Film/Video class no longer allowed to use either

I missed the blog topic for last week, which was ideas for the 48-hour video race.  Since this week is supposed to be a free-write, I am going to use this opportunity to talk about ideas that I had for the 48-hour race.

I found it very interesting being in a film/video class, and having our final project be one where we can't really use either.  However, this class has also been all about creativity and interpretations of different things, and this race will certainly cause us to be creative, use our wiles, and test our focus.  

My first idea was to use my digital camera to make a stop-motion animation.  The thought was that taking a picture would be pretty much the same thing as clicking off a frame or two of a Super-8 camera.  The only thing with this is that putting those hundreds and hundreds into final cut and arranging them correctly could be quite time consuming, but I could manipulate the pictures to have them last longer than one frame, maybe three, in order to expedite the process seeing that 48-hours is not a very long time to create a film, especially without a camera.

If worse comes to worst in this situation, my digital camera also has a video setting where I could record bits of video.  Something interesting would actually be to do a bit of the stop-motion using still images, and then transitioning to video for a bit, and then transitioning back into the animation.  Something like this could be really trippy looking, which seems to sort of be a main goal of this class.  Everything we do looks like nothing I've ever seen before, and it's all a little trippy, and I like it.

At the beginning of the semester someone asked me if what we did in this class would be helpful to anything but experimental filmmaking.  At first I wasn't sure, but as the semester progresses, I see that this class is more than just experimental projects, but projects that challenge us, that force us to look at things in different ways, put limits on us, and force us to problem solve when certain guidelines are laid down.  These skills are certainly useful in all types of filmmaking, be it narrative, documentary, or experimental.

This class has also given me opportunities that I never would have gotten in most other classes.  I had my first experience with actual film, and loved it!  This class has really opened my eyes to the opportunities available, and the infinite possibilities that film has as a medium and as an experience.

I'm looking forward to the 48-hour video race.  The restrictions are stiff, but I think because of that, all of our films will be that much more exciting, interesting, and unique.