Final Project: Little Miracles

MOMI Reflections

I was very excited to visit The Museum of Moving Image, especially since it’s the only museum in the whole country dedicated to film. The tour began with an exhibit on sound effects and how they're created. Our tour guide had us pick different sound effects that could work into a clip from the Simpsons. The tour guide explained how the sound effects are created from natural sounds that are often distorted to make different sounds. I found this quite interesting and hilarious when the sounds were incorporated into the clip.  Another exhibit that I thought was interesting was the recreation of a 1980s living room set. I noticed how odd the living room looked, as the couch was curved around the TV. My tour guide explained that back then watching TV was considered an intimate activity in the household. She explained that work would end at 5 so that people could go home to their families and watch shows like I Love Lucy. I thought this was very interesting considering how different TV viewing is today. My favorite exhibit however was he hand grenade sculpture. I though it was interesting how it displayed the way motion can be perceived when there was no actual motion occurring.  The visual aspects were very appealing and caught my eye, especially in the dark room with the strobe lights. Overall I thought the museum was a new and exciting experience. I learned a lot about film and media in through the different ages and the different aspects behind it. 

Editing Analysis of The Graduate

              The film scene I have decided to analyze for my blog is the final scene in the film The Graduate (1967) dir. Mike Nichols.  The scene begins as both characters Benjamin and Elaine are running towards a bus after Benjamin crashed her wedding in pursuit to be with her. The camera follows them in a medium shot as they run into the bus and head towards the back in excitement. The camera stays steadily on them with a medium close as they cheer and exclaim their enthusiasm. The camera then cuts to a wide shot of all the passengers on the bus turned around staring seriously at Elaine and Benjamin. The scene cuts back to Benjamin and Elaine looking into each other’s eyes happily, only this time the camera is at a medium close up angle. The camera remains steadily on Elaine and Benjamin for a total of 40 seconds as their smiles and laughter begin to fade. This particular sequence was interesting to me because there were no cuts at all. I believe this shot was made purposely by the director to express the characters inner emotions by their facial expressions. A song also begins playing during this quiet uncut sequence called “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel. Both the song and the long take coincide to create a dramatic and serious tone within the plot of the film. The long take is focused heavily on Elaine and Benjamin in order to convey a sharp turn of emotion within the characters. The scene cuts to the back of the bus, as we see Benjamin and Elaine from behind, the camera slowly follows them. The camera eventually stops following the bus as it drives off, becoming smaller and smaller in the frame as the scene fades to the credits. 

Audio Portrait of a Person

What I Hear

        WEEEEEE WOOOOO WEEEE WOOOOOOO! is the first sound I hear as I exit the building of Hunter College around 4:00pm. Without looking, I can attest that it is the millionth ambulance to ride down Lexington today, and it is piercing my ears. I make my way down Lexington to participate in my first "sound walk", something I experience everyday but never took note of. Joined by crowds of people, I can distinguish who’s a native New Yorker and whose not. To my left I hear what I assume to be a middle aged woman on the phone with her other middle aged friend: "Okay Sharon, I'll see you later. Bye. Okay bye. Bye, bye, see you later, bye, okay buh- bye, bye." Behind me I hear clacking heels hitting the concrete so heavily, they might as well be bricks. I think to myself "Hm, business woman?" I turn around only to discover it's just an over dressed student in cocktail dress. I keep walking. WEEE WOOO WEEE WOOOO, okay ambulance #1,000,001. I tune into what's happening in the street. I hear large buses screeching as they come to a halt at a red light. I hear cars honking at one another while at this standstill (something that would only be acceptable in Manhattan). I tune back into the sidewalk I’m walking on to listen to the people around me. I hear different dialects and languages all over. Not being able to make out a few of these conversations, I realize just how vastly cultivated Manhattan is. I try closing my eyes to focus more on such sounds, but inevitably end up tripping on my own feet in attempt to do so.