Evaluation

Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome of our project “Master/Copy”. I personally think that we achieved what we aimed for; a film that is both visually interesting and striking, but still with a relevant message. Unlike the other assignments that we were given in post-production, I was able to use more of a ‘free-reign’ when doing this project, especially as it was for the Experimental module.

            I’d like to think that Master/Copy has quite a few strengths, as a film itself. I personally believe that our choice to use ‘datamoshing’ as a method to ‘break the fourth wall’ was a good one. Visually, I think we succeeded in creating something that is enjoyable to watch, for the viewer. Our execution of the datamoshing technique is well done, and works well. Also, maybe even more importantly, the choice of footage and clips that would be used proved to be a success – certainly in a visual sense. One of our biggest concerns was to ensure that the images ‘moshed’ into each other well, and looked striking to the audience, rather than it just looking like a digital mess. I think that we achieved this, and the film doesn’t look sloppy at any point. I also think that the concept of it being a reflection on the media, and on how desensitized the public have become. Originally, our project was going to comment on self-perception of the viewers of common media, and how very much influenced by it they are. It was after some time, that we gradually grew fond of the idea of how passive people have become, where real life horrors seem nothing more than something that we witness on television or in games. I think we achieved this very well, particularly in the section of the film that moshes the Call Of Duty gaming footage with the horrific war footage. I am also very satisfied with sound in the film. We aimed for something that sounds glitchy and almost uncomfortable to listen to, and I’d like to believe that this is what we made.

                I do however, think that something that could be improved is the flow of the film. There are certain areas that I feel slow it down somewhat and could be more interesting to watch. This is in particularly near the beginning of the film, which when required to hook in the viewer, is something that needs to be spot on. To improve this we could have taken out some of the footage of the BBC globe, as I feel it runs slightly too long.

            Having never worked on a montage of any sort before, it was a whole new experience. When compiling the clips, I felt that I benefitted from the ‘Journey through the Night’ assignment that we did earlier in the semester. From that exercise, I learnt the importance of pacing, such as when there is dialogue. Because of this, I tried to ensure that our film would have a consistently entertaining pace, and that nothing is rushed or too slow. Some areas could have been improved, but I think in general, it maintains a steady flow, particularly the middle section, which I have learnt from experience, can sometimes droop somewhat.

            Doing this edit for the final project has been very different from not only the briefs that we have covered within the Post-Production module, but also from any other work, both inside and outside of university. It has opened up an entirely new method of filmmaking in ‘Datamoshing’. Datamoshing is the elimination of I frames from film footage, just leaving the P frames. The I frames within digital data are used to detect the end of a clip, and so by removing them, the digital data and, as a result, footage bleed into the next clip sporadically, creating the glitching effect that we were looking for. This can be seen in a lot of video games and digital media, and so we felt it was a good technique to use for this particular piece as this was what we were commentating on. Another major part of the process of making Master/Copy, and probably the most important, was the assembly of the clips themselves. We had to ensure that we juxtaposed them well, in order to get across the message that we wanted to leave, and so that it didn’t just look like a collection of random clips pieced together for the sake of it. We did this by thinking of images and videos that we see every day on the news and on television that if you saw in real life would be much more hard hitting. Because of how passive people have become as a result of things such as violent video games, we contrasted this with reality by juxtaposing fantasy with realism. The power of this is something that I have learnt whilst making this piece of work and something I would definitely like to work with in the future.

            I also think that we used the Kuleshov effect to some effect within our film. There are certain areas in our film where certain clips are repeated, followed by different opinions. For example, in the area with the oven advertisement, we included it with Loose Women, where jokes about men are often made, and then did the same with the Sky Sports controversy over the sexism claims. I think that it shows how the oven clip can be taken light heartedly in one aspect, when people are laughing and then seriously when juxtaposed with footage of a ‘sackable’ offence.

            Overall, within the module I think that I have learnt a lot from Post-Production. In particular, I have discovered the importance of juxtaposition and pacing of footage, along with overlapping of both picture and sound, in order to keep a flow within pieces of work. I shall apply what I have learnt to future work, and look forward to using them in later assignments.

Datamoshing

How to Datamosh.

Using the programme mentioned, remove the I frames. The I frames are normally used to indicate the end of the clip. By removing them, the digital date spreads all over.

Seems easy enough.

Steina and Woody Vasulka

Both pioneers of video art since the 1960s. Created different types of video art, including datamoshing. The piece of work that we have concentrated on is Warp.

Unlike the other pieces, this focuses on a human rather than another object. This is particularly relevant for us, as we will be using lots of footage of human activity within our own film.

In contrast to Takeshi Murata’s work, the original video can be clearly seen, and for this reason, it seems much cleaner and clearer as to what is actually going on. We feel that this is more of the style that we would be looking to achieve compared to it just being patterns and colours.

The colours themselves seem to primarily be left untouched, which is very different from Berlin Horse. Ideally, we would like to be able to combine the two, to create something that can be viewed as a statement, with content and a message behind, but also as something which is simply visually appealing.

Warp gives the feeling of distorting reality, rather than the medium of film itself. It may be the result of the camera being static, and the background also being perfectly still, whilst the human in the foreground moves around the frame.  

For this reason it would probably be better to use this method with stock footage of people, rather than video game footage or inanimate objects. A minimalism is also put across, and so something full of movement may not work as well.

Takeshi Murata

The footage we watched appeared to use the datamoshing technique that we aim to achieve, especially when compared to Le Grice’s ‘Berlin Horse’.

The sound in this piece is also very different, and creates more of a beat, with a heavy tribal influence. We intend to use this type of beat in our film, in order to create a flow and a rhythm; something we feel will be necessary in order to keep people interested in Master/Copy, and to ensure that it doesn’t just become a collection of datamoshing seemingly at random intervals.

Upon watching Takeshi Murata’s work, we noted that the original video footage is barely recognisable. It is almost impossible to work out what the original content was.

Although this is quite an attractive idea, and one that we could use in later projects, we feel that this is not the suitable technique for this current project, as we are wanting the viewer to be able to distinguish between the clips and witness the correlations that we are hoping to achieve.

Something we did realise whilst watching this work, is how much the movement of the original video affects the moshes and final outcome. Certain movements, such as quick and slow, vertical or horizontal create different patterns, depending on their individual action. We will experiment with different movements in our original clips in order to make something that is both visually striking and relevant.

Malcolm Le Grice

Born in 1940, he became a painter. It wasn’t until the 1960s that he started to make experimental film.

The film we are concentrating on is Berlin Horse (1970)

First opinions:

A repeated clip of a horse running around in circles, that somehow manages to be entertaining, even after 6 minutes. A variety of colours and patterns keep this interesting, alongside a striking soundtrack. If anything, the soundtrack is what brings this piece of work to life.

Rather than creating a piece of work that is based purely around its content, and being narrative driven, certainly in a linear way, it engulfs the audience with its movement and sense of time. There is certainly a sense of rhythm being created, with the looping action of the horse; something that takes you on a ride and keeps you wanting more.

It is interesting how the film is more of an experience than something to think about. The contrasting colours and off beat music keep the audience watching, and is visually striking.

It is clearly a case of “film for film’s sake”. The piece definitely draws emphasis on the film being a physical medium to work with, almost canvas like, and breaks down the barriers between the film and audience that conventional film has created.

The soundtrack is excellent, and created by Brian Eno, a pioneer of this type of sound. The out of tune and out of beat repeating melody is almost uncomfortable to listen to. Coupled with the wild movements of the horse and the sporadic colours, it works marvellously to create a video and audio sensation.

Eisenstein's Montage Theory

As our work is based strongly around datamoshing what is essentially a montage, we thought best to research into Eisenstein, one of the most prolific names in the soviet montage movement. One of the main concepts behind is style of editing, is the lack of continuity. By breaking rules that were and still are common in mainstream cinema, such as the 180 degree rule, Eisenstein was able to create pieces of work that played more on human emotion, than something that simply follows continuity.

Eisenstein famously has 5 methods of editing in reference to montage:

1.     Metric

Cuts are made at specific intervals. A set number of frames every cut, regardless of the action on screen.

2.     Rhythmic

Cutting based on time, using visual composition. Also uses sound, and different speeds of metric editing.

3.     Tonal

Uses the emotional meaning of the shots, and not just manipulating the length of the cuts.

4.     Overtonal/Associational

The overtonal montage is the culmination of metric, rhythmic, and tonal montage for more complex meaning.

5.     Intellectual

Uses shots which, combined, elicit an intellectual meaning.

We will use a combination of these methods, in particular rhythmic and overtonal. We believe that this will work best with the glitching effect that we intend to use, and will keep a good balance between context and simply visual appearance.

However, when editing takes place, we may choose to use one of the other methods of editing and cutting, depending on what works well with what clip, at certain times.

3rd Project.

Our 3rd project is to edit a film that we have to make for another module. As me and Elliott are both doing Experimental and Post Production, we are submitting our final Experimental piece, because there is a huge amount of editing involved.

We are going to datamosh what is essentially a montage. It will be a reflection on the desensitisation of the public, and how it is very passive to something that occur in the world. We will combine stock footage, video game footage etc to create this piece of work.

Updates to follow.