Kris-(obligatory name)-ten

After searching around for a good video clip and turning many down, this project became a prime opportunity to show my newfound love of Buster Keaton. One of Keaton’s famous pieces was called “The Playhouse” and the most famous part of it was the first 7 minutes where Keaton plays the conductor, each member of the orchestra, the performers in the minstrel show, the tap dancers, as well as the audience. Aside from being an impressive piece of filmmaking, I loved the way that Keaton was playing these instruments so comically. So I set forth to add music to fit the sense of humor of the video. As is apparent, Keaton is not playing these instruments correctly, so I made comparisons between the way he was playing them and the way they probably REALLY sounded.

I cut the 7 minutes I grabbed roughly in half, removing the minstrel show entirely, as well as the tap dancers because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to find music to match up with it entirely without relying on the orchestrated music added in. Despite the fact I have done minor sound design before, overall the project taught me a great deal more, and helped teach me about the extent that one has to go to in order to make sure every possible noise is covered. I used a LOT of non-licensed sound from freesound.org and did the rest using my Zoom H4. The video itself has a bland title, but after rendering it, I decided on a better one: The Disarray house. I hope you enjoy!

When I first approached this assignment it was with many tears.

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When our group strode into Tomlinson Hall out of the rain, I caught a distinct whiff of ‘You should not be in here, oh my god get out why are you still here, you crazy filmmakers’ in the air. It wasn’t something that ever really left while we were within the mostly unoccupied building. But hey, that can be an attractive thing in a building if you know how to utilize it. And so we picked up our [Sony TRV 900] camera.

And an hour and twelve minutes later, we even got to use it!

But I kid mostly.

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This is an image taken in 2007 of a giant inflatable duck floating in the Loire Estuary in France. It is a 105-foot-tall, 85-foot-wide, inflatable, rubber coated PVC duck created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman. This image is inspiring for a number of reasons. The first and foremost reason is, it is a giant rubber duck. In a river. In the middle of France. There are few things more uplifting and inspiring than that.

But more seriously, looking at the bright avian fellow, inspiration comes from the whole absurdity of its existence. Whereas rubber ducks are a toy of infancy, oft found floating within the bubble baths of toddlers, to see a large rubber duck, one is immediately graced with a sense of youthful joy and can’t help but smile. It’s the sort of thing that begs the question, ‘Why is there a giant duck there?’ when indeed the question should be ‘Why aren’t there giant ducks everywhere?’

That sort of childlike delight is extremely gratifying to yours truly. There is a certain lightness of spirit that is often lost as people progress past adolescence, and just a loss of fun. The juxtaposition of a cheery duck and the somewhat worn bridge makes the image stand out all the more. Looking at the rubber duck, one wonders about what kind of journey it went on as it floated down the Loire river. Did it weather storms, or was it always sunny days, as if its mere presence instilled a sense of sunshine? Would it be chased by a certain duck loving muppet, if the opportunity presented itself?

To me, ducks always represent a symbol of hope, even from something small. So a large duck presents quite a bit more hope. What there is to hope for is in the eye of the beholder.