Haverhill Experimental Film Festival 2014

Experimental Film Makers Take Note

Subject: [Frameworks] H.E.F.F. One Month To Submit!

Frameworkin' folks!

Only one month left within the regular deadline to submit to the Haverhill Experimental Film Festival taking place May 30th- June 1st, 2014. Save a few bucks and submit before February 1st!

WEBSITE:

www.haverhillexperimental.org

SUBMISSION FORM (through Google docs):
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1nWMzFqqmlpCx3E0OZoi5N_vu4zx8AmU_AuKWOVY4DSU/viewform

If need be, email us at haverhillexperimental@gmail.com!

All the best,
Brendan and Jeremy Smyth
H.E.F.F. Directors/Programmers

Video of the day December 3rd

Video shot by Amy Lithimane on December 3rd.
Edited the same day on her phone
While we made our films the hard way.

Final Film Proposals

I would like to see/hear your final film proposals next Tuesday in class. I expect a paragraph description   of the film. Connect the film to something we have seen in class. It can be from the blog, a DVD I have shown or a classmates film. Keep it simple.  I will interview you about how you will do it so you should be ready to take notes while we talk.

DONT FORGET PLACE

P   L   A   C   E

FIVE RULES FOR FILM MAKERS FROM JIM JARMUSCH

JIM JARMUSCH
5 rules for filmmakers

Rule #1: There are no rules. There are as many ways to make a film as there are potential filmmakers. It’s an open form. Anyway, I would personally never presume to tell anyone else what to do or how to do anything. To me that’s like telling someone else what their religious beliefs should be. Fuck that. That’s against my personal philosophy—more of a code than a set of “rules.” Therefore, disregard the “rules” you are presently reading, and instead consider them to be merely notes to myself. One should make one’s own “notes” because there is no one way to do anything. If anyone tells you there is only one way, their way, get as far away from them as possible, both physically and philosophically.
Rule #2: Don’t let the fuckers get ya. They can either help you, or not help you, but they can’t stop you. People who finance films, distribute films, promote films and exhibit films are not filmmakers. They are not interested in letting filmmakers define and dictate the way they do their business, so filmmakers should have no interest in allowing them to dictate the way a film is made. Carry a gun if necessary.
Also, avoid sycophants at all costs. There are always people around who only want to be involved in filmmaking to get rich, get famous, or get laid. Generally, they know as much about filmmaking as George W. Bush knows about hand-to-hand combat.
Rule #3: The production is there to serve the film. The film is not there to serve the production. Unfortunately, in the world of filmmaking this is almost universally backwards. The film is not being made to serve the budget, the schedule, or the resumes of those involved. Filmmakers who don’t understand this should be hung from their ankles and asked why the sky appears to be upside down.
Rule #4: Filmmaking is a collaborative process. You get the chance to work with others whose minds and ideas may be stronger than your own. Make sure they remain focused on their own function and not someone else’s job, or you’ll have a big mess. But treat all collaborators as equals and with respect. A production assistant who is holding back traffic so the crew can get a shot is no less important than the actors in the scene, the director of photography, the production designer or the director. Hierarchy is for those whose egos are inflated or out of control, or for people in the military. Those with whom you choose to collaborate, if you make good choices, can elevate the quality and content of your film to a much higher plane than any one mind could imagine on its own. If you don’t want to work with other people, go paint a painting or write a book. (And if you want to be a fucking dictator, I guess these days you just have to go into politics…).
Rule #5: Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery—celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from—it’s where you take them to.”

via Werner Penzel. Danke!

Thanks filmkoop wein

S P A C E

Bahar Yurogaku

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
SPACE
CONSIDER THIS;
Looking aT a space versus into a space,
Moving through the space (camera and body)
Creating layers of space with multiple planes of light or multiple exposure.
Reflecting on a moving space.
Exploring scale with lens and camera.
Generating distance in film space

Here are some quotes from Gason Bachelard's book The Poetics of Space.

“Here is Menard's own intimate forest: 'Now I am traversed by bridle paths, under the seal of sun and shade...I live in great density...Shelter lures me. I slump down into the thick foliage...In the forest, I am my entire self. Everything is possible in my heart just as it is in the hiding places in ravines. Thickly wooded distance separates me from moral codes and cities.”
― Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space

tags: 187, forest, immensity, poetry, space, trees

11 likes/shares

“Sometimes the house of the future is better built, lighter and larger than all the houses of the past, so that the image of the dream house is opposed to that of the childhood home. Late in life, with indomitable courage, we continue to say that we are going to do what we have not yet done: we are going to build a house. This dream house may be merely a dream of ownership, the embodiment of everything that is considered convenient, comfortable, healthy, sound, desirable, by other people. It must therefore satisfy both pride and reason, two irreconcilable terms.”
― Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space

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Update

We are now just past the middle of the semester. The thematic film assignments this semester are:
Object- one minute
Person -one minute
Place - one minute
Final Project 2-5 min
These are the thematic film project assignments. I expect you to be experimenting and expanding on these themes in your films. It is possible that you might want to emphasize one theme over others. This is fine as long as you engage the medium and the forms of film in an imaginative and creative way.
You should have at least one film in final form by Thursday in order to be somewhat on track for the end of the semester.

AN ORGANIZING TOOL
You might consider setting up a grid to keep track of your assignments that has the following stages listed across the top.
               planning/    shooting/in the can/     raw footage/     assembly/     edit/     final/

By listing each project in a column on the left you can track the status of each of your projects as the semester goes on. This will allow you to move between overlapping projects or plan production or editing around the status of each project.