Playing at editing films to music

March 25, 2018 7:02 AM

Playing at editing films to music
I thought it would be an interesting experiment to try and make films using only creative commons and public domain footage. I started by making a series of films to accompany the music of a friend and am now branching out to visually accompanying classical music. I'm trying to work out if I'm wasting my time here and would supremely love some feedback on the films I've been making.

Role: Producer, editor

posted by ebear (3 comments total)

I'm seeing these experiments without knowledge of the music or the film footage, and for that reason these are first and foremost sounds and images. I'm asking myself, do the images present something I've never seen before ? Do the rhythms of the music and the imagery syncopate?

Two Sisters. This has a nice moment when the bathing buties are tossing a beach ball. The video pace slows, and the imagery and music meet on dreams. The scene is both banal and unusual. That's a very familiar feeling in avant-garde cinema.

Unteathered. This has my favorite visuals. I have to admit the posterization filter is one of my favorites. At one point the content of the posterized image is a sexy dance layered over banal images of two women parting at the bus station. This evokes the classic trope of midwest dreams for success in Hollywood.

The Family Album. There is a tension between the decaying film and the classical music which has some very nice moments. My feelings with classical music are very strong, and it doesn't sustain my interest very long.

Not a fan of switch board film. The shadow of this bygone technology is cold and dark and not easily made new and strange.

I think with most of these types of experiments, as with all experiments in art which try to reach a good place, you just have to keep working--produce more. More. More.
posted by xtian at 7:25 AM on March 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

Interesting project. did you make artistic color adjustments for fun or due to continuity?
posted by sammyo at 1:08 PM on April 9, 2018

sammyo - a bit of both really, I did these really quickly so just played around until it gelled
posted by ebear at 6:17 AM on August 19, 2018