, the problem of design cannot start logically. It is not a matter of saying analytically what are the requirements, how best they can be organized - this will usually bring into existence a tame, conventional, often cold hall."

This quote is from this weeks reading and I think best exemplifies this idea of "rough theatre." I believe that w atching films in various settings changes how you perceive a film and what kind of experience you take from it. Reading this article makes me think of the different types of theaters I've been into. Particularly, this reminds me of the "Silva screenings" we went to at the end of last semester at Jengo's which was a super fun screening to participate in.

It is important to recognize and appreciate the experiences that we have outside the typically movie theater because it changes the moviegoing experience completely. The setting in which you see a film has as much an impact as anything else on the experience and can enhance the viewing experience in new and unexpected ways.