Opposite Assignment

In this assignment, our class was to take clips from a movie or TV show and edit them and cut them together to create something totally different. I chose to do a different version of Lord of the Rings (mostly because I could find a whole lot of clips easily). I made it into a drama. Anyway, here it is!

Song/Slideshow Assignment

For this assignment, we had to make a song on Garage Band or a related program (I used Logic Express), and put a slideshow to it. It took me a while to write the song, as I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and if the project weren't getting ridiculously late, I would keep changing it, because it definitely still has some problems. But that's all right (sort of). Anyway, the slideshow I chose to use (Actually a movie, made in iMovie) depicts scenes of nature in different ways. For the verses of the song, I used pictures of human interference with nature, and for the chorus I used pictures of nature without a lot of human influence. The question I want to ask in this slideshow is should we interfere? 

I took all of these images (except one I believe was taken by my little brother), and some are from around Goderich, and some are from Colorado. Some are even around the school. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

In-Class Interview - Gina Lomas

M - So, I hear you’re interested in film editing..

G - Yeah.. when I was 12, I used to use my webcam and use Windows Movie Maker to make short films and it was really easy to use. It was when I first became interested in filmmaking, and I was on it for hours. I was also in grade 11 Communications Technology class and we made a chase scene. It was fun and Mr. Lobb said I would make a good film editor, so a couple of years later I decided to do it for a career.

M - So you have a co-op in film-making? What do you do there?

G - Yeah, I work at the Office of Development and Planning. I’m learning how to use Final Cut Pro and After Effects and it kind of opened my eyes to some special effects and I got interested in that.

M - So what do you think you’ll do with this as a career?

G - Hopefully I’ll be a film editor and get to work on post production, cutting things together. I like editing because it’s where the magic happens; where you make the story. It’s definitely one of the most important aspects in a film. 

M - So what’s your goal in this respect? What are your "dreams" for the future?

G - I want to be a film editor for a multi-milion dollar production. Maybe get some awards for it. I want people to be asking for me because I’m a good film editor. That would be pretty awesome.

M - Who do you look up to in film editing?

G - I don’t really know that many film editors, which I like. I don’t really want to be famous like an actor, but I want my work to be known and well-renowned.

M - Would you ever teach film editing?

G - I don’t really like the idea of teaching; I don’t like parents. If I wanted to be a teacher I’d want to be a university or college prof because the students would be genuinely interested instead of just taking the course because it’s “easy”.

M - Do you think high school programs adequately prepare you for university or college in film editing?

G - Film is the kind of thing where you have to go out and do it yourself; a lot of it is independent. I don’t think high school can really prepare you for that in itself.

M - Do you consider yourself a really independent person?

G - Yeah, in some respects I do; definitely in comparison to some people my age. I didn’t live with my parents for a while, just with my brother. So it’s taught me to be a bit more independent.

M - So, you were going to go away to university last year, why didn’t you?

G - I was accepted into Waterloo for Communications before I really knew I wanted to go into editing, and I kind of wanted to just go to university to see what it was like. But I decided I wanted to stay and maybe go to school in Toronto, and take some co-op that’ll really help me.

M - So what do you anticipate your university/college education will be like?

G - If I get into university it’ll be a lot of theory, which is good and bad. College is more hands-on, so I’d get experience, but I wouldn’t get a degree. So I’ll probably have to do both.

Letters from the Sky - Civil Twilight

The song Letters from the Sky by Civil Twilight is one of my favourite songs. It's very simplistically built, with a single chord progression being the basis of the entire song. The progression is not commercial, but it is powerful and works for the subject material. Its slow build makes the song even more appealing and powerful. Also, the singer, Steven McKellar, has an interesting voice, which adds to the emotional tone of the music. The instrumentation is also very simple, but still provides depth. There is a piano, guitar, bass, drums and synthesizer. The beginning with just piano and mild accompaniment and vocals adds to the emotionally charged nature of the piece. The style of this song is hard to peg. It's alternative, mixed with a little bit of rock and some Indie. The use of the Steven McKellar's falsetto range also adds to the piece. The breathy tone of his voice when he sings quietly is also very powerful. 

Civil Twilight is a band from South Africa that now works out of Los Angeles. It is a trio built of three members: Steven McKellar, his older brother Andrew McKellar, and their friend Richard Wouters. The McKellars grew up in a musical family, listening to music throughout their childhood and having a classically trained pianist as a mother. And Wouters was a childhood friend that wanted to start a band with Andrew McKellar when they were in their teens. When they discovered that Steven could write music and sing, they did a bit of instrument shifting and made a band together.

The song starts with a hushed synthesizer chord that sounds a bit like an organ. It builds with more synthesizer sounds and a unique piano chord progression. The vocals are very free and arrhythmic above the structure of the chords. The song gradually builds, adding guitar and heavy percussion which multiplies in dynamic level as the song slowly progresses to its climax. The vocals start out soft and breathless, but build to a stronger, firmer tone. The singer uses his falsetto range, which is very high and strained sounding; however, this tone of voice adds to the “realism” of the song. According to Steven McKellar, Letters from the Sky is just a “desperate, delusional love song”, and the timbre of his voice reflects this desperation. The song feels like it’s just spilling out of the singer. Again, the free vocal line and the way it moves over the chords makes it feel this way. It feels like he has a lot to say, and is just “spitting it out”, so to speak.

There’s a lot of emotion in this song too. For having such a simple structure, the song has amazing emotional depth. It’s so bittersweet and I feel the singer’s longing. I have a deep connection to the loneliness that this song portrays. When I listen to this song, I see a dead tree in the middle of a corn field after all of the corn has been harvested. It’s at the end of the day when the sun is going down, and the whole scene is bathed in a golden light. I’m not a hundred percent sure why, but since the texture of the song seems so expansive that would account for the field. It also feels really empty in parts, which lends itself to the emotions and images of loneliness the song evokes.

Letters from the Sky is a really interesting song. I enjoy the bittersweet sentiment of the piece and the simplicity of its structure. The build-up of layers makes it emotionally powerful and it evokes vivid images and feelings. I think this is a great song, and that everyone should listen to it!

Movie Poster - First Draft

Hair Colour Change

Our gimp exercise on changing hair colour:

Pathways

Gimp Filters

ORIGINAL IMAGE

CANVAS FILTER

SOFTGLOW FILTER

About Me

Hello, my name is Meghan De Jager, and I live in an undisclosed location. I'll leave my whereabouts up to your fruitful imaginations. I'm currently sipping on pomegranate cranberry sparkling fruit juice; actually, I just finished. I'm imagining it full again, and it is glorious. Enough about my beverages of choice, on to other things. I shall now take you on an adventure of elephantine proportions - the journey through the mind of Meghan.

Probably my biggest interest is music. I've been taking music from a very early age, starting with piano. I started voice lessons when I was 10, and that is what I've been focusing on since I started. I am a classical singer, and have some favourite singers whom I admire. This clip is Barbara Bonney singing "Chanson D'amour" by Gabriel Fauré.

Another one of my favourites is Sumi Jo, but for a different reason. I love Barbara Bonney's phrasing and flow of the line, whereas I admire Sumi Jo's agility. I get to see her live in Toronto this spring, and I'm quite excited. Here's Sumi Jo singing the famous - or infamous - Queen of Night Aria.

Enough about classical music. I like pretty much all music. I have a whole bunch of favourite bands. It sounds odd for a classical musician, but one of my favourite bands is Muse.

I love almost all of their songs. I think they are musically interesting, but not so much that the music is too abstract. I also like all of the harmonies they use, and the electronic instruments on top of the real instruments. Here's one of my favourite songs, "Stockholm Syndrome" by Muse.

I was recently introduced to a band called the xx, they are fairly obscure, but I really enjoy their minimalistic sound. Here's my favourite song by the xx, "Crystalised".

To list all of my favourite bands would take a lot of time, so I'll just list those two. But there are many bands and musicians whose works I enjoy.

Now on to different media. As far as movies go, I have a lot that I really enjoy. When it came out in theatres, I watched Inception and thought it was an excellent movie. I really enjoyed the originality of the concept, and it seemed like a lot of thought went into the plot.

I also really liked the filming and special effects of Inception. The buildings and sets at impossible angles, and the elaborate sets really impressed me. Here's a scene from the movie that I found on youtube.

Interestingly enough, another one of my all-time favourite films is also directed by Christopher Nolan. I really enjoy Batman Begins. I like The Dark Knight, but I like the former better. I like how we get to see the beginnings of Batman; therefore, we understand his fears and motivations. Like with music, if I were to list all of my favourite movies, it would take all day, so I'll leave it at those two.

I also like a lot of TV shows, but my favourite by far is called Psych. It's an American show about a hyper-observant man who pretends to be a psychic (Much like the Mentalist, but it came first and is funnier). In this show, the main characters Shawn and his best friend Gus help the Santa Barbara Police Department solve crimes. Plus, there's a pineapple in every episode. Pretty awesome.

Some other TV shows I like are Criminal Minds, Lost, Prison Break (Season 1), Get Smart, Hogan's Heroes, and Flashpoint.

I love to read. There are many different genres, authors etc.. that I enjoy immensely. My favourite author is Ted Dekker. I've read almost all of his books. He deals with a lot of dark subject matter, and writes a lot about spiritual warfare. Also, many of his books connect to each other, which creates some continuity. I love almost all of his books equally, but there are a few that stand out. He wrote the "Circle Trilogy", comprising of the books Red, Black and White which I really enjoy. Recently, he came out with an addition to the series called Green which is both the first and the last book.

I also like the ususal teenage kid books like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia and more.

Well, that's all for now, but I'll be posting some more later!!