Hunter College #Stress

http://vimeo.com/23637435

This is a film based around the factors of stress that a hunter college student goes through daily.

Museum of the Moving Image

          Going to a museum is not always the cool thing to do on a Friday night with your friends, but museums have always intrigued me. You can learn so much from one simple trip to any museum. The first time I visited a museum was when I was 12 and went to the Museum of Natural History. I loved it and ever since then, I have never said no to a trip to a museum. When I got the syllabus for the class and noticed that we had a museum trip in April, I was more than excited and could not wait for the day to come. Finally, on Wednesday April 6, 2011 our class went to the Museum of the Moving Image. I have never heard about this museum especially for the fact that I have never gone to Queens. It was an adventure that I was more than happy to make on what turned out to be a very nice day.

          Once on the tour, there was not one moment that seemed boring and unexciting. I participated in all of the demos that where shown to us (video flip book and automated dialog replacement exhibit). My favorite demo had to be the automated dialog replacement exhibit where we dubbed over a scene from the movie Babe.  There was three line we had to dubbed over and my line was “She…she called us all Babe.” To be honest is was a lot harder than I thought. My friend had gone before me and it was a lot harder than it seemed. It was not easy reading the line and saying it at the same time to match up with the character’s facial expressions. Standing and recording in a replica of an ADR room was quite the experience.

          After that demo, we went to the Sound Editing exhibit. We where played a scene from the movie Titanic when the smoke stack of the ship was breaking. I was amazed to learn that each sound was actually something different in real life to give the movie feeling. The sound of the ropes breaking was actually a gun shot to make it sound dangerous. The sound of the stack ship falling was actually a slowed elephant in distress to make it sound big and powerful and the sound of the stack ship actually breaking was the sound of a soda can being crushed to make it sound loud and clear that the stack ship was breaking instead of just falling. It shocked me to learn just how much time is actually invested into the sound editing process!

          Sound production is nothing to take for granted, because with out it, our experience in the movie theaters would simply not be the same. Each sound is picked carefully to make sure it expresses the feeling that the director is trying to portray. It is amazing to see just how sound production has evolved over the years. In earlier films where sound could not be included in the film, it was usually a piano playing in a cheaper theater and an orchestra in a more expensive theater. Eventually sound finally came with the film and now sound is more advance than ever. Sound producers now have a job that once didn’t’ require as much time and creativity as it does now. There is much more than what we believe goes into a movie and sound is just one small part of the entire process. Although is it one small part, it is equally important to all the other parts because without sound you can be more than sure that your experience watching a movie would not be as thrilling.

STAMP ART

The Visiting Artist Series: Laura Poitras

       On Monday Laura Poitras came to Hunter College to talk about her independent documentary work. She had gone to Iraq to film about the American living in Iraq, post 9/11. However, she got a completely different thing than she was expecting. The family of a doctor had invited her to live with them and she was able to experience the lifestyle of a regular family in Iraq. She also got the most exciting yet frightful experience of documenting the life of a Jihadist who at the time was a taxi driver and used to be Osama Bin Laden's body guard. 

         Laura Poitras faced many obstacles while filming. She likes her films to be about the place and people she is filming about and have a more personal feel. One scene that she showed us was the family in the house talking when all of a sudden a bomb was heard outside. Instead of focusing on the commotion of the outside, she focused on the family and their reaction towards the bomb. She really tried to capture the true states of each scene without the consciousness of there being a camera there. However, whenever someone tried to talk directly to the camera, she tried to remind them that they aren't supposed to recognize that she is there. She also had an issue with language because translators in Iraq were being killed constantly and that wasn't a risk she was willing to take. She would use body language to understand what was happening.

           When she was asked about her over all framework of her documentary she explained her characters first. She followed many characters throughout her film, but essentially had one main character. She was also very careful of where and she was filming and had to be aware of her surroundings at all times.  Another person asked about the truth in her documentary. She emphasized that she tried to put out the ARTIST TRUTH. Basically there is a truth and an artist truth, which is the point of view of the artist filming. 

         I had gone to a video game seminar that talked a little about the artist truth. Every form of media wants to bring out a message. However, people need the illusion of a fictional world to understand the reality of life. This is what writers, film makers and even video game programmers do for the public. In this case, Lauar Poitras, documented her stay in Iraq, but edited everything to bring out the artist truth of what she believed the public needs to be aware of. For her documentary she felt the need to express what the Iraqis lifestyle was during post 9/11 and that is what she eventually did!

Hunter Life

Subway station is only part of Hunter's Identity.

"Meet me at the bridge" Ultimate meeting spot for anyone!

Hunter College's Birthday Place: Thomas Hunter
It may be forgotten by most students, but not the staff!
Under Major Renovations!

Artist Statement

I went to White Plains High School and to be honest it is under appreciated by most of the students there. It has wonderful programs that many other high schools don’t have. I myself felt that I didn’t appreciate it as much as I should have. Fortunately I came across a program that I did take advantage of that helped Latino students get internships to many different places. I was able to intern at Latina Magazine on 1500 Broadway in Manhattan. It opened my eyes to the media and fashion world.

            I got to know about fashion, beauty, brands, advertisements and so much more! Working behind the scene and learning how to use product placement and the media to get women to buy the magazine and the products in the magazine was an experience that has forever left me a mark. I am now a media and economist student that will eventually want to work in the business world. At this point I am not sure what I want to specialize in, but I love working with computers and now a days everyone is turning to the internet. Web designing has always been a great interest of mine and in the business world, you really have to be creative to sell your products and make it attractive to the consumers. Ultimately I want to use my knowledge in media, media productions and economy to work with magazines that will sooner or later become digitalize and help to bring attention to their websites and convince consumers to keep on consuming which is the main thing that makes our economy go round and round.