Prison in 12 Landscapes

The film A Prison in 12 landscapes took a very encompassing look at the how the US prison system affects people in different areas of the country. It didn't just look at the people within or affected by it but also the people that revolve around it and how it functions within society. The segment that interested me the most was the man who ran the business of sell prison approved packages to people. The hoops that people have to go through to get things to their loved ones is pretty ridiculous. One of the early portions had some of the excon chess players that hang in the park. The one the interviewed had some charisma to him that i couldn’t place but i wanted to see more from him.

The documentary was able to utilize a number of different styles to telling its story. It was able to tell stories from all types of perspectives while their overarching connection was prison.  One interesting narrative decision they made was by having an interview with the firefighter for a few minutes before mentioning her relation to the prison system since she is currently a prisoner. By only knowing that it will somehow have to deal with the prison system, it frames the interview about the firefighting process in a mysterious way. It eventually reveals that the relation is because the woman speaking is a firefighter who is from the prison and wouldn't have the opportunity to do that outside prison. 

MOMI Blog Post

I went to the Museum of the Moving Image and saw the Jim Henson short film “Timepiece”and i loved it. It was a strange experimental short film that watched a few times because it had a lot of interesting editing techniques in it. There wasn’t an overarching story line but all of the different shots were connected to the others in a way that made it flow. While most of the scenes were nonsensical and surreal, it was the motions that related to each other that made everything flow. In particular the shots that matched the steps in the different and the various shots of missiles flying into the sky to attack the flying protagonist. I really loved these shots because of how absurd they got starting with an actual cannon, then a missile,  Statue of liberty, then a champagne bottle, and finally the wife with a fire extinguisher. It was a strange stream of consciousness type editing and I fell in love with it. The music that went along with it was very peppy and how well every edit went along with the music made the jarring difference of locations smoother. I am not certain how else to describe it but it I can’t find a full version of it online and that makes me sad. The other interesting part were the facial prosthetic and costume section. I think utilizing the characters costume to create a striking and recognizable silhouette and color scheme for the audience associate with. The prosthetic set for the elephant man looked incredible and the mouth piece for Marlon Brandon's Jowls in Godfather were particularly interesting.

Editing analysis

 Meth Song PSA

This commercial is a PSA made for meth in the 90's and I think it is one of the most frightening, catchy, and effective drug PSAs that i have seen. It starts off very innocuous and cheerful looking, the lighting is bright and warm and the setting is pristine and the woman is the video looks very clean and wholesome. One the jingle reveals that the reason for her energy is meth, that's when the ad starts to descend into darkness. The same shot that meth is mentioned is when the the first unsettling shots of the girl start. She is on the floor looking for more things to clean and then starts cleaning the floor. This is also when the edits between shots start becoming more erratic to reflect the feelings of the girl on meth. The next sequence has her being much more anxious and jumpy, presumably in the way that a meth addict would act while under the influence. This sequence also has the lighting change to cooler blues and her outfit is now a simple tank top and shorts both of which look dirty. Her physical appearance also is deteriorating with scabs on her skin and face and her picking at them. In the final sequence, the camera angles become more extreme in both high and low perspective, things become visibly darker and the some chimes in about itching and crawling which is likely a symptom of the addiction. It ends with the girl crawling into a corner afraid of the critters that her mind has made up. Finally a text graphic that says “Meth” erratically scratched out with a toothbrush.

final project

https://youtu.be/YPfFW7uGoPk

Medp 160 Assignment 2

Audio Assignment

Scavanger Hunt

MedP Assignment 1

Medp Assignment 1 from Leonel Lopez on Vimeo.

Artist Statement

Sometimes I feel like almost everything in my life has led my to studying learning media. I had mistakenly gone through my college career focusing on political science and law thinking that this is where I would like to spend my energy. During all that, my free time was spent gushing over movies and video games that I loved and seeking out more knowledge on how those were made. I would watch something and try t figure out how it was made and maybe how I would be able to make something like it. Most importantly, I want to express things without words. Animation, special effects, sound design, and editing are all things that fascinate me the most. All of this drove me because I loved the way that these works made me feel and I wanted to understand it. Once I understood it, I wanted to share that with people. That is the core of why I want to work in media. I want to share my feelings and experiences with other. There are plenty of things that text and words simply cannot communicate and those are the things that I want others to be able to feel. If I could create something that brings that feeling to someone other that myself, I feel like I have succeeded. One of the most human things is to share experiences with each other and I have always felt that I con do that best with the audiovisual mediums.