Speaking with Animation: WALL-E

When I first learned that we were going to learn about animation this semester, I was a bit apprehensive due to my limited skills in drawing and creating cartoon images. I like working with video footage, and capturing the real world on camera. Accordingly, the idea of designing a short animation film from scratch seemed like a daunting task. As we attended lecture every Tuesday and were being given instructions on how to move objects across the screen and how to draw different versions of the same character so as to give the illusion of walking, I felt even more incompetent than I had before.

This is not to say that I do not appreciate animation. I am actually very fascinated with the art of animation! Especially with how people can create an entirely new universe out of a blank stage and how they can create characters and creatures that exist and interact within that universe. I feel that animation allows creative minds to depict anything they want without any limitations; as opposed to filmmaking – which is exclusively restricted to the physical world.



A work of animation that has recently grabbed my attention is Pixar’s Wall-E. Although the film does not quite meet the criteria of “artistic” or “informational” animation, the science fiction computer-animated film encompasses everything that I look for in animation. Not only does Andrew Stanton’s film have a powerful and thought-provoking plot, but the way he and his team created the graphics and visuals for Wall-E is truly spectacular. Even though the circumstances in Wall-E exist under the realm of computer-animation, Stanton utilized lighting and cinematography techniques, such as lens flare and racking focus, to give the film a realistic feel.

Wall-E has been created using flat color animation. The color tones and effects make locations and backgrounds of some scenes look natural and lifelike. Unlike early Walt Disney Pictures classics, Wall-E is a 3D animation with a few characters that articulate mechanistically, and a few that have human voices. Through the interactions between humans and robots, I think Stanton succeeds in depicting his idea of what the Earth may become in 2805 as a result of megacorporations, mass consumerism and over-trashing.

Feels Good... to be Hood!

The night we found out about the video assignment, Adelyn and I began planning our masterpiece. We immediately came up with several ideas, most of them pertaining to the 1970’s and 1980’s and life in New York City. We had initially considered making a pseudo-documentary based in 1970’s with the setting of a delicatessen, but we later scrapped the idea due to time restraints and whether or not we would get permission to film there. After discussing a few more potential plots, I remembered that Adelyn’s brother is an up-and-coming hip-hop artist. I asked her if it would be okay for us to incorporate his music for a mock music video based in the 1980’s with the backdrop of New York City.

Our music video, tentatively titled “Feels Good… to be Hood” showcases the stardom of Mad Mookie and two of his ardent fans in the streets of the city. Inspired by several Run DMC, LL Cool J, Pete Rock and CL Smooth rap videos, we tried to capture the “tough” image of hip-hop artists and their suburban fans who attempt to replicate what it is to be inner-city teenagers. In terms of cinematography, I played around quite a bit with angles and close-ups to provide the viewers with the feel of music videos from the past. We used parallel editing to show separate events going on in different places at the same time.

In our music video, we did not want to focus solely on the music, but convey a story with the three characters and their circumstances. If Final Cut Express was a bit more cooperative in lab, maybe we would have more time to change the colors and use effects that were prevalent in the 1980’s. However, being on a tight schedule allowed us to stay on top of this project and give it our best possible shot. I am very impressed with the work we have done in that the music video does have a cheesy, mock feel to it. With the help of Adelyn’s bother and our friend Jonathan Toro, we managed to have our characters look somewhat believable. Who knows? Maybe this will be Korona’s (Mad Mookie) big break!

'Amores Perros': Editing Analysis

Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu is a renowned Mexican filmmaker known for his unique style of storytelling. In all three of his widely known works (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel), Innaritu utilized the concept of interconnectivity to bring the characters within the screenplay together in one vital scene. That particular scene is shown repeatedly throughout the film through several different angles and viewpoints, and is edited differently each time to emphasize the circumstances of the characters in the shots.

I had first seen Innaritu’s Mexican film ‘Amores Perros’ when I was studying cinema in high school. I was immediately impressed by the structure of the narrative. It was definitely unlike anything I had seen before. Though Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’ also showcases parallel storylines, ‘Amores Perros’ is unique in the sense that the rawness in the content, composition and the movement in the shots makes the plot seem believable and real.

Innaritu and his editors, Luis Carballar and Fernando Perez Unda, constantly jump back and forth between scenes which interferes with the continuity of the story. However, this technique does not impede the flow of the story, but rather works in favor of carrying it forward. Since there are three main sub-stories in ‘Amores Perros,’ we see how the events within those stories unfold and eventually (and literally) “collide” into one another forming a common connection.


The opening scene of ‘Amores Perros’ begins with the camera facing out into the streets of Mexico city while a car is speeding to reach an unknown destination. A series of close-ups reveal the face of Octavio, one of the protagonists, a large dog bleeding profusely on the back seat of his car and another man who is frantically trying to save the dog. The camera then looks out through the back of the car and we see a large yellow truck chasing Octavio’s car, interweaving through traffic. There are a few other shots of wheels turning, Octavio cursing while trying to escape being shot at and the other cars on the road. We barely have time to register who these people are before we hear a sudden, loud crash, followed by some chaotic imagery in which we can barely make out another dog and a young woman in her car.

The car crash in the scene described above is the one that is shown over and over again during the course of the film and inter-locks, as we later learn, the lives of the three main characters in the three main sub-stories.

"New" Media and Me

Media today is a lot more interactive, user-oriented and immersive than it was just a few years ago. In today’s day and age, people have access to media contents online where they can comment and participate through various platforms. Whereas previously, media was centrally controlled and had high production and distribution costs, “new” media is inexpensive to produce and distribute and can be controlled by multiple users. “New” media further encompasses features of interactivity, networkability and compressibility for uploading and sharing on the web.

Some websites I visit on a daily basis are Craigslist, Filmmaker Magazine, The Daily Beast, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and The Economist. I skim through these websites almost everyday to read up on new opportunities available, independent film updates, catch up on my friends, watch videos and to gain some knowledge of what is happening around the world. The best part of “new” media, I feel, is that I get to do all this right from the comfort of my living room. I do not have to go out of my way to buy newspapers and magazines that specialize only on a few of my interests.

The kinds of media that I view regularly are films, the Internet, television and the radio (when I am in a car). If the film or its trailer is available on YouTube, I can interact with the other viewers through commenting on the clip and discussing what I liked/disliked about it. On the Internet, I interact with my friends and classmates through Facebook and Twitter. However, in the remaining types like television and the radio, viewer interact is very minimal to almost none. The only way to give feedback on those would be through their websites, blogs, Facebook pages, etc.

An Evaluation...

I would like to begin by thanking Professor Anderson and Professor Lucas for a very informative semester. I learned several new concepts of film and media production in FilmP 150. I would also like to thank Dylan, our lab instructor, for further elucidating the concepts for practical use in the production field. The lab portion of the class also enabled us to interact with fellow classmates and film enthusiasts who would have otherwise been strangers to us in the large, dark lecture hall.

In terms of course content, as I mentioned above, I did learn quite a few ideas that familiarized me with techniques of image composition, lighting set-ups, different film gauges, and the history of how motion pictures came to be. I, however, felt that some of the topics discussed in class were a bit unrelated to film and media, and more along the lines of a “Introduction to Computer Science” course. For those who have never really been exposed to the binary system, GUIs, computer programming, and website architecture, those few lectures must have been very disorienting.

I do recognize that as film and media students we must have some knowledge of computers and how to present our works to a wider audience through the Internet, or how colors and images are broken down into bits and pixels in order to be digitally stored on memory. However, I wish we had spent a little more time exploring the physical “creation” aspect of film and media, rather than what they become after they have been created. Also, if it is absolutely necessary to include the scientific section in future sections, I recommend that the “New Media” and “Internet” topics be taught either in one lecture, or two consecutive lectures to maintain cohesiveness in the structure of the course.

I hope my feedback is useful to the professors and lab instructors, and is seen merely as constructive criticism. I enjoyed every day of lecture and lab this semester, even if some of the material were difficult to follow. Since the course is still relatively new, I am sure it will only get better with each passing semester. I look forward to FilmP 160, and hope that I get the chance to learn with familiar faces in spring of 2010. Good luck to all!

Design I Like: Jonas Bergstrand's Monopoly

Design is indeed everywhere. No matter where we look, we come across designs that assign an object its uniqueness and visual appeal. Whether it is the engraving on a piece of napkin, or an arty amalgamation on a poster – I have always been fascinated by design and how it comes to be. Design for me is not only an aesthetic piece, but an insight into one’s creativity and ultimately his or her perspective of the world.

Although I myself am not too proficient when it comes to drawing, printmaking or graphic designing in general, I enjoy following the works of Milton Glaser, Andy Warhol, Jonas Bergstrand and David Carson. These artists have designed several notable posters, and also had a profound influence on the way visual representation is interpreted.

Stockholm-based graphic designer and illustrator Jonas Bergstrand has many interesting designs in the gallery section of his official website, but his recreation of the Monopoly board game cover is one that I am particularly fond of. Aside from the intelligent use of typography to indicate aspects of the game itself, Mr. Monopoly’s lively pose through the sunroof of the limousine keeps the illustration’s spirit consistent with actual covers of the well-known game. When analyzed closely, you can see that Bergstrand utilizes the technique of balance in his image by placing even numbers of buildings and billboards in the background. There is also equilibrium in composition in the foreground with the positioning of Mr. Monopoly and his chauffeur, separated by an even number of doors. The decision to add yellow and red in the traffic lights does not quite spoil the “retro” feel, but gives it a contemporary, adventuresome twist.

What I See: 'Paranormal Activity'

A few months ago while browsing the Yahoo! homepage in hopes of finding something interest to read, I came across a news item about a low-budget indie film that is both impressing and scaring the living daylights out of audiences. Unfortunately, at that time ‘Paranormal Activity’ had still not mustered enough support from distributors to attain a theatrical release nation-wide. Intrigued not so much by the “scariest film of the decade” tag, but more so by the director’s decision to capture the film in a singular location with only two main characters – I immediately signed up to “demand” the film in New York City.

Oren Peli’s ‘Paranormal Activity’ tells the story of a young couple, Katie and Micah, who recently moved into their new house in suburban San Francisco. Through the dialogue exchanged between Katie and Micah in the opening scenes, we learn that the couple has been experiencing some rather unusual noises, like knocking and footsteps, in the middle of the night. Hoping to capture on camera whoever or whatever is haunting them, Micah decides to film their home while they are sleeping.

The concept of recovered footage has been utilized before in films like ‘Cloverfield’ and ‘The Blair Witch Project,’ but never have I seen it so well executed; especially without the help of an established crew and a vast list of production equipment. Most of the night scenes were filmed on a tripod in the couple’s bedroom with wide-angle lens and deep depth of field in order for the audiences to have a clear view of Katie and Micah, as well as the hallway outside. In the scenes that the camera is taken out of the bedroom, Katie or Micah operate it by hand and frame the shots presented on screen. With Peli directing their actions from afar, it is obvious that the two actors also take on the role of cinematographer in ‘Paranormal Activity.’

Unlike contemporary horror flicks with excessive amounts of blood and gore, Oren Peli manages to get inside of the viewer’s head with minimal special effects and improvised, realistic circumstances. His limited budget of $15,000 in all likelihood did not allow him to employ sophisticated lighting either, but the night vision add-on attached to the camcorder is sufficient to make out the ominous shadow against the door or the lifting of the bed sheet just before Katie is violently dragged down the hall by the demonic perpetrator. To ensure the realistic quality of the film, Peli’s technical choices for the visuals remain consistent throughout. It is the amateurish home video feel of ‘Paranormal Activity’ that lingers in our minds long after we leave the theater, and makes us believe that the same may happen when we go to bed and close our eyes…