A Look at Other Films

Last night in class we watched a variety of docs on artists, as well as films made by previous 409 classes. I’m getting nervous as the movies were really good! I do think that we will be able to accomplish something watchable, but I’m wary because the whole concept and process is so incredible foreign to me. I was happy to see though that when we discussed certain aspects of the docs we watched, that I didn’t miss too many cues that were pointed out. I think I was able to pick out some of the good angles vs. not so good angles, which type of shot was better for what kind of interview, different ways to incorporate pieces of art and still shots of art into the film, etc. When I didn’t pick up on the things that were pointed out, I think I at least got a handle on them once they were discussed in class. Hopefully we will be able to effectively apply these pointers to our filming and editing when it comes down to our project! At the end of the class we had a brief meeting with Andrea to see where we are at on the project and everything seems to be going well! 

I’m excited to really start to get into things over the next few weeks! I’m also looking forward to our groups upcoming meeting and beers! Should be a good way to get to know each other and get the creative juices flowing!

Until next time...

Getting Started: Picking Groups and Artists

This week our projects began to take shape. We had a shorter class than anticipated this week, but we chose our groups and artists for the project! Kelsey, Julia, Krystal and I are in a group together which I am looking forward to. Kelsey, Julia and I have worked together before and did very well as a team, and judging by our first few meetings as an entire group, I am looking forward to working with Krystal as well! Our group has chosen to do our film on Chris Paul who is an artist from the Saanich Nation, from the Tsartlip Reserve in Brentwood Bay. From our preliminary research our group has learned of his apprenticeships, his art education, his (in my opinion) adventurous and modern Coast Salish art style, and his creative mix of modern, traditional and technical aspects in his art work.    
 

Sea and Air

I am looking forward to working with Chris for a variety of reasons, including learning about his art and methods, inspiration and connections to his work, but not only that, I am also looking forward to learning about the Tsartlip Reserve and the Saanich Nation. It must be the history student in me.. Not being from Vancouver Island I know very little about the First Nations groups on the Island. Hopefully through our research for this project, as well as through discussion with Chris, we will learn a little bit about the Nation that he is a part of. 

The four of us ladies got together at my house tonight, sat on my bed and started to put together a research portfolio comprised of Chris’s websites, blogs written about him, pictures and descriptions of his work. We were able to find a few good resources, including a website where Chris has described his inspiration behind some of his artwork; stories, poems, family connections, etc. Reading through some of these descriptions, it was easy to see that his art work comes from the heart and is more than just a job for him. I am really looking forward to putting together our interview questions, and to finally meet Chris. I hear he makes a mean cup of coffee- maybe we will get experience the pleasure!  
The biggest thing that I am worried about in this course is using the cameras. I have very little experience with cameras; I’ve never even taken a camera with me while traveling! I tend to avoid the damn things, I find them too complicated for me! I’ve never even owned a digital camera, let alone used a camera with a fancy lens or a real filming camera! I am clueless about different kinds of shots, adjustments, lighting, sound, and any sort of editing, so this course really scares me for that reason, but I think the other ladies in my group have a better grasp of the technology than I do, so here is to hoping that they will be able to help guide me! ...If all else fails, they all have Macs, so they will at least know how to navigate the computers we edit on! Thank goodness for them! I think the plan for tomorrows class is to look at doc’s that have been made in the past and pick out certain shots, techniques and critiques from them that may be helpful for our film! Maybe I will feel a little less helpless after that class!

Introductions and First Thoughts

Well hello there!

Welcome to my Anth 409 reflection blog! This is where I will spend the next four months reflecting on my class project; a short documentary on the Coast Salish artist Chris Paul. Hopefully this reflection will captures both my successes and struggles that I (and my group) will encounter over the course of this project. I look forward to seeing how things unfold over the next few months, and hopefully if all goes well, we will have a top notch doc that comes out of it in the end!

Thanks for reading, here goes! 
 

           
During our first class together we discussed the goals for this class and went over what the intended outcome for the films in this class. Although I did not fully know what to expect out of this class, I came prepared to make a film, even though camerawork makes me nervous. It was relieving to hear that we will not have to be interactive on screen in our films because I’m not overly enthusiastic about being on film. Andrea has picked three artists for the groups to work with. The artists are those that have worked with her Anthropology 305 class over the last few years. As I took that class three semesters ago, I’m only familiar with the Adam and Joni, the Salish Fusion knitters. I think it would be interesting to work with them because I learned a fair amount about the Coast Salish knitting history, which I found to be really interesting when I wrote my research paper for that class. I do not know anything about the other artists yet, but I believe that their stories will also be complex and exciting to learn about and film. I am really looking forward to getting to know the artists we work with in this class, and hopefully I will gain a greater understanding about their art forms and their personal stories and community histories.

Andrea had us do a group exercise which I thought was valuable as a starting lesson for this class. We were split into groups and given several photos (each group was given the same photos) and we had to create a basic story line with these photos and present them to the class. What was interesting to me, and evidently the point of the exercise that we all missed, was that our groups basically just described what was going on in the photos, instead of creating a storyline or creating any sort of depth to the photos. This was a good way to open the class, because I think it showed that we as a group need to change the way we think about film, stories and production if we want to create films with substance or meaning. Hopefully I learned something valuable from that exercise that can be put towards making a better film in this class.