Tuesday, October 27, 2015

1-Minute Sound Bite

"We hear sounds from everywhere, without ever having to focus (McLuhan, 111)." This is a quote I kept in mind in creating my 1 minute sound bite. In my project I was directly attempting to capture a story or narrative just through the sounds it produces. Furthermore I wanted to give the listener a sense that it was a sound experience that occurred while walking outside or sitting next to the window rather than something you listen when you put your headphones in. The car screeching, the fire burning, and the overall tone of the other instruments used hopefully evokes a dark feeling. That little is acheived I beleive but it will be interesting to see in my responses whether people felt it was more than creepy sounds and an actual attempt to tell a narrative. I enjoyed this project in its freedom. With photography and film you are limited to the things that surround oneself. With the enourmous library of different sounds on GarageBand, the individual really had the freedom to take this project in whatever direction they pleased. Please listen to my clip attached below! Special thanks to Brandon Vamarasi!!


Heads or Tails - Patrick O'Mahoney & Brandon Vamarasi

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Jonathon Gruber - A Reflection on His Process

Being introduced to Filmmaker Jonathon Gruber was a memorable experience. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the screening of his latest film, Miriam Beerman: A Painter's Journey, due to afternoon football practice however his attendance to class the following day provided an excellent opportunity to pick the brain of this well renowned filmmaker. I was particularly intrigued by his declaration of having many fluid and in the works ideas that he is working on. As a creator of film, I'm sure his brain is constantly jogging with new ideas and different directions to take. And he simply pursues them. I feel many workforces in the modern era requires people to always finish what they started and do everything possible to avoid distraction within the process. This is not a constraint amongst artists of all mediums and it must be a liberating feeling to have such freedom. As a person whose mind is always jumping around all over the place I could see myself particularly enjoying this aspect of the filmmaking field. Reflecting back to that day I can recall a half dozen times where Gruber would go off on a tangent and describe a particular work thats been on his mind. He'd share that he's been working on some of his ideas, collecting film and interviews, for well over a decade and that he was simply waiting for the right chance (lots of factors: interest, funding, etc.) to launch it into production. This may seem to some as an unorganized method or work process but it clearly works for Gruber and I could also see it working for me.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Photo Album: Capturing Practice and Campus

I struggled with this assignment. I enjoy taking photos and think I have a keen eye for what looks pleasing and what doesn't, however I found myself lacking inspiration for venues to shoot photos. Back home (Chicago) a photographer is required to do very little to find moments worth capturing on camera. Whether it be through the diversity of people and activities that makes for great interactive shots or the pure aesthetics of both the skyline and Lake Michigan, there are many opportunities for the street photographer to take stimulating shots. Here however I found myself trying to make photos look interesting which resulted in forcing it too much. I then decided it would be best to record images from my practice as that would at least carry some action. Taking photos of football practice turned out to give me lots of trouble when it came to editing. With our new turf field, most of the shots consisted on a solid mono color green background. This forced me into editing pictures in their entirety rather than specific areas. Editing one portion of the image would result in a different shade of green that would really throw off the entire dynamic of the photo in a unsalvageable way. The next day I found more success in capturing natural images around campus. In particular I enjoyed the image of the paper mills from behind the Viking Room. Editing out the background to black and white and keeping the nature in full color (via the lasso tool) was a very rewarding experience. This was a nice change of pace in contrast to the struggles I faced editing our football field.

It was enjoyable to make a fairly standard photo have a deeper meaning through editing.

Link To Flickr Page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/136833366@N03/shares/XC0z21