My DVDCover

My final scratch film and final images used in film

Proposal

Throughout this project I have explored remediation of film.

I was definately excited to be going back to film within the project as it is what I am really interested in. I like the idea of only having a limited amount of shots.

I have definately had a fair share of problems which I encountered that made the project so much harder but I took them in my stride.

The result of the remediation of my negative is a scratch film.

The processes that I went through to get to this point were very hands on. I cut the film into 4 strips. I scratched into the film. I coloured the film. I took photos of the film on the light box and then I turned these images into a short film.

The precedent that was most helpfull within this project would definately be len lye. This was because he is very well known for his scratch film work, I love the colours he uses within his films, and there is something earthy and DIY about his work.

Within the scratch film I wanted to incorporate bright and vibrant colours like Len Lye as I believe they add an element of interest and vibrancy to the film.

I also believed that adding some sort of narrative to the film would help give me direction. This narrative that I chose to explore within this film was of a small man coming out from the scratch patterns and into the out in town images that I had taken. The reason that I inverted the images of the settings was because the character could be seen more clearly in this way. I also believed it was right to continue with the colour theme.

I wanted the narrative to be playful and I believe it symbolises how everything is remediated in some way and how these processes can work within each other. I feel that the use of the man coming out from the patterns and exploring the 'real world' and then going back into pattern shows how things connect clearly. I also believe that this in itself symbolises the process of remediation and the cycle that has been created where nothing really dies out, the old forms still exist and we constantly revisit them.

In terms of sound I thought of several different sounds that I could use. Including a Trinity roots drum beat song and also a song by Minuit called daddy-o. However I went back to my precedent who uses very simple sounds such as crackling and old film sounds and so that is what I went for, the sound for my film is of a film projector. This I felt fit perfectly with my clips and the narrative of the old man walking through these new settings. I also believe it reflects the idea that this came from film and so should have that sound to support it.

I believe that I have truly explored and manipulated the film and created something completely different through several forms of remediation as mentioned. Especially through presenting a physcial copy in the form of a dvd. I feel that this means that I have created a completely different output from the original negative.

I am overall happy with the results of my film however there are a few things that I would love to have fixed/added if I had the resources which include

-Having more film to work with could have meant a longer scratch film and some to muck around with. I could not really afford to buy it and get it processed

-Having bigger sections of film to work with which would have fixed the issue of having to take photos of it in macro. The images could have fit the screen instead of me having to work with them widescreen. Although I think this looks quite good in my opinion

-Having more time to consider patterns that would flow into each other with small changes in each segment would have meant that the patterns would have worked together better and flowed well from slide to slide. A lot of Len Lyes work has simple changes to each segment so the film flows a lot better.

-Taking more pictures of settings could have contributed also, so that I had better ones to work with through the middle of the scratch film

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Scratch Film

Throughout making this short clip, I have encountered a lot of problems and a lot of points in which I have stopped and thought I have no idea where I am going from here.
The initial scratching of film was in part a bit of a disaster as I went for a carefree approach without considering sizes of each slide or similarities in pattern in order to ensure a flow between each frame.
Once I realised that I needed to size them up I worked out that I would be stretching it if I wanted to make a short film out of such a small amount of slides.
I just went with it and decided to keep on scratching, I then considered colour with dyes, but after visiting a website I saw that coloured felt tip markers could work really well. So that is what I did.
I decided to work with bright and vibrant colours as Len Lye has done in his own work. I also wanted to create a hypnotic type of experience for the viewer and I believe it makes the clip more engaging. I also see it as an interesting form of remediating the film as it introduces colour into negatives.
I got the idea that I should have some sort of narrative through my series, so I created a little character with a top hat and cane and started to think of ways to put him into the storyline.
I also set myself the challenge of trying to use all of the film from my first shoot within the movie. There were apparent similarities between my images that came out good which were that they were all some form of setting. I wanted my little scratch character to roam around these settings after emerging from the different patterns.
In terms of sound I considered scratching noises, drum beats or a catchy song.
I feel that through going through the process of taking the photo to cross processing the film to scratching in a narrative to introducing colour through felt tip markers to then taking photos on a lightbox and then putting that into song vegas and finally making it into a movie clip that I have completely remediated the film into something completely different.

I have also decided to make a dvd out of it so that it is clear that it has gone through this process from being film to being a short dvd

Contact sheets

A mixture of final scratch photos and the setting photos,
There were millions of them! Because I was having so much difficulty getting them in focus!

So far i'm finding taking the photos of the film to be quite difficult even with a camera with an awesome macro function. The pictures come out quite pixelated and out of focus and it's also difficult because the film is tiny.

I tried to scan in the film but it was not really big enough to work with and came out quite pixelated so I felt I was better off just working with what I had and trying to take less close up shots with the camera on the light table.

Images

So here are some of the finished images of the scratching in my film....
Now to project and then photograph them which will then go into a video editing program

Here are the images that I will be using that came out well... :)

Scratch Film Junkies

What are Scratch Film Junkies?

'We are a group of digital filmmakers - a spin on the term, since we truly use digits, the ones on the ends of our hands. We're making films by hand, direct animation as it is known, with the purpose of exploring the possibilities of truly analog work in a digital world. This is a quilting bee with celluloid as fabric and sprockets for stitches.

This should not be seen as a retreat from the state of things, but a means to find what strengths the art form has that are parallel to that which is computer generated. Even given the greatness of film's history, one hundred years is a small period compared to the centuries-long development that the traditional art forms have enjoyed. We believe that much of what is great and unique in the art of handmade filmmaking is still to be revealed and digital technologies have much to offer in support of the art form, as opposed to the contrary notion of a replacement technology.

All films are handmade for your optical pleasure -- do not take with other medications!'

How to...

I found this really helpful website with basically total instructions for making a scratch film and also ideas for making them coloured through using household type of things such as felt tip markers and cellophane...colour is definately something I will be trying and exploring further...I am a little bit worried about what I have done so far though in terms of the patterns that I have created and how different they are from the previous frame and the size of each frame, but i'll see how it goes.

I have managed to fine 2 other artists that do similar work,

I love Stephanie Maxwells work, I find it extremely interesting as she incorporates other

images into her scratch films...

Thad Povey is another artist thatI came across who has an eccentric sort of style of film making

Original Celluloid from Scratch Film Junkies

Film scratching

I split my film strip into 4 parts lengthways with the intention to create a scratch film if i manage to find a film reel....
At the moment I am just at the experimental stages but I am enjoying the film scratching and I am keeping each different pattern in similar sized grids...I still need to head down to the film archive to see if they can help me out with this...
I have started my series with different shapes and patterns and eventually a character emerges from the chaos of shape...and colour possibly (I am still thinking of trying chemicals and different dyes to get a good range of colour) he will then start to creep around the other series of photographs I have which are mainly of landscapes...
We shall see ....



Film scratching with the compass

My set up

Narrative?

I was thinking of doing a sort of short film clip narrative starting with scratch film ...

Beginning with abstract patterns scratched into my over exposed film. The patterns would merge off each other and then would end with a little old man emerging from a scratched ball and walk through the scene pictures that I had taken that came out ok, these ones are all of settings in town so I am looking for a way to have the little old man walking through these scenes....maybe projecting somehow? Not sure yet...I need to find this out...
I think it would be quite cool mixing the old with the new in terms of remediating...

I also found this website
With some of Len Lyes earlier films from the 1930s
and I just found out he is a New Zealand artist :D awesome!
watch the vids they are very cool!
I'm thinking of also experimenting with dyes and cellophane to incorporate a little colour...

First Film

So I took my first film last week but I haven't been able to get my pics to upload onto my blog? I have no idea why? So they're on my flickr account for now... Click here to have a look :)
So I was also talking to Matt last week and he suggested since a lot of my photos were over exposed that I should think of doing a scratch video...

Len Lye does some scratch film
You can view it here on youtube this film was made in 1958 and i think this is something i may look into doing with my film as my photos did not come through as well as I would have hoped

Here are a few images that I liked...

Len Lye explores some really abstract and colourful images which is why I think I am so interested in his work...theres something captivating about the way he makes his scratch film