Ubiquitous Rage

Creating A Ubiquitous Rage was difficult, challenging and truly tested my contemplation relating to rhythm, not only without sound, but when working with 16mm film manipulation.

Ubiquitous Rage attempts to explore violence, war and suffering through the use of juxtaposing worlds, times and story-lines exuding a surrealist aesthetic. With fast paced cuts, transitions and almost strobe editing techniques, the suggestion of the unpredictability of a fire and rage that is connotative to war is achieved.

Burning violence is juxtaposed to the innocence of women and children which conveys the powerlessness of a family with the burning upredictability of war at their doorstep, being a fire to burn out of control.

The kaleidoscopic effect represented the travelling of time between worlds, all representing a pain and suffering. This film effect was also used again to further emphasise unpredictability and utilises discontinuity editing to achieve this.

Through this project, I attempted to utilise kinetic movement to form an ideal frame of abstraction throughout the film. The use of nail-polish marbling and leaves created a psychedelic, pulsating experience for the audience in an optical adventure that was able to stimulate the senses. The work of Stan Brakage further influenced me to create an indulging experience for all the senses. I believe my work encompasses the notion that it does not rely solely on the story itself, but the emotional attitude of the audience, how they perceive reality, materialism and movement. Through this project, I believe I have created an experience of Synaesthesia.

This project truly explores alternative cinema through the meshing of contemporary and alternative techniques and technologies. The use of 16mm film while editing digitally to convey the theme of rhythm further emphasises this point. The utilisation of both cameraless film techniques (such as scratching and marbling) emphasise the alternative thought and process that formed the basis of the film.

Cameraless Film Techniques

For this task, I utilised a variety of cameraless film techniques which broadened my editing knowledge and creativity in how to create something beautiful. These subtractive and additive techniques enabled me to create rhythm throughout the film.

• Scratching.
• Coloration (by painting, drawing, watercolours).
• Marbling (using nail polish in water to create a marbled effect).
• Objectification (sticking objects such as leaves onto the film to create a 3D effect).

Through the use of these techniques, I hoped to encompass rhythmic themes throughout my work, being in how strokes were made, the movement of the marble across the film and scratches forming moving shapes.

Manipulating the materiality of the 16mm film through techniques including marbling emphasises the immaterial conceptions of the film through the use of digital editing techniques such as inversion.

Editing

To convey the notion of rhythm throughout this task, I attempted to utlise the following techniques:

• Repetition.
• Sequence.
• Jump-cuts.
• Inversion.
• Colourisation.
• Time (Playing with speed, duration and distortion).
• Discontinuity.

Influences in Creation

• Stan Brakhage’s Stellar (1993) creates an atmopsheric, space like experience through the use of paints and marbling with a clear rhythm and quick cuts. This piece is stunning, beautiful and exemplifies the beauty of colour. I attempted to create something similar through the use of nail-polish marbling and inverting digitally in my own work.
• It also creates an experiences for the senses without sound which was one of the key themes of this class. I attempted to explore this notion of transportation through film further in my own project.

Maya Deren

• Meshes of the Afternoon, 1941 applied the notion of complete disregard of continuity which is what I wanted to explore through this project. Discontinuity allows for reality to be altered and then relies on the perceptions and opinions of the audience to understand. While having a clear idea of what I wanted to create, this work enabled me to create a unique experience for each audience member, what each person took away from my film would be different from the last.
• The symbolism in this film was also something I was influenced by, such as the knife representing a key.

• The reflection of discontinuity explored in Ubiquitous Rage is heavily inspired by the Kuleshov Effect in its connotation of random, mixed and mashed memories from differing time periods and individuals.
• Memories and time were heavily explored in my own piece, this theme can only be explored through simple means of discontinuity editing.

~krisesandchrosses~