Junkies Film Scratch

Why have I never been shown films like this in my intro classes? I feel gipped.

Not to sound like an elementary school kid with severe ADD, but this film kept my attention in part because of the bright colors and shapes. I feel like Rainbow Brite would have approved. More on this idea, no matter what age, a young/old/green/half-sentient/prepubescent person would enjoy this film. The Scratch Film Junkies seemed to be an experimenting with tempo and editing, with a neat effect. I liked how parts where the soundtrack had a faster tempo had both images on beat with the tempo and slower images as well. The slower images were also on beat with the music, but edited to the half-time tempo, almost acting as the heartbeat for the crazy sporadic drumming. I haven't seen a scratched/painted film that was this bright before. I'm interested to know they way they achieved the vibrant colors. Also, I was curious to know whether the soundtrack was made after the film, or were the images created to the soundtrack. Mainly because they matched up so well and appeared to be made in conjunction with one another. Actually, other than the technicolor display, I would say the sound was my favorite thing in the film, how important it was to the overall success (if that's even the right word) of the film.

I think people easily forgive bad images, but you can't forgive poor sound. Sound, to me, is especially important when your concept is vague and left up to interpretation. Sometimes experimental films can get frustrating when trying to understand the artist. But when I encounter an exp film with a boring soundtrack, it's almost impossible for me to watch.

When we got our little strips of film to play with after our break last week, I went to town. About halfway through though, I realized that there wasn't much method to my scratching. Then I thought, what would the Scratch Film Junkies do? And I had no clue. I couldn't recall any specific shape or motion that they had scratched. Well, not that I couldn't remember some of the motions, but I couldn't figure out how they were created. I think it'd be neat to have a little tutorial of things that work, and others not so much, with film scratching. Maybe that defeats the purpose though. Part of the process should be finding that out for yourself, trying anything new, and maybe coming out with a magical moment. I still wish there was a handbook, I'm really good at following rules and then adjusting them as I see fit. I wonder how long it took the Scratch Film Junkies to emerge from their scratching with a gemstone.

Then I got to thinking how I could apply scratching and painting techniques to my animations, like layering in Final Cut. I'm pretty excited about this idea because for my 495 animation I have a sequence that takes place underwater. It'd be cool if I could paint film, upload it, and place this over some already manipulated layers in After Effects. It makes me happy to see new films that I can break down and find exciting, and applicable, new filming methods. One of my goals this semester is to broaden my creative processes, open new avenues of my filmic thinking. So last week's first class definitely nudged me on my polychromatic way. I'm excited to see where this class will go.