#5 Film Manipulation

The sound of film manipulation to me is intriguing (just from hearing it), as it reminded me at first about the multitude of things and aspects we as filmmakers are expected to draw upon, and use to concoct our own products of "the mind" through the exploitation of film. The first (true to the phrase) assignment that pushed us to manipulate a variety of celluloid was "assignment one", also titled camera-less filmmaking. This involved taking several artifacts, after instilling whatever damage the person wanted to deliver, and grouping these objects together for two separate strips of clear liter; this was just after everyone painted their film strips with different colors, each that represent all four distinct elements. These elements included fire, water, air, and earth; with all of the painting finished, the objects that were picked ended up being the primary design (and final creative product) of each of the four or five groups' clear liter. The process that involved printing the objects on the film strip was called contact printing; this process, along with rayograms, was created by taping the two strips of film on the floor of the black box. in which the only light that was (and allowed to be) lit was a red light bulb. After the objects each group member picked were placed on the film strip, someone would have to rapidly turn the regular black box's light on for an instant, that way the image could be stamped on the strips in an instant. What followed was the dunking of the strips into a "fix" solution, as well as two more dunks in separate containers of water; after drying the strips, if desired, the group could stain their clear liters with bleach to obtain whatever effect they wanted. In the end, the process which is film manipulation involves a lot of creative input from the filmmaker, which personally is something I'm more than willing and capable of doing enjoyably.