I had a dream...

And in said dream i purchased a projector, a 16mm projector, but a projector never the less.

And everything got so much easier. (it also helped me pass my driving test, but im not sure that would work so well in the real world)

So i am thinking of this summer saving money and buying a 16mm projector.

Obvioulsy this means the film wont be as wide as the 35mm im using at the moment, but i think in the long run it will be worth it, as i wont have to waste time scanning/cropping/editing/putting together digitally, and to be fair photoshop is number one on my hit list at the moment.

I have the super 8 projector, which is lovely but 8mm is just too small to do anything with. I have some 16mm in a draw at the moment so im going to take it out and work out if this plan is going to work or not. But basically unless i can see some kind of horrendous problem i will be moving to 16mm at some point.

Tutorial reminiscing

I had a tutorial today, after the ordeal that was my last non-tutorial i was kind of looking forward to this but also kind of not.

But it went amazingly, going into it i just kind of wanted her to say 'yeh your work is amazing you're clearly a genius'. And this is exactly what happened.

Well maybe not quite exactly but close enough to keep me happy!!

And now i have a week left, i have bleached all 24 strips, i have stuck stuff and made ready 10. So tomorrow and wednesday i just have to finish the other 14, then scan them all in and edit them and so on.

In other also great news, i get to use the cube space weather Sandra likes it or not. YAYAY for me!! So this also made me happy today. As did the sun!!

This is all.

Damn you Sandy Damn you

Dont you just hate it when people called Sandra swoop in a steal your cube space form under your feet?

No?

Well i do. I really do.

In other news ive pretty much finished my Prof. Studies Portfolio, other then i feel my artist statement needs rewriting as its pretty much a pile of shit, but other then that its good to go!!

In other news im finding the pull of iphones pretty much too hard to resist, to the point i have come up with a budgeting scheme whereby i could afford one! Damn apple.

In other other news ive had a super productive day and feel good about art (other then the issue of cube spaces)

And to finish off this post here is an old film of mine i did in college, which is now part of my show reel!! I cant really be bothered to type words about it, if you really care that much click on it or something to go to the vimeo page, there are words there!! Enjoy

DANCE DANCE from Lana ap Rees on Vimeo.

New York New York

So i went to New York, it was good, maybe i will show some of the photos and talk a bit about things i did and saw, but for now im just going to show you this time lapse film i shot out of the hotel window!!

New York New York from Lana ap Rees on Vimeo.

I had planned on doing a different one each night, of different views from the window, but i got distracted and kept forgetting! So theres only the one!

I also really wanted to do a time lapse in Times Square, however i didnt take my tripod with me and didnt feel it would work if it was all hand held and shakey!! Also it would have meant standing in times square for several hours, which, well i had far too many activities to be doing for such things!!

Maybe next time!!

I think in the future i may come back to this clip and use it for something else, or do something to it, but for now its just as it was shot!

In other news I now have 2 weeks to finish my project, and sort everything out for it, which is really not as much time as i would like, but whatever i dont have a time machine and thats just something i need to come to terms with!!

Flash Flash Flash

Flash Flash Flash from Lana ap Rees on Vimeo.

One last film to show you before i go to New York. This is basically 3 experiments in 1.

I wanted to continue looking at how i can use newsprint text in my film. I wanted to combine its use for subliminal messaging with using colour for sensory overload. So i began to use different coloured backgrounds. First i simply contrasted black text on white with white text on black, this is what the first part of this film shows.

The second part shows black text on white contrasting with black text on different colours.

And the third part shows white text on black contrasting again with black text on different colours.

Out of the 3 different techniques i think the black v white and black v colour are most effective. The white v colour just doesnt draw the eye in enough, maybe this is because the brain needs the frames of black to create the overwhelming-ness that i am trying to create!

Next i am going to try combining this with subliminal messaging. But that will have to wait till i return from my travels!!

A few older films (by which i mean not my current work!)

I thought seeing as how i have got a bit behind on editing my current work i would instead show you a few older films.

People Watching People Watching People from Lana ap Rees on Vimeo.

This first one was made at the end of my Btec National Diploma, so i think about 3 years ago now.

It started off as a bit of a joke between me and my course amte Gabby. We came up with the concept and shot and edited it within 2 days, so it was never meant to be this big final piece masterpiece, but then somehow that is what it became (well maybe not the master piece part). And i ended up submitting it as my FMP.

The idea behind it is that the viewer is watching something quite pointless, filled with 'in jokes' that they dont fully understand. The audience is almost waiting for it to get more interesting but it never does. It was shown as part of an exhibition, and we had lots of people coming up and telling us how frustrating they thought the film was. Which we loved as that was the whole point!

I like to think of this film as the start of my interest into people and the way they behave, and it is a theme which has run through my work since i made this.

Make The Space Your Own from Lana ap Rees on Vimeo.

This is a recording of an installation of a film i made as part of my first year of Uni. I had just switched courses (from Animation to Fine Art) and joined half way through a project, as such i had only 2 weeks to create this piece, yet despite the rush it is in fact one of my favorites!

It was in response to the title 'Time and Space'.

I decided to look at how people make a space their own, but over time it changes and becomes somebody else space, I felt this idea was particularly relevant to students, as we live in student houses. The room we call ours and have made our own this year, will belong to somebody else and look completely different next year.

This film shows 6 different people, each presented with the same space and how they make the space their own, by moving stuff round and adding their own belongings.

I then projected the film back into the original space creating the installation. So the viewer was watching the film on the back wall, they were able to look around the room and think about how they would sent up 'their room'

Fears from Lana ap Rees on Vimeo.

And then lastly we have this, another installation, but this time from the start of my second year.

I was inspired by Jim Lambies 'Screamadelica' which i saw at the Moma last summer. I spent ages sitting in front of the piece waiting for the eyes to blink. As they never did i decided to create a similar piece of my own that did move.

Rather then eyes i chose to focus on the mouth, and thus was also able to incorporate words and speech. I decided (after alot of thought) to have the people talk about things they are afraid of. I wanted a topic that everybody could relate to, something that showed we are all the same (in that we all have fears and phobias) but that we are still different (in that everybody is afraid of different things)

I then projected this into a bedroom setting, complete with the installation tape spider web that Lambie's original had. I chose the bedroom as it is a room that is considered 'safe' a place where your fears cant get you.

I had plans to develop this work, as i overall i wasnt that satisfied with it, in particular the bedroom setting, as it was all a bit rushed towards the end of the project. However i then became interested in the idea of cameraless film, and have been working on developing that since then.

Maybe one day i will go back to this idea and see where i can take it.

As always i feel i need to say that i had to compress these films quite alot, from around 700MB to about 50MB. So obviously alot of the quality is lost, but hey ho.

Another place for me to be awesome

So on my ever expanding list of places i upload and type about my work i can now add this one

Deviant Art

oooo look at that! Isnt it nice... actually to be quite honest, i dont no how to use it, but maybe by the time you are reading this i will have worked it out, doubtful though!

I had to send off some sort of application to be allowed to upload films, which was accepted, but god knows how i actually now do it.

But im hoping to get alot more feedback from it, which is something i need, especially when certain tutorials with lecturers dont happen.

But whatever.

In other news, i do have new films to show, i just havent quite finished (read as quite started) editing them together yet. But soon...