the eyes to create

Today is the last day of Media 150 class, My slow motion makes me miss the time to say thank you to all teachers. I am much appreciated that this class is a professional shaping process to me. The most important thing I learned from this class is that the insider's eyes to observe media, as well as create hands to make media. Remember at the first day class. Teachers showed us a video clip which mixed a lot of different media forms. I was so confuse on that time about how to identify Medias. Seems we are living in a world that we explore Medias in every day life. It's like a ZEN sequence behind children and toy. Shall children enjoy playing with it as it designed for, or enjoy going on a mission turn it to part and learn? We are the kind of children choose to broken our toys to learn what's going on behind the stage.


This class is a chance for us to deconstruct media. As a filmmaker the topics on the mechanical and chemistry of Deconstruct camera, learn how to frame, and study the lighting techniques benefit me a lot for my future study. Those in class studies change my way of watching movies, TV and Website. I can’t stay back as a user who enjoys entertainment. I pay a lot attention on decode how they make the media works and why the make that ways? The more I observe, the more I learn from them.

However, a 3 hour class is not enough for us to study the huge topics in media. I feel our class is been cut off because we out of time. Go home with a lot of questions in head is not a good feeling. Also in our lab hours, I feel we don’t have enough time to practice our major topic. I am always the last one leave the lab, I wish we can have longer lab hour, and more tutor hours in lab.

In a word, I enjoy our class very much, and on the way to 160.

Reel Talk

Before I site down watch the reel talk films, homosexuality is just a social topic not in my reality.


Those three documentary films showed on that night, brought me in the lives and families which struggled in this issue.

The first being showed is a five minutes student film. This film has a charm simple interview setting. Puzzled voice over, and cutting frames, create a "reel talks" about transgender and identity issue.

The second film is called “Don’t bring Scott home". It's a real documentary about Prof. David's family. The story takes place in NYC and PA, between his boyfriend Scott, and his traditional countryside family. This is a story pokes my heart. Homosexual people they are normal people as us. We all want is love and being loves to satisfied life. What’s wrong with that?

The Third film is made by our professor Anderson. This is a huge documentary film project, witch takes about 10 years to finish. It documents some of the gays and lesbians cases. How they go throw the challenges of life together with their friends and lovers. One great thing about this documentary is that it's so detailed that you call feel you are watching your Friends' life.

Simply Coke

The Times Square Coca-Cola Sign is one of the early memories I have about New York. Three years ago, on my first visited of NYC. I stare at that sign all day long. It’s a broken face huge commercial board. Why it has to be broken? The broken face created a 3-D version; make it a art as a sculpture. The 3-D composition renders the Dynamic Ribbon Device in both positive form and negative space. One interpretation has shows that it reflects ethnic diversity of New York City. Actually it’s called the electro kinetic sculpture, created in 2004. The sign's design is inspired by the uplifting energy of Manhattan's steel and glass monoliths and the frenetic pace of midtown street traffic. It was built by digital LED display manufacturer Daktronics and titled "Simply Coke,"
Once up on a time, I stared at the sign in the mid of night, try to find out are those real people work behind or it’s a huge video scream? The sign is covered in programmable Light-emitting diodes and allows an array of graphics to be displayed. The display also offers the possibility of live video streaming across the sign's supple curvature. It plays Images witch communicate product names, info relating to seasonal promotions, and corporate logos in a many different languages for the global visitors of Times Square.
According to Wright Massey, owner of Brand Architecture Inc. and creator of the sign, "We realized that a vibrant, simple design would draw focus in the frenzied pandemonium of Times Square. Drawing from recent Coca-Cola marketing research, we found the Dynamic Ribbon Device the best vehicle for conveying key brand values. We wanted a contemporary, authentic statement, full of energy, optimism, and youthful spirit. We wanted our sculpture to inspire consumers on all three emotional levels: head, heart and gut."

Ashes of Time

“Ashes of Time Redux“ is a movie uses Kong fu story to carry romantic themes - love, hurt, loneness. The director Wang Kai Wei sets the story in the middle of the desert. It’s a lonely and meaningless environment. Cinematography Christopher Doyle shoots a lot of wide lens shots of the natural views, such as desert, ocean, mountain, lake… The non civilized natural views block stories from social and historical influence, block characters from past love memories, and also block Audiences in a Psychological dreamlike space.


Fragmented images are also being used to frame characters in the moment of emotional overload. Cinematographer Christopher Doyle says,” Cinematographer’s jobs are translating ideas to images, putting stories in the frame, playing with light to create poetry.” He expresses the moods by framing shadows in the pictures. He frames moving shadows of the bird cage on characters’ faces, to help characters acting out the moment of emotional puzzling. He frames characters’ shadows on a rough wall, with slow motion tracking shots, to tell they are run in to the pain. He puts the Reflection of Water on character’s faces to write a poetry of memory. Shadows always move in lengthy tracking shots, even though actor’s (actress’s) faces expressions do not change, the moving shadows creates those moments to make audiences feel the loneness and lost mood inside the character. Cinematographer Christopher Doyle’s framing makes viewers feel we are peeking into the stories by placing objects in front of shots. He also frames characters separately with medium and close shots. His famous extremely close shots make us breathe in with characters’ pains.

Audiences never see characters having face to face conversations in Ashes of Time, they are directly talking to camera or behind each other. The separate reactions tell each of them is isolated in their own pain. It's fazing audience in the mood of lost in emptiness.Cinematographer Christopher Doyle also uses film noir to creative lighting which shapes the characters’ personalities, and writes beautiful poetries for his movie. Christopher Doyle uses low key, under exposed lighting for Murong Yan, and Ouyang Feng. Sometimes he just leaves characters in darkness, and just shows their eyes, noses, or lips. The “magic moment” was being used in the shot for the trees beside the lake, The moody soft light tells that she is in a moment of confusion and softness, without protection. The following shot is Murong Yan1(Yan4), with long sunset shadows covering on her face, She talks in to emptiness. Then Ouyang feng comes behind her, with shadow cover all his face. We can see his lips when he talks, until the time he pretends to be Huangyaoshi, His face is light up to tell a lie.

The Kong fu actions in this film are vey blurry, slow motion out of focus shots, and mixed up with jumping cuts. It has become a style that has influenced the Kong fu movies. When Murong Yan1(Yan4) practices sword fighting on a lake, Christopher Doyle uses a lot of emotional blurry action with slow motion movement. She looks like she is dancing with her own reflection it the poetical way to tell that she is lonely in her schizophrenia, lost in her identity.

Ashes of Time is a movie deserve a title of best postmodern art to me. This is a Movie, through me in a trap when watching the story unfolds in front of us, like life itself, and you find yourself somehow become one or another characters in real life performance. As the quote in the beginning of the movie says:” Buddha: The flags are still, no wind blows, it’s the heart of man that’s in tumult (Ashes of Time).”

The Museum of Moving Images

The Museum of Moving Images is the nation's largest and most comprehensive collection of artifacts relating to the art, history, and technology of the moving image. I appreciated the visit very much. It’s a great extension for our in class study.
Behind the Screen is the exhibition that illuminates the many processes involved in producing, marketing, and exhibiting the moving images. It shows more than a thousand film and television artifacts, audio-visual materials, and demonstrations of professional equipment and techniques. It does not only display the procese, it also invites you to step in, experience the process. I made my own 5 second clip book, and I record a soundtrack for a motion picture….
As we discussed in class, the illusion of the moving images, is the basic theory of film and Video. The museum offers a variety of models of the early inventions. For example, the Zoetrope created the illusion of a moving image by consisting of a small cylinder with pictures going all around the inside of it. Because each picture has a little consists different from others, when its spin quickly, images appear to be moving. The viewer can see the illution of moving images through the slits on the side but not on the top. It does porves that the illusion only appears when you see each picture one at a time.
The amazing development process of movie images shows us that the technique becomes more and more easy to control. Thanks to new techniques, like computer-based interactive experiences, commissioned installations…. We have much more creative space today.
One thing I never think before is that Film is also a great scientific invention in 19 century. One of the early inventions, tells me a story of scientist take a lot of pictures for horses or athletes to study their movements. I think that’s amazing to use visual technique not only for entertainment, but also for scientific research. Today’s scientists may also take a lot of advantages from film and video.