Animation Project

hyper haiku website

Hyper Haiku

Production Notes

Overall I found the process of making this video project to be a good learning experience. Various obstacles that I encountered pushed me to be very resourceful when putting together my project
My project focused on my partner's summer internship at NYTV8. The initial interview was a bit difficult because my partner was new and somewhat uncomfortable with the English language. I was very disappointed when she came to the interview with scripted answers to my questions because I felt like her answers would be more genuine and heartfelt if she just spoke freely instead of reading from a page. I ended up asking her some questions that she had not seen so that I could get some more natural answers but she got very nervous so these questions were essentially useless. My partner in the project ultimately decided to drop the class which posed problems for me in terms of obtaining images and footage. In a real world scenario I probably would have moved on and found a new interview subject, but because of the nature of the project I found creative ways to solve the issues with my project. Thankfully I had several minutes more audio than I needed in order to complete the project, so I was able to pick out the best sound bites and construct a story from there. I ran into problems with filling the time up with images however, so I ended up using videos and images from the NYTV8 website and photos from my partner's Facebook due to the fact that she didn't respond to my communications. Given the circumstances of the project I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I learned a lot about editing which was fantastic because its something I have always been very interested in.
I don't think that the project gave me a different sense of the filmmaking process because I was already aware of the way things work, but it did give me some valuable practice and I now feel more confidant in my abilities. I had never used Final Cut before this project which made me feel a little insecure but now I have a much firmer grasp on how to actually do the things that I think up/ imagine through editing.

Interview Portrait Project

Blog 2

How I Met Your Mother is an interesting show in many ways. It takes place both in the present and the not so distant future. Creative editing plays a key role in creating this sense of the future looking back at the present. Voice-over narration is a key element in HIMYM (How I Met Your Mother). Each episode begins with a narration setting the scene of that night's episode. The episode Mystery vs. History begins with the camera moving down a New York City sidewalk as the narrator discusses what life "was like" in 2011. A wipe from left to right with wooshing sound effect is used to transition through time back to the year 2005 where the main characters are seated in a bar. Another transition through time occurs moments later when the scene cuts to the actors in the same positions but with very different clothing. Almost like a purposeful jump cut to shock the audience into a new year. From there the continuity editing style is employed as the scene cuts from wide shot to 3 medium shots of each of the 3 sides of the table (the 4th being where the camera is positioned). The Scene then cuts away to an exterior shot of the pub with a time stamp reading October 2011 to indicate yet another change in time. The sound of Neil Pattrick Harris's voice is layered over the music for a few seconds before the image cuts back to an interior shot of the table at the bar. Once again continuity editing practices are employed as the camera cuts back and forth between the three sides of the table while the characters converse. After a few seconds of dialogue the wooshing sound and a wipe from right to left transports the story back through time and to another location entirely. After a few brief moments the woosh and a wipe from left to right bring the viewer back into the safety of the pub.

Audio

Mia's Interview Project from Mia Fantaci on Vimeo.

Sound Walk

I chose to perform my sound walk in my neighborhood, Stuyvesant Town. Stuyvesant Town is structured so that there are residential buildings spanning from 14th Street and 1st Avenue to 20th Street and Avenue C. At the heart of Stuyvesant Town is the oval. The oval is a large oval shaped fountain surrounded by a quarter mile oval shaped pathway. It functions as the main park at the center of Stuyvesant Town, similar to the way Central Park is at the center of Manhattan. The pathway is bordered by residential buildings, playgrounds, chess tables, and the Oval Essentials (lounge, film center, children's center and a library). I chose to sit at the chess tables to complete my sound walk.
During my sound walk the population of the area I was sitting in slowly shifted from bustling young professionals with clacking heels to nannies and mothers with little ones. I mainly heard the sounds of children playing: Giggling, laughing, and on occasion, screaming. I heard the low rumble of skateboards on concrete and the thwack of a foot meeting a soccer ball. As I sat at the concrete chess tables I heard the rustling of the leaves overhead as squirrels scurried up the trees. I also noticed that despite being approximately 3 blocks away from the main streets of Manhattan, I did hear sirens from either the ambulances at Beth Israel Medical Center or the fire trucks coming from the station located on 14th Street between first and second avenue.
I didn't really get bored like I expected to during this sound walk. I found it rather relaxing and peaceful to sit in one of the greener areas of the city and enjoy nature and the life all around me. I felt like my head was clearer after this little break from all of the electronic distractions that regularly occupy my time.