I briefly mentioned these two outings in my other posts and I consider them some of my favorites from this semester.

My first impression of this class was that it would be lots of fun and all new to me. We had tea, great popcorn, and watched Noir Films for the first time at the Castro Theater. We had learned some basic film techniques before this face to face meeting, and while I watched these films for the first time, I was actually noticing several of the techniques we had just learned. That was very exciting for me. I noticed all kinds of things such as use of light, shadows, rule of thirds, composition, dollying, etc. that I would’ve never noticed before. Such a cool experience in a cool place!

My other favorite face to face experience was when we went to the Musee de Mechanique followed by a visit to the Exploratorium. There were so many incredible and entertaining things that we saw and experienced that day that I can’t cover them all. But there are two things that stand out to most in my mind. One was the Batman Zoetrope. I’m a lowkey Batman fan and Lego fan, so that added to the appeal of the zoetrope. That, plus the combination of the music and how shockingly well the lights tricked your eyes into seeing logically impossible motion was addicting. I think I may have watched the zoetrope ten times that day. Here’s a video I took of it (because I loved it so much). Please excuse the black bar across the screen. I guess camera don’t pick up strobe lights the same way our eyes do.

Batman Zoetrope:

Musee de Mechanique:

My second highlight of that day was watching a series of artistic films that were curated for us by Ms. Greer’s friends. Although I left feeling slightly dizzy, I found the films very intriguing. They were a completely new genre of film to me and I really loved getting the chance to see that.

All of these viewings, experiences, and our own projects have really helped me gain a greater appreciation for filmmakers, the film-making process, animators, and artists in general.